Cards tie Cubs for NL Central lead
PITTSBURGH—Paul Goldschmidt’s power streak helped lift the St. Louis Cardinals into a share of the NL Central lead for the first time since early May.
Goldschmidt homered in his career-high fourth straight game, lifting the Cardinals over the Pittsburgh 6-3 on Thursday for a four-game sweep of the Pirates.
St. Louis won the eighth time in nine games and at 55-47 tied the idle Chicago Cubs for first. St. Louis last held the lead before play on May 7.
Goldschmidt drove in nine runs and had four of the Cardinals’ 12 home runs during sweep.
“He’s an impressive guy,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. “We’re seeing what he’s capable of consistently. We’re not surprised.”
With St. Louis ahead 2-1 in the fourth, Goldschmidt drove a changeup from Joe Musgrove (7-9) for his 22nd home run. He has one homer in each of his past five games against Pittsburgh.
“We’ve been finding some holes,” Goldschmidt said. “We’ve been hitting extra-base hits.”
Kolten Wong homered later in the fourth and Dexter Fowler hit a tworun drive for a 6-1 margin in the fifth as the Cardinals won for the 11th time in 14 games since the All-Star break, including their last five.
Pittsburgh was outscored 30-19 the series and has lost 11 of 13.
“We haven’t played winning baseball,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “I know that’s an overstatement, but it’s a statement, and it’s true. We haven’t played winning baseball. We haven’t connected the dots.”
Miles Mikolas (7-10) gave up three runs and five hits in six innings.
“I felt good to have a couple games in a row getting into the sixth and close to the seventh,” Mikolas said. “Thought I had everything working today. Maybe not my best fastball, but I thought I had good control of the slider and the other off-speed stuff.”
Musgrove matched his season high by giving up six runs—five earned— and seven hits in five innings. He faulted his slider.
José Martinez hit an RBI single in the first and scored on Paul DeJong’s sacrifice fly. Bryan Reynolds’s sacrifice fly cut the Cardinals’ lead to 2-1 in the third.
Right-hander Alex McRae, recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis, followed Musgrove and gave up one walk in 1 2/3 innings. To make room on the 25-man roster, right-hander Luis Escobar was optioned to Indianapolis.
Starling Marte extended his hit streak to six games with a double in the sixth that cut Pittsburgh’s deficit to 6-2, and later scored on a groundball from Colin Moran for the 6-3 final. While Marte has been consistent, Pirates first baseman Josh Bell continues to struggle.
Bell, who was 1 for 3 with one walk Thursday, has seven hits in 38 at bats
in with two RBIs since the All-Star break. After hitting 27 home runs before the break, he has yet to homer since.
Mets 4, Padres 0
NEW YORK—Jacob deGrom pitched seven innings of four-hit ball while getting a rare bit of first-inning run support, and New York beat San Diego.
Todd Frazier hit a two-run double as the Mets built a four-run lead in their first turn against Eric Lauer, the most runs they have scored in the first inning during deGrom’s 160 starts. New York had scored four or more runs total in six of his 20 prior outings this season.
DeGrom (6-7) struck out nine and walked one on 105 pitches in the matinee, extending his scoreless streak to 17 innings. The ace from the Sunshine State has a 1.86 ERA in 52 day games, best in the majors since at least 1913 for pitchers with at least 200 innings.
Mets closer Edwin Díaz entered for the ninth in a non-save situation and was pulled after Manny Machado drilled a base hit off his left foot. Díaz limped off the field with a trainer and was replaced by Luis Avilán.
The Padres have lost nine of 12, a slump that likely has dropped them out the crowded wild card race. Lauer (5-8) was pulled after 2 1/3 innings with four runs allowed on six hits and three walks.
After getting the four-run cushion, deGrom retired his next 11 batters. His 91 mph slider to Francisco Mejía in the second wobbled the rookie, who buckled over his left ankle and nearly fell over. The right-hander threw his slider 58 times, eight more than his previous high in a 10-strikeout game against Philadelphia on July 5. This was the first time in his career deGrom went slider for more than half of his pitches.
Rockies 8, Nationals 7
WASHINGTON—Washington ace Max Scherzer lasted five innings in his return from the injured list, and Colorado beat Washington in a battle of worn-out bullpens.
Ian Desmond led off the ninth with a homer off 42-year-old Fernando Rodney (0-4), who pitched in both games of Wednesday’s doubleheader. Rodney then walked Charlie Blackmon, who advanced on a wild pitch and a single by David Dahl, and Daniel Murphy drove in Blackmon with a groundout.
Murphy homered and scored three times for the Rockies, who avoided a four-game sweep and won for just the fourth time in their past 20 games. Jairo Diaz (3-2) worked a scoreless eighth, and Wade Davis earned his 15th save.
Anthony Rendon hit a three-run drive for Washington, which wasted a chance to gain ground on firstplace Atlanta in the NL East.
Scherzer had been sidelined by inflammation under his right shoulder. He was 7-0 with a sparkling 0.87 ERA in his previous seven starts, but he struggled with his command at times in his first start since July 6.
He allowed three runs and four hits while matching his shortest outing of the season. The three-time Cy Young Award winner struck out eight, increasing his NL-leading total to 189, and he hasn’t lost since May 17, the last time he gave up three runs.
Light-hitting Garrett Hampson drove a belt-high fastball from Scherzer over the wall in left-center for a two-run homer in the fourth, and Ryan McMahon, subbing for Nolan Arenado at third base, hit a two-run shot off Matt Grace in the sixth.
Red Sox 19, Yankees 3
BOSTON—Xander Bogaerts hit a three-run homer in a seven-run first inning, then added a solo shot in the eighth as the Boston Red Sox put a historic pounding on the AL Eastleading Yankees, beating New York 19-3 in the opener of their four-game series.
The 19 runs were the most scored by the Red Sox against the Yankees in the 117-year history of the rivalry.
Bogaerts had four hits, and Andrew Benintendi and Jackie Bradley Jr. had three apiece. Bradley, Michael Chavis and J.D. Martinez each had two of Boston’s 10 doubles.
In perhaps the worst-ever start by a Yankees pitcher against the Red Sox, Masahiro Tanaka (7-6) allowed 12 runs on 12 hits and three walks while striking out four in 3 1/3 innings. It was the most earned runs ever allowed by a Yankees pitcher against Boston since the earned run became an official stat in 1913.
Rick Porcello (9-7) had his problems, giving back two runs in the top of the second after being spotted a 7-0 lead. Kyle Higashioka added a solo homer in the fifth to make it 12-3. But the Red Sox right-hander managed to finish six innings, allowing three runs on six hits while striking out five and walking one.
Porcello is 4-1 in his last six starts despite giving up 30 runs in 29 innings.
The series against the Yankees is the start of a seven-game homestand against New York and Tampa Bay and part of 14 straight against the two teams leading Boston in the division. Despite winning two of three in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Red Sox returned home a season-high 11 back in the AL East.
Tanaka, who had won four straight decisions, walked Mookie Betts to lead off the bottom of the first and walked Rafael Devers before Bogaerts hit a 451-foot homer over the Green Monster and onto Lansdowne Street below.
He allowed three singles to load the bases and, with two outs, Bradley and Betts hit back-to-back two-run doubles to make it 7-0. Devers homered to lead off the five-run fourth, when Boston chased Tanaka.