Stuckball leads to Cardinals unraveling vs. Cubs
ST. LOUIS — In a most sticky situation, Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina couldn’t find a ball that clung to his chest protector and the Chicago Cubs turned the bizarre play into a late rally, beating St. Louis 6-4 on Thursday.
The Cardinals led 4-2 in the seventh inning when things became kooky at Busch Stadium.
Pinch-hitter Matt Szczur led off by striking out on a pitch from Brett Cecil that skipped in the dirt. The ball bounced into Molina’s protector and appeared to get trapped by a sticky substance.
Molina kept looking around for the ball, and didn’t find it until Szczur safely made it to first base.
After a walk, Kyle Schwarber hit a goahead, three-run homer. The Cubs added another run later in the inning against Cecil (0-1).
• Reds 7, Phillies 4 — At Cincinnati: Relief pitcher Michael Lorenzen connected for a pinch-hit homer that put Cincinnati ahead and the Reds overcame a rough major league debut by Rookie Davis to beat Philadelphia.
Adam Duvall also homered as the Reds rallied from an early three-run deficit to take the opening series, winning two of three.
• Mets 6, Braves 2 — At New York: Matt Harvey dominated with a fastball in the mid-90 mph range and uncommon efficiency in his return from major surgery, beating Atlanta and giving New York hope his injury woes are behind him.
Travis d’Arnaud hit a two-run double and Wilmer Flores a two-run homer against Jaime Garcia (0-1), who made his Atlanta debut after eight seasons with St. Louis.
• Dodgers 10, Padres 2 — At Los Angeles: Yasiel Puig homered twice to help Los Angeles rout San Diego.
Puig was 2 for 3 with two walks, two runs, four RBIs and a stolen base.
• Twins 5, Royals 3 — At Minneapolis: Jason Castro and Jorge Polanco hit consecutive RBI doubles in the seventh inning, and Minnesota dented Kansas City’s bullpen again to sweep the season-opening series.
After dropping their first nine games last season on the way to a major league-most 103 losses, the Twins are 30 for the first time since 2007. The Royals have their first 0-3 start since 2001.
• Marlins 4, Nationals 3, 10 innings — At Washington: Justin Bour doubled in the go-ahead run with two outs in the 10th inning after the Marlins erased two leads against a shaky Nationals bullpen, and Miami earned its first win of the season.
In a game delayed by rain for more than an hour both at the start and in the middle of the sixth, Bour sent a shot off Joe Blanton (0-1) down the left field line. That brought home J.T. Realmuto, whose single in the 10th was his third hit of the game, including a two-run homer in the eighth that made it 2-all.
• Mariners 4, Astros 2 — At Houston: Jarrod Dyson hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the ninth inning and Jean Segura drove in a run later in the inning to lift Seattle over Houston.
The game was tied at 2 entering the ninth before Danny Valencia walked with one out and Carlos Ruiz was plunked by Ken Giles (0-1). They were replaced by pinch-runners Taylor Motter and Guillermo Heredia before Dyson’s fly ball landed between left fielder Nori Aoki and center fielder Jake Marisnick to allow Motter to score and put Seattle on top.
• Blue Jays 5, Rays 2 — At St. Petersburg, Fla.: Kendrys Morales hit his fourth career grand slam, Marcus Stroman pitched 6 1/3 effective innings and Toronto beat Tampa Bay.
Morales homered off Blake Snell (0-1) in the third. Stroman (1-0), the MVP of last month’s World Baseball Classic, allowed one run and six hits in his 2017 debut.
• Rockies 2, Brewers 1 — At Milwaukee: Nolan Arenado and Mark Reynolds homered and Antonio Senzatela pitched five strong innings in his major league debut to help Colorado beat Milwaukee.
Arenado homered off Neftali Feliz (01) leading off the ninth. Former Brewer Reynolds led off the third against starter Chase Anderson with his second home run of the season.
• White Sox 11, Tigers 2 — At Chicago: Matt Davidson had his first career triple and first home run with Chicago.
Geovany Soto, the catcher who joined the White Sox as a free agent this offseason, added his first two home runs for Chicago to help give Rick Renteria his first victory as the team’s manager.