MLB roundup: Carpenter homers in sixth straight, Cards split DH

Matt Carpenter made Cardinals history by homering in his sixth straight game Saturday night as St. Louis earned a split of a doubleheader by coming from behind for a 6-3 victory over the host Chicago Cubs in the nightcap at Wrigley Field. Carpenter's streak appeared endangered when he didn't start the second game, but he entered the contest as part of a double-switch in the sixth and extended his record run in dramatic fashion an inning later, when he began the Cardinals' comeback from a 3-1 deficit by homering off Randy Rosario. Carpenter is the second player in franchise history to homer in six straight games but the first to do so in a single season. Mark McGwire homered in the final two games of the 1997 season and the first four games of his 70-homer 1998 campaign. The major league record for most consecutive games with a homer is eight, shared by Dale Long (1956), Don Mattingly (1987) and Ken Griffey Jr. (1993). Carpenter, who hit three homers Friday, has eight homers and 12 RBIs during his streak. His seven homers in the last five games tie a team record previously set by Jim Bottomley from July 5-9, 1929. Cubs 7, Cardinals 2 (Game 1) Javier Baez gave Chicago the lead for good with an RBI single in the fifth inning and added a run-scoring double in the seventh inning in a win over St. Louis to open the doubleheader. Baez's first RBI hit, the last of three straight singles to open the fifth, chased Cardinals starter Luke Weaver (5-9) and gave the Cubs a 2-1 lead. Kyle Schwarber followed with a sacrifice fly. The tiebreaking hit put Tyler Chatwood (4-5) in line for the win despite another inefficient outing. Chatwood allowed only one hit -- Matt Carpenter's solo homer in the third -- but he walked six while striking out just two over 5 1/3 innings. Yankees 7, Mets 6 Aaron Judge collected three hits, including his 26th homer, as the New York Yankees survived a shaky ninth inning by Aroldis Chapman and held off the New York Mets at Yankee Stadium. Judge highlighted his second three-hit game in two days by hitting a homer into the wind in the seventh off Tim Peterson to give the Yankees a 6-3 lead. Yankees right-hander Sonny Gray (7-7) allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits in 5 1/3 innings. Chapman allowed a bases-loaded walk to Jose Reyes in the ninth and hit Brandon Nimmo with a pitch before being replaced by Chasen Shreve, who recorded his second career save. Tigers 5, Red Sox 0 Jose Iglesias homered and drove in four runs, Mike Fiers delivered another quality start and Detroit blanked visiting Boston. Iglesias had a two-run double and two-run homer as the Tigers bounced back from losing 1-0 to the Red Sox on Friday. Jeimer Candelario contributed two hits, a run scored and an RBI while Victor Martinez scored twice. Fiers (7-6) consistently worked out of trouble, scattering seven hits and walking three while striking out six in 6 1/3 innings. The loss was Boston's second in its last 15 games. Astros 7, Angels 0 George Springer homered for the first time in more than a month, Justin Verlander produced his seventh scoreless start of the season and Houston rolled to victory at Los Angeles. Springer capped a five-run sixth inning with his fifth career grand slam and first home run since June 20 against Tampa Bay. The Astros sent 10 batters to the plate in the inning, with Josh Reddick opening the frame with a solo homer. Verlander (10-5) continued his domination of the Angels in Anaheim, Calif. He allowed five hits and two walks with 11 strikeouts over six shutout innings, extending his streak of scoreless innings at Angel Stadium to 23. Brewers 4, Dodgers 2 Milwaukee took advantage of a two-out error to score two unearned runs against Clayton Kershaw in the sixth inning, rallying past visiting Los Angeles to snap a seven-game losing streak. After Ryan Braun sandwiched a double between two outs, Kershaw (3-5) got what appeared to be an inning-ending grounder to third baseman Max Muncy. But Muncy couldn't handle the chopper, allowing Braun to score the eventual game-winning run. Keon Broxton followed with a triple to right-center that made it 4-2. Brewers relievers Josh Hader and Corey Knebel took it from there, with Hader striking out four in two shutout innings before Knebel recorded his 12th save. Hader received a warm reception from the home crowd in his first appearance since drawing criticism for years-old hateful tweets that surfaced during the All-Star Game. Pirates 6, Reds 2 Rookie Nick Kingham pitched effectively into the seventh inning as Pittsburgh extended its winning streak to a season-high eight games with a win at Cincinnati. Corey Dickerson hit solo homers on consecutive pitches in consecutive at-bats as the Pirates also won for the 10th time in 11 games. He homered in the third inning and again in the fifth off Anthony DeSclafani (4-3). In his 10th career start, Kingham (5-4) allowed a two-run homer to backup catcher Curt Casali among four hits. Royals 4, Twins 2 Salvador Perez hit a two-run homer and Brian Flynn pitched three scoreless innings of one-hit relief to pick up the win as Kansas City won its second straight game over visiting Minnesota. The victory, just the fourth in the last 17 games for Kansas City, guaranteed the Royals would win just their fourth series of the season and first since taking two out of three from the Twins on May 28-30 at Kauffman Stadium. Joe Mauer had three hits, including the 415th double of his career to break the franchise record set by Kirby Puckett, to lead Minnesota. Marlins 3, Rays 2 Cameron Maybin homered and rookie right-hander Pablo Lopez earned the win as visiting Miami defeated Tampa Bay. In the seventh inning, Maybin pulled a would-be double that went just foul down the left field line. Two pitches later, he slugged a line-drive homer to left. The Rays lost shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria, a former Marlins player, who was removed due to an oblique injury. That forced Tampa Bay to shuffle its infield, including placing Gold Glove outfielder Carlos Gomez at second base for just the second time in his professional career. Blue Jays 4, Orioles 1 Marcus Stroman struck out seven in seven innings, Randal Grichuk and Luke Maile had RBI hits in a three-run fourth inning and Toronto defeated visiting Baltimore. It was the second straight win for the Blue Jays over the Orioles in a three-game series that ends Sunday. Toronto has an 8-1 advantage in the season series. Stroman (3-7) allowed one run, five hits and two walks to win for the third time in his past five starts. Ryan Tepera pitched a perfect ninth to earn his seventh save of the season. Braves-Nationals, ppd. The night game between Washington and Atlanta at Nationals Park was postponed roughly five hours prior to first pitch due to rain. No makeup date for the contest was announced. Padres-Phillies, ppd. The night game between host Philadelphia and San Diego at Citizens Bank Park was postponed roughly four hours prior to first pitch due to rain. The contest will be made up Sunday as part of a split doubleheader. --Field Level Media