DeJong homers again after promotion, Cards top Nats
WASHINGTON (AP) — Paul DeJong homered for the second straight day after ending a minor league demotion, Andre Pallante pitched into the ninth inning and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Washington Nationals 5-0 Sunday.
Corey Dickerson also homered for the Cardinals, who broke the game open in the fourth inning against starter Josiah Gray (7-7).
Washington star Juan Soto was 0 for 3 with a walk. Soto is one of several Nationals who could be dealt before Tuesday's trade deadline. Washington has the worst record in the majors at 3568 and went 6-19 in July.
An All-Star in 2019, DeJong was demoted to Triple-A Memphis in May after hitting .130 with one home run in 24 games. He seemed to rediscover his power stroke with the Redbirds, slugging 17 homers in 51 games, including one in each of his final three games.
"I think it just allows me to hit the ground running," DeJong said. "It's like I'm back in the game, like I never left. I'm just trying to keep that confidence like I had down there and translate it up here. It's still baseball."
DeJong homered in his return Saturday, then connected again in the sixth inning Sunday against Jordan Weems.
"It's fun to have him here," St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said. "It's cool to see him doing what we expect him to do. Two games, two homers, swinging a good bat. That's definitely going to help us do what we're trying to do here."
Pallante (4-4) allowed five hits in eight-plus innings and earned his first road victory for St. Louis, which ends July a game behind Philadelphia for the NL's third wild card. The Cardinals went 4-4 on their three-city, eight-game trip coming out of the All-Star break.
Pallante struck out a careerhigh eight and walked one. The Nationals didn't get a runner to third base until chasing Pallante with a single and a double to begin the ninth. Ryan Helsley then retired the next three hitters to end it.
Giants 4, Cubs 0
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Carlos Rodón struck out 10 over seven dominant innings amid speculation he could be traded, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Chicago Cubs 4-0 Sunday night.
Rodón (9-6) got help from his defense early. Left fielder Luis Gonzalez reached over the outfield wall to snare Christopher Morel's leadoff drive.
"I was impressed that he got to that slider down-and-away," Rodon said of Morel.
Also, center fielder Austin Slater made a running grab of Nelson Velazquez's hard-hit ball an inning later.
Then Rodon took over. He fanned two in the second inning, then struck out the side in the third and fourth. He yielded two hits, none after the third inning. It was the 18th double-digit strikeout performance of his career and his sixth this season.
The Giants won three of four from the Cubs after bring swept by the Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks following the AllStar break. The subject of widespread rumors that he could be headed elsewhere by Tuesday's trade deadline, Rodon admitted that the Giants are hoping to stay together to make another postseason run.
"When you start off after the break 0-7, it's definitely never a good thing," said Rodon, who as a top starting pitcher ranks as a particularly hot commodity. "I thought we responded pretty nicely this series. Even though we have a lot more work to do, I thought we played better baseball."