Orioles 10, Cardinals 3: Caleb Joseph homered for the fifth consecutive contest and Nelson Cruz and Delmon Young also hit two-run shots as host Baltimore slugged its way to a seventh straight series victory.

Young added an RBI double and Manny Machado and J.J. Hardy each had a run-scoring single for the Orioles, who have gone deep nine times and amassed 22 runs and 31 hits in the first two contests of the series. Machado had three of his team's 16 hits as Baltimore pushed its lead to six games over both the New York Yankees and Toronto in the American League East.

The offense proved to be more than enough for Ubaldo Jimenez (4-8), who returned from the disabled list to make his first start since July 5. The 30-year-old Dominican allowed three runs on six hits in six innings before three relievers kept St. Louis under wraps.

Jon Jay launched a solo homer and added a sacrifice fly for the Cardinals, who fell three games behind first-place Milwaukee in the National League Central and remain in a virtual tie with San Francisco for the second wild-card spot. Making his second start since being acquired from Boston, John Lackey (12-8) was throttled for nine runs on 13 hits in five innings.

After Young's RBI double trimmed Baltimore's deficit to 2-1 in the second inning, Joseph continued his sizzling stretch by drilling a first-pitch fastball from Lackey over the wall in left-center field to push the Orioles ahead. Cruz followed suit in the third with his team-leading 30th homer and Young capped a three-run fifth with his fifth blast to give Baltimore an 8-3 advantage.

GAME NOTEBOOK: St. Louis' Jhonny Peralta, who had an RBI double in the first inning, went 2-for-3 against Jimenez and improved to 11-for-27 in his career versus the hurler. ... With Peralta serving as the designated hitter, SS Daniel Descalso made a rare start and went 3-for-3. ... The Orioles optioned RHP Miguel Gonzalez to Triple-A Norfolk to make room for Jimenez, who had been on the disabled list since July 13 with a right ankle injury.