Blue Jays Beat Cards In Extra Innings, Cubs Edge Pirates

By ESPN

Toronto's Chris Coghlan called it instinct. It was more like a leap of faith.

Coghlan made an acrobatic, run-scoring bound over St. Louis All-Star catcher Yadier Molina, and Marcus Stroman came across with the go-ahead run after pinch hitting in the 11th inning and doubling for his first major league hit in the Blue Jays' 6-5 win over the Cardinals on Tuesday night.

With the score 2-2, Coghlan walked in the seventh and sped around the bases on Kevin Pillar's triple in the right-field corner, which hit high off the fence over Stephen Piscotty and bounced back toward the infield.

Piscotty's throw to the plate was slightly up the third-base line, and Molina leaned down to pick up the ball after its third hop. As Molina reached for the ball, the 31-year-old Coghlan hurled himself over the catcher, somersaulted and landed on the plate with his helmet and left hand.

"I was coming around third and I looked to my left to see where the ball was and I saw it was going to beat me and probably the last step or two I saw Yadi go down," Coghlan said. "You're first thought is, `OK, I'm going to run him over cause he's right over the plate.' And then I was thinking, `since he's down, why don't you jump?"

Blue Jays starter Marco Estrada couldn't believe it.

"When I saw Coghlan do a front flip over Molina, it was like I saw a unicorn or something," Estrada said. "It's just something that never happens. You might not ever see that again."

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons was impressed.

"He got up there didn't he? You've got to win that game because that's what made it worthwhile," Gibbons said. "You probably don't see that for 100 years."

Coghlan actually made contact with Molina's shoulder, which prevented what could have been a dangerous landing.

"It was going to be an ugly fall because I just didn't have enough momentum going forward so it helped that I hit Yadi," Coghlan said. "It kicked my feet up so it wasn't that bad of a landing."

Dexter Fowler's two-out infield single off Roberto Osuna in the ninth tied the score 5-5.

Stroman, a pitcher who had been 0 for 5 in six previous big league plate appearances, pinch hit for reliever Jason Grilli (1-2) leading off the 11th because the Blue Jays were out of position players. He fell behind 0-2 in the count, fouled off a pitch and took a ball, then lined a slider from Miguel Socolovich (0-1) into the left-field corner. After Pillar popped out, Steve Pearce hit a grounder to shortstop Aledmys Diaz, who threw wildly as Stroman scored on the Cardinals' fourth error -- all of which led to runs.

Stroman had been campaigning Gibbons for a shot to swing the bat.

"I'm always in the cage hitting with (Josh Donaldson) and (Troy Tulowitzki)," Stroman said. "So I feel like I have a pretty good sense of what's going on just being competitive and having fun up there."

Grilli struck out the side in the 10th, and Ryan Tepera got his first big league save since 2015 when Pillar made a sliding catch on Jose Martinez's fly to short center with a runner on second base.

Estrada gave up two runs and six hits in six innings with nine strikeouts. Cardinals starter Michael Wacha allowed two runs and five hits in six innings.

After Pillar scored on third baseman Jedd Gyorko's error for a 4-2 lead in the seventh, Martinez tied the score in the bottom half with his first big league home run, a two-run drive against Joe Biagini. Jose Bautista's RBI single off former Blue Jay Brett Cecil put Toronto ahead 5-4 in the ninth.

"Missed plays, we've got to get better," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "Getting the guys in, we've got to get better. Same thing we've been saying. Work and have a high expectation of what the work results should look like. We've still got a long ways to go."

Cubs 1, Pirates 0

Kyle Hendricks spent the first weeks of 2017 trying to recapture the stuff he dealt so easily a year ago while posting the best ERA in the majors.

Sometime in the third inning against Pittsburgh on Tuesday night, everything sort of clicked. It had to if the Chicago Cubs wanted to have any chance of beating Gerrit Cole.

Hendricks limited the Pirates to four singles over six innings and the Chicago's bullpen did the rest as the Cubs took advantage of another error by Pittsburgh's shaky distance to hold on for a 1-0 victory. Hendricks struck out three and walked two in easily his best performance of the young season for the defending World Series champions.

While Hendricks (2-1) isn't ready to say his early struggles are behind him, he took a step forward as the Chicago won for the sixth time in seven games.

"It's just one start," Hendricks said. "It's not a `back' thing. I'm not in the zone, dialed in like I was last year. That was a completely different feeling and sensation (but) felt a lot better. It's more on track."

Hendricks became the first Cub in nearly 80 years to lead the majors in ERA (2.13) last season but took the mound on Tuesday with the number at 6.19. It dropped to 4.50 after he kept Pittsburgh off balance with his mix of breaking balls and changeup to go with a fastball that only reaches the mid-80s but can find the corners when he's on.

"He looked much more like he did last year," Chicago manager Joe Maddon said.

Chicago's bullpen did the rest, with Wade Davis working a perfect ninth for his fifth save. Addison Russell doubled in the second off Cole (1-3) and scored when second baseman Alen Hanson airmailed first base on a Jason Heyward grounder, the Pirates' major league-high 20th error this season. They've also allowed 15 unearned runs, the most in the big leagues.

"I noticed that the runner wasn't running a 100 percent," Hanson said. "I just relaxed a little and tried to make the play. When I noticed that he was almost there, I released the ball and just threw the ball away."

The miscue spoiled a masterful outing by Cole. He struck out eight without issuing a walk and retired 14 of his final 15 batters. It wasn't enough for Pittsburgh, which has lost six of eight.

Cole only needed 78 pitches to get through seven innings but was pulled for pinch hitter Jose Osuna with the tying run on third and two outs in the bottom of the seventh against Chicago reliever Koji Uehara. Osuna flied out and Pittsburgh never threatened again.

"Guys are putting good swings on the ball," Cole said. "It's just the way this stuff goes sometimes. There's gonna be ups and downs throughout the whole year. You can't get frustrated."

White Sox 10, Royals 5

Todd Frazier has resumed slugging away, and so have the rest of the Chicago White Sox.

Frazier had a pair of doubles and drove in three runs, Leury Garcia added a career-high three hits and the White Sox beat Kansas City 10-5 Tuesday night in their second straight one-sided win over the Royals.

Beset with assorted physical ailments this season, Frazier look a .119 batting average and one home run into the game.

"I'm good right now," said Frazier, who lost 10 pounds in a recent bout with the flu. "I'm trying to lift (weights) as much as I can. Maybe just a little soreness from lifting so I can gain some muscle and weight back. Trying to eat as much as I can as well."

A night after beating the Royals 12-1 and outhitting them 15-2, the White Sox outhit Kansas City 14-8. Chicago scored 10 or more runs in consecutive games for the first time since May 26-27, 2012.

"We had quite a few guys who put together some really good at-bats with two outs and two strikes in RBI-type situations," manager Rick Renteria said. "They did a nice job tonight."

Kansas City is 0-6 on a seven-game trip, its longest skid since losing eight consecutive games last June. Last in the AL Central at 7-13, the Royals are off to their worst 20-game start since opening 6-14 in 2012, when they finished 72-90.

Frazier's sacrifice fly tied it in the third inning, and Chicago took a 4-2 lead in the fourth against Danny Duffy (2-1) when Omar Narvaez and Garcia hit consecutive doubles. Tim Anderson followed with an RBI single.

Frazier had a run-scoring double in the fifth and scored on Yolmer Sanchez's triple. Narvaez hit a two-run single off Chris Young in the seventh for an 8-2 lead following a throwing error by third baseman Mike Moustakas on Sanchez's two-out grounder. Frazier and Avisail Garcia had consecutive RBI doubles off Young in the eighth that made it 10-2.

Dan Jennings (2-0) retired all five batters he faced to win in relief of Dylan Covey, who threw 86 pitches over four innings in his third big league start. He allowed two runs and three hits.

Brandon Moss and Moustakas homered off Chris Beck in the ninth inning.

"That was nice to put some runs on the board late," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "Maybe that will help get us going here a little bit."

Tuesday, April 25 Scoreboard

Houston 4, Cleveland 2

Chicago  Cubs 1, Pittsburgh 0

Tampa Bay 2, Baltimore 0

Detroit 19,  Seatle 9

Milwaukee 9, Cincinnati 1

Minnesota 8, Texas 1

Chicago White Sox 10, Kansas City 5

Toronto 6, St. Louis 5 (F/11)

Washington 15, Colorado 12

Arizona 9, San Diego 3

Los Angeles Angels 2, Oakland 1 (F/11)

Los Angeles Dodgers 2, San Francisco 1

Wednesday, April 26 Schedule (All Times Central)

Cincinnati at Milwaukee, 12:40 p.m.

Kansas City at Chicago White Sox, 1:10 p.m.

Houston at Cleveland, 5:10 p.m.

New York Yankees at Boston, 6 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Baltimore, 6:05 p.m.

Miami at Philadelphia, 6:05 p.m.

Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh, 6:05 p.m.

Seattle at Detroit, 6:10 p.m.

Atlanta at New York Mets, 6:10 p.m.

Minnesota at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

Toronto at St. Louis, 7:15 p.m.

Washington at Colorado, 7:40 p.m.

San Diego at Arizona, 8:40 p.m.

Oakland at Los Angeles  Angels, 9:07 p.m.

Los Angeles Dodgers at San Francisco, 9:15 p.m.