ST. LOUIS (AP) — Four pitchers combined for five innings of scoreless, two-hit relief after Miles Mikolas appeared to injury his forearm in his delayed season debut, and Yadier Molina hit a tiebreaking home run that lifted the St. Louis Cardinals over the Chicago Cubs 2-1. Molina broke a 1-1 tie when led off the seventh inning with his seventh home run this season, connecting on a slider with an 0-2 count from Adbert Alzolay. Mikolas was activated Saturday. He missed last season after flexor tendon surgery, then hurt his pitching shoulder in his first bullpen session of 2021.
Also on MLB fields:
— The Red Sox have a four-game winning streak after Xander Bogaerts (BOH’-gahrts) and Danny Santana hit consecutive home runs in the sixth inning of their 4-3 win over the Phillies. Nathan Eovaldi (eh-VAHL’-dee) allowed two runs over 5 1/3 innings before four relievers combined for one-run, two-hit relief to help Boston move a season-high 11 games over .500.
— The Rays picked up their ninth straight win as Taylor Walls hit a pair of doubles in his major league debut, helping Tampa Bay earn a 3-1 win over the Blue Jays. Manuel Margot (mahn-WEHL’ mahr-GOH’) hit a go-ahead single in the eighth inning and Mike Zunino (zuh-NEE’-noh) homered for the Rays.
— César Hernández belted a two-run homer in the 10th inning off Alex Colomé to give the Indians a 5-3 triumph over the Twins. Cleveland ace Shane Bieber struck out six over 5 1/3 innings, ending his 23-game streak of at least seven strikeouts.
— Andrew Benintendi drove in three runs and the Royals ended Detroit’s four-game winning streak by topping the Tigers, 7-5. Benintendi gave the Royals an early lead with a two-run, bases-loaded single in the first and made it 5-3 with an RBI single in the fifth.
— Chris Bassitt pitched five-hit ball into the eighth inning of the Athletics’ 6-2 verdict over the Angels. Seth Brown hit a two-run homer for Oakland, which also received solo shots from Matt Olson and Aramís (ah-RAH’-mihs) García.
— Adolis García has 14 homers this season after connecting twice in helping power the Rangers past the Astros, 8-4. Jose Trevino hit a two-run double during a five-run seventh inning as the Rangers overcame a 4-3 deficit.
— Daniel Robertson hit his first home run in more than two years, a tiebreaking, seventh-inning drive in the Brewers’ 4-3 victory over the Reds. Cincinnati outfielder Jesse Winker hit his 12th home run of the season and fourth in two games.
— Ryan Zimmerman hit a tiebreaking three-run homer and finished with three hits as the Nationals rallied for a 12-9 win over the Orioles. Josh Harrison started for the first time in center field for Washington and hit his first career grand-slam in the third after Baltimore built a 6-1 lead.
— The Marlins pulled out a 3-1 win over the Mets on Garrett Cooper’s two-run, walk-off homer in the ninth. Miami’s Pablo López allowed four hits in seven scoreless innings and struck out eight.
— Ozzie Albies homered from both sides of the plate and Ronald Acuña (ah-KOON’-yah) Jr. led off with his major league-best 15th home run as the Braves dumped the Pirates, 6-1. Albies hit a two-run shot and a solo blast, one day after Atlanta banged out seven round-trippers in a 20-1 thrashing of Pittsburgh.
— Eric Hosmer (HAHS’-mur) hit a two-run, bases-loaded single and Fernando Tatis Jr. came flying around third to score on an error on the play, highlight a five-run fifth in the Padres’ eighth straight win, 6-4 against the Mariners. Seattle committed three errors in the fifth, two after Hosmer singled.
— Max Muncy slammed a ball into McCovey Cove, Austin Barnes went deep and Walker Buehler worked seven innings of the Dodgers’ 6-3 win at San Francisco. Muncy homered off Scott Kazmir, who worked four innings in his first major league appearance since 2016.
— Charlie Blackmon hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer off Madison Bumgarner in a four-run sixth that pushed the Rockies past the Diamondbacks, 7-6. Blackmon’s sixth homer off Bumgarner put the Rockies ahead 5-3.
