ST. LOUIS (AP) — Kyle Schwarber hit his 44th homer, sparking the NL wild-card leading Philadelphia Phillies to a 6–1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. Schwarber’s three-run homer came on a 2-2 pitch in the fifth inning, extending the Phillies’ lead to 5-1. The homer snapped an 0-for-16 slump for Schwarber, lifting his RBIs total to 97. Venezuelan left-hander Ranger Suárez picked up the win with six innings of work. He gave one run on four hits and four walks with five strikeouts. Miles Mikolas pitched six innings and took the loss. He allowed eight hits and five runs.
PHOENIX (AP) — Gabriel Moreno singled to right to score Evan Longoria in the 13th inning and the Arizona Diamondbacks rallied to beat the Chicago Cubs 7-6 on Saturday night. With runners at the corners and two outs, Emmanuel Rivera hit liner off pitcher Hayden Wesneski’s shoulder that rebounded toward shortstop. Dansby Swanson let the ball bounce, but it spun away from him for a hit that allowed the tying run to score. Moreno’ followed with his single, and Longoria slid headfirst and got his left hand around Yan Gomes’ mitt after the catcher gloved Seiya Suzuki’s throw. The Diamondbacks closed within a half-game of the Cubs for the second NL wild-card berth and are tied with Cincinnati for the third and final spot.
CHICAGO (AP) — Eloy Jiménez and Gavin Sheets homered during Chicago’s five-run first inning, and the White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins 7-6. Touki Toussaint struck out eight in five effective innings as lowly Chicago stopped a four-game slide. Tim Anderson had three hits and started a key double play in the seventh. Minnesota had won three of four. With the loss and Cleveland’s 2-1 victory over Texas, the Twins’ magic number for clinching the AL Central title remained at seven.
