Cardinals belt Giants behind Bader’s bomb
SAN FRANCISCO — Harrison Bader hit a tiebreaking homer leading off the sixth after Madison Bumgarner homered in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Francisco Giants 7-3 on Sunday to gain ground again in the wild-card race.
Paul DeJong hit a solo homer in the fourth for the first St. Louis hit and Jose Martinez followed with a drive to nearly the same spot over the left-field fence. It was the seventh time the Cardinals hit consecutive homers this year.
Luke Weaver (4-1) struck out nine over seven innings to just miss a third straight start with double-digit Ks, helping St. Louis move within three games of Colorado for the NL’s second wild card.
Bumgarner (3-7) hit a solo drive in the fifth for his third homer of the year. It was his first time clearing the fences since he went deep twice on opening day April 2 at Arizona. He missed nearly three months following an April 20 dirt bike accident.
Martinez and Yadier Molina added consecutive RBI doubles in the decisive sixth, and then Martinez hit another run-scoring double in the seventh and Bader singled home a run.
Bumgarner retired his first 11 batters before DeJong’s 21st homer. The 2014 World Series MVP, who was scratched Thursday night with the flu, allowed five runs and five hits in six innings.
Center fielder Gorkys Hernandez made a great play in Bumgarner’s six-pitch first inning, leaping high against the wall in left-center to snag Tommy Pham’s deep fly for the second out.
Bumgarner became the first pitcher to hit at least three homers in four straight seasons since Earl Wilson did so in five consecutive years from 1964-68, according to STATS, LLC.
The Giants dropped their first series at home in the last seven, having won or split six in a row.
Pirates 3, Reds 1
PITTSBURGH — Trevor Williams pitched out of the stretch for most of the day. He also pitched out of trouble all game long.
Williams tossed seven scoreless innings, Jordy Mercer hit his career-best 13th homer and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds.
Cincinnati got eight of its 10 hits against Williams, but the right-hander wiggled his way out of every jam. He struck out five and walked one in his first win since Aug. 7.
Williams has allowed just two earned runs over 20 innings in his last three outings. It was his 22nd start after beginning the year in the bullpen, and his 4.02 ERA as a starter leads the team.
Felipe Rivero worked a rocky ninth for his 17th save. Scooter Gennett scored on second baseman Max Moroff’s error, but Jose Peraza bounced into a game-ending forceout at home.
Cincinnati went 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base. The lastplace Reds managed just one run while dropping the last two games of the weekend series.
Phillies 3, Marlins 1, 12 innings
MIAMI — The Philadelphia Phillies pitched
around Giancarlo Stanton twice with the game on the line, and the Miami Marlins failed to foil the strategy.
Stanton was stranded in the ninth and 12th innings, and Nick Williams hit a two-run single with two out in the 12th to send the Phillies to a win.
The Marlins totaled four hits, with just one of those coming after the fifth inning. They went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position and were 7 for 60 (.117) in those situations for the week while going 1-6.
Diamondbacks 5, Rockies 1
DENVER — Ketel Marte and Brandon Drury homered in a three-run sixth to bolster a strong outing by Zack Godley and the Arizona Diamondbacks extended their winning streak to 10 games with a victory over the Colorado Rockies.
This is the Diamondbacks’ longest winning streak since they captured a franchise-best 12 straight in 2003.
Brewers 7, Nationals 2
MILWAUKEE — With another big Sunday performance by Domingo Santana, the Milwaukee Brewers closed within a half-game of Colorado for the NL’s second wild card.
Santana homered twice as Milwaukee beat Washington to take three of four games from the Nationals.
Padres 6, Dodgers 4
SAN DIEGO — Erick Aybar hit a goahead, two-run homer and Jose Pirela also went deep off Alex Wood for the San Diego Padres, who won to hand the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers their eighth loss in nine games.