PITTSBURGH (AP) — Nolan Gorman hit his second career grand slam, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-4 on Tuesday night.
Matt Carpenter dropped a soft single into left to load the bases with no outs in the fourth inning. Gorman followed with his 17th homer of the season, a 415-foot drive to left-center on a 1-2 sweeper from Mitch Keller (9-5).
“I definitely think it could be the start to something,” said Gorman, who is batting .192 on the season. “I think I made some strides, definitely, today with just loading, getting into a better position to hit. So, yeah, I think I’m going in the right direction right now.”
Gorman hit his previous grand slam in a 14-5 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 19, 2023.
“I’m extremely happy for him,” St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said. “You could see the dugout erupt when it happened just because everyone is pulling for him to get back on track. He’s been working hard. … To come into that situation, bases loaded, stay on the ball, towards left-center field. That’s a good sign. That’s a really good sign.”
Cardinals starter Kyle Gibson (6-3) gave up four runs, all in the fifth, and five hits in five innings. He struck out eight and walked one.
“I felt really good tonight,” Gibson said. “It’s frustrating to look back and know that I probably should’ve been able to go seven innings and save that bullpen a couple guys out there. That’s kind of the thing, I’m pretty harsh on myself. I’m pretty critical on myself. So, I’ll take tonight and deal with that how I need to deal with it.” Ryan Helsley struck out one in a perfect ninth inning, earning his major league-leading 31st save in 32 opportunities.
Gibson cruised through the first four innings, striking out the side twice while allowing one hit and one walk. Jack Suwinski then connected for a three-run drive, one of his three hits on the night, in the fifth. Andrew McCutchen took Gibson deep to center two batters later for his 12th of the season.
“It’s big time,” said Suwinski, who was 3 for 30 in his previous 12 games. “Just something I’ll take with me into the next couple games and just keep rolling with that.”
Brendan Donovan lifted St. Louis to a 7-4 lead with an RBI single in the seventh. Alec Burleson put the Cardinals ahead 2-0 in the third with a two-run shot for his 13th homer.
Keller surrendered a season-high six runs, five earned, in five innings. He allowed nine hits, struck out five and walked none.
“Burleson hit a homer. Good hitter, I thought it was a good pitch,” Keller said. “Then in the fourth … I thought I made a really good pitch to (Gorman), exactly where I wanted to. I know he’d been struggling a little bit, but Gorman had a great swing on it, drove it to the hardest part of the park to hit a homer. So, hats off to him.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: C Henry Davis, who last played June 14 because of a concussion, will be re-evaluated Tuesday night. Davis, drafted first overall by Pittsburgh in 2021, had his rehab paused after experiencing nausea and light headaches with Double-A Altoona on Saturday. He is currently asymptomatic, said director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk.
REDS 5, YANKEES 4
NEW YORK (AP) — Elly De La Cruz tripled and homered in his first game at Yankee Stadium, helping the Cincinnati Reds overcome Aaron Judge’s major league-leading 32nd home run in a 5-4 victory over New York on Tuesday night.
Will Benson and De La Cruz hit two-run homers in a four-run fifth as the Reds built a 5-0 lead over the Yankees, who have lost 11 of their last 15 games.
Judge homered in the seventh off Sam Moll for his third hit. He leads the major leagues in batting average (.321), homers and RBIs (83).
De La Cruz, appearing in his 183rd big league game, has tripled and homered together five times, matching Ted Williams for the most since 1901 in a player’s first 185 games.
Graham Ashcraft (5-4) had a shutout before the Yankees’ three-run sixth and won his third straight start. Alexis Díaz pitched a perfect ninth for his 18th save in 20 chances.
Rookie Luis Gil (9-4) lost his third straight start, allowing four runs and two hits in four-plus innings with three walks and two hit batters. After going 9-1 with 2.03 ERA in his first 14 outings, Gil is 0-3 with a 14.90 ERA in his last three.
Gil retired nine in a row before De La Cruz led off the fourth with a drive into the right-field corner for his sixth triple of the season. De La Cruz scored when Jeimer Candelario grounded out on the next pitch.
Stuart Fairchild was nicked on the right forearm by an 0-2 changeup leading off the fifth and Benson hit his ninth homer and first since May 28, driving a fastball into the netting above Monument Park beyond center field.
Jonathan India was hit near the left elbow by another changeup, and left-hander Caleb Ferguson relieved on his 28th birthday. De La Cruz sent a 2-0 fastball into the visitors’ bullpen in left-center for his 15th homer.
Gleyber Torres chased Ashcraft with an RBI single in the sixth and rookie Ben Rice greeted Nick Martinez with a two-run double.
Candelario stopped an 0-for