Nick Gonzales' single in the eighth inning drove in the go-ahead run as the Pittsburgh Pirates continued their mid-season surge with Monday's 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Gonzales hit that scored All-Star Bryan Reynolds snapped a 1-1 tie and helped give Pittsburgh its seventh win in eight games as it pushes for a play-off spot in the National League. The Pirates, who last reached the post-season in 2015, sit a half-game behind the New York Mets for the NL's final wild card spot.

Pittsburgh also moved within a game of St. Louis for the second wild card. 

Reynolds led off the bottom of the eighth with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch by St. Louis reliever John King. Two batters later, Gonzales hit a slow grounder that got through the infield to score Reynolds for a 2-1 Pittsburgh lead.

David Bednar then held the Cardinals scoreless in the ninth to earn his 18th save of the season. Aroldis Chapman received the win with one scoreless inning in relief of Mitch Keller, who allowed just one run on six hits in a seven-inning no-decision.

The Cardinals also got a solid outing from their starter, as Andre Pallante yielded just one run and three hits through six innings.

Nolan Gorman accounted for St. Louis' lone run by hitting a solo homer off Keller in the fifth inning that tied the score at 1-1. The Pirates had gone ahead in the third when Andrew McCutchen doubled and later scored on Oneil Cruz's single. 

Witt just misses cycle in Royals' rout of Diamondbacks

Bobby Witt Jr. finished a single short of hitting for the cycle and had one of three Kansas City home runs as the Royals rolled to a 10-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks to extend their winning streak to four games.

Witt tripled in the first inning, doubled in the third and delivered a three-run homer in the fourth that gave the Royals an 8-3 lead. The All-Star shortstop was hit by a pitch and flied out in his final two at-bats, though, to narrowly miss becoming the first Kansas City player to record a cycle since Hall of Famer George Brett in 1990.

Salvador Perez had a go-ahead two-run homer in the third inning and Hunter Renfroe later added a solo shot as part of the Royals' 15-hit attack. Vinnie Pasquantino and Kyle Isbel each collected three hits, with Isbel driving in two runs and Perez three.

Arizona had taken a 3-1 lead when Ketel Marte followed Alek Thomas' RBI double in the top of the third with a two-run homer off Cole Ragans. The Royals countered with three runs in their half of the inning, however, to quickly move back ahead.

Witt started the rally with a lead-off double and scored on Pasquantino's single before Perez launched Arizona starter Yilber Diaz's pitch over the center field wall for a 4-3 Kansas City edge.

The Royals then extended the margin with four runs in the fourth.

Isbel doubled in Maikel Garcia and Adam Frazier followed with an infield single to chase Diaz. Witt then greeted Miguel Castro with a home run on the reliever's first pitch to put Arizona at a five-run deficit.

Renfroe's solo homer in the fifth increased the lead to 9-3.  Perez drove in Witt with the Royals' final run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth.

Ragans (7-6) shook off his early troubles to work six innings while allowing three runs on five hits and striking out six.

Diaz (1-1), making his third MLB start, was tagged for seven runs in three-plus innings.

Isbel previously knocked in Kansas City's first run with a second-inning single. The Diamondbacks managed a late run in the eighth when Christian Walker doubled and later scored on Eugenio Suarez's sac fly.

Ober pitches Twins past struggling Phillies

Bailey Ober bounced back strongly after allowing an early home run to Bryce Harper to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 7-2 win over the struggling Philadelphia Phillies in the opener of a three-game series.

After giving up hits to three of the game's first four batters, including Harper's two-run homer, Ober (9-5) yielded just one more hit over the remainder of his seven-inning stint to improve to 4-1 over his last six starts. The right-hander retired 17 of the final 18 batters he faced.

Manuel Margot led Minnesota offensively with two hits, including a two-run single that gave the Twins a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning. Willi Castro also knocked in two runs to help Minnesota snap a three-game losing streak, while Carlos Santana and Max Kepler each had two hits and an RBI.

The Phillies still own the majors' best record at 63-37 but have now lost four of their last five games.

After Castro's third-inning single plated Diego Castillo to trim Philadelphia's lead to 2-1, the Twins struck twice more in the fifth to forge ahead.

Kepler led off the bottom of the fifth with a single and Castillo followed with a ground-rule double to put two on for Margot, who sent both runners home with a go-ahead single to right off Philadelphia All-Star Ranger Suarez.

Suarez (10-5) lost his third straight start after surrendering three runs and seven hits over 5 1/3 innings.

The Twins extended their lead in the seventh when Ryan Jeffers doubled and later crossed the plate on a Santana double, then put the game out of reach with three runs in the eighth.

Kepler followed a Trevor Larnach double with a run-scoring single to put Minnesota up 5-2, and the Twins later loaded the bases before scoring twice more on a walk to Castro and a wild pitch from reliever Yunior Marte.

Cole Sands worked the final two innings for Minnesota to notch his third save of the season.

Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 33rd home run and the New York Yankees defeated the Baltimore Orioles 4-1 in a game marred by a late benches-clearing incident on Friday night.

