Goldschmidt homers again, surging Cardinals nip Pirates 4-3
By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer
PITTSBURGH (AP) — With the bases loaded with no outs in a one-run game and Pittsburgh All-Star first baseman Josh Bell walking into the batter’s box, St. Louis Cardinals pitching coach Mike Maddux paid a visit to rookie Dakota Hudson and offered a reminder.
Relax, Maddux told the 24-year-old. You’re a groundball pitcher. Get a groundball and get on with it.
“That was pretty much how it was,” Hudson said. “I just went after him and tried to attack him the best I could.”
Hudson was OK with giving up one run but not two. He needn’t have worried. The way he’s dealing for the streaking Cardinals, it might be time to raise the bar.
Hudson struck out Bell on three pitches, then got Colin Moran to hit into an inning-ending double play to preserve the lead and help St. Louis hold on for a 4-3 victory on Tuesday night.
“That was the key, the bases-loaded jam with nobody out,” St. Louis manager Mike Shildt said. “It was a huge part of the game. It kind of reiterates the point of not making it bigger than it is, just bearing down and making pitches, knowing he’s two pitches away with what he has. He did a fantastic job.”
It was an exclamation point on an outing that began ominously for Hudson (10-4). He gave up three runs before recording an out — all on Starling Marte’s 17th home run — but settled down quickly. He didn’t allow a run the rest of the way, working 6 1/3 innings, giving up six hits and three walks to improve to 8-1 in his last 12 starts. Giovanny Gallegos and Andrew Miller retired the last eight Pittsburgh batters, with Miller throwing a perfect ninth for his third save.
Paul Goldschmidt, who hit a go-ahead grand slam in the 10th inning on Monday, delivered a two-run drive to the left-field seats in the third inning off Chris Archer (3-7). José Martínez put St. Louis in front with a solo shot leading off the fifth , and the pitching did the rest as St. Louis moved to 9-3 since the All-Star break to close ground on the first-place Chicago Cubs in the quickly widening NL Central.
“I think we’re going to be good,” Martinez said. “Especially winning these games, these close games, I think that gets us pumped up.”
PITTSBURGH PLUNGE
The Cardinals and Pirates were separated by a half-game at the break. The gap has expanded considerably over the last two weeks. Pittsburgh fell to 2-9 since over its last 11 games, with four of the losses to St. Louis. Pittsburgh is averaging just three runs during its slide.
“I think obviously when you’re not scoring runs it looks like you’re pressing,” Moran said. “Just kind of in one of those ruts right now. I think we can get out of it any day.”
Time is running out.
Archer couldn’t take advantage of the early cushion and has now given up 24 home runs in 96 2/3 innings. Acquired in a trade with Tampa Bay last summer that sent future All-Star outfielder Austin Meadows and pitcher Tyler Glasnow to the Rays, Archer is 6-10 with a 5.01 ERA with the Pirates. Archer said he threw the ball right where he wanted on the Goldschmidt homer, but Goldschmidt turned on it anyway.
“Where we’re at in the season, I’m not trying to give up anything,” Archer said. “I’m not trying to tip my cap. I’m trying to get people out. And just unfortunate that those home runs were hit.”
Goldschmidt’s drive inside the foul pole in left with one on in the third gave him six home runs this month and 20 for the fifth straight season and seventh time in his nine-year big league career. Martínez, who preserved a 6-5, 10-inning win Monday by throwing out Kevin Newman at home, put the Cardinals in front an inning later. Hudson didn’t let the rally go to waste.
KELA EXPECTED BACK
Pirates manager Clint Hurdle expects the team to activate reliever Keone Kela when he returns from a two-game suspension on Wednesday. The Pirates suspended Kela, who recently completed a stint on the 60-day IL, on Monday for an unspecified violation of his contract.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Cardinals: Activated right-handed reliever Mike Mayers (strained right side) from the 60-day IL and designated reliever Chasen Shreve, credited with Monday’s win, for assignment. … 3B Matt Carpenter (bruised right foot) was 0 for 2 with a walk for Triple-A Memphis and is scheduled to return to the Cardinals on Friday when he’s eligible to come off the IL.
