AROUND THE HORN Blue Jays:

Pinch-hitter Santiago Espinal doubled home the go-ahead run in the sixth inning, Bo Bichette hit a solo home run and the Blue Jays knocked off the Rangers 4-3. George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. each had two hits, and Bichette scored twice as the Blue Jays improved to 2-0 for the first time since 2016. Facing left-hander Brett Martin, Espinal hit for Cavan Biggio with a runner at first and two out. Speedy Raimel Tapia scored without a play at the plate on Espinal’s double to left-center.

Cardinals: Cardinals bench coach Skip Schumaker learned less than an hour before game time that he’d be filling in for ill manager Oliver Marmol. Nolan Arenado helped make his job a lot easier. Arenado hit three doubles and a single, Paul DeJong homered and the Cardinals, minus its rookie skipper, beat the Pirates 6-2 Saturday. “I wasn’t thinking when I woke up today that I was going to be managing from inning one,” Schumaker said. “I found out 45 minutes maybe before the game started that he was under the weather and had to go home and here we are.” Marmol, a winner in his debut Thursday as a major league manager, was at Busch Stadium before the game and diagnosed with the flu. He tested negative for COVID-19 and left the ballpark. Arenado drove in three runs in his second four-hit game since being traded to the Cardinals prior to the 2021 season.

Mariners: Ty France had three hits and drove in two runs, including a go-ahead single in the ninth inning that lifted the Mariners over the Twins 4-3 on Saturday. Byron Buxton had given the Twins a 3-2 lead with a two-run homer in eighth against Andrés Muñoz (1-0), who got his first big league decision since 2019 with the Padres. Julio Rodríguez, a 21-year-old rookie, doubled opening the ninth off Tyler Duffey (0-1) for his first major league hit. He scored on a two-out double by Adam Frazier, who came around on France’s single.

Guardians: Outfielder Myles Straw and the Guardians agreed Saturday to a $25 million, five-year contract that includes two option years that could take the deal to $39.5 million over seven seasons. Straw was acquired in a July trade with the Astros.

Rockies: Rockies are bringing back retired first baseman Todd Helton to serve as a special assistant to general manager Bill Schmidt. Helton’s new role includes pitching in with some draft preparation and scouting but mostly focusing on assisting at the minorleague level. Helton spent 17 seasons with the organization that selected him out of the University of Tennessee in the 1995 draft.

Royals: Prized rookie Bobby Witt Jr. made an eye-popping play at third base to nail a runner at the plate in the top of the 10th inning, then Adalberto Mondesi’s RBI single in the bottom half lifted the Royals over the Guardians 1-0 Saturday. With a runner at third and one out in the Guardian 10th, Oscar Mercado hit a hard grounder down the line that looked like it might break the scoreless tie. But the 21-year-old Witt, the top-rated prospect in the majors, skidded onto his knees to make a backhanded stop. All in one motion, he made an off-balance throw home, where All-Star catcher Salvador Perez backhanded the ball on the second hop and made a swipe tag to get Owen Miller.