Benches cleared in the bottom of the ninth after Baltimore’s Heston Kjerstad was hit in the helmet by a pitch from closer Clay Holmes. There was some pushing and shoving, but no punches were thrown.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde walked toward the New York dugout and pointed at someone, at which point Yankees catcher Austin Wells tried to restrain Hyde.

The teams met for the first time since the Orioles took two of three in New York last month. Since then, the Yankees are 6-13 and Baltimore is 8-12.

Gerrit Cole rebounded from a poor start in his last outing by allowing one run and five hits with one walk and seven strikeouts.

Tommy Kahnle and Luke Weaver each worked one inning and Holmes pitched the ninth for his 21st save.

The Orioles had their lead in the East trimmed to one game over the Yankees as they lost their fourth straight. They have scored three runs during that skid and are 1 for 26 with runners in scoring position.

New York scored twice against rookie Cade Povich in the second.

Anthony Volpe singled and moved to third on an error by right fielder Anthony Santander. He scored on Jose Trevino’s double and Jahmai Jones singled home another run.

Judge led off the third by sending an 0-2 pitch from Povich over the wall in left field for his first RBI in nine games. Judge walked in his other four plate appearances.

Surging Mets hold off Rockies

Jose Iglesias and Harrison Bader each homered twice and the New York Mets fended off the last-place Colorado Rockies, 7-6.

Mark Vientos also went deep and had an RBI double for the Mets, who are 4-0 on a six-game homestand against the struggling Nationals and Rockies heading into the All-Star break. New York has won six of seven overall and is 24-10 since it was 11 games under .500 on June 2.

Sean Manaea pitched seven effective innings, throwing a season-high 107 pitches. He allowed three runs and five hits while walking one and striking out nine.

He left with a 7-3 lead, but Charlie Blackmon homered to open the eighth and Brenton Doyle’s two-run shot later in the inning made it a one-run game.

Edwin Diaz worked around consecutive two-out walks in a hitless ninth for his 10th save.

Vientos and Iglesias hit back-to-back home runs in the second and Bader’s blast one batter later gave the Mets three homers in an inning for the first time since July 1, 2023, against San Francisco.

Hendricks pitches Cubs to 5th straight win

Kyle Hendricks pitched seven shutout innings and Nico Hoerner and David Bote each knocked in two runs as the Chicago Cubs stretched their season-best winning streak to five games with a 5-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Hendricks didn’t allow a runner to reach second base and gave up five hits with three strikeouts and a walk. He rebounded from three straight losses to improve to 14-4 with a 2.57 ERA in 27 career appearances against the Cardinals.

Chicago was coming off consecutive shutouts in Baltimore and had a scoreless streak of 32 2/3 innings snapped in the ninth on Paul Goldschmidt’s RBI single.

Hector Neris walked Nolan Arenado with two outs to load the bases before striking out Lars Nootbaar for his 13th save in 17 chances.

Kyle Schwarber hit another leadoff home run and All-Star Matt Strahm struck out Shohei Ohtani in a key spot as the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3 for their major league-leading 60th win on Wednesday night. 

The Phillies have won the first two games of this three-game series between division leaders. At 60-32, only the 1976 team (88 games) reached the 60-win mark faster in a season in franchise history.

Philadelphia won without All-Star slugger Bryce Harper, who sat out with a bruised left hand after he returned for Tureday’s10-1 win following a nine-game absence. Harper was hurt at an unspecified point, through he clearly grabbed his hand and hunched over in pain on a second-inning chopper by Miguel Rojas.

Strahm entered with one out in the seventh and the Phillies holding a 4-2 lead. With runners at the corners, he struck out Ohtani and retired Teoscar Hernandez on a fly out to escape the jam.

The Dodgers scored a run in the eighth on Rojas’ RBI single, but Jeff Hoffman tossed a scoreless ninth for his ninth save.

Schwarber’s homer off Gavin Stone was his 39th career leadoff homer and 18th overall this season.

Valdez pitches Astros past Marlins

Framber Valdez struck out a season-high 10 over seven stellar innings and rookie Joey Loperfido homered and tripled to propel the Houston Astros to their eighth straight home win, 9-1 over the Miami Marlins.

Valdez allowed six hits – all singles – and walked one to win his third straight decision.

Loperfido hit a two-run homer to highlight a four-run second off Bryan Hoeing and had his first career triple in the fourth.

Yainer Diaz had three hits and three RBIs for the Astros (48-44), who have won eight of 11 to match a season high at four games over .500.

Perez’s home runs help Royals sweep

Salvador Perez homered in both games and MJ Melendez hit a solo shot in the nightcap as the Kansas City Royals beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-5 for a sweep of their day-night doubleheader.

Garrett Hampson had two-run double to back a strong start by Alec Marsh in the Royals’ 6-4 victory in the early game.

Kyle Isbel homered in the second game and James McArthur pitched the ninth for his second save of the day and 17th of the season.

Kansas City notched its 50th and 51st wins of the season after it totaled just 56 victories all last season.

Nolan Arenado, Alec Burleson and Paul Goldschmidt homered in the opener for the Cardinals, while Lars Nootbaar went deep in the nightcap. St. Louis entered the day having won four of five.

