Cardinals hold on late

After fanning pinch-hitter Dusty Coleman, Rosenthal induced a fielder’s choice bouncer from shortstop Alcides Escobar that cut down Infante at home.

What Infante did was lob a weak throw home and only then – when Jay saw the throw was going to home plate – did he advance to third base. And because Rosenthal wanted nothing more than the ball in his control, Matheny listened to the closer, who took the mound in the top of the ninth with a 4-2 lead over the Kansas City Royals. Grichuk and Kolten Wong had two hits apiece.

“You take your chance right there, and with our bullpen we figured we could hold it and we did”, Yost said after a 4-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night. The game was tied at 4-4 when Altuve connected off Craig Breslow (0-1) and homered into the seats in left-center.

From the third, the game was scoreless until the ninth.

Garcia batted. 301 with one homer, 23 RBIs and 27 stolen bases in 73 games with Charlotte. The left-hander was scratched from his start Saturday against the Brewers because of stiffness in his neck. He’s 20-12 with a 3.68 ERA post-break the last four seasons.

Kershaw (8-6) walked none and struck out 11 while throwing his second shutout in his past three starts. The two Missouri teams sport the best record in their respective league, making this a possible preview of the World Series if they continue on this torrid pace. Kershaw struck out 11 and did not walk a batter. Pollock went 3-for-5 with an RBI, while Yasmany Tomas added a solo homer for the Diamondbacks, who had lost eight of nine coming in.

New York’s Jacoby Ellsbury drove in four runs as the Yankees beat Baltimore 9-3 to complete a three-game sweep. The Marlins have won three straight after a four-game losing streak.

Fernando Rodney (3-4) pitched an inning of scoreless relief to get the victory. Tanaka (7-3) allowed just three runs on four hits, striking out seven without walking a batter, in 7 2/3 innings to pick up his third straight win.

Toronto’s Russell Martin homered, doubled and drove in three runs to power the Blue Jays past Oakland 5-2.

Let’s go back to June 12 and the second inning of the first game of this series. Both teams wore throwback jerseys from the 1985 I-70 World Series won by Kansas City in seven games. With Taylor on first after a leadoff single, Seattle called for a sacrifice bunt, but Zunino was unable to get it down. The knuckleballer was pulled after hitting Billy Butler in the ninth and replaced by Bo Schultz, who got a double play on his second pitch to record his first career save. He is 5-1 with a 1.75 ERA in his last 8 starts, working 7 or more innings in all but one of them.

The Royals’ also beat a division leader from Los Angeles in their ALDS: the hundred-game-winning Angels featuring Mike Trout and Albert Pujols. The right-hander, who is eligible for free agency after this season, is a possible trade target ahead of the July 31 non-waiver deadline.

WHITE SOX 8, INDIANS 1 Jeff Samardzija, perhaps pitching for the final time in a Chicago uniform, allowed one run in eight innings and Melky Cabrera homered from both sides of the plate, leading the visiting White Sox to a victory over Cleveland.