Beau Taylor, Matt Chapman bombs lead Athletics past Cardinals

June 27 (UPI) -- Beau Taylor and Matt Chapman each hit solo homers to lead the Oakland Athletics to a 2-0 win against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Taylor's thumper came in the fourth inning of the shutout victory Wednesday at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright began the game strong, allowing just three hits and tossing six strikeouts in three shutout innings.

He retired the first two batters he faced in the fourth frame, before Taylor stepped into the box. The Athletics catcher fouled off Wainwright's first two offerings, before the right-handed pitcher tossed in a 90.1 mph sinker. Taylor turned on the pitch, sending the baseball over the right center field fence for a 398-foot homer. The solo shot had an exit velocity of 100-mph and left the ballpark in 4.5 seconds, according to Statcast.

Wainwright remained in the game and retired the next four hitters. He surrendered just two hits and tossed four strikeouts without allowing another run until the seventh frame, when he faced Chapman. Wainwright struck out Robbie Grossman to begin the seventh frame. He then forced shortstop Marcus Semien to ground out, before Chapman settled in.

The Athletics third baseman took a called strike before watching a curveball pass by for a ball. Wainwright then tossed in his third curveball of the exchange. Chapman waited on the off-speed offering. He then pelted the pitch over the left center field fence for his 19th homer of the season. Chapman's 415-foot solo bomb had an exit velocity of 104 mph and left Busch Stadium in six seconds.

A's starter Daniel Mengden kept Cardinals bats silent, allowing just four hits and tossing five strikeouts in six shutout innings. The right-handed pitcher earned his second win of the season. Wainwright picked up his seventh loss of 2019. The Cardinals starter allowed seven hits and two runs in the setback.

"Me and Beau had a great game plan going in, keeping the ball down really good," Mengden told reporters, according to MLB.com. "I think we were throwing really good pitches and had a really good pitch call in certain situations, whenever we were ahead, throwing certain pitches off of the plate and getting them to chase."

Chapman was 2-for-4 with an RBI, a run scored and a strikeout in the win. Taylor was 1-for-3 with an RBI, a walk, a run scored and a strikeout for the A's.

The Athletics start a four-game series against the Los Angeles Angels at 10:07 p.m. Thursday at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif.