Cards cap sweep, win 8th straight
ST. LOUIS — San Diego center fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. dropped Nolan Arenado’s bases-loaded popup and heaved the ball home, leading to a five-run first inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Padres 8-7 Sunday for an eight-game winning streak.
St. Louis completed a three-game sweep and opened a three-game lead for the second NL wild card over Cincinnati. The Cardinals had not won eight in a row since Aug. 7-15, 2018.
METS 3, PHILLIES 2: Jeff McNeil hit a tiebreaking homer leading off the seventh inning, and host New York beat Philadelphia, damaging the Phillies’ playoff hopes. Philadelphia blew a two-run lead and fell two games behind the Atlanta Braves in the NL East and 3½ games behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the race for the second NL wild card.
WHITE SOX 7, RANGERS 2: Yasmani Grandal homered for the second game in a row, and Chicago moved closer to its first AL Central title since 2008 with a victory at Texas. The magic number is four for Chicago (8564) to win the division title over second-place Cleveland.
RED SOX 8, ORIOLES 6: Kike Hernandez’s gametying RBI single caromed off the second-base bag and into shallow center field, sparking a three-run, seventhinning rally that lifted AL wild-card leading Boston over visiting Baltimore and a sweep of a three-game series.
ATHLETICS 3, ANGELS 2 (10): Shohei Ohtani struck out 10 but went winless in consecutive starts on the mound for the first time since June, and Oakland rebounded from a bullpen meltdown to beat host Los Angeles.
BLUE JAYS 5, TWINS 3: Jose Berrios pitched into the seventh inning to beat his former team, Bo Bichette homered in a five-run first inning, and host Toronto held its playoff position by beating Minnesota.
INDIANS 11, YANKEES 1: Gerrit Cole stumbled when New York needed an ace-like outing, allowing seven runs over 52⁄3 innings in a costly defeat to visiting Cleveland.
MARINERS 7, ROYALS 1: Rookie Jarred Kelenic homered, doubled twice and wrapped up his impressive series, leading Seattle over host Kansas City.
TIGERS 2, RAYS 0: Wily Peralta gave up three hits in seven innings, and Eric Haase and Dustin Garneau homered for Detroit in a win at Tampa Bay.
BRAVES 3, GIANTS 0: Eddie Rosario became the second Atlanta player in a month to hit for the cycle, Max Fried pitched seven strong innings, and the Braves won at San Francisco.
MARLINS 6, PIRATES 5 (10): Lewin Diaz led off the bottom of the 10th with a two-run homer off Chad Kuhl, and host Miami beat Pittsburgh.
CUBS 6, BREWERS 4: Patrick Wisdom set a Cubs rookie record with his 27th home run, and Chicago won at Milwaukee.
DODGERS 8, REDS 5: Clayton Kershaw pitched five sharp innings for his first win since June 27, and Los Angeles won at Cincinnati.
NATIONALS 3, ROCKIES 0: Juan Soto homered to back Paolo Espino, and Washington shut out Colorado to end the Rockies’ rare five-game road winning streak.