ST. LOUIS (AP) Jon Gray is back to competing http://www.marinersfanproshop.com/authentic-edgar-martinez-jersey , and the Colorado Rockies are reaping the rewards.Charlie Blackmon and Carlos Gonzalez each went deep, Gray pitched into the eighth inning and the Rockies beat the St. his last four decisions, and the Rockies have won the last five games he’s started. That includes three straight victories since a brief demotion to Triple-A to clear the young right-hander’s head.Gray struck out five over 7 1/3 innings, helping Colorado finish the month 17-6. Gray allowed three runs, two earned, with four hits and two walks.”I’m definitely feeling more competitive than I ever have before which is good,” Gray said. ”That’s one thing I want to feel all the time out there is competitive and ask myself, `How good can you be today?’ and just go with that.”Just making the game fun and playing the small games within a game has been carrying me through.”Manager Bud Black liked what he saw.”He probably threw a few more true curveballs tonight than the previous couple outings,” Black said. ”It was working well. The change of velocity from the curveball to the fastball I think was a great variable for Jon.”Wade Davis got his 31st save in 35 opportunities with a 1-2-3 ninth inning. He saved a career-high 32 last year with the Cubs.Colorado went ahead 2-1 on Blackmon’s homer in the fifth. Ryan McMahon led off with a 12-pitch walk, and with two outs, Blackmon hit a 1-2 pitch into the right field bleachers. Blackmon’s homer extended his hitting streak to 13 games.The Rockies added two runs in the sixth to chase starter Jack Flaherty (4-6). Gonzalez walked with one out and Trevor Story doubled. Story has team-leading 69 RBIs.Chasen Shreve, making his first appearance for St. Louis since coming over in a July 28 trade with the Yankees, gave up a double to Gerardo Parra.Colorado’s final two runs came when Gonzalez lined a homer just inside the right field foul pole off John Brebbia. Ian Desmond Ben Gamel Jersey , who drew a one-out walk, scored ahead of Gonzalez.Matt Carpenter led off with a home run, sending an 0-2 pitch into the right field seats. It was Carpenter’s seventh leadoff home run this season. It was the 22nd of his career, passing Hall of Famer Lou Brock on St. Louis’ career list.”To be in the same sentence with him (Brock) is pretty special,” Carpenter said.Carpenter, who hit an MLB-leading 11 homers in July, leads the Cardinals with 26.The Cardinals scored two runs in the eighth, cutting the lead to 6-3. St. Louis loaded the bases with one out against Gray. Seung Hwan Oh gave up a sacrifice fly to Carpenter, and a passed ball and throwing error by catcher Tom Murphy allowed Dexter Fowler to score.Flaherty (4-6) pitched 5 1/3 innings. It marked the first time in five starts he pitched into the sixth inning. He allowed four runs, five hits and two walks. He struck out seven.TRADE WINDSCardinals: St. Louis traded outfielder Tommy Pham and international bonus slot allotment to Tampa Bay for outfielder Justin Williams, left-hander Genesis Cabrera and right-hander Roel Ramirez. The 30-year-old Pham has been a member of the Cardinals organization since being drafted in 2006. He was batting .248 this season with 14 home runs and 41 RBIs. St. Louis also acquired minor league outfielders Conner Capel and Jhon Torres from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for Triple-A outfielder Oscar Mercado.TRAINERS ROOMRockies: RHP Chad Bettis (middle finger blister) will make another rehab start Thursday for Triple-A Albuquerque. If he does well with no problems, he could return to the big club as either a starter or a reliever. Bettis hasn’t pitched in the major league since July 1.Cardinals: RHP Carlos Martinez (right shoulder strain) was placed on the 10-day disabled list on Tuesday and had an MRI. President of baseball operations John Moseliak said the team does not believe the injury is season-ending, and Martinez will be able to pitch again. … 2B Kolton Wong (left knee inflammation) is eligible to come off the DL on Wednesday but likely will be activated Thursday or Friday. … St. Louis recalled rookie outfielder Tyler O’Neill and left-handed reliever Tyler Webb from Triple-A Memphis on Tuesday.UP NEXTRockies: Kyle Freeland (9-6 http://www.marinersfanproshop.com/authentic-edgar-martinez-jersey , 3.13) will be making his first start in St. Louis and second against the Cardinals. He pitched six innings in taking a loss in a 3-0 defeat to St. Louis on May 27, 2017. The Rockies have won each of his last five starts.Cardinals: RHP Luke Weaver (6-9, 4.70) will make his second career appearance against Colorado. He pitched a career-low two innings in his start in 2016 against the Rockies in an 11-1 loss. In his most recent outing, Weaver pitched six innings and picked up the win in a 5-2 victory over the Cubs.— WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — If three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer has his way, Major League Baseball’s pitch clock will die in the South Florida humidity.“I know as players that’s something that MLB is trying to negotiate,” the Washington Nationals ace said Saturday night. “I don’t think there’s negotiation here. As players, it just shouldn’t be in the game. Having a pitch clock, if you have ball-strike implications, that’s messing with the fabric of the game. There’s no clock in baseball and there’s no clock in baseball for a reason.”After pushing for an agreement with players last season, management decided on its own to experiment with a 20-second pitch clock during spring training this year, part of the sport’s effort to speed the pace of play. Owners have the right to implement the clock for the regular season but would prefer to reach an agreement with the union.Under the phase-in designed to allow teams to get used to the concept without fear of penalty, pitchers and batters who were taking too long in Saturday’s games were merely warned to hurry up.When the policy Mitch Haniger Jersey , which has been used in some minor leagues since 2015, is phased in, a ball could be charged in certain situations to pitchers who do not begin their motion in time. Batters delaying the game might draw a strike.Washington played its Grapefruit League opener Saturday night against Houston. Scherzer came close to using the full 20 seconds on a couple of occasions with runners on base, but the clock didn’t expire.The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches features a pitch clock beneath the main outfield scoreboard and two at ground level behind home plate near each dugout.“Now having to actually throw to it, I think it’s more of a distraction than anything,” Scherzer said. “I get that there are parts of the game that we can clean up and I think that there can be meaningful changes. I’m fundamentally against this.”A newly elected member of the Major League Baseball Players Association’s executive board, Scherzer felt his first outing dragging a bit, attributing the slow play to a high amount of foul balls. He referenced an article published a few days ago by FiveThirtyEight citing an increase in foul balls as being a major reason for longer games.“I’m not going to put my name next to this clock,” he said.Scherzer allowed one run on Jake Marisnick’s homer, one of three hits he gave up in two innings. He struck out three and walked one while throwing 25 of 44 pitches for strikes.The home run by Marisnick to straightaway center field led off the game and came on a 2-2 fastball.“It’s a fastball right down the middle, that’s what it goes back to,” Scherzer said. “I’ve got to get that fastball to the edge.”