Major leagues
Brendan Donovan hit a grand slam in the seventh inning to lead Albert Pujols and the NL Central-leading St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-4 victory against the San Diego Padres on Thursday, snapping a three-game losing streak.
Pujols remained at 698 career homers, although he did drive two balls to deep left field, one for a single and one for an out on the warning track. The next stop in his pursuit of the 700-homer club is Dodger Stadium, where the Cardinals open a three-game series on Friday.
Manny Machado hit his 30th homer for the Padres, who had won five in a row. They currently hold the NL’s No. 2 wild-card spot.
San Francisco 3, Colorado 0: Mike Yastrzemski homered and John Brebbia pitched an inning in his second start of the series, helping the San Francisco Giants beat the Colorado Rockies 3-0 to complete a four-game sweep.
Brebbia was followed by five relievers in the 10-hit shutout. Jharel Cotton (3-2) pitched 2 2/3 innings for the win in his first big league appearance since he was claimed off waivers from Minnesota on Sunday. Camilo Doval got three outs for his 24th save.
American League
Seattle 9, Oakland 5: Julio Rodríguez doubled and scored before leaving with lower back tightness, and the Seattle Mariners overcame the loss of the rookie center fielder to beat the Oakland Athletics 9-5 and avoid a three-game sweep.
Rodríguez slowly walked off the field with a trainer in the bottom half of the first inning. He recently missed three games in Anaheim with a lower back issue.
Adam Frazier went 2 for 4 with three RBIs. Mitch Haniger, Cal Raleigh, Jesse Winker and Ty France also drove in runs for Seattle, which entered the day with a four-game lead over Baltimore for the third and final AL wild-card position.
Kansas City 4, Minnesota 1: Jonathan Heasley pitched six innings of two-hit ball, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 4-1 to complete their three-game sweep.
Edward Oliveras and Drew Waters homered for Kansas City. Salvador Perez also drove in a run, extending his streak to seven straight games with an RBI.
Heasley (4-8) allowed one run, struck out three and walked two. Brad Keller got three outs for his first career save.
Texas 5, L.A. Angels 3: Corey Seager hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth inning, helping the Texas Rangers top the Los Angeles Angels, 5-3.
Seager drove a 1-1 fastball from José Quijada (0-5) deep to left-center for his 32nd homer, extending his career best in his first season with Texas. Quijada came in to pitch the eighth and walked leadoff hitter Marcus Semien before Seager connected for his opposite-field shot.
Matt Moore (5-2) got three outs for the win, and Jose Leclerc handled the ninth for his seventh save in eight opportunities.