Sep 21, 2019 3 min read

Yadier Molina and Paul DeJong homered on Craig Kimbrel’s first two pitches in the ninth inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals handed the reeling Chicago Cubs their fifth straight loss with a wild 9-8 victory on Saturday.

Marcell Ozuna also connected as the NL Central-leading Cardinals (88-67) won for the fifth time in six games. Dexter Fowler had two hits and two RBIs, and Paul Goldschmidt also drove in two runs.

Chicago (82-73) used pinch-hit homers by Ian Happ and Tony Kemp and a solo drive by rookie Nico Hoerner to carry an 8-7 lead into the ninth. It looked as if it was on its way to stopping a costly slide that pushed it out of playoff position – the Cubs began the day two games back of Milwaukee for the second NL wild card.

But Kimbrel (0-4) was hit hard again in his first appearance since he gave up Matt Carpenter’s 10th-inning homer in the Cubs’ 5-4 loss Thursday night.

Molina jumped on Kimbrel’s first pitch for his ninth homer, touching off a rollicking celebration in the Cardinals’ dugout. Kimbrel looked stunned as the ball soared into the bleachers in left-center.

DeJong then belted an even deeper drive for his 28th homer, sending the party on the Cardinals’ half of the field to another level.

Cincinnati 3, N.Y. Mets 2: Pinch-hitter Christian Colón’s two-out single off Seth Lugo broke an eighth-inning tie, lifting the Cincinnati Reds over the Mets 3-2 and dealing New York a critical defeat in the NL wild card race.

New York (80-74) went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position and dropped four games back of Milwaukee for the second wild card with eight games left. The Brewers played last-place Pittsburgh later Saturday.

With the score 2-2, Justin Wilson (4-2) walked José Iglesias with one out in the eighth and José Peraza blooped a single to right. Seth Lugo relieved and struck out pinch-hitter Curt Casali, and Colón grounded a curveball up the middle.

Joel Kuhnel (1-0), a 24-year-old right-hander who made his big league debut last month, got the final out of the eighth for his first major league win. Raisel Iglesias struck out Robinson Canó, Wilson Ramos and Michael Confortoin order for his 34th save in 39 chances.

American League

N.Y. Yankees 7, Toronto 2: The oft-injured Yankees started Saturday with a rare positive medical report. Then they got something even scarcer this year – a signature, soaring home run from Giancarlo Stanton.

Stanton connected for the first time since missing nearly three months to injury, James Paxton won his 10th straight start and New York beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-2.

New York manager Aaron Boone was ejected after another tangle with a rookie umpire, and the 101-win Yankees got promising news shortly before first pitch when an MRI of Gleyber Torres’ achy right hamstring came back negative.

Two years after leading the majors with 59 homers for Miami, Stanton hit just his second of the season leading off the sixth against reliever Brock Stewart.

Chicago White Sox 5, Detroit 3: Tim Anderson homered in a three-run fifth inning, and the Chicago White Sox went on to a 5-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

Anderson went 1 for 4, lowering his American League-leading average to .335, but the one hit was a no-doubter of a home run to left field.