SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — On a night when he came within a double of hitting for the cycle, Dexter Fowler was more impressed with two defensive plays he made in center field than anything he did at the plate.

It’s easy to see why considering what the rest of the Cardinals lineup did.

Fowler, José Martinez and Paul Goldschmidt homered, Tommy Edman tripled in the go-ahead run in the fourth inning and St. Louis beat the San Francisco Giants 9-4 on Friday night.

“I told the umpire, ‘Hey man, I still got it,'” Fowler said after driving in two runs and scoring three times. “Any time you can make plays to help the guy on the mound, it’s definitely a plus.”

The 33-year-old Fowler has spent most of his time in right field this season, but is likely to see more time in center now that Martinez is a mainstay in the lineup. Fowler’s two running catches in the deepest parts of Oracle Park, including one to take away a hit from Mike Yastrzemski in the fourth, certainly helped as did homering for the second straight day.

“He’s back to being in the strike zone,” manager Mike Shildt said. “He’s seeing the ball well, his swing feels good. Everything looks really good for Dex. Good at-bats, good ballgame.”

Kolton Wong had three hits and two RBIs to help the Cardinals win their third straight and keep pace with Milwaukee in the crowded NL Central. Matt Wieters added two hits and an RBI in a rare start in place of catcher Yadier Molina.

Buster Posey had two hits and Alex Dickerson homered for San Francisco, which had its four-game winning streak stopped. The Giants scored at least seven runs in each of the four previous wins, but were held to one over the final six innings by St. Louis.

Martinez hit a solo home run off starter Drew Pomeranz (2-9) in the first. DeJong followed with a single before Goldschmidt hit his 15th, a two-run blast to deep center that traveled an estimated 449 feet.

San Francisco came back with two runs in the bottom of the first, then tied it on Dickerson’s solo home run leading off the third.

Edman’s triple in the fourth drove in Wong and put St. Louis ahead to stay. It’s the third consecutive game that the Cardinals rookie has driven in the deciding run.

Fowler homered in the ninth after getting a single and triple in his previous two at-bats.

Dakota Hudson (7-4) overcame three first-inning walks to win. The right-hander allowed three runs and struck out six in five innings.

UP NEXT

Madison Bumgarner (5-7, 4.02 ERA) starts for the Giants on Saturday. The big lefty needs one strikeout to move past Tim Lincecum into second place on the team’s all-time list in the San Francisco era. The Cardinals counter with RHP Miles Mikolas (5-8, 4.34) . Mikolas won in his only career start against the Giants last season.

Atlantic 3, Kuemper Catholic 2 (10 innings, Gunnar Kirchhoff with the walk-off hit to bring in Nile Petersen.)
AHSTW 8, Sidney 1
Bedford 13, Lenox 1
Carlisle 6, ADM, Adel 3
Central Decatur, Leon 15, East Union, Afton 2 (5 innings)
Dowling Catholic, West Des Moines 8, Council Bluffs, Abraham Lincoln 3
Exira-EHK 5, Panorama 4
Harlan 8, Des Moines Roosevelt 7
Lamoni 19, Orient-Macksburg 4 (Continuation of 7/3)
Lewis Central 9, Creston 1 (Game 1, LC clinches outright Hawkeye Ten Conference Title)
Lewis Central 10, Creston 7 (Game 2)
Martensdale-St. Marys 4, Southeast Warren 3 (Clinched POI Conference Championship)
Mount Ayr 3, Nodaway Valley 2 (11 innnings)
Ogden 4, Coon Rapids-Bayard 3
Shenandoah 12, Fremont-Mills 1
Tri-Center 5, CAM 3
West Branch 19, Treynor 9
Westwood 10, Logan-Magnolia 3

Atlantic 12, Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson 0
ACGC 14, West Harrison 4
ADM 3, Urbandale 0
ADM 8, Gilbert 2
Ankeny Centennial 6, Winterset 0
Glidden-Ralston 8, CAM 7 (Game 1)
CAM 15, Glidden-Ralston 3 (Game 2)
Carroll 4, Glenwood 1
Central Decatur 10, East Union 1
Dallas Center-Grimes 13, Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln 1
Harlan 2, Treynor 1
Lenox 4, Bedford 1
Mount Ayr 10, Nodaway Valley 1
North Mahaska 3, CB Thomas Jefferson 1
Panorama 6, Exira-EHK 5
Perry 4, Coon Rapids-Bayard 1
Southeast Warren 13, Martensdale-St. Marys 12
West Lyon 6, Westwood 2
West Monona 10, Missouri Valley 0
Winterset 9, Southeast Valley 1

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Ric Hanson.

