Cards' Carpenter homers in sixth straight game

First baseman Matt Carpenter homered for a franchise record sixth consecutive game as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Chicago Cubs 6-3 on Saturday. Carpenter's six-game homer run is the longest single-season streak in Cardinals' history, surpassing Mark McGwire, who homered in five straight games during the 2001 season. After homering in a 7-2 loss earlier in the day in game one of a doubleheader with the Cubs, Carpenter came off the bench in game two and belted a pinch-hit homer in the seventh off Cubs relief pitcher Randy Rosario. The record home run came one day after the Texan hit three home runs with seven RBIs as part of his five-for-five performance at the plate in an 18-5 win over the Cubs. He now has 25 home runs this Major League Baseball season, including 10 this month and eight during the six-game streak. Elsewhere, George Springer smashed a grand slam and pitcher Justin Verlander ended a winless skid with 11 strikeouts in the Houston Astro's 7-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels. Everything went smoothly for the defending World Series champion Astros in their fourth win in five games, extending the second-best start in franchise history to 66-35. Japanese two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani had two doubles as the Angels fell to 49 wins and 50 losses on the season, dropping below .500 for the first time since the season opener. Ohtani had multiple extra-base hits for the third time in his rookie season. He hit a double in the fourth inning and another in the ninth, improving his batting average to .283. He has five extra-base hits in 13 games since returning from the injured list. "He's got a really quick bat, and we saw that today on some good pitches inside," Houston manager A.J. Hinch said.