Wacha, Red Sox hold off Cardinals' rally 6-5

Michael Wacha pitched neatly into the sixth inning against his former team and the Boston Red Sox held off the St. Louis Cardinals 6-5.

The NL Central-leading Cardinals trailed 6-1 going into the ninth inning and reliever Austin Davis retired the first two batters. But Dylan Carlson doubled, Harrison Bader tripled and Andrew Knizner was hit with a pitch. Reliever Tanner Houck gave up an RBI double to Tommy Edman and a two-run double to Brendan Donovan.

Paul Goldschmidt then was called out on strikes. Wacha allowed one run in 5 1/3 innings. Wacha made his major league debut with the Cardinals in 2013 and helped them reach the World Series against Boston. He was the losing pitcher in Game 6 at Fenway Park as Boston won the championship.