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ST. LOUIS (AP) — David Freese's three-run homer snapped the Cardinals' seven-game longball drought and St. Louis beat the Houston Astros 13-5 Thursday to complete a three-game sweep.

Freese and Matt Holliday each had four RBIs and Allen Craig had three hits and three RBIs. The Cardinals shrugged aside a 4-0, fourth-inning deficit and sent Houston to its seventh straight loss.

The Astros are 0-4 while getting outscored 32-8 since interim manager Tony DeFrancesco replaced Brad Mills as leader of the stripped-down roster. Houston has won just seven of its last 50 overall.

Ben Francisco had three hits for the Astros, who were swept for the third time this month and 12th overall.

Holliday's three-run double in the fifth inning was the go-ahead blow.

Jake Westbrook (13-9) won for the fourth time in five starts despite struggles with control two days after getting a new contract for next season with a mutual option for 2014.

Westbrook surrendered five runs on seven hits, two walks and two hit batters in five innings, ending a string of 13 consecutive starts of at least six innings.

Astros rookie lefty Dallas Keuchel (1-6) retired 11 of the first 12 batters, but six of his last seven reached base, one on an error. He earned his first career RBI on a sacrifice fly in the second, but was charged with five earned runs in four-plus innings.

The Cardinals totaled 17 hits and were 10 for 14 with runners in scoring position against five pitchers, one off their season best, to sweep the Astros for the first time since April 2009 and wrap up a 6-3 homestand with a string of contenders awaiting.

St. Louis starts a 10-game trip Friday night with three games at NL Central-leading Cincinnati, followed by three at wild card-contending Pittsburgh and four at NL East-leading Washington.

Like Westbrook, the 24-year-old Keuchel entered with decent recent numbers with three consecutive quality starts. He's 0-6 in nine starts since beating the Indians with a six-hitter on June 23.

Freese's 16th homer capped a two-out rally in the fourth. The Astros elected to pitch to Freese instead of Daniel Descalso, just 3 for 21 during the homestand to that point and batting .226.

The first five Cardinals reached safely to start the fifth, including an error. Holliday had been just 5 for 36 with two RBIs on the homestand, put St. Louis ahead 7-5 with his double.

NOTES: Craig has a 12-game hitting streak. He is batting .354 during his hitting streak with a homer, six doubles and six RBIs, raising his average to .313. ... Tyler Greene, traded from the Cardinals to Houston earlier this month, was 0 for 7 with five strikeouts in the series. Greene was a first-round pick in 2005 and became a fan target after numerous failures in St. Louis. ... ... Brett Wallace is 7 for 14 against Westbrook with four RBIs. ... Astros OF Justin Maxwell missed his second straight start with a bruised right index finger. ... Lance Lynn (13-5, 3.73 ERA) faces Mat Latos (10-3, 3.56) in the series opener against the Reds. ... The Astros open a three-game road series against the Mets, with Jordan Lyles (2-10, 5.70) set to start the opener against Jonathan Niese (10-6, 3.82).

NEW YORK (AP) — Astros interim manager Tony DeFrancesco wasn't sure at first if Marwin Gonzalez was safe or out at home plate in the ninth inning. In that tangle, it was hard to tell.

So he burst out of the dugout to protect his player, and at least take a shot at persuading home plate umpire Dave Rackley to rule the go-ahead run had scored.

No such luck. Gonzalez was ejected before he could get to the plate, and the call stood.

Ike Davis then hit his second homer of the day with one out in the bottom of the ninth, lifting the New York Mets to their first series win at home since early July with a 2-1 victory over Houston on Sunday.

"It was a bang-bang play. The umpire got it right, but I thought it could have went either way," said DeFrancesco, a former catcher. "It was a heck of a play by the catcher squashing him off the plate."

Rookies Jeremy Hefner and Lucas Harrell engaged in a crisp duel for seven innings. Hefner took a shutout into the ninth before giving up a tying double to Gonzalez.

Gonzalez then tried to score on Ben Francisco's single off Bobby Parnell (3-3) and Lucas Duda, recalled from Triple-A Buffalo on Sunday, made a strong throw home.

Catcher Kelly Shoppach took Duda's slightly high throw and stuck his left leg out to block the plate. Gonzalez tried to slide around him and reach back for the plate, but Shoppach used his body to prevent Gonzalez from slipping in a hand. Gonzalez jumped up and slammed his helmet down after being called out. He was tossed by Rackley.

"It was a great throw by Duda, giving us a chance to keep it tied," Shoppach said of Duda, who is often criticized as being a sub-par outfielder.

Davis' drive off Wilton Lopez (5-2) just cleared the top of the right-field wall — and the glove of a leaping Francisco — for the second game-ending drive of his career — a homer under the new Citi Field dimensions. He took a leaping 360-degree spin into his awaiting teammates at the plate.

"I thought I hit it a little better than I did. Outfielder kind of deked me a little bit," Davis said. "Thought I'd look like a fool because I didn't run out of the box. ... First one I got pretty good."

Davis connected off Harrell, his former teammate on the U.S. national team, leading off the fourth, launching a shot about halfway up the second deck in right to help the Mets snap a skid of six straight series losses at Citi Field. Since taking two of three from Philadelphia July 3-5, New York has gone 5-16 at home.

Batting .199 on July 4, Davis has lifted his average to .223 and he has 24 homers this season.

"It was a pitch down and in," Harrell said. "I tried to get it in but not down."

The Mets took two of three in the final series at Citi Field with Houston being a National League team. The Astros join the AL West next season.

The Astros have won just eight of their last 53 games.

At Buffalo, Duda worked on playing in left field after starting 80 games in the right for New York. Often looking lost in the field before he was sent down on July 24 because he was slumping at the plate, Duda couldn't come up with a difficult catch in the ninth that allowed Houston to tie it 1-all, spoiling Hefner's fine outing.

"I thought he looked great out there. He looks comfortable," manager Terry Collins said. "As far as that ball goes, he ran a long way for that ball. And any time you dive toward that wall, there's issues. I thought he did fine. Of course, he made a great throw, too."

Pinch-hitter Jose Altuve led off the ninth with a single and Collins chose to leave Hefner in. Gonzalez then hit a low liner down the left-field line. Duda made the long run and the ball hit of his glove as he tried to make the catch and avoid hitting the wall.

Altuve scored and Gonzalez landed on second base chasing Hefner.

Harrell came in the leader in innings pitched for rookies and had won 25 percent of the Astros' 40 games. He was second to Wade Miley in wins for rookies in the NL and led the league with 151 1-3 innings pitched.

He showed how good he was Sunday, giving up two hits and a run with four of his seven strikeouts coming with the batter caught looking.

"I felt like I was working quick and in the zone all day," Harrell said.

NOTES: RHP Armando Galarraga has chosen to become a free agent rather than accepting an assignment to the minors after being designated for assignment by the Astros last week. ... Astros OF Justin Maxwell missed his fifth consecutive start with a bruised right index finger. He will see a doctor Monday and could be headed to the disabled list.

HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Astros have dropped their last three games by a total of four runs. That doesn't make the mounting losses any easier to take, though.

Their latest close defeat came Tuesday night when pinch-hitter Hector Sanchez delivered a go-ahead single in the ninth inning and the San Francisco Giants rallied for a 3-2 victory.

"Eventually, it is going to turn," Astros interim manager Tony DeFrancesco said. "We have a lot of confidence in the guys in there. The effort is there. I am watching guys go hard every day. It's sort of frustrating to the manager and coaching staff not to get the 'W.'"

The Giants were down 2-1 entering the ninth. Brandon Belt singled off Wesley Wright to start inning before pinch-hitter Joaquin Arias doubled down the left-field line off Wilton Lopez (5-3) to tie it at 2.

Sanchez completed the rally with his one-out liner to center that scored Arias.

"It's definitely tough, but they are a good team," Houston's Brett Wallace said. "We played with them tonight."

Houston took the lead on a wild pitch by Matt Cain in the eighth inning. The game was tied 1-all when Jimmy Paredes, in his first game since being recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City, drew a walk. Wallace singled before a sacrifice bunt by Jason Castro left runners at second and third.

Then came the wild pitch in the dirt that bounced between the legs of catcher Buster Posey and off the backstop. Posey went to get the ball and Paredes trotted home ahead of the throw and over a diving Cain to put Houston up 2-1.

Santiago Casilla (5-5) retired the last two batters in the eighth for the win and Sergio Romo threw a perfect ninth for his seventh save.

Angel Pagan put San Francisco up 1-0 when he connected on a home run to right field with two outs in the fifth. Houston evened it up when Fernando Martinez opened the bottom half with a homer to right-center.

The loss dropped DeFrancesco to 1-7 and came in front of 13,516 fans — the smallest crowd in the history of Houston's 12-year-old ballpark. DeFrancesco took over on Aug. 19 after Brad Mills became the first manager in the majors to be fired this season.

Houston starter Bud Norris was lifted in the seventh with a blister on his right middle finger. He retired the first two batters in the inning before falling behind 2-0 to Pagan.

Trainers checked out Norris and chatted with him before he was replaced by Fernando Rodriguez.

"It is kind of aggravating him a little bit, so he is having a tough time commanding his slider," DeFrancesco said. "Going into the sixth inning and the seventh, it is more painful. ... He can handle it, but when the pain starts beating on him and throbbing, then it's time to come out of the game."

Norris is mired in a career-worst 10-game losing streak and hasn't won since May 21. He allowed six hits and a run with seven strikeouts.

"I just tried to go out there and help my team stay as close as we can and try to win a game," Norris said. "We were ahead late and unfortunately it fell apart."

Cain, who pitched a perfect game against Houston on June 13, allowed six hits and two runs with three walks in 7 1-3 innings.

"I felt good," he said. "I felt like I was able to throw a lot of pitches for strikes anytime I kind of wanted to."

Cain didn't give up a hit until Wallace doubled with one out in the fourth. Pagan fielded it near the wall in center and threw to cutoff man Brandon Crawford, who caught the throw right before Gregor Blanco came dashing in from left field and crashed into him.

The collision sent both players tumbling to the ground, but neither was injured.

Cain was helped by his defense in the first when Castro hit a pop fly into foul territory. Third baseman Pablo Sandoval attempted to make the catch, but the ball bounced out of his glove and into the air. Crawford then made a diving grab before the ball hit the ground.

NOTES: Houston CF Jordan Schafer, on the disabled list with an injured left shoulder, went 0 for 3 and scored a run for Oklahoma City in the third game of his rehab assignment. ... The teams continue the series Wednesday when San Francisco left-hander Barry Zito opposes Dallas Keuchel.