After Sean Murphy tied the game with a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning, the Atlanta Braves scored once in the 11th to rally for a 5-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday in a clash of 2023 National League play-off teams.

Marcell Ozuna drove in the eventual winning run with a sacrifice fly in the 11th that plated designated runner Austin Riley, who had advanced from second to third on an infield single by Matt Olson.

Riley homered earlier in the game and Murphy went 2 for 4 as the Braves took the opener of this four-game series and won their third consecutive contest.

Atlanta's bats were largely quiet for much of the night thanks to an impressive MLB debut by Arizona starter Yilber Diaz, but came alive against struggling closer Paul Sewald with the Braves trailing 3-1 in the ninth.

Sewald retired the first two hitters in the inning before Eddie Rosario extended Atlanta's chances with a single. Murphy then drove a 1-1 pitch over the wall in right center field to hand Sewald a third blown save in his last three appearances.

Diaz was in line for the victory after allowing just one run on four hits through six innings.

Both teams scored once in the 10th, with the Braves getting a sacrifice fly from Ozzie Albies and the Diamondbacks the same from Luis Perdomo.

Ozuna's fly ball in the 11th put Atlanta back ahead, and Joe Jimenez stranded the tying run in the bottom of the inning to record his second save of the season. 

Atlanta closer Raisel Iglesias earned the win after working two innings and permitting one unearned run.

Riley's 12th homer of the season gave the Braves an early edge in the first inning, and the Diamondbacks were held scoreless by Bryce Elder through the first five innings before breaking through in the sixth.

Perdomo led off the bottom of the sixth with a bloop single and took second when Braves shortstop Orlando Arcia mishandled the ball on the play, then scored on Corbin Carroll's single to tie the game at 1-1.

Elder then walked the next two batters to load the bases before being relieved by Grant Holmes, who walked Christian Walker on four pitches to give Arizona the lead. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. followed with a sacrifice fly to provide the Diamondbacks a two-run cushion.

Elder was charged with three runs allowed on four hits over five-plus innings.

Late error allows Tigers to edge Guardians

Jake Rogers scored the game's lone run on a Cleveland error in the eighth inning as the suddenly surging Detroit Tigers came through with a 1-0 victory over the American League Central-leading Guardians to open a four-game series.

Rogers greeted reliever Scott Barlow with a double to open the eighth and took third on Wenceel Perez's second hit of the night. Two batter later, Mark Canha hit a grounder that eluded the glove of Guardians' shortstop Brayan Roccio to allow the Detroit catcher to cross the plate and break the scoreless tie.

The Guardians couldn't mount a baserunner after the seventh inning, as Tyler Holton retired all five batters he faced to record the win and Shelby Miller threw a perfect ninth to close out the Tigers' fourth consecutive victory.

Detroit went 8-18 from June 5-July 4 before sweeping a three-game series on the road from the Cincinnati Reds this past weekend.

The game featured a strong duel between starting pitchers that didn't factor in the decision. Detroit's Keider Montero allowed just three hits over 6 1/3 scoreless innings in his third career major league start, while Cleveland's Gavin Williams struck out five over 5 1/3 scoreless innings in his second start back from an elbow injury that had sidelined him since spring training.

Cardinals stay hot with shutout of Nationals

Alec Burleson homered and drove in three runs to back a sharp start from Miles Mikolas as the St. Louis Cardinals recorded a series-clinching 6-0 win over the Washington Nationals.

Paul Goldschmidt added a solo homer among his two hits to help the Cardinals take three of four meetings of the wraparound series. St. Louis improved to 33-18 since May 12, the best record in the National League over that stretch.

MIkolas (7-7) scattered six hits without a walk over 6 1/3 innings before relievers Andrew Kittredge and JoJo Romero finished the shutout by working 1 1/3 innings each.

Washington starter Mitchell Parker (5-5) was hung with the loss despite yielding two runs - one earned - and striking out six over seven innings.

The Cardinals' first run off Parker came courtesy of an error by Washington shortstop CJ Abrams, who threw wildly to first base on a double-play attempt to allow Nolan Gorman to score from second in the third inning. Gorman and Michael Siani had opened the frame with back-to-back infield singles.

Goldschmidt's homer off Parker in the fourth extended the lead to 2-0, and Burleson increased it further with a solo shot off Jacob Barnes in the eighth. Goldschmidt reached on an error later in the inning and came home on Brendan Donovan's two-out double for a 4-0 St. Louis advantage.

Donovan finished 2 for 4 and extended his streak of reaching base safely to 21 straight games.

The Cardinals tacked on two more runs in the ninth when Gorman and Siani each singled before both later scored on Burleson's base hit.

Jack Flaherty tied an American League record with seven straight strikeouts to open the game and finished with a career-high 14 before the St. Louis Cardinals rallied for a 2-1 win over the Detroit Tigers in a doubleheader opener on Tuesday.

Flaherty’s game-opening seven strikeouts matched the AL record shared by Joe Cowley of the 1986 Chicago White Sox, Carlos Rodon of the 2016 White Sox, Tampa Bay’s Blake Snell in 2018 and Seattle’s Luis Castillo two years ago.

