Major leagues:
Paul Goldschmidt hit an early home run and Steven Matz and the St. Louis bullpen made it stand up, leading the Cardinals over the Kansas City Royals 1-0 Monday.
Goldschmidt, who got his first day off of the season Sunday, connected with one out in the first inning against Zack Greinke.
The Royals lost their fourth in a row overall, and have dropped 21 of their last 28 to St. Louis dating to Aug. 7, 2017. This game was a makeup from a rainout on April 13 – the I-70 interleague series continues Tuesday and Wednesday in Kansas City.
Matz (3-1) scattered four hits, including a pair of doubles, in six innings. He walked none, hit a batter and struck out four.
National League
Mets cut Cano: Three years after Robinson Canó returned to New York, his ill-fated marriage with the Mets is over.
Canó was cut Monday with nearly $45 million remaining on his contract, possibly signaling the end of his decorated major league career. The veteran slugger wants to keep playing ball – but he’ll have to catch on elsewhere.
“I don’t think it’s over for Robbie,” New York manager Buck Showalter said. “But we’ve got to think about what’s right for the Mets right now.”
A slumping Canó was designated for assignment in a move announced about an hour before teams were required to trim their active rosters from 28 players to 26. Relegated to a part-time role this season, Canó was a casualty of the crunch as the first-place Mets chose to keep younger, more versatile bench players instead.
American League
Chicago White Sox 3, L.A. Angels 0: Dylan Cease struck out 11 to match a career best and gave up just one hit in seven sparkling innings, propelling the Chicago White Sox to a 3-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Monday.
Three-time AL MVP Mike Trout struck out in all four at-bats, three against Cease. The Angels star, who homered and doubled in a win Sunday to raise his OPS to a whopping 1.247, fanned against Liam Hendriks to end the game.
Angels two-way start Shohei Ohtani didn’t start, a day after making an early exit because of groin tightness. The reigning AL MVP grounded out as a pinch-hitter in the eighth.