Cardinals Rally With Home Runs, Brewers Pounce On Cubs

By ESPN

Down to his final strike and his team trailing by a run with two outs in the ninth, St. Louis pinch-hitter Matt Carpenter told himself to just find a pitch he could handle.

When the fastball from closer Tony Watson ended up right down the middle and not up and away as Watson hoped, Carpenter pounced. His solo homer -- a major league record 15th by a St. Louis pinch-hitter this season -- tied it and sent a jolt through the Cardinals. A home run each from Randal Grichuk and Jhonny Peralta followed, and St. Louis rallied for a stunning 9-7 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night.

"We've got a team that I think the best way to describe it is a dangerous team," Carpenter said. "We've got a team that I don't think anybody wants to match up with, especially in a postseason scenario. It's a fun team to play on. We never quit, and tonight was a good example of it."

St. Louis blew an early five-run lead and the Pirates were a pitch away from ending a seven-game losing streak when Watson's 0-2 fastball turned into Carpenter's 18th home run. An All-Star two years ago as a setup man who moved into the closer role when Mark Melancon was traded to Washington at the deadline, Watson gave up as many homers in the ninth as he did during the entire 2015 season.

"We're not playing good ball and to go out there and (have) guys fight back and be a strike away and serve up four more runs, it's tough to swallow," Watson (2-4) said after his third blown save since replacing Melancon.

Yadier Molina went 4 for 5, including a first-inning grand slam for St. Louis. Mike Mayers (1-1) tossed a scoreless eighth for the win, and Seung-Hwan Oh worked around a solo homer to Jung Ho Kang in the ninth for his 16th save.

The Cardinals finished with five home runs in all, including Matt Adams' 436-foot drive over the seats in right field that plopped into the Allegheny River on the bounce. The comeback allowed St. Louis to remain a game in front of the New York Mets for the second wild card in the National League.

Brewers 12, Cubs 5

The Brewers quickly solved Jason Hammel on Tuesday night.

Jonathan Villar homered to start a five-run first inning, and the Brewers cooled off the Chicago Cubs with a 12-5 victory.

"We haven't had a first inning like that," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "He's been tough against us. You get to him before they get in that rhythm and take advantage of it."

The NL Central-leading Cubs had won seven of eight and were 41 games over .500 after winning Monday's series opener.

But Milwaukee rallied from a 1-0 deficit as its first seven batters reached against Hammel (14-8). Villar homered on Hammel's second pitch, Ryan Braun had an RBI single, Domingo Santana singled in two runs and Martin Maldonado added a sacrifice fly.

Hammel allowed more runs to the Brewers in the first inning Tuesday than he had in any of his 14 previous career outings against them; he entered with at 10-1 with a 2.50 ERA against Milwaukee.

Wily Peralta (6-9) gave up four runs and six hits in 7 2/3 innings, leaving after Anthony Rizzo's second home run of the game, a two-run drive. Peralta became the first Brewers starter to pitch into the eighth since Junior Guerra on July 29.

White Sox 2, Tigers 0

Justin Upton had won consecutive games with late-inning homers and he came up as the tying run in the ninth inning on Tuesday night.

Upton struck out on a ball in the dirt. It was that kind of night for the Detroit Tigers.

Jose Abreu hit his fifth homer in seven games, Miguel Gonzalez came off the disabled list to throw 6 1/3 innings of six-hit ball and the Chicago White Sox cooled off Detroit 2-0.

The Tigers went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on in their fourth loss in 15 games.

"We put ourselves in position to score runs and they didn't let us," Upton said. "That's part of it."

Detroit wasted a chance to move closer to AL Central-leading Cleveland, which fell to Houston 4-3. The Tigers fell one game behind Baltimore for the second AL wild card after the Orioles beat Tampa Bay 11-2.

"You've got to execute, man," center fielder Cameron Maybin said.

Tuesday, September 6 Scoreboard

New York Yankees 7, Toronto 6

Washington 9, Atlanta 7

St. Louis 9, Pittsburgh 7

Houston 4, Cleveland 3

New York Mets 5, Cincinnati 3

Philadelphia 4, Miami 3

Baltimore 11, Tampa Bay 2

Chicago White Sox 2, Detroit 0

Milwaukee 12, Chicago Cubs 5

Kansas City 10, Minnesota 3

San Francisco 3, Colorado 2

Oakland 3, Los Angeles Angels 2

Texas 10, Seattle 7

Los Angeles Dodgers 5, Arizona 2

Boston 5, San Diego 1

Wednesday, September 7 Schedule (All Times Central)

New York Mets at Cincinnati, 11:35 a.m.

Baltimore at Tampa Bay, 12:10 p.m.

Detroit at Chicago White Sox, 1:10 p.m.

Los Angeles Angels at Oakland, 2:35 p.m.

St. Louis at Pittsburgh, 6 p.m.

Toronto at New York Yankees, 6:05 p.m.

Atlanta at Washington, 6:05 p.m.

Houston at Cleveland, 6:10 p.m.

Philadelphia at Miami, 6:10 p.m.

Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee, 7:10 p.m.

Kansas City at Minnesota, 7:10 p.m.

San Francisco at Colorado, 7:40 p.m.

Boston at San Diego, 8:10 p.m.

Texas at Seattle, 9 p.m.

Arizona at Los Angeles Dodgers, 9:10 p.m.