Miami’s Pablo Lopez holds the major league record by striking out the first nine batters of a game in 2021.

Flaherty’s 14 strikeouts were the most by a Tigers pitcher since Max Scherzer had 14 against Pittsburgh on Aug. 14, 2014.

Detroit took a 1-0 lead into the ninth, but Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt and Alec Burleson had one-out singles before Pedro Pages followed with a go-ahead sacrifice fly for his first career RBI.

In the second game, Wenceel Perez homered from both sides of the plate, including a tiebreaking shot in the fifth inning, to lift the Tigers to an 11-6 win.

Streaking Twins beat White Sox

Max Kepler had a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the ninth inning to lead the Minnesota Twins to their ninth straight victory, 6-5 over the Chicago White Sox.

Minnesota’s win streak is its longest since a 10-game run in June 2008. The Twins also have won seven consecutive games against the White Sox.

After Andrew Benintendi homered in the eighth to tie it at 5, Bryon Buxton led off the ninth with a walk and took third on Manuel Margot’s single. Kepler’s fly to center gave the Twins a 6-5 lead and Jhoan Duran pitched around a leadoff single by Tommy Pham in the bottom of the ninth for the save in his season debut.

Danny Mendick added his first home run of the season for Chicago, which dropped to a major league-worst 6-24.

Caratini, Hader lift Astros to wild win

Victor Caratini hit a pinch-hit, two-run homer with two outs in the 10th inning after Josh Hader pitched two innings for the first time since 2019 in the Houston Astros’ 10-9 win over the Cleveland Guardians.

David Fry’s RBI double in the top of the 10th put the Guardians ahead by one, but Caratini took Hunter Gaddis deep to give the Astros their third straight win.

Hader pitched a scoreless ninth before returning for the 10th. He got more than three outs in a regular-season game for the first time since getting four on Aug. 14, 2020, and had his first two-inning appearance in five years.

Josh Naylor and Estevan Florial hit three-run homers and Andres Gimenez also went deep for Cleveland, which rallied from an 8-3 deficit with a five-run sixth.

Pete Alonso belted a tying homer in the ninth inning and Tyrone Taylor delivered a game-winning single to lift the New York Mets to their first win of the season, 2-1 over the Detroit Tigers on Thursday for a doubleheader split.

After blowing a 3-0 lead in a 6-3, 11-inning loss in the opening game, the Mets were held hitless in the second game until Harrison Bader led off the eighth with a single against reliever Tyler Holton.

Alonso’s tying home run – and his 500th career RBI - came off Alex Faedo and Brett Baty walked before Starling Marte sacrificed. Taylor then lined a single to left for his first career walk-off hit.

The win was the first for Mets manager Carlos Mendoza as New York avoided opening 0-6 for the first time since its second season in 1963.

Detroit improved to 5-0 with the Game 1 win, as Colt Keith stroked a tiebreaking double in the 11th before Gio Urshela’s bloop scored a pair.

Matt Manning pitched 5 2/3 hitless innings in the opener with four walks and three strikeouts.

Cardinals rally past winless Marlins

Nolan Gorman highlighted a five-run seventh inning with a two-run double and the St. Louis Cardinals rallied for an 8-5 victory in their home opener to keep the Miami Marlins winless.

The Marlins took a 5-3 lead into the seventh, but the Cardinals scored five times on Ivan Herrera’s RBI single, Gorman’s big hit, Alec Burleson’s two-out, run-scoring single and Masyn Winn’s RBI triple.

Herrera also hit his first major league home run leading off the second inning.

Jake Burger hit a pair of home runs for the Marlins, who dropped to 0-8 for the worst start in the 33-year history of the franchise. Their start is the worst in the majors since Atlanta and Minnesota each opened 0-9 in 2016.

Bibee, bullpen power Guardians

Tanner Bibbee allowed one run over 5 1/3 innings and Steven Kwan had three hits as the Cleveland Guardians spoiled the Minnesota Twins’ home opener with a 4-2 win.

Bibee struck out nine and four relievers followed, with Emmanuel Clase pitching a perfect ninth for his third save. Cleveland's pitchers totalled 15 strikeouts.

Cleveland reached Pablo Lopez for three runs in the sixth. Jose Ramirez singled home Kwan and Tyler Freeman had an RBI single before Will Brennan lofted a sacrifice fly.

Carlos Correa had three hits and Edouard Julien homered for the Twins, who stranded nine runners and were 0 for 12 with runners in scoring position.

Adam Wainwright recorded his 200th career victory with seven brilliant innings as the St. Louis Cardinals edged the National League Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers, 1-0, on a historic Monday night at Busch Stadium.

Wainwright, pitching in his 18th and final season in a Cardinals' uniform, yielded just four hits and two walks to become the 38th pitcher in NL history to reach the milestone.

The 42-year-old had gone 0-10 over an 11-start stretch before picking up an elusive career win No. 199 last week, when he allowed two runs over five innings to beat the Baltimore Orioles.

Willson Contreras accounted for the game's lone run with a solo homer in the fourth off Freddy Peralta, who permitted just four hits and struck out six over six innings in a hard-luck loss.

