winning ways

The fans at his home ballpark gave a standing ovation to a visiting player who took him deep. Dakota Hudson was OK with it. The ex-Mississippi State standout, pitching for St. Louis, yielded a home run to former Cardinals star Albert Pujols in the seventh inning Saturday at Busch Stadium. The crowd roared as he circled the bases, and Pujols even gave them a curtain call. “The guy deserves that ovation,” Hudson, who had Pujols posters on his wall as a kid, told The Associated Press. Hudson deserved a few cheers of his own. The Pujols homer was the only run Hudson allowed in seven innings (112 pitches) as he led the Cardinals to a 4-2 victory against the Los Angeles Angels. He is 6-3 with a 3.36 ERA for a club that is suddenly just a game out in the National League Central. … Former Ole Miss star Lance Lynn also got a win on Saturday, grinding through seven innings as Texas rallied to beat the Chicago White Sox 6-5. Lynn allowed all five runs, including a three-run double and a homer by East Central Community College alum Tim Anderson, but retired 17 of the last 18 he faced. He improved to 9-4, 4.32 for a Rangers club that is creeping up on slumping Houston in the American League West. … Former State standout Jonathan Holder notched a W in relief for the New York Yankees but probably didn’t feel too good about his outing. He gave up a three-run homer to Houston’s Yordan Alvarez that put the Yankees behind in the seventh inning, but the streaking Bombers answered with three in the bottom of the inning and won 7-5. Holder (5-2) saw his ERA jump to 5.55 for the AL East leaders. … Madison Central High product Spencer Turnbull started for Detroit, gave up two runs in five innings — good enough to win a lot of times — but took a loss as the Tigers fell to Cleveland 2-0. Turnbull is 3-7 despite a 3.29 ERA.