Major leagues: Wong’s walk-off HR lifts St. Louis past Chicago
Kolten Wong hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning, capping the St. Louis Cardinals rally and giving them an 8-6 win over the Chicago Cubs Saturday.
The win is the fourth in a row for the Cardinals, and it came after they rallied from two runs down in the ninth inning off Chicago closer Brandon Morrow.
Wong’s game-ending home run is the third of his career, his first since a victory over Pittsburgh May 3, 2015. It came after Paul DeJong walked and then Wong sent the 1-1 pitch from Luke Farrell (1-1) into the right field seats for the game winner.
Marcell Ozuna tied the game in the ninth inning with a two-run double off Morrow, who allowed his first runs of the season. Tyler Lyons (1-0) earned the win in relief after Bud Norris exited with an injury in the top of the 10th inning.
Anthony Rizzo homered for the third time in four games for the Cubs, who lost for a season-high fourth time in a row despite scoring more than three runs in a game for the first time since April 24th.
Javier Baez added his eighth home run for Chicago in the loss.
St. Louis center fielder Tommy Pham and catcher Yadier Molina were all taken out of the game with injuries.
Philadelphia 3, Washington 1: Rhys Hoskins hit a two-run homer, Vince Velasquez pitched five effective innings and the Philadelphia Phillies snapped Washington’s six-game win streak with a 3-1 victory over the Nationals.
Velasquez (2-4) allowed one run and one hit in his first win since April 7. He also struck out four, walked four and hit a batter.
Edubray Ramos, Tommy Hunter, Luis Garcia and Hector Neris then combined for four innings of one-hit relief. Neris earned his sixth save.
Harvey designated for assignment: Matt Harvey has been formally designated for assignment by the New York Mets, who replaced him on the pitching staff by recalling reliever Hansel Robles from Triple-A Las Vegas.
The move was made Saturday before New York hosted the Colorado Rockies, just as general manager Sandy Alderson had said. Alderson announced Friday the team was cutting Harvey from its roster after the struggling former ace refused a minor league assignment.
The 29-year-old right-hander, beset by injuries following a sensational start to his career, lost his spot in the rotation last month after four starts. He was demoted to the bullpen and had a 10.50 ERA in four relief appearances.
The Mets now have seven days to trade or release Harvey. He is 0-2 with a 7.00 ERA in 27 innings, leaving him with a 34-37 record and 3.66 ERA in six major league seasons.
American League
N.Y. Yankees 5, Cleveland 2: Shortstop Francisco Lindor’s double error led to a pair of runs in a four-run fifth inning off previously unhittable Trevor Bauer, Sonny Gray won for the first time in a month and the New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians 5-2 Saturday for their 14th win in 15 games.
New York is in its first 14-1 stretch since 1998 Yankees won 114 games during the regular season and then the first of three straight World Series titles. The Yankees have won eight straight home games for the first time since 2010.
Gray (2-2) allowed two runs and four hits in six innings, working with more poise and polish to backup catcher Austin Romine than he has with All-Star starter Gary Sanchez. Gray has a 3.72 ERA in five starts with Romine this year; his ERA is 15.63 ERA in two starts with Sanchez.
Detroit 3, Kansas City 2: Jordan Zimmermann allowed two hits over five scoreless innings, Nicholas Castellanos had three extra-base hits and the Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals 3-2.
Zimmermann (2-0) improved to 4-0 with a 1.48 ERA in seven appearances, including six starts, against the Royals.
Castellanos had an RBI double as the Tigers scored three runs in the first inning off Jason Hammel (0-4). Detroit held on from there, even after Kansas City cut the lead to one in the ninth. Lucas Duda led off with a double and scored when center fielder Leonys Martin dropped Alex Gordon’s line drive. Shane Greene struck out Alcides Escobar and Jon Jay to strand Gordon and log his sixth save.
Tampa Bay 5, Toronto 3: Denard Span drove in his team-leading 24th run to help the surging Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-3.
The Rays chased Aaron Sanchez (2-3) in the fourth, taking a 4-1 lead on Span’s single and a sacrifice fly by Matt Duffy. Span’s 24 RBIs have come in 90 at-bats.
Jake Faria (3-1) allowed a run and three hits in 5 1/3 innings as the Rays got their 11th victory in 14 games to improve to 15-16. Alex Colome, the fourth Tampa Bay reliever, got five outs for his sixth save.
Teoscar Hernandez and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. each homered for the Blue Jays, who have lost eight of 12.