The loss kept Milwaukee's magic number to win the NL Central at seven. The Brewers hold a six-game lead on the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds atop the division.

Orioles rally past Astros in clash of division leaders

Cedric Mullins hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the top of the ninth inning that lifted the Baltimore Orioles to an 8-7 win over the Houston Astros in Monday's opener of a three-game series between American League division leaders. 

Astros closer Ryan Pressly entered in the ninth to protect a 7-5 lead and gave up consecutive one-out singles to Ryan O'Hearn and Austin Hays before Mullins launched a 2-1 pitch into the right-field seats to send Baltimore in front.

Cionel Perez and Yennier Cano kept Houston scoreless in the bottom of the ninth to extend the Orioles' lead over second-place Tampa Bay to 2 1/2 games in the AL East.

Houston, which is now lost five of seven, maintained a 1 1/2-game edge on Texas and Seattle for first place in the AL West. The Rangers were handed a 4-2 loss by the Boston Red Sox on Monday, while the Mariners posted a 5-0 win over the Oakland Athletics to tie Texas for the AL's third and final wild card berth.

O'Hearn's hit in the ninth capped a 5-for-5 night in which he drove in two runs. Mullins added an RBI double in the seventh that tied the game at 5-5, while Gunnar Henderson finished 3 for 5 with three runs scored and Adley Rutschman knocked in a pair of runs.

Houston had taken a 6-5 lead on Jose Abreu's solo homer in the seventh, and Martin Maldonado had a solo shot in the eighth to increase the margin.

Reds top Twins, move into tie for NL's final wild card

There's also now a tie for the NL's final wild card spot after Cincinnati rookie Connor Phillips pitched the Reds to an important 7-3 victory over the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins.

Phillips collected his first major league win by holding Minnesota to two runs and three hits while striking out seven in seven innings. The 22-year-old's performance helped the Reds move into a tie with the Chicago Cubs for the NL's third wild card berth, a half-game in front of Miami after the Marlins were dealt a 2-1 loss by the New York Mets.

Will Benson homered and drove in three runs to aid Phillips, while Joey Votto had two hits and two RBIs and Spencer Steer finished 3 for 4 with an RBI single.

Both Minnesota runs off Phillips came via solo homers, one from Royce Lewis in the fourth inning and the other from Alex Kirilloff in the seventh.

Twins starter Joe Ryan took the loss after surrendering four runs in five innings. 

Ian Happ and Yan Gomes each hit two-run homers and the Chicago Cubs defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 for their eighth straight win on Saturday night.

Jameson Taillon won his third consecutive decision, allowing one run and two hits over six innings with four walks and four strikeouts.

Mike Tauchman, who had a game-saving catch in Friday’s win, had three hits with a seventh-inning RBI double, a night after scaling the center field fence to rob Alec Burleson of a potential winning home run.

Happ drove in Tauchman with his 10th homer of the season in the third inning to put the Cubs ahead 2-1.

Gomes’ two-run homer in the fourth inning off Adam Wainwright extended the lead to 4-1.

Wainwright was reached for four runs on seven hits with three walks in six innings. He remained stuck on 198 career victories.

The last-place Cardinals have lost three straight and seven of nine.

Acuna stars in Braves’ win

Ronald Acuna homered and stole his 50th base of the season to propel the Atlanta Braves to an 11-5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in a matchup of division leaders.

Acuna went 3 for 4 with two runs, two RBIs and walk to become the first player in history with 20 or more home runs and 50 steals before August. He is one homer away from the 12th 25-50 campaign in MLB history.

Atlanta opened the game with four straight singles against Julio Teheran. After a sacrifice fly by Travis d’Arnaud, Marcell Ozuna had an RBI double and Eddie Rosario followed with a home run for a 6-0 lead.

Astros belt 5 home runs in rout

Jeremy Pena drove in a career-high four runs and the Houston Astros hit five homers in a 17-4 drubbing of the Tampa Bay Rays.

Yainer Diaz homered off starter Taj Bradley and Jose Abreu went deep off reliever Calvin Faucher before Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez all homered off catcher Rene Pinto in his first career pitching appearance.

Houston got eight hits and five RBIs from the bottom three batters in its lineup.

Hunter Brown limited the Rays to two runs and four hits over six-plus innings for his first win since June 13.

The St. Louis Cardinals gave up four runs in the first inning but rallied to beat the Chicago Cubs, 7-5, on Sunday to split the teams’ two-game series at London Stadium.

Former Cubs catcher Willson Contreras went 4 for 4 and scored two runs for St. Louis, while Paul Goldschmidt delivered the go-ahead RBI single that chased NL ERA leader Marcus Stroman in the fourth.

The Cubs later said that Stroman exited early due to a blister on his throwing hand. He was charged with six runs - three earned - on eight hits. 

St. Louis committed two errors in the first inning before recording an out, saddling starter Matthew Liberatore with four unearned runs, but five Cardinals relievers held the Chicago lineup in check the rest of the way.

The Cubs fell to 37-39 and missed a chance to get back to .500, while the Cardinals have won five of seven following a six-game losing streak.