Pirates: RF Gregory Polanco (left shoulder inflammation) met with orthopedic surgeon Dr. David Altchek in New York to have the shoulder re-evaluated. The team shut down Polanco in the middle of a rehab assignment at Triple-A Indianapolis after Polanco, on the IL since June 22, complained of lingering soreness.
UP NEXT
Cardinals: Adam Wainwright (6-7, 4.50 ERA) is 13- against the Pirates, the second-most victories against Pittsburgh among active pitchers.
Pirates: Jordan Lyles (5-6, 4.91) is winless since May 23 heading into his 17th start of the season. Lyles is coming off his best performance since mid-May, allowing one run on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings against Philadelphia last Friday.
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Fan walks to plate, Hoskins HR in 11th lifts Phils over Bucs
By WES CROSBY Associated Press
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A fan casually walked to home plate and approached Philadelphia hitter Brad Miller for a handshake before being apprehended, and the Phillies later beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 Sunday on Rhys Hoskins’ home run in the 11th inning.
Moments after Bryce Harper argued a called third strike and Hoskins spiked his bat after being hit by a pitch, things turned bizarre in the sixth inning at PNC Park.
That’s when a man carrying a cellphone came out of the crowd and strolled toward Miller in the batter’s box. Miller backed away and the man kept walking, leisurely getting near the Phillies’ dugout on the first base side, where he was handcuffed by security personnel and led away.
Miller then grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Hoskins hit his 21st home run, connecting off Chris Stratton (1-3). The drive came right after Harper again seemed displeased with plate umpire Ben May when striking out looking to start the inning.
Phillies reliever Ranger Suárez (3-0) got Starling Marte to ground out to end the 10th, stranding Adam Frazier at third, and worked around a hit in the 11th.
Drew Smyly made his first start with the Phillies, allowing one run and four hits in six innings. He also struck out.
The 30-year-old lefty was 1-5 with an 8.42 ERA in nine starts and four relief appearances this year for Texas, which released him on June 25. Smyly signed a minor league contract with Milwaukee on July 1, went 1-0 with a 4.97 ERA in three starts for Triple-A San Antonio, then on Thursday exercised his right to be released.
Pirates starter Dario Agrazal allowed one run on three hits with five strikeouts in six innings. The 24-year-old rookie has given up a combined eight runs (seven earned) in 28 innings through his first five starts.
Melky Cabrera put the Pirates ahead 1-0 in the first with an RBI single. The Phillies tied it in the fourth when César Hernández came out of a 25-minute rain delay and singled home Harper.
ROSTER MOVE
Phillies: RHP Fernando Salas was designated for assignment to open a roster spot for Smyly. Salas (0-0, 6.75) allowed two runs on eight hits in 2 2/3 innings across three appearances for Philadelphia this season. RHP Nick Pivetta moved to the bullpen to make room for Smyly in the rotation.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Phillies: Segura left after the top of the fourth inning because of heel soreness. He was 0 for 2 before Scott Kingery moved from center field to replace Segura at shortstop.
UP NEXT
Phillies: RHP Aaron Nola (8-2, 3.77) starts at Detroit on Tuesday. Since last losing in a 2-1 defeat against Miami on June 21, Nola is 2-0 in five starts while allowing seven runs (six earned) in 32 2/3 innings.
Pirates: RHP Trevor Williams (3-3, 5.17) could start against St. Louis on Monday if well enough after being scratched from his last projected start on Saturday because of flu-like symptoms. An official starter has not been announced.
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Lindor hits foul ball that injures child; Indians top KC 5-4
By STEVE HERRICK Associated Press
CLEVELAND (AP) — Francisco Lindor wasn’t thinking about his home run that helped the Cleveland Indians beat Kansas City Royals 5-4 on Sunday. Instead, the All-Star shortstop was only concerned about the young child who was struck by a line drive he hit.
In the latest instance this season around the majors of a fan being injured by a foul ball, Lindor said he was told his liner sent a 3-year-old boy to the hospital.
“It stinks, man,” Lindor said. “You don’t want to get nobody hurt. I have heard the kid is doing well. He’s in the hospital. He’s getting checked and all I know is he’s in stable condition and he’s doing good.”
“In a way, that makes me happy, but it stinks, you don’t want that to happen to anybody, especially a little kid.”
The Indians said in an e-mail following the game that they could not disclose any information.
An adult holding the child immediately left the seating area after Lindor’s drive down the right field line in the sixth inning. Lindor said he stepped out of the box briefly before continuing the at-bat against pitcher Glenn Spellman.
“You take that moment to say a little prayer, ‘God, help him. Hope he’s OK,'” he said.
The protective netting at Progressive Field runs to the end of each dugout. Lindor’s line drive landed several sections beyond the netting and was about 12 to 15 rows into the stands.
Lindor echoed the calls of many major leaguers to extend the netting. The Chicago White Sox are set to become the first team in the majors with netting that goes from foul pole to foul pole on Monday.
Last month, a 2-year-old girl was sent to the hospital with head injuries by a foul ball in Houston.
“I encourage every MLB team to put the nets all the way down,” Lindor said. “I know it’s all about the fans’ experience of interacting with players and I completely get that. You want to have that interaction with the fans, getting autographs and stuff, but at the end of the day, we want to make sure everybody comes out of this game healthy, and we got to do something about it,” Lindor said.
“Everybody feels bad. And if we can put the nets a little bit further down, I think it would be a lot better,” he said.
Lindor said he changed his approach when he stepped back in the box against Spellman.
“You try to go back to this, focus on the pitcher, focus on the at-bat, focus on your job,” Lindor said. “That at-bat, I didn’t want to pull the ball at all.”
“I was just trying to hit it somewhere else, not hit it in that direction, because then what happens is somebody gets hit and then everybody’s paying attention to that person and nobody remembers there’s a game going on. You don’t want to pull the ball again, because then now you hit somebody else. It’s not fun,” he said.
Lindor homered after originally being scheduled to get the day off and José Ramírez hit a tiebreaking home run in the sixth.
Lindor talked his way into the lineup at designated hitter after manager Terry Francona planned on resting him. His two-run homer in the third tied the game at 2.
Ramírez’s leadoff homer put Cleveland ahead in the sixth and the Indians went on to their seventh win in eight games. Cleveland has also won 13 of 16.
Rookie Zach Plesac (4-3) allowed two runs in six innings. The right-hander gave up a run in the first and allowed Jorge Soler’s solo homer in the third.
Brad Hand allowed Bubba Starling’s first major league home run in the ninth, but struck out the next three hitters for his 27th save in 28 opportunities.
Sparkman (4-5) allowed both homers and gave up four earned runs in 5 2/3 innings.
Soler hit his 27th home run in the third and took a homer away from Jason Kipnis the following inning. Soler leaped at the wall in right field to catch Kipnis’ towering drive.
Sparkman threw his hands in the air as he looked toward right field. Soler tipped his cap to the pitcher.
Kansas City is 7-3 since the All-Star break and snapped Cleveland’s six-game winning streak with a 1-0 victory on Saturday.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Indians: RHP Corey Kluber (broken arm) threw 30 pitches off the mound, his second bullpen since being struck by a line drive May 1. He’ll accompany the team on its road trip to Toronto and throw his next bullpen session Wednesday.
UP NEXT
Royals: LHP Danny Duffy (4-5, 4.52 ERA) on Tuesday in Atlanta will look to build off a positive last outing. He threw six innings in which he allowed just two earned runs while walking none.
Indians: RHP Mike Clevinger (3-2, 3.57 ERA) will pitch the opener of a four-game series in Toronto on Monday. He’s struck out 27 batters in 17 innings in July.
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Musgrove pitches, hits, runs Pirates past Phils for 5-1 win
By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Joe Musgrove considers himself a bit of a throwback. The four days in between starts for the Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher can be monotonous. He wants to go out and play. Pinch-run. Pinch-hit. Whatever the situation requires.
On Saturday night, the situation required him taking his turn in the rotation a day ahead of schedule with teammate Trevor Williams needing a bit of extra rest. It required him making a textbook head-first slide to beat a throw from a good friend. It required an eclectic mix of six different pitches. And it required he do it in front of a team of champions who know a thing or two — or maybe more than a thing or two — about being throwbacks.
Musgrove sparked the Pirates with his bat and his legs and then overwhelmed Philadelphia over six dominant innings of two-hit ball to lift Pittsburgh to a 5-1 victory.
On the same night the Pirates celebrated the 40th anniversary of the 1979 team that won the World Series, Musgrove (7-8) tied a season high with eight strikeouts and gave his team a needed spark with a third-inning double against Philadelphia’s Zack Eflin. Musgrove followed it with a clinical head-first slide across home plate just ahead of a throw from childhood buddy and Phillies right fielder Bryce Harper after Bryan Reynolds’ single.
“I grew up playing with him,” Musgrove said of Harper. “Our families are really close. We grew up playing a lot. We talk a lot. It was a fun little challenge. Ultimately I’m not thinking of anything other than trying to score there and how am I going to be safe?”
Musgrove eluded the tag from catcher J.T. Realmuto easily to ignite a three-run third inning that gave him and three relievers more than enough cushion on a night when the Phillies managed just three hits.
“I didn’t think we swung the bats the way we’re capable of swinging the bats,” Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said. “Musgrove did a pretty good job of keeping us off balance. He threw some good sliders. Early on, he was establishing his fastball. Then he started going to his slider and we weren’t able to make the adjustment.”
Starling Marte went 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles and an RBI for the Pirates. Corey Dickerson added two doubles and an RBI as Pittsburgh won for just second time in eight games.
“We need every win we can get right now,” Musgrove said. “I’m going to take the ball as often as I can, any chance I get.”
Though they wore the trademark black uniforms with striped pillbox caps the 1979 group led by Hall of Fame first baseman Willie Stargell and All-Star outfielder Dave Parker made famous on their way to the franchise’s last World Series title, the likeness between this current group and the “We Are Family” crew ends there.
This group of Pirates is dealing with injuries to the pitching staff and is simply trying to hang around following a post All-Star break funk that has dropped them off the pace in the NL Central.
“We need consistency on both sides,” Dickerson said. “We’ve played well at times. We’ve got to put it together somewhat consistently.”
Eflin, who entered with one victory in his last six starts and a 13.00 ERA in July, ran into trouble in the third and dropped to 2-7 on the road. Reynolds came home on Marte’s first double and Marte raced across the plate on a soft single by Josh Bell to give the Pirates an early 3-0 lead. Eflin lasted just four innings, giving up three runs on five hits with three strikeouts as his ERA ticked up to a season-high 4.25.
Kapler said Eflin appears to be feeling “a little bit heavy” at the moment. Eflin acknowledged there may be some fatigue setting in.
“Sometimes you wake up, you don’t feel great,” he said. “Right now it’s one of those things where I’m searching to find what’s best for me and what’s going to work for me. So come back in a couple days, throw a good bullpen and go from there.”
The Phillies scratched across a run in the fifth when a walk and an error by Bell at first base put runners in scoring position with no outs. Brad Miller scored on a groundout by Adam Haseley, but Musgrove returned from a 28-minute rain delay to strike out pinch-hitter Nick Williams and Scott Kingery to end the threat.
MORIN ARRIVES
Philadelphia reliever Mike Morin allowed a run in the seventh inning in his first appearance with the Phillies after being acquired from Minnesota for cash.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: RHP Keone Kela (right shoulder inflammation) threw an aggressive bullpen for the second straight day and could come off the 60-day injured list early next week.
UP NEXT
Phillies: LHP Drew Smyly will likely make his first start for the Phillies on Sunday. Smyly went 1-5 with an 8.42 ERA for Texas before being released last month. He signed with Milwaukee on July 1 and was sent to Triple-A before being let go by the Brewers on Thursday.
Pirates: Rookie RHP Dario Agrazal (2-0, 2.45 ERA) gets the start Sunday, with Williams likely to return to the rotation when St. Louis visits on Monday.
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