ST. LOUIS — Nolan Arenado delivered a pinch-hit RBI double in the ninth inning and the St. Louis Cardinals stifled the Los Angeles Dodgers’ offense for a second consecutive game in a 2-1 victory on Saturday.
Nolan Gorman led off the ninth with a ground-rule double before being replaced with a pinch runner. After Pedro Pages reached on an error by pitcher Ben Casparius (4-1), the Dodgers vacated left field to play with five infielders, and Arenado’s lazy fly ball landed just inside the foul line and bounced into the stands for another ground-rule double.
The Dodgers, who lead the majors in scoring, home runs and batting average, were held scoreless for the first 17 innings of the series, but managed to tie it when Shohei Ohtani scored on a wild pitch by Ryan Helsley (3-0) in the top of the ninth.
It was the second consecutive blown save for Helsley.
GIANTS 3, BRAVES 2 Matt Chapman hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning and San Francisco beat Atlanta for its fourth consecutive win. Heliot Ramos singled with one out against Braves reliever Pierce Johnson (1-3). After Wilmer Flores popped out, Chapman homered to left for his 12th of the season.
PIRATES 2, PHILLIES 1 Henry Davis hit a tiebreaking home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift Pittsburgh to a victory over Philadelphia after the slumping Phillies placed star first baseman Bryce Harper on the injured list before the game with right wrist inflammation. Davis hit his fourth home run of the season and second in as many games to left-center off Ranger Suarez (4-1) on a first-pitch changeup to snap a 1-1 tie.
REDS 4-13, DIAMONDBACKS 3-1 Gavin Lux hit a grand slam, Christian Encarnacion-Strand homered for the second consecutive game and Cincinnati routed Arizona 13-1 after completing a suspended game with a 4-3 victory in 10 innings. TJ Friedl and Elly De La Cruz drew walks off Arizona starter Ryne Nelson, and Encarnacion-Strand hit his fourth homer for a 3-0 lead. Will Benson walked and took third on Tyler Stephenson’s double before scoring on Spencer Steer’s single. Jake Fraley drove in a run with a forceout for a 5-0 first-inning lead. Eugenio Suarez went 2 for 4 and led off the third against Nick Martinez (4-6) with his 17th home run for the Diamondbacks’ run. In the opener, Encarnacion-Strand homered in the sixth inning to tie the game before it was suspended Friday night and then hit a walk-off double in the 10th on Saturday. Encarnacion-Strand’s heroics came in his first game since April 17 after coming off the injured list Friday. It was the first walk-off win this season for the Reds and their first victory in extra innings.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
ASTROS 5, GUARDIANS 3 (10) Jake Meyers scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch, Isaac Paredes drove in an insurance run and Houston defeated Cleveland. Yainer Diaz had a two-run home run in the sixth as the Astros won for the fifth time in six games. Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez had two hits, including a two-run home run in the seventh inning, and extended his on-base streak to a career-best 33 games.
BLUE JAYS 5, TWINS 4 George Springer hit a go-ahead, two-run home run in the eighth inning and Toronto beat Minnesota. Springer went deep against Twins reliever Griffin Jax (1-4), who allowed a leadoff double to Addison Barger one at-bat earlier. Springer’s 10th home run of the season made it 4-3 just as a light rain started falling at Target Field.
WHITE SOX 4, ROYALS 1 Tim Elko hit a two-run home run, Adrian Houser pitched six strong innings and the Chicago White Sox beat Kansas City. Chase Meidroth also went deep for the White Sox, who have won three in a row for the second time this season. Houser (2-1) gave up a run and six hits while striking out six and walking one.
INTERLEAGUE
CUBS 6, TIGERS 1 The Chicago Cubs hit five home runs, including two by Seiya Suzuki, and went on to defeat Detroit. The Cubs, playing before a sold-out crowd of 41,334 in Detroit that appeared to be at least one-third Chicago fans, also got home runs from Michael Busch, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Matt Shaw. They improved to 40-24 while the Tigers fell to 42-24. Jameson Taillon (6-3) allowed one run on three hits and a walk in seven innings.
MARLINS 11, RAYS 10 (10) Jesus Sanchez had a three-run home run and a two-run double, and Heriberto Hernandez singled in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning as Miami outlasted Christopher Morel and Tampa Bay to snap a five-game losing streak. Morel went 3 for 3 with two home runs, a double and four RBI for the Rays, who had a four-game win streak halted.
RANGERS 5, NATIONALS 0 Jacob deGrom allowed two hits in seven shutout innings and Marcus Semien drove in three runs to lead Texas to a victory over Washington that snapped a four-game skid. DeGrom (6-2) threw 81 pitches and struck out eight while lowering his ERA to 2.12. Luke Jackson and Chris Martin each pitched a scoreless inning to close it out.
