Cardinals earn split in Mexico
For Marcell Ozuna, the atmosphere in the Estadio de Beisbol de Monterrey made it feel like a home game. Not in St. Louis, but back in the Dominican Republic.
Ozuna hit two home runs and Matt Carpenter connected for a tiebreaking drive in the seventh inning that sent the Cardinals over the Cincinnati Reds 9-5 Sunday for a split of their two-game series in Mexico.
“I liked the crowd here, it’s like in my country, it’s kind of the same the energy,” Ozuna said.
“It’s my first time in Monterrey and it feels good, the passion and the feel for the game that they have,” he said.
Ozuna has four home runs in his last five games along with eight RBIs.
“I’m sure it was a comfortable feeling for him. I know it was for me,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. “It’s an atmosphere that all Latin players enjoy, I’m sure I did.”
The stadium didn’t sell out for either game. But on both days, fans were noisy throughout the game, and the PA system blasted Latin music at every opportunity, creating a fiesta-like atmosphere.
“It felt like a winter league game there and I was trying to give my best to them,” Ozuna said.
Tyler O’Neill also homered for St. Louis. Yasiel Puig hit his first home run for the Reds and Jesse Winker hit his second in two days.
The Cardinals saluted the fans after the win and gave away their hats. The Houston Astros and Los Angeles Angels will play twice at this stadium in early May – Major League Baseball has committed to bring regular-season games to Mexico until 2021.
It was 4-all when Carpenter opened the seventh with his second home run of the season, tagging Amir Garrett (1-1). Ozuna hit a solo homer off Jared Hughes and Jose Martinez capped the five-run inning with a two-run single that made it 9-4.
“Amir has been doing a great job and he has been pitching very well,” Reds manager David Bell said. “It was a huge hit in the game for them. After that Jared came in to finish the right-handers and it just did not work out today.”
Ozuna hit a three-run homer and O’Neill added a solo drive as the Cardinals took a 4-0 lead in the first off Anthony DeSclafini.
The Reds rallied to tie it with a four-run fifth off Miles Mikolas. An error by Carpenter at third base set up an RBI double by Michael Lorenzen, and Winker’s three-run drive tied it.
Winker has hit four home runs in his last five games.
Puig homered in the eighth to make it 9-5 and the Reds loaded the bases, but Jordan Hicks retired pinch-hitter Kyle Farmer on a grounder to escape.
Hicks closed for this third save. John Gant (3-0) pitched one inning.
Arizona 8, San Diego 4: Zack Greinke pitched seven strong innings and helped himself with two hits, pinch-hitter David Peralta connected for a three-run homer and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the San Diego Padres 8-4 to stop a four-game losing streak. The Padres had won four in a row.
Colorado 4, San Francisco 0: German Marquez pitched a one-hitter, nicked only by Evan Longoria’s single with one out in the eighth inning, and the Colorado Rockies ended an eight-game losing streak by beating the San Francisco Giants 4-0.
Marquez struck out nine and walked none while throwing 105 pitches in the first complete game in the majors this season. It was the first-ever complete game for Marquez in 156 pro starts, including 69 in the big leagues.
L.A. Dodgers 7, Milwaukee 1: Ross Stripling tossed eight strong innings to rescue an overworked bullpen, Joc Pederson and Alex Verdugo homered, and the Los Angeles Dodgers routed the Milwaukee Brewers 7-1 to snap a six-game skid.
The Dodgers avoided back-to-back sweeps for the first time since 2017 when they last dropped seven in a row.
Philadelphia 3, Miami 1, 13 inn.: Jean Segura’s two-run home run to left in the 14th inning put Philadelphia on top, and the Phillies beat the Miami Marlins 3-1 in the longest game of the young season for either team.
Andrew McCutchen tripled to the wall in left-center, and Segura followed with his first home run of the season. The Marlins struck out 18 times – a day after pounding out 18 hits – and combined to go 5 for 45 at the plate.
Houston 3, Seattle 2: Gerrit Cole struck out 11 in six innings, Aledmys Diaz homered and the Houston Astros completed a three-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners with a 3-2 victory. Cole (1-2) gave up two runs on four hits, including a leadoff home run to Mitch Haniger, and did not walk a batter.
Kansas City 9, Cleveland 8: Pinch-runner extraordinaire Terrance Gore stole a base and then scored on Hunter Dozier’s single in the ninth inning, lifting the Kansas City Royals over the Cleveland Indians 9-8 to complete a three-game sweep of the AL Central favorites. Ryan O’Hearn led off the ninth with a walk against Brad Hand and was replaced by Gore.
Minnesota 6, Detroit 4: Jose Berrios pitched into the seventh inning for his first win since opening day, Trevor Hildenberger struck out two with the bases loaded for his first save and the Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers 6-4 to complete a two-game sweep.
C.J. Cron homered and drove in three, and Eddie Rosario was a triple short of the cycle for the Twins, who have won three of four. Blake Parker loaded the bases with one out in the ninth before Hildenberger got John Hicks and Grayson Greiner swinging.
Chi. White Sox 5, N.Y. Yankees 2: Tim Anderson hit his first career grand slam and Carlos Rodon pitched the Chicago White Sox to a 5-2 victory over the scuffling New York Yankees. Jose Abreu nearly had a grand slam as well but settled for a sacrifice fly when right fielder Aaron Judge made a jumping catch in front of the wall.
Texas 8, Oakland 7: Danny Santana had a two-run, pinch-hit triple and scored the go-ahead run during a four-run eighth inning, lifting the Texas Rangers over the Oakland Athletics 8-7. Santana tripled into the gap in right-center to tie it at 7, then scored on Delino DeShields’ bunt single two batters later.
Santana, in his sixth major league season, was called up from Triple-A on Saturday to replace Rougned Odor, who was placed on the 10-day injured list. Jose Leclerc struck out three for his third save.
Boston 4, Baltimore 0: David Price pitched seven stellar innings with seven strikeouts, Xander Bogaerts hit a three-run homer and drove in every run, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 4-0.
The teams wrap up their four-game series with Boston’s traditional Patriots’ Day morning game Monday. First pitch is set for 11:05 a.m. Boston’s big starting foursome of Price, Chris Sale, Rick Porcello and Nathan Eovaldi entered Sunday 0-7 with an 8.43 ERA. Price responded with clearly their best outing.