Albert Pujols cements place in history with HR No. 697

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Albert Pujols hit his 697th home run, moving past Alex Rodriguez into fourth place on the career list and doing it in dramatic fashion with a ninth-inning drive that pushed the St. Louis Cardinals over the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 Sunday.

The NL Central-leading Cardinals trailed 2-1 when Pujols connected for a two-run shot. He trails Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714) on the all-time homer chart. The 42-year-old Pujols has 21 games left in his 22nd and final season in the big leagues.

The Cardinals went to the ninth inning trailing 2-0 but scored four runs off Chase DeJong (4-2). Tommy Edman and Corey Dickerson led off with back-to-back doubles to produce the first run. One out after Pujols connected, Tyler O’Neil hit a solo shot to cap St. Louis’ big inning.

Ryan Helsley then got Ben Gamel to fly out for his 16th save. Chris Stratton (8-4) retired both batters he faced.

DODGERS 11, PADRES 2

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Justin Turner hit a grand slam and a solo homer for Los Angeles, which emphatically became the first team to clinch a playoff spot this season by beating rival San Diego.

Los Angeles, with the best record in the majors at 96-43, sealed a playoff berth for the 10th straight season. The Dodgers’ magic number to win the NL West is two.

Max Muncy hit a go-ahead, two-run, bases-loaded single in the sixth inning and Chris Taylor and Trea Turner also homered for the Dodgers, who won their eighth straight series against the Padres dating to June 2021.

Padres All-Star right-hander Joe Musgrove (9-7) had a 2-0 lead after three innings before Justin Turner homered to left with one out in the fifth and Taylor homered to center with two outs.

Andrew Heaney (3-2) allowed two runs, one earned, and three hits in five innings. He struck out six and walked two.

MARINERS 8, BRAVES 7

SEATTLE (AP) — Julio Rodriguez and Eugenio Suarez each hit their second home run of the game, connecting in the ninth inning and rallying Seattle over Atlanta.

The Braves trailed 6-2 going into the ninth, but Michael Harris II and Robbie Grossman hit two-out homers during a five-run comeback.

Down 7-6, the Mariners tied it when Rodriguez hit his 25th home run with one out off Kenley Jansen (5-2). With two outs, Suarez hit his 30th homer to win it.

The Mariners moved into a tie with Tampa Bay for the top AL wild-card spot, and Atlanta fell to 1 1/2 games behind the New York Mets in the NL East.

ASTROS 12, ANGELS 4

HOUSTON (AP) — Alex Bregman and Trey Mancini hit two of Houston’s five home runs, and the AL West-leading Astros beat Los Angeles for their 90th win of the season.

Trailing 3-0, the Astros rallied for five runs in the third. Mauricio Dubón led off the inning with a solo home run, and after Tucker Davidson (2-6) hit Yordan Alvarez to load the bases, Davidson was replaced by Mike Mayers, who Bregman greeted with his grand slam to right-center.

Shohei Ohtani hit his 34th home run of the season in the first, a two-run shot to right. Mike Trout, who has homered in a club record six straight games, was given the day off.

Luis Garcia (12-8) allowed three runs on eight hits with four strikeouts in five innings.

METS 9, MARLINS 3

MIAMI (AP) — Brandon Nimmo homered, doubled and walked twice to help New York top Miami and maintain its slim lead atop the NL East.

Tómas Nido had three hits and drove in three runs for the Mets. Pitcher Max Scherzer, who is on the injured list but accompanied the team to Florida, was ejected by second base umpire Chad Fairchild after Nimmo had a triple negated in the first at-bat of the game.

Taijuan Walker (11-4) won his fourth decision against the Marlins this season, throwing seven innings of one-run ball. The right-hander scattered five hits and struck out 10.

Jeff McNeil had three hits and Eduardo Escobar hit his 18th homer for New York, which improved to 46-22 against the NL East.

Miami’s Brian Anderson homered twice.

Marlins starter Jesús Luzardo (3-7) was lifted after 3 1/3 innings. The left-hander gave up five runs, six hits, walked three and struck out three. He also hit two batters, ending a streak of four consecutive starts of at least six innings.

YANKEES 10, RAYS 4

NEW YORK (AP) — Gleyber Torres homered twice and Giancarlo Stanton and Oswaldo Cabrera once each during a 10-run barrage in the first two innings and New York again routed Tampa Bay to reopen a 5 1/2-game AL East lead.

Ten of New York’s first 14 batters reached, with Torres hitting a three-run homer in the first and a solo drive in the second, both off Luis Patiño (1-2). New York built a 10-1 lead with a seven-run second inning and took two of three to finish a 5-2 homestand.

Wandy Peralta (3-4), the third of eight pitchers, allowed one hit over 2 1/3 innings.

Pitiño (1-2) gave up nine runs, five hits and four walks in 1 1/3 innings his ERA rising to 8.10.

GUARDIANS 4, TWINS 1

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Andrés Giménez and Steven Kwan hit solo homers, Shane Bieber had another strong start and Cleveland finished off a sweep of Minnesota.

Bieber (10-8) went 6 1/3 innings, allowing five hits and one run while striking out seven. Bieber has allowed more than two runs just once in his last nine starts. James Karinchak walked a pair of batters in the ninth inning but struck out three to earn his second save.

Cleveland had lost nine of its previous 13 games but still held a 1 ½ game lead over Minnesota in the American League Central entering the series. The Guardians strengthened their position and the Twins have lost nine of 11 and are in third place, 4 ½ games back.

Josh Winder (4-4) gave up two runs in four innings for Minnesota after being recalled from Triple-A St. Paul before the game.

PHILLIES 7, NATIONALS 5

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Alec Bohm hit the go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh inning to lead Philadelphia over Washington. The game had a 3.5-hour rain delay.

Bohm raised his right arm and pointed toward the clear sky after his 11th homer of the season sailed into the right-field seats for a 7-5 lead. Rhys Hoskins hit a three-run homer for the Phillies and had four RBIs.

The delay came with the Phillies leading 1-0 through two innings. The Phillies kept their hold on the second NL wild-card spot.

Kyle Finnegan (5-4) gave up Bohm’s homer and took the loss. Jose Alvarado (4-2) tossed a scoreless inning and earned the win. David Robertson worked a scoreless ninth for his 19th save.

BREWERS 7, REDS 6

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Rowdy Tellez homered twice, doubled and drove in four runs as Milwaukee withstood a ninth-inning comeback by Cincinnati.

Willy Adames and Tellez hit back-to-back homers off Reds starter Justin Dunn (1-3) in the Brewers’ four-run second inning. Tellez added a solo shot off Luke Farrell in the fourth inning for his 30th homer of the season.

Adames needs just one more homer to match the single-season record for a Brewers shortstop.

Brewers center fielder Garrett Mitchell made a diving catch of a TJ Friedl fly ball in the ninth inning that prevented the Reds from tying the game.

Cincinnati’s Alejo López went 3 for 3 with his first career homer and a double. The Reds trailed 7-2 through six innings but nearly came all the way back.

Brewers starter Brandon Woodruff (10-4) struck out 11, walked one and gave up five hits and two runs in six innings.

Dunn struck out one but yielded six runs, six hits and three walks in three innings.

RANGERS 4, BLUE JAYS 1

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Martin Perez allowed one run in six innings, Adolis Garcia homered for the second consecutive game and Texas beat Toronto.

The Blue Jays head home following an 8-2 trip to play five games in four days against another AL wild-card team, Tampa Bay. The Rangers, meanwhile, snapped a three-game losing streak.

Perez (11-6) ended a personal two-game losing streak, which equaled his longest of the season. He gave up six hits, struck out seven and walked two. Jose Leclerc pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his fourth save in four chances.

