CARDINALS GET NEEDED, YET DISPUTED VICTORY
st. louis» Yadier Molina hit a disputed double that drove in the winning run with two outs in the ninth inning Thursday night, sending the St. Louis Cardinals over the Cincinnati Reds 4-3.
The Cardinals began the day one game behind San Francisco for the second NL wild-card spot.
Matt Carpenter drew a one-out walk from Blake Wood (6-5). With two outs, Molina’s one-hop hit appeared to bounce off a sign above the left-field wall and carom back into play.
Carpenter kept running and scored from first. Reds manager Bryan Price ran after the umpires, who left the field as soon as Carpenter touched the plate.
THURSDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
The Cubs and Pirates played to the first tie game in the majors since 2005 when rain forced the teams to stop in the sixth inning with the score 1-all. The Cubs and Pirates aren’t scheduled to play again this season, and the game won’t be made up because it doesn’t affect postseason positioning. So instead of becoming a suspended game, the stats count and it was declared a tie — the first since Houston and Cincinnati went seven innings on June 30, 2005, before rain halted them. … Ubaldo Jimenez and two relievers combined on a three-hitter and the Orioles beat the Blue Jays 4-0, moving into a tie with Toronto in the AL wild-card race with three games remaining. … Wilmer Difo hit his first major-league homer, and Pedro Severino his second, helping the injury-depleted NL East champion Nationals move closer to clinching homefield advantage in the division series by beating the Diamondbacks 5-3. … The Yankees were eliminated from playoff contention despite a 5-1 win over the Red Sox that completed a three-game sweep of the AL East champions. … Byron Buxton tripled, doubled, drove in two runs and scored twice as the Twins defeated the Royals 7-6. … Freddie Freeman’s 30game hitting streak ended, but the Braves still beat the Phillies 5-2. … Chris Archer overcame a shaky seventh inning to avoid becoming the majors’ first 20game loser since 2003 and lead the Rays past the White Sox 5-3.
FOOTNOTES
Many say goodbye to Fernandez. Despite all his accomplishments, Jose Fernandez never pitched a complete game, and on Thursday he was carried out of church in Miami in a casket with too much unfinished business. The choir struck up “God Bless America,” and mourners began to cry yet again as they joined in, celebrating the place that welcomed the Cuban defector and now must say goodbye. The last formal farewell came at a private Catholic Mass attended by about 300 friends and relatives who nearly filled the large sanctuary. Those in attendance included Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred, busloads of current and former Miami Marlins players, former Marlins manager Jack McKeon and two Hall of Famers, Marlins executives Tony Perez and Andre Dawson. The bilingual service lasted more than two hours, and much of the time was spent celebrating Fernandez’s dynamic personality, rather than his considerable exploits as the Marlins’ precocious ace. … The Tigers-Indians game in Detroit was postponed because of bad weather. The teams will need to make it up next week if there are postseason implications. The Associated Press