ST. LOUIS (AP) Zack Gelof had four hits and Paul Blackburn pitched seven scoreless inning as the Oakland Athletics snapped a nine-game road losing streak and avoided a sweep in St. Louis with an 8-0 win over the Cardinals on Wednesday night.

“I’m just trying to be as consistent as I can,” Gelof said. “I think I’m just trying to keep it simple and, you know, be as athletic as possible in the box, and then, hit the ball hard somewhere.”

Gelof had his second career four-hit game - and the second this week - after getting four against Washington on Sunday.

“He plays a game hard, with an intensity about it that you want to see from the rest of the group,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “And I think there was a little bit of that message this afternoon to the rest of the group, that this guy is leading by example. And he’s going out and playing the game hard and not recklessly, but just with the passion.”

Blackburn (3-3) turned in the longest outing of his season, allowing six hits, with eight strikeouts and one walk.

“The breaking ball was pretty good tonight, and he threw some pretty good change-ups, some swing-and-miss change-ups,” Kotsay said. “So keeping them off balance, mixing up his pitches well and just compete, that’s vintage Paul right there.”

The A’s, who have the worst record in the majors at 34-87, snapped the Cardinals’ three-game winning streak. St. Louis is last in the NL Central at 54-67.

Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore (2-5) allowed six runs, five earned, in 4 1/3 innings. He gave up 10 hits, struck out five and walked three.

Liberatore’s struggles came after the best start of his career in which he pitched eight scoreless innings and struck out seven against Tampa Bay on Thursday.

“It’s frustrating,” Liberatore said. “I felt like I turned a corner a little bit in Tampa, and I felt great in the first inning again today. Velo was there, stuff was there, and just wasn’t able to find it after that.”

The A’s jumped on Liberatore early, batting around in the first inning. Carlos Pérez singled home Gelof, Jordan Diaz followed with a two-run double, and Shea Langeliers added an RBI single to make it 4-0.

“I feel like after, you know, we scored those runs at first, just being able to put up a zero in the first and in the second … I feel like that that was kind of a turning point,” Blackburn said.

Gelof added to the Oakland lead with an RBI single in the fourth.

The A’s added runs on a Seth Brown sacrifice fly in the fifth and on a Gelof double in the sixth.

Tyler Soderstrom capped the scoring with his first career pinch-hit home run, a 454-foot blast off Casey Lawrence in the ninth.

Cardinals centerfielder Lars Nootbaar left the game in the sixth with a lower abdomen contusion, and shortstop Tommy Edman left the game after the seventh with a right calf contusion.

RELAY RACE

The A’s could have scored another run on an Esteury Ruiz double, but a perfect relay from Alec Burleson to Edman to Andrew Knizner got Nick Allen at the plate.

Oakland returned the favor with a relay between Ruiz to Allen to Langeliers to get Luken Baker at the plate in the seventh.

ROSTER MOVE

The A’s recalled LHP Kyle Mueller and optioned RHP Spenser Watkins to Triple-A Las Vegas. Mueller, the A’s opening day starter, returns for his third stint with the club. Watkins allowed five earned runs in 4 1/3 innings in his start on Tuesday.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Athletics: OF JJ Bleday (left knee sprain) was placed on the 10-day injured list retroactive to August 14 on Tuesday.

Cardinals: RHP Ryan Helsley (right forearm tightness) underwent a second MRI after feeling tightness between rehab appearances. INF Nolan Gorman (lower back tightness) missed his third successive game and C Willson Contreras (hip tightness) sat out a second straight game.

UP NEXT

Athletics: Return home to host the Baltimore Orioles in the opener of a three-game series Friday night. Neither team has announced a starter.

Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright (3-7, 8.78 ERA) will kick off a four-game series Thursday night against the visiting New York Mets and LHP José Quintana (0-4, 3.03 ERA). Wainwright allowed eight runs in one inning in the shortest start of his career against Kansas City on Friday. Quintana faces his former team for the first time since signing with the Mets as a free agent in the offseason.

---

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb