Ranger Suarez scattered three hits in six scoreless innings and Willson Contreras went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 7-1 victory Saturday night against the host St. Louis Cardinals.
It was the first win in three starts for Suarez (1-1), who made headlines by signing a five-year, $130-million free-agent contract with Boston in January. Suarez walked two, struck out six and retired 14 of the final 15 batters he faced.
Jarren Duran went 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run, Marcelo Mayer reached base three times with a single and two walks and Carlos Narvaez had two hits and scored a run for Boston, which won for the third time in four games.
Jordan Walker hit his major league-leading sixth home run for St. Louis, which had a three-game win streak snapped. Kyle Leahy (1-2) suffered the loss, allowing two runs on three hits and three walks in four innings while striking out two.
Boston took a 2-0 lead in the fourth. Roman Anthony led off with a walk and advanced to second on a one-out single by Duran. Contreras, who spent the last three seasons with St. Louis, followed with a double into the left-field corner, driving in Anthony and Duran.
St. Louis cut the lead to 2-1 in the eighth when Walker smashed a 429-foot home run onto the grassy berm in dead center off reliever Garrett Whitlock, his fifth homer in the past seven games.
Boston broke the game open with a five-run, six-hit ninth against reliever Matt Svanson, highlighted by a two-run single by Durbin and RBI singles by Rafaela, Duran and Contreras.
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