Molina reaches 2,000 hits as Cards deck Brewers
NATIONAL LEAGUE CARDINALS 4, BREWERS 2
ST. LOUIS — Yadier Molina singled twice to reach 2,000 career hits and the St. Louis Cardinals began a five-game series between playoff contenders by beating the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2 Thursday night.
Rookie Dylan Carlson homered, doubled and drove in three runs as the Cardinals (28-26) kept their slim lead over Cincinnati (29-28) for second place in the NL Central.
Milwaukee (27-29) missed a chance to move up in the wild-card standings. The Brewers and Cardinals play four more times this weekend, including a doubleheader today.
St. Louis starter Kwang Hyun Kim (3-0) went five innings to pick up the win. He allowed five hits and just one run in his seventh career start. Andrew Miller got the final two outs — both on strikeouts — to record his fourth save.
Corbin Burnes (4-1), who began the day with a 1.77 ERA, left the game with lower back discomfort in the fourth inning. He pitched 32/3 innings, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits.
MARLINS 4, BRAVES 2 Jon Berti had three hits, including a two-run double, Pablo Lopez (64) allowed only two hits in five scoreless innings and visiting Miami beat Atlanta to boost its playoff hopes. Miami snapped a four-game losing streak.
METS 3, NATIONALS 2 Robinson Chirinos homered and drove in three runs, and visiting New York beat Washington to keep its flickering postseason hopes alive. The Mets moved within 21/2 games of Miami for second place in the NL East and within 21/2 games of San Francisco for the NL’s second wild card spot. Lefthander David Peterson (6-2) closed his rookie season with his longest outing, going seven innings and allowing four hits and one run while striking out four.
PIRATES 7, CUBS 0 Chad Kuhl pitched seven sharp innings and Colin Moran and Bryan Reynolds had home runs among their three hits each in Pittsburgh’s victory over visiting Chicago. Kuhl (2-3) retired his first nine batters and had a no-hitter until Anthony Rizzo doubled to the wall in right-center with one out in the sixth inning.
ROCKIES 5, GIANTS 4 (11) Raimel Tapia hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the 11th inning, and visiting Colorado rallied to keep contending San Francisco from gaining ground in the NL wildcard race. Jairo Diaz earned his fourth save by getting Austin Slater to ground into a game-ending double play.
INTERLEAGUE
DODGERS 5, ATHLETICS 1 Walker Buehler proved he and his fickle right index finger are playoff ready, Corey Seager homered and host Los Angeles beat Oakland to earn their major league-leading 40th victory of the shortened 60-game season. Buehler allowed one hit in four innings in his first career appearance against the A’s.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
ASTROS 12, RANGERS 4 Alex Bregman’s three extra-base hits included one of Houston’s four home runs, and the Astros trimmed their magic number to one for clinching the American League’s last playoff spot with a victory Texas. George Springer and Jose Altuve also went deep with runners on base, and like Bregman finished with three hits and three RBI. Houston had a 100 lead against Lance Lynn (6-3) before its rookie starter Cristian Javier (5-2) gave up his only runs in the sixth.
BLUE JAYS 4, YANKEES 1 Hyun Jin Ryu (5-2) pitched seven shutout innings and Toronto clinched its first postseason spot since 2016, beating the Yankees and further damaging New York’s chances of hosting a first-round playoff series. New York lost for the fourth time in five games and remained two games behind the White Sox for the fourth seed. Toronto secured at least an AL wild-card spot and ensured its eighth trip overall to the postseason.
INDIANS 5, WHITE SOX 4 In Cleveland, Jose Ramírez delivered a go-ahead, two-run double in the seventh inning and the Indians beat Chicago for a four-game sweep in a matchup of playoff-bound teams. The victory pulled the Indians within one game of Chicago for the fourth seed and home-field advantage in the first round of the postseason.
ORIOLES 13, RED SOX 1 Jose Iglesias, Pat Valaika and Austin Hays homered to lead visiting Baltimore past Boston in a struggle for last place in the AL East. Hays, Valaika, Rio Ruiz and Ramon Urias — the Nos. 5-8 hitters — each had three of Baltimore’s 18 hits as the Orioles won for just the second time in eight games.
ROYALS 8, TIGERS 7 Salvador Perez hit a three-run home run, Maikel Franco hit a go-ahead home run in the sixth inning and Kansas City beat Detroit.