Garcia launched a fastball down the left-field line into the second deck off Yusei Kikuchi — the fifth time this season that he has homered in consecutive games.

Leody Taveras hit a solo homer for Texas in the eighth inning.

Texas grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning off Trevor Richards (3-2), the Jays’ opener for a bullpen game.

DIAMONDBACKS 12, ROCKIES 6

DENVER (AP) — Zac Gallen retired the first nine batters he faced to extend his scoreless innings streak to 44 1/3 innings, seventh longest in MLB history, and Arizona beat Colorado.

Gallen (12-2) struck out 11 in six innings to win for the seventh time in his last eight starts. He passed Brandon Webb with a scoreless first inning to set the franchise record at 42 1/3 innings; Webb’s mark came in 2007.

Gallen retired the next six batters but three straight singles by Colorado to open the fourth, the last an RBI single by C.J. Cron, ended his streak.

Rockies starter Ryan Feltner (2-8) got the loss.

ATHLETICS 10, WHITE SOX 3

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Ramón Laureano hit a two-run homer and Vimael Machin hit a two-run double in the decisive fifth inning to back Cole Irvin’s second straight win, and Oakland beat Chicago to snap a five-game losing streak.

Machin delivered in the A’s six-run sixth moments after a tying single by Tony Kemp, who homered in the sixth. Seth Brown hit an RBI double in the first against Johnny Cueto (7-8) lost for the first time in six career starts against Oakland.

Irvin (8-11) allowed three runs — two earned — on four hits, struck out five and walked two over seven impressive innings.

ROYALS 4, TIGERS 0

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Brady Singer threw seven shutout innings to lead Kansas City over Detroit and salvage the finale of the three-game series.

Singer (8-4) allowed four hits and one walk, striking out six and retiring 16 of the last 18 batters he faced. The Royals have won six of his last seven starts; he is 4-0 with a 2.25 ERA over that span.

Bobby Witt Jr. had a pair of hits, including a double, his 51st extra-base hit that leads all major league rookies.

Detroit starter Tyler Alexander (3-10) went five innings, allowing four runs on six hits and a walk.

RED SOX 1, ORIOLES 0

BALTIMORE (AP) — Rich Hill pitched five scoreless innings, and Boston defeated a fading Baltimore team.

The Orioles have lost six of eight, all at home, including back-to-back games to the last-place Red Sox. Baltimore was 1 1/2 games out of the third and final AL wild-card spot entering Sept. 4, but will begin a five-game road trip at least five games out of the playoffs.

Every hit in the game was a single; Boston got four and the Orioles had three.

Hill (7-6) allowed two hits, walking three while striking out seven. Matt Barnes worked a perfect ninth to earn his fifth save.

The Red Sox manufactured their run in the first when Tommy Pham singled, stole second, moved to third on a grounder and scored on Xander Bogaerts’ sacrifice fly. It was all they would muster against Baltimore starter Kyle Bradish (3-6) through seven innings.

GIANTS 4, CUBS 2

CHICAGO (AP) — Thairo Estrada homered in the seventh, Wilmer Flores connected in the eighth and San Francisco held on to beat Chicago.

The Giants kept the Cubs’ offense in check while using six pitchers on a bullpen day, though Zach McKinstry had four hits for the Cubs, who have dropped 15 of 21.

Estrada, Evan Longoria and Austin Dean had two hits each for the Giants, who had lost five of six.

Flores hit a two-run shot off Hayden Wesneski (1-1) after Lewis Brinson walked for his 18th homer of the season, matching a career high and snapping an 0-for-19 skid. Estrada’s homer ended Wesneski’s streak of six scoreless innings to begin his major league career.

Seiya Suzuki homered off Scott Alexander in the eighth to pull the Cubs within 4-2.

The Giants’ Zack Littell (3-3) threw 1 2/3 shutout innings to earn the victory.

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