Pujols hits 2 HRs, Molina pitches in Cards' rout of Pirates

PITTSBURGH (AP) – Albert Pujols hit two homers to boost his career total to 683, then caught the warmup tosses when catcher Yadier Molina made his first pitching appearance to close out the St. Louis Cardinals’ 18-4 romp over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday. Molina gave up homers to Yoshi Tsutsugo and Jack Suwinski and four runs while working the ninth inning, eventually completing the Cardinals’ three-game sweep. But it was not all fun and games for St. Louis. Starter Steven Matz lasted only four pitches before being pulled with stiffness in his left shoulder. After Matz exited, Angel Rondón (1-0) entered to strike out Ke’Bryan Hayes with his first pitch. Rondón allowed just one hit in five innings for his first win in the majors, striking out four and walking three. Exactly a week after Pujols took the mound for the first time in his big league career, Molina got his turn with St. Louis ahead 18-0. Pujols was behind the plate to warm up his longtime teammate in-between innings. Harrison Bader also homered for the Cardinals, who had a six-run second against Bryse Wilson (0-3). ANGELS 4, ATHLETICS 1 ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – Shohei Ohtani hit a 443-foot leadoff home run and Mike Trout added a solo shot while getting three hits and two RBIs in Los Angeles’ victory over Oakland. Patrick Sandoval (3-1) struck out seven as he pitched four-hit ball into the eighth inning for the Angels, who won the final two games of the weekend series after a four-game skid. Raisel Iglesias pitched the ninth for his 10th save. Ohtani hit his ninth home run on Cole Irvin’s second pitch, and Trout added an RBI single in the second and his 12th homer in the seventh. Trout, who also doubled in the first, struck out in the eighth to fall a triple short of the cycle for the second time in six days. Irvin (2-2) yielded three runs on eight hits over six innings for Oakland, which has lost six of eight. The graduate of Anaheim’s Servite High School struck out four with two walks. PHILLIES 4, DODGERS 3, 10 INNINGS PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Max Muncy’s two-run fielding error in the 10th capped a wild late-inning sequence and allowed Philadelphia to beat Los Angeles. With two outs and men on second and third in the 10th, Alec Bohm hit a little dribbler off Evan Phillips (1-2) to Muncy at second for what appeared to be the final out of the inning. But Muncy didn’t field it cleanly, allowing Garrett Stubbs to score the tying run and Roman Quinn to bring in the winning run just ahead of the throw home. Stubbs had hit his first major league homer to get Philadelphia on the board in the sixth. The Phillies had tied it with two outs in the ninth on Jean Segura’s single to left that scored Nick Castellanos, whose two-out double started the rally. Corey Knebel (1-3) pitched an inning to get the win. Mookie Betts and Edwin Rios hit solo home runs for the Dodgers. RED SOX 8, MARINERS 4, 10 INNINGS BOSTON (AP) – Franchy Cordero hit a grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the 10th, lifting surging Boston past Seattle. Trevor Story continued his recent power surge with his fifth homer over the Green Monster in four days and Christian Arroyo added a solo shot for Boston, which posted its season-high fifth straight victory and completed a four-game sweep over Seattle. Jake Diekman (1-0) earned the win for the Red Sox, who trailed 4-3 when pinch-hitter Christian Vázquez singled against Andrés Muñoz (1-2) in the 10th to advance automatic runner Bobby Dalbec. After Kiké Hernández hit a tying single, Vázquez was thrown out at the plate by right fielder Dylan Moore on Rafael Devers’ single, a play upheld by review. Following an intentional walk and Story’s flyout, Cordero won it with his drive to right on 0-2 pitch.