Pujols hits 2 HRs, Molina pitches in Cards’ rout of Bucs
PITTSBURGH » Albert Pujols hit two homers to boost his career total to 683, then caught the warmup tosses when catcher Yadier Molina made his first pitching appearance to close out the St. Louis Cardinals’ 18-4 romp over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday.
Molina gave up homers to Yoshi Tsutsugo and Jack Suwinski and four runs while working the ninth inning, eventually completing the Cardinals’ three-game sweep. But it was not all fun and games for St. Louis. Starter Steven Matz lasted only four pitches before being pulled with stiffness in his left shoulder.
After Matz exited, Angel Rondón (1-0) entered to strike out Ke’Bryan Hayes with his first pitch. Rondón allowed just one hit in five innings for his first win in the majors, striking out four and walking three.
Exactly a week after Pujols took the mound for the first time in his big league career, Molina got his turn with St. Louis ahead 180. Pujols was behind the plate to warm up his longtime teammate in-between innings.
Harrison Bader also homered for the Cardinals, who had a six-run second against Bryse Wilson (0-3).
PHILLIES 4, DODGERS 3, 10 INNINGS » Max Muncy’s two-run fielding error in the 10th capped a wild late-inning sequence and allowed Philadelphia to beat Los Angeles.
With two outs and men on second and third in the 10th, Alec Bohm hit a little dribbler off Evan Phillips (1-2) to Muncy at second for what appeared to be the final out of the inning. But Muncy didn’t field it cleanly, allowing Garrett Stubbs to score the tying run and Roman Quinn to bring in the winning run just ahead of the throw home.
RED SOX 8, MARINERS 4, 10 INN. » Franchy Cordero hit a grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the 10th, lifting surging Boston past Seattle.
Trevor Story continued his recent power surge with his fifth homer over the Green Monster in four days and Christian Arroyo added a solo shot for Boston, which posted its season-high fifth straight victory and completed a fourgame sweep over Seattle.
WHITE SOX 3, YANKEES 1, 1ST GAME » Johnny Cueto pitched six more scoreless innings, AJ Pollock hit a tiebreaking home run off Aroldis Chapman in the ninth and Chicago beat New York in the first game of a doubleheader.
WHITE SOX 5, YANKEES 0 2ND GAME » Tim Anderson hit a three-run homer and then put a finger to his lips to silence the booing fans, helping the Chicago White Sox beat New York for a doubleheader sweep.
METS 2, ROCKIES 0 » Francisco Lindor broke a scoreless tie with a single in the sixth inning, Taijuan Walker and three relievers combined on a six-hitter and New York extended its streak of rebounding from losses by beating Colorado.
The Mets dropped the second game of a doubleheader Saturday, which led to them win their franchise-best 14th straight game following a loss. By taking two of three, New York also captured its 11th series win this season.
ORIOLES 7, RAYS 6, 11 INN. » Rougned Odor had his second game-winning at-bat in three days as Baltimore edged Tampa Bay.
The Orioles trailed 6-4 in the ninth before Austin Hays managed a pinch-hit, two-out, two-run RBI single off Ryan Thompson, who earlier was charged with a balk that moved two runners into scoring position. Then, a thunderstorm delayed the game for 51 minutes.
Baltimore’s Chris Owings had a successful bunt to move the automatic runner to third in the 11th off Dusten Knight (0-1). Odor followed with a chopper that first baseman Ji-Man Choi mishandled and got past him to plate the winning run.
MARLINS 4, BRAVES 3 » Sandy Alcantara pitched a six-hitter and Miami beat Atlanta.
The 26-year-old-Alcantara (4-2) limited the Braves to three unearned runs and six hits. He walked two and struck out seven for his fourth career complete game.
REDS 3, BLUE JAYS 2 » Joey Votto hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning and Cincinnati avoided a three-game sweep.
The one-run win was the second of the season for the Reds. Cincinnati has won nine of 15 following a 3-22 start.
ASTROS 5, RANGERS 2 » Jose Altuve hit his fifth leadoff home run of the season and a double, José Urquidy tied a career high with 10 strikeouts and Houston defeated Texas.
Urquidy (4-1) allowed six hits and one run in a season-high 6 2/3 innings as the Astros won for the third time in this fourgame series. Urquidy improved to 4-0 in five career starts against the Rangers and has won three straight games overall.
CUBS 5, DIAMONDBACKS 4 » Patrick Wisdom and Frank Schwindel hit consecutive homers against Ian Kennedy in the eighth inning, and Chicago edged Arizona to avoid a four-game series sweep.
Wisdom had a bouncer go just foul right before he connected for his ninth homer, sending a leadoff drive deep to center field. Schwindel then drove a 1-0 pitch from Kennedy (3-3) into the bleachers in left for his fourth homer. Schwindel and Wisdom also hit back-to-back homers during Chicago’s 7-6 loss on Saturday.
TIGERS 4, GUARDIANS 2 » Rookie Alex Faedo allowed two runs in 5 1/3 innings for his first major league win and Miguel Cabrera had an RBI double as Detroit topped Cleveland.
NATIONALS 8, BREWERS 2 » Lane Thomas hit two RBI doubles and Washington broke out of its hitting slump in a victory over Milwaukee, which lost Freddy Peralta to shoulder tightness in the fourth inning.
TWINS 7, ROYALS 6 » Gio Urshela hit a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning to complete Minnesota’s comeback from a six-run deficit against Kansas City.