Yankees rally to take series from AL West-leading Rangers

Harrison Bader delivered a go-ahead two-run double during an eighth-inning rally that lifted the New York Yankees to a 5-3 victory over the American League West-leading Texas Rangers.

The Yankees trailed 3-2 before scoring three times in the eighth to win the rubber match of the three-game series. DJ LeMahieu had a two-run double earlier for New York, which went 4-2 on its week-long homestand after returning to the Bronx on a season high-tying four-game losing streak.

New York also overcame ace Gerrit Cole's shortest outing of the season, a 4 2/3-inning stint in which he was tagged for three runs and nine hits.

Jonah Heim had a solo home run off Cole and finished 2 for 4. Leody Tavares also collected two hits and an RBI for Texas, which stranded 10 runners compared to just three for the Yankees. 

Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi was in line for his 10th win of the season after yielding two runs and four hits over 5 2/3 innings and exiting with a one-run lead. 

Braves hang on to take two of three from Reds

Matt Olson hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the sixth inning and the Atlanta Braves staved off a comeback attempt from the Cincinnati Reds for a second straight day to hold on for a 7-6 win.

Olson's 25th homer of the season, which snapped a 3-3 tie and matched him with Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani for the major league lead, helped Atlanta win the three-game series between National League division leaders and two of its hottest teams. The Braves have now won 17 of 20 and snapped Cincinnati's 12-game winning streak with a 7-6 victory on Saturday.

The Braves tacked on a needed insurance run in the top of the eighth to go up 7-4, but the Reds rallied and pulled within one on Matt McClain's two-run double with two out in the bottom of the inning.

McClain was left stranded, however, and Raisel Iglesias later got Kevin Newman to ground into a game-ending double play with two on in the ninth to record his 12th save.

McClain finished 4 for 5 with a home run, three doubles and five RBIs to become only the second Reds rookie since 1901 with four extra-base hits in a game, joining Chris Sabo in 1988.

Marcell Ozuna knocked in a pair of runs for Atlanta, while Charlie Morton earned the win after striking out seven while allowing three runs in five innings. 

The St Louis Cardinals stormed back from a 4-0 first-inning deficit to beat the Chicago Cubs 7-5 and split Major League Baseball’s second London Series.

For some punters this event was about gawking at two-foot long hot dogs and potentially seeing a handful of home runs, though noises around London Stadium suggested a decent number of the 55,565 in attendance were genuinely invested in the sport.

Players from both sides emphasised the seriousness of MLB’s trip across the pond – which holds genuine consequences for the National League Central rivals’ postseason hopes – while MLB will be evaluating if and how they can continue to stage games in London after the last scheduled series here in 2026.

Chicago were dealt a blow when pitching ace Marcus Stroman was forced off with injury to start the fourth, while the division-bottom Cardinals (32-45)  benefitted from an alert offence and strong performance from the bullpen in a game that featured 11 different men on the mound.

Stroman entered the afternoon with wins in an MLB-leading seven straight starts, while Cardinals boss Oliver Marmol turned to Matthew Liberatore after Jack Flaherty was a late fitness scratch.

The Cardinals quickly fell behind after the ‘visiting’ Cubs batted first, capitalised on a pair of errors and got themselves out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

But St Louis rallied in the bottom half of the second and had the bases loaded with two outs before singles from Tommy Edman and Brendan Donovan made it 4-3.

With a man on first, Marmol swapped his starter for right-hander Jake Woodford at the top of the third, while neither of the two pinch runners Cubs boss David Ross introduced for the subsequent at-bats crossed home plate and the score stood at 4-3.

But it was all tied up at the end of the inning after Jordan Walker’s line drive to centre brought home Lars Nootbaar.

The Cards took the lead for the first time in the bottom of the fourth through Paul Goldschmidt, who this weekend became the first MLB player to play in five countries and drove in Edman to make it 5-4.

Something seemed to be troubling the usually reliable Stroman. He began the game with the national league’s lowest earned-run average, but in London he ended the afternoon with six runs allowed and hit Donovan with a pitch.

A mound visit determined the Cubs ace was suffering from a blister to his right index finger and he was pulled after 3.1 innings and replaced by Michael Fulmer, St Louis extending their lead when Lars Nootbaar’s sacrifice fly allowed Donovan to score from third.

The Cardinals managed just six hits across all nine innings on Saturday. By Sunday’s seventh-inning stretch they had posted 11, including Nolan Gorman’s fifth-inning single to make it 7-4.

The bullpen quartet of Woodford, Genesis Cabrera, Giovanny Gallegos and Andre Pallante combined for seven scoreless innings before Jordan Hicks gave up a sacrifice fly to Nico Hoerner, allowing Nick Madrigal to cross home plate.

Though the Cubs had no given up a run since the fifth it was too late to spark a comeback, despite winning a video review challenge.

It was down to Seiya Suzuki to make magic happen with their last out. Instead, Hicks caught him swinging to seal the all-important victory in Britain.

Chicago Cubs pitcher Justin Steele heaped praise on the 54,662 supporters who packed London Stadium to see his side cruise to a 9-1 victory over bitter division rivals the St Louis Cardinals.

