Miguel Cabrera hit his 400th career home run, while nearly five hours later Jose Iglesias had an RBI single in the 10th inning that sent the Detroit Tigers over the St Louis Cardinals 4-3 on a rainy Saturday.
Cabrera’s milestone shot gave him the most homers by a Venezuelan-born player, passing Andres Galarraga. The solo shot came in the first inning just before a rain delay of 1 hour, 20 minutes.
Cabrera has hit four homers in three games, 10 overall and 262 with Detroit, tying him with Willie Horton for fourth on the franchise list.
Photo: AFP
Adrian Beltre of Texas hit his 400th homer on Friday. Cabrera tied Beltre for 52nd place on the career list, with Duke Snider next at 407.
GIANTS 11, REDS 2
Brandon Crawford hit a grand slam and drove in a career-high six runs, while Hunter Pence scored three times in his return from a broken forearm to help lead San Francisco to a victory in Cincinnati.
Photo: AFP
The defending World Series champions are hoping their offense gets a boost from Pence’s return. The right fielder was hit by a pitch during spring training, causing a fracture just above his left wrist. He had hits in his first two at-bats off Mike Leake (2-2), helping San Francisco pull ahead 5-0.
Crawford’s fourth career grand slam made it 9-0 in the fifth inning, the most runs that Leake has allowed in his career. Brandon Belt and Gregor Blanco had solo shots off Leake.
The Reds managed two runs and six hits in 5-2/3 innings off Ryan Vogelsong (2-2), including Jay Bruce’s solo homer.
YANKEES 5, ROYALS 1
In Kansas City, Missouri, Chase Headley and Alex Rodriguez homered, while C.C. Sabathia found his form in his eighth start of the season as New York beat Kansas City.
The Yankees evened the three-game series.
With rain threatening for the entire evening, Sabathia (2-5) made quick work of the Royals, who had pounded out 12 runs on 17 hits the previous night. The lefty allowed the lone run on six hits without a walk in seven innings to win his second straight start.
Headley hit a three-run drive, while Rodriguez added his 10th homer of the season in the ninth.
Danny Duffy (2-3) lost his third straight start, allowing four runs on four hits and four walks in five innings. It was a modest improvement over his previous two starts, when he had been hammered for 10 runs in 4-2/3 innings by the Indians and Rangers.
ROCKIES 7, DODGERS 1
In Los Angeles, Jorge De La Rosa pitched two-hit ball over seven-plus scoreless innings before leaving with an injury as Colorado blasted three home runs to beat Los Angeles, handing Zack Greinke his first loss of the season.
De La Rosa (1-2) retired 18 consecutive batters after Kike Hernandez led off the first inning with a double and Jimmy Rollins reached on a throwing error. The 34-year-old left-hander departed after giving up an infield single to Howie Kendrick with one out in the seventh.
Carlos Gonzalez, Daniel Descalso and Nolan Arenado homered for the Rockies.
Greinke (5-1), who leads the majors in ERA at 1.52, allowed four hits and no walks through six innings and struck out five before he was lifted for a pinch-hitter with the Dodgers trailing 1-0.
CUBS 4, PIRATES 1
In Chicago, Jon Lester outpitched Gerrit Cole with seven gutsy innings as Chicago defeated Pittsburgh for their sixth consecutive victory.
Kris Bryant went two for two with two walks and scored twice as the Cubs moved six games over 0.500 for the first time since they were 83-77 on Oct. 3, 2009, according to STATS.
It is the longest win streak for Chicago since a seven-game run in 2011.
Lester (4-2) allowed one run and nine hits in his fourth consecutive win. The left-hander struck out seven, running his career total to 1,504 Ks, and walked one.
Sean Rodriguez homered for Pittsburgh, who have dropped four in a row.
Starling Marte and South Korean Kang Jung-ho had three hits apiece.
Cole (5-2) allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings.
ASTROS 6, BLUE JAYS 5
In Houston, Texas, Chris Carter, Marwin Gonzalez and Evan Gattis homered as Houston beat Toronto for their fourth straight win.
It was the latest point in a season that the American League West-leading Astros have been in first place since May 22, 2004, when they were on top of the National League Central.
At 24-13, Houston have their best 37-game start since 1999.
With Houston trailing 3-2, Carter hit a three-run shot off reliever Liam Hendricks in the sixth inning.
One out later, Gonzalez homered to center field.
In other games on Saturday, it was:
‧ Red Sox 4, Mariners 2
‧ Mets 14, Brewers 1
‧ Nationals 4, Padres 1
‧ Indians 10, Rangers 8
‧ Braves 5, Marlins 3
‧ Angels 6, Orioles 1
‧ Twins 6, Rays 4
‧ Phillies 7, Diamondbacks 5
‧ White Sox 4, Athletics 3
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