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Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — Matt Wieters and Dexter Fowler homered, Tommy Edman came through with another key hit, and the St. Louis Cardinals rallied for a 5-4 win over the Seattle Mariners. Wieters hit a solo shot in the third inning and Fowler added a two-run drive in the fourth. Daniel Ponce de Leon got his first major league win, and Carlos Martinez worked the ninth for his third save.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Francisco Lindor drove in three runs, Jose Ramirez homered twice and the Indians rallied to beat the Royals 8-4 to complete a three-game sweep. Adam Cimber earned the win in relief as the Indians’ bullpen bailed out ineffective starter Zach Plesac. Jorge Lopez took the loss in relief for Kansas City after inheriting a 3-2 lead and coughing up hits to the only four batters he faced.

SEATTLE (AP) — Matt Wieters and Dexter Fowler homered, Tommy Edman came through with another key hit, and the St. Louis Cardinals rallied for a 5-4 win over the Seattle Mariners on Thursday. Wieters hit a solo shot in the third inning and Fowler added a two-run drive in the fourth. Daniel Ponce de Leon got his first major league win, and Carlos Martinez worked the ninth for his third save.

Edman put the Cardinals in front for the second straight day with a two-run single in the seventh. Edman connected for a pinch-hit three-run homer during St. Louis’ five-run ninth in a 5-2 win Wednesday night.

St. Louis starter Michael Wacha was charged with four runs and six hits in 3 1/3 innings, but the Cardinals bullpen was solid for the second straight game. Ponce de Leon (1-0) allowed one baserunner in 2 2/3 innings. Andrew Miller worked out of a jam in the eighth before Martinez finished.

J.P. Crawford and Tim Beckham homered for the Mariners, who have dropped six of seven. All-Star Daniel Vogelbach singled home a run. Seattle wasted a chance to tie the game in the eighth. The inning started with Mallex Smith hitting a liner that deflected off John Gant’s leg for a base hit. Miller then replaced Gant, and a single by Domingo Santana and a wild pitch put runners at second and third with one out.

Miller escaped the threat by striking out Vogelbach and Omar Narvaez, and got a big assist from Wieters keeping a spiked pitch to Narvaez from going to the backstop.

Seattle’s Tommy Milone (1-3) was solid for five innings following opener Matt Carasiti, but ran into trouble in the seventh. Milone was lifted after a leadoff walk and one-out single, and Matt Festa walked Wieters to load the bases. Edman barely missed a grand slam earlier in the at-bat when a deep fly ball hooked late. On the ninth pitch, Edman lined a slider into right to give St. Louis the lead.
EARLY EXIT
Cardinals manager Mike Shildt was ejected in the fourth inning after arguing with home plate umpire Rob Drake. Shildt was upset when Yairo Muñoz attempted to call time and it wasn’t granted, leading to a strike. Shildt continued to yell from the dugout and was tossed by Drake after Muñoz grounded out.
UP NEXT
Cardinals: Open a three-game series in San Francisco on Friday night. Dakota Hudson (6-4) gets the start in the opener looking to bounce back from the shortest start of his career after lasting 1 2/3 innings.

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CAM, Anita 17, Audubon 4
Sioux City, East 14, Spencer 3 (varsity only 6:00)
Sioux City, West 7, Bishop Heelan Catholic, Sioux City 2 (Suspended in 2 inning)
West Harrison, Mondamin 2, Missouri Valley 1

ACGC 6, Woodward-Granger 4
Audubon 13, Griswold 1
Bishop Garrigan 15, Kuemper Catholic 7
Creston 19, Shenandoah 16
IKM-Manning 5, CAM 2
LeMars 14, Sioux Center 9
Lenox 12, Nodaway Valley 2
Missouri Valley 8, River Valley 5
Shenandoah 8, Creston 4 (8)
Treynor 2, Denison-Schleswig 1
Wayne 12, Bedford 0
Westwood 10, Whiting 4
Westwood 12, Whiting 0

Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — Tommy Edman capped St. Louis’ big ninth inning with a two-out, three-run home run as the Cardinals rallied for five runs to beat the Seattle Mariners 5-2. St. Louis entered the ninth trailing 2-0 after a masterful performance from Seattle starter Mike Leake, who threw 7 2/3 shutout innings against his former team for the first time. But Seattle’s bullpen imploded and the Cardinals took full advantage of the meltdown.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Mike Clevinger pitched six innings of four-hit ball, Carlos Santana and Roberto Perez went deep and the Indians rolled to a 4-0 victory over the Royals. Clevinger struck out nine without a walk in his second start since a balky back forced him into a lengthy stay on the injured list. Danny Duffy took the loss for Kansas City despite allowing just two runs while pitching into the seventh inning.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Carlos Vela scored his 17th goal of the season, Diego Rossi added his ninth and Los Angeles FC beat Sporting Kansas City 5-1. Kansas City dropped its second straight following a three-game undefeated run.