The Cubs’ bats handed starter Steele, who struck out eight and gave up one run across six innings, a comfortable lead and were up 7-0 after four innings on a humid evening that also saw outfielder Ian Happ hit two home runs.

Saturday’s attendance exceeded the capacity of most Major League Baseball stadia, and Steele delighted in how strongly the fans – or in some cases the baseball-curious wearing blue – got behind his team.

He said: “It’s something I’ll never forget. Truly special. It felt like everybody was on the mound there with me, really exciting energy. It was really cool to cap it off like that, punch out the side, it was really cool, and I just can’t say enough about the atmosphere.”

Steele’s comments will be music to the ears of MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, who on Friday said positive player experiences in series like these will be central to whether or not the league returns to places like London following their final scheduled contest on these shores in 2026.

That is the same year the MLB’s current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) expires, with international series once again set to be one of the topics on the table with the players’ association.

The pace of this London Series opener was likely a relief to fans and organisers alike after the first-ever MLB game in London, 2019’s 17-13 slugfest between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, lasted a near record-breaking four hours and 42 minutes.

Outfield fences were pushed further back for this contest, which ended after a comparatively brief two hours and 40 minutes, capped off for the Cubs by shortstop Dansby Swanson’s two-run homer in the top of the ninth.

Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt made history in London by becoming the first player in MLB history to play in five different countries, and also ended the evening the lone Card to have picked up a run batted in (RBI) in England.

Cubs manager David Ross admitted there was uncertainty about how the effects of crossing the pond would affect his team, and was delighted by their efforts on unfamiliar turf.

He said: “I think some of the nerves are gone from the group, especially from my seat where you’re not sure how guys are going to feel with all the travel and everything.

“They go out there and the bats did what they did, I thought it was a really nice performance top to bottom from our line-up, they did a phenomenal job. Happer getting us started off with a homer just kind of lets everybody relax a little bit and still be great.”

Ross’ side remain in third place in the division, so they will be eagerly eyeing up a chance to sweep the division’s bottom-dwelling Cardinals when the series concludes on Sunday.

He is also looking forward to the unique experience of hearing ‘go Cubs go’ chanted in England for a second successive day.

“That sounded good,” he enthusiastically agreed. “That’s the first thing that stood out to me. It was nice and loud. I hope someday I’ll get to watch that on video somewhere tonight or tomorrow. Hopefully we’ll hear it again tomorrow.”

Adam Duvall starred before blasting a walk-off two-run homer over the Green Monster as the Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 9-8 on Saturday.

Duvall, who joined the Red Sox from the Atlanta Braves in the offseason, had four hits, three runs and five RBIs for the game in a glittering display at Fenway Park.

But his crowning moment came with the Red Sox two out with a runner on first at the bottom of the ninth, hammering a Felix Bautista fastball just above the Green Monster for the walk-off blast.

The Red Sox capitalised on Ryan McKenna's fielding error at deep left field that allowed Masataka Yoshida to get on first base after hitting a routine fly ball.

Duvall's subsequent blast just cleared the Monster, caroming into a tabletop and back on to the field, but the lights flickered, signalling the walk-off homer.

The 34-year-old outfielder homered in the third inning as part of a four-run salvo after the Red Sox trailed 7-1.

Baltimore had raced ahead with Ryan Mountcastle's two-run first-inning homer along with Cedric Mullins three-run blast in the third. The Orioles tagged Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale for seven runs across three innings.

The Red Sox cut it to 8-7 in the seventh after Enrique Hernandez's homer and Duvall's ground rule double for Rafael Devers to score. Austin Hays went five-for-five with two runs for the O's.

Flaherty's mixed day as Cardinals register first win

St Louis Cardinals pitcher Jack Flaherty threw five no-hit innings along with giving up a career-high seven walks as his side claimed their first win of the season, 4-1 over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Flaherty fanned four, tossing down 49 of 95 pitches for strikes, but only had one clean inning, albeit his final one, on a mixed day on the mound.

The Cardinals opened up a 3-0 lead in the third inning, capitalising on a two-out throwing error by Jays third baseman Matt Chapman, before Nolan Gorman's two-run single.

Angels pile on the runs in Fujinami's A's debut

The Los Angeles Angels scored 11 runs in the third inning as they spoiled Shintaro Fujinami's debut for the Oakland Athletics, winning 13-1.

Fujinami, who joined the A's on a one-year free-agent deal, fell apart in the third after a positive start, with his game ending after 55 pitches with the Angels leading 6-0. The Japanese pitcher allowed eight earned runs with three walks and four Ks.

Taylor Ward blasted a three-run homer off reliever Adam Oller, while Shohei Ohtani had two hits and two RBIs.

Trayce Thompson produced a three-homer, eight-RBI game as the Los Angeles Dodgers won 10-1 over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

After his record-breaking 2022 season, there was no one more fitting to hit the first home run of the 2023 campaign than Aaron Judge as the New York Yankees won 5-0 over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday.

Judge, who blasted an American League single-season record 62 home runs last season, lit up Opening Day with the first home-run shot of 2023 in the first inning at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees outfielder needed only two pitches before launching Logan Webb's sinker over the center-field wall. Judge's blast had an exit velocity of 109.3 mph and traveled 422 feet according to Statcast projections.

Gerrit Cole did the rest on the mound, recording an Opening Day franchise record 11 strikeouts across six scoreless innings.

Gleyber Torres creamed a two-run blast in the fourth inning to open up a 3-0 lead, while Torres scored again from a D.J. LeMahieu single in the seventh.

Judge chimed in with a broken-bat RBI single in the same inning, with Jose Trevino scoring, securing a 5-0 win and initiating "M-V-P!" chants from the home crowd.

Top prospect Anthony Volpe also got a rousing reception from the Yankees faithful, finishing 0-2 with a walk in his maiden start at shortstop.

Jays edge Cards in 19-run, 34-hit epic

The Toronto Blue Jays edged the St Louis Cardinals 10-9 in a wild 19-run 34-hit Opening Day classic where Vladimir Guerrero Jr played a key role.

Guerrero brought home the decisive run with a ninth-inning sacrifice fly for new addition Kevin Kiermaier to score the go-ahead run. Guerrero finished with three RBIs from two hits.

Alejandro Kirk had helped the Jays to a 3-0 first-inning lead with a two-run single on a line drive, after Daulton Varsho drove in George Springer on a double.

The chaotic contest saw the Jays become the first MLB team to allow a go-ahead run in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings on the road and still win since the Boston Red Sox in 1938.

Ohtani sends down 10 Ks in Angels defeat

Shohei Ohtani took the unusual step of calling his own pitches, sending down 10 strikeouts, but it was not enough for the Los Angeles Angels in a 2-1 loss to the Oakland Athletics.

Ohtani threw six shutout innings, allowing only two hits, but the A's capitalized after he exited, turning a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 victory, scoring two at the bottom of the eighth.

Tony Kemp doubled on a fly ball past Mike Trout in center field with Esteury Ruiz scoring, before Aledmys Diaz's line drive drove in Kemp.

Angels outfielder Hunter Renfroe produced a moment of magic in the fifth inning with a no-look catch, leaving Ohtani stunned.

Aaron Judge has capped his historic season after being crowned the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) ahead of Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani on Thursday.

St Louis Cardinals slugger Paul Goldschmidt was also voted the NL MVP, beating out Manny Machado of the San Diego Padres and teammate Nolan Arenado for the award.

Judge's MVP, the first in his career, came after he broke the single-season Yankees and AL home-run record, reaching 62 to surpass Roger Maris Sr's 61 – set 61 years ago in 1961. He became the fourth major league player to hit 62 or more homers in a single season.

The Yankees outfielder led the AL in home runs (62), RBIs (131), slugging percentage (.686), on-base percentage (.425), OPS (1.111) and total bases (391), while he chased an AL Triple Crown down the stretch, but ultimately fell short as Minnesota Twins' utility Luis Arraez (.316) won the batting title.

Judge received 28 first-place votes for 410 points, ahead of Ohtani (280) and Houston Astros' Yordan Alvarez (232).

The 30-year-old already had two top-five MVP finishes on his resume, in 2017 and 2021, winning Silver Slugger awards in both years.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said: "I’m grateful that I got to witness it first-hand and share in his magical year, especially given how much respect I have for him as a player and as a person."

Goldschmidt looked like the NL MVP since the All-Star break, batting .317 while leading the NL in OPS (.982) and slugging percentage (.578).

The Cardinals first baseman's 35 home runs finished one off his career-high, set in 2013 and equalled in 2017, giving him his seventh season with at least 30 dingers.

Goldschmidt won the MVP with 380 voting points, ahead of Machado (291) and Arenado (232). It is the sixth time in 35-year-old Goldschmidt's career that he has finished in the top-six for the award.

"I think definitely as you age, you have to adapt, and that's some of what I've tried to do. I've tried to get ahead of it," Goldschmidt told MLB Network. "I think it was my best season."

New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge collected the first of many individual awards set to come his way when he was named winner of the American League's Hank Aaron Award.

Paul Goldschmidt of the St Louis Cardinals was named the National League winner of the award, which honours the player in each league who had the best offensive season.

Judge, 30, enjoyed the best year of his career as he broke the single-season Yankees and American League home run record, reaching 62 to surpass Roger Maris' 61 – set 61 years ago in 1961.

Making his fourth All-Star game, Judge also set career-highs in batting average (.311), slugging percentage (.686) and on-base percentage (.425) – leading the majors in the latter two metrics.

With two top-five MVP finishes on his resume already – in 2017 and 2021, winning Silver Slugger awards in both years – Judge is considered a lock to top the votes and claim his first this time around.

Meanwhile, Goldschmidt has looked like the NL MVP since the All-Star break, and was rewarded with his second Hank Aaron Award after also winning it back in 2013 with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Goldschmidt, 35, is set for his sixth top-six finish in MVP voting, batting .317 while leading the NL in on-base-plus-slugging (OPS) at .981.

His 35 home runs finished one off his career-high, set in 2013 and equalled in 2017, giving him his seventh season with at least 30 dingers.

Goldschmidt has two years remaining on his contract with the Cardinals, while Judge is set to enter free agency for the first time in his career.