Carpenter homers again as Cards split DH with Cubs
CHICAGO: Matt Carpenter made Cardinals history by homering in his sixth straight game on Saturday night as St Louis earned a split of a doubleheader by coming from behind for a 6-3 victory over hosts Chicago Cubs in the nightcap at Wrigley Field.
Carpenter’s streak appeared endangered when he didn’t start the second game, but he entered the contest as part of a double-switch in the sixth and extended his record run in dramatic fashion an inning later, when he began the Cardinals’ comeback from a 3-1 deficit by homering off Randy Rosario.
Carpenter is the second player in franchise history to homer in six straight games but the first to do so in a single season. Mark McGwire homered in the final two games of the 1997 season and the first four games of his 70-homer 1998 campaign. The major league record for most consecutive games with a homer is eight, shared by Dale Long (1956), Don Mattingly (1987) and Ken Griffey Jr (1993).
Carpenter, who hit three homers on Friday, has eight homers and 12 RBIs during his streak. His seven homers in the last five games tie a team record previously set by Jim Bottomley from July 5-9, 1929.
Earlier, Javier Baez gave Chicago the lead for good with an RBI single in the fifth inning and added a run-scoring double in the seventh inning in a 7-2 win over St Louis to open the doubleheader.
Baez’s first RBI hit, the last of three straight singles to open the fifth, chased Cardinals starter Luke Weaver (5-9) and gave the Cubs a 2-1 lead. Kyle Schwarber followed with a sacrifice fly.
The tie-breaking hit put Tyler Chatwood (4-5) in line for the win despite another inefficient outing. Chatwood allowed only one hit — Matt Carpenter’s solo homer in the third — but he walked six while striking out just two over 5 1/3 innings.
Aaron Judge collected three hits, including his 26th homer, as the New York Yankees survived a shaky ninth inning by Aroldis Chapman and held off the New York Mets 7-6 at Yankee Stadium.
Judge highlighted his second three-hit game in two days by hitting a homer into the wind in the seventh off Tim Peterson to give the Yankees a 6-3 lead.
Yankees right-hander Sonny Gray (7-7) allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits in 5 1/3 innings. Chapman allowed a bases-loaded walk to Jose Reyes in the ninth and hit Brandon Nimmo with a pitch before being replaced by Chasen Shreve, who recorded his second career save.
Jose Iglesias homered and drove in four runs, Mike Fiers delivered another quality start and Detroit blanked visiting Boston 5-0.
Iglesias had a two-run double and tworun homer as the Tigers bounced back from losing 1-0 to the Red Sox on Friday. Jeimer Candelario contributed two hits, a run scored and an RBI while Victor Martinez scored twice.
Fiers (7-6) consistently worked out of trouble, scattering seven hits and walking three while striking out six in 6 1/3 innings. The loss was Boston’s second in their last 15 games.