RALLY CAT SPURS COMEBACK IN ST. LOUIS
ST. LOUIS — Yadier Molina hit a grand slam one pitch after a cat ran onto the field in the sixth inning, helping the St. Louis Cardinals rallied to post an 8-5 win over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday.
The Cardinals loaded the bases off Royals relievers Brandon Maurer and Peter Moylan. Molina was at the plate, with two outs, when the cat came onto the field and ran toward the center field wall.
On the next pitch, Molina drilled his 14th homer of the season into the left field seats for his fifth career slam.
• Dodgers 3, Diamondbacks 2 — At Phoenix: Yasiel Puig’s two-out single drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning and Los Angeles held on for a win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, making the Dodgers the sixth team since 1913 to reach 80 wins in their first 113 games.
Puig’s hit was the third off Diamondbacks ace Zack Greinke in the seventh, after Greinke had allowed only one hit through six innings. Cody Bellinger homered, doubled and scored twice for the Dodgers.
• Angels 5, Orioles 1 — At Anaheim: After 10 seasons in the minors and playing in his first major league game, Cesar Puello singled in the go-ahead run and C.J. Cron added a two-run homer
Troy Scribner (2-0), making his second big league start, allowed one run and two hits in five innings.
Kevin Gausman (8-8) gave up four runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings.
• Rangers 5, Mets 1 — At New York: Martin Perez (6-10) allowed three hits over eight innings, Joey Gallo hit his 32nd home run and Texas gained a twogame split.
Texas took a 3-0 lead in the first against Rafael Montero (1-8) when the pitcher balked with Shin-Soo Choo taking a sizable and distracting lead off of third, and Gallo hit a two-run drive into the upper deck in right, his 11th home run since the All-Star break.
• Rockies 3, Indians 2 — At Cleveland: Charlie Blackmon homered against Zach McAllister (1-2) n the 12th inning, atoning for getting doubled up at first base on a foul ball inh the eighth..
Colorado tied the score in the ninth when Carlos Gonzalez singled with one out and came home on Jonathan Lucroy’s double off Cody Allen, who blew a save for the third time in 22 chances.
• Nationals 10, Marlins 1 — At Washington: Ryan Zimmerman had four runscoring hits, including two solo home runs, drove in five runs and became the franchise’s all-time RBI leader as the Nationals defeated the Marlins.
Gio Gonzalez (10-5) allowed one run over seven innings after nearly tossing a no-hitter against the Marlins in his previous start. In between, he missed a turn to be with his wife for the birth of their second child.
• Reds 8, Padres 3 — At Cincinnati: Joey Votto extended his longest hitting streak of the season to 14 games, Stuart Turner hit his first major league homer, and the Reds beat the Padres.
Votto had a double and a single off lefthander Travis Wood (2-4), who made his third start since San Diego acquired him in a trade with Kansas City. Turner and Eugenio Suarez each had a two-run homer, and Jose Peraza singled with the bases loaded off Wood, who lasted five innings.
• Tigers 10, Pirates 0 — At Detroit: Justin Verlander allowed one hit over eight innings and the Tigers beat the Pirates.
Josh Bell ended Verlander’s attempt at a third career no-hitter in the sixth inning with a grounder off the glove of a diving Nicholas Castellanos at third base.
• Philles 3, Braves 2 — At Atlanta: Odubel Herrera continued to feast on Atlanta pitching by driving in a run with two triples in the Phillies’ 3-2 victory that completed their third series sweep of the Braves this season.
Jerad Eickhoff (3-7) allowed two runs on nine hits in 6 2/3 innings.
• Twins 4, Brewers 0 — At Milwaukee: Bartolo Colon pitched seven innings for his second consecutive win since joining the Twins, Brian Dozier added a home run, double and single and Minnesota beat the Brewers.
Colsn (2-1) scattered five hits, struck out five and walked one in his sixth career start at Miller Park. Milwaukee failed to advance a batter past second.
• Yankees 11, Blue Jays 5 — At Toronto: Todd Frazier homered and had three RBIs, Gary Sanchez and Didi Gregorius also went deep and the Yankees overcame a shaky start by Masahiro Tanaka to beat the Blue Jays.
Rookie Garrett Cooper had four hits for the Yankees, who had not scored in double figures since a 13-4 win at Houston on June 30. New York’s 17 hits were one shy of its season high, set June 10 against Baltimore.
• Red Sox 8, Rays 2 — At St. Petersburg, Fla.: Eduardo Nunez chased Jake Odorizzi when he lined a single off the pitcher’s foot, starting a five-run fifth inning for the Red Sox in a victory over the Tampa Bay Rays that extended Boston’s winning streak to a season-high eight.
• White Sox 7, Astros 1 — At Chicago: Tim Anderson homered and drove in three runs, Miguel Gonzalez tossed eight strong innings and the White Sox beat the Astros, their second straight win over the team with the best record in the AL.