Blue Jays stay hot, whip short-handed Cardinals

TORONTO -- George Springer hit his seventh career grand slam, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a two-run drive and the Toronto Blue Jays extended their winning streak to seven by beating the short-handed St. Louis Cardinals 10-3 on Tuesday night.

Alejandro Kirk added his 12th homer and Matt Chapman had two hits, including the tiebreaking single in a five-run sixth as Toronto improved to 8-1 under Manager John Schneider.

Springer had three hits, scored twice, and made a fine catch at the wall in deep right to end the game, leaving the bases loaded.

"He's a stud," Schneider said of Springer. "He's continuously made big plays in big moments his whole career."

Dylan Carlson hit a solo home run as St. Louis played the first of two games in Canada without unvaccinated sluggers Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado. The two biggest bats in the Cardinals lineup were placed on the restricted list before the game, along with catcher Austin Romine.

Foreign nationals who aren't vaccinated against covid-19 are not allowed to enter Canada, save for limited exceptions that require a 14-day quarantine. Unvaccinated baseball players are placed on the restricted list, where they are not paid and do not accrue major league service time.

Goldschmidt leads the Cardinals in batting average (.333), home runs (22), RBI (74), on-base percentage (.416) and hits (116). He was named NL player of the week Monday after homering in five straight games. Arenado has led the NL in home runs three times.

Veteran slugger Albert Pujols started at first base in place of Goldschmidt, while Brendan Donovan was at third base.

Carlson connected off Jose Berrios in the first, his sixth. Guerrero answered in the bottom half with his 21st home run and Chapman added an RBI single to make it 3-1.

METS 6, YANKEES 3 Eduardo Escobar hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer that capped a four-run, first-inning rally, and the host New York Mets beat the New York Yankees in a rare Subway Series matchup of first-place teams.

PADRES 6, TIGERS 4 (10) Jorge Alfaro capped San Diego's three-run 10th inning with a two-run single, and the visiting Padres beat Detroit.

BREWERS 7, TWINS 6 Luis Urias delivered a game-ending sacrifice fly in the ninth inning to bring home Andrew McCutchen as host Milwaukee edged Minnesota.

WHITE SOX 2, ROCKIES 1 Michael Kopech pitched shutout ball into the sixth inning, Yasmani Grandal had three hits and Chicago beat host Colorado.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

CUBS 4, PIRATES 2 Seiya Suzuki, Ian Happ and Nico Hoerner hit consecutive doubles in the first to give Keegan Thompson (8-4) ample run support, and Suzuki added a homer in the eighth as host Chicago topped Pittsburgh to win its sixth straight.

MARLINS 2, REDS 1 Pablo Lopez allowed two hits and tied his career high with 11 strikeouts over 7 dominant innings as visiting Miami edged Cincinnati. Joey Wendle hit a two-run single off Hunter Greene for Miami.

BRAVES 6, PHILLIES 3 Michael Harris II and Matt Olson homered, Austin Riley stretched his hitting streak to 18 games and visiting Atlanta beat Philadelphia to end a two-game skid.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

ORIOLES 5, RAYS 3 Ramon Urias hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning off reliever Colin Poche to undo a strong start by Tampa Bay starter Shane McClanahan and carry host Baltimore Orioles to a victory. McClanahan allowed two hits over seven innings.

GUARDIANS 8, RED SOX 3 Nolan Jones hit a three-run homer, fellow rookie Steven Kwan had three hits and Cleveland beat host Boston. The Red Sox have lost 14 of their past 18 to fall into last place in the AL East.

ANGELS 6, ROYALS 0 Shohei Ohtani and Max Stassi hit towering homers, Luis Rengifo added a bases-loaded double to break open a close game in the seventh inning, and Los Angeles beat host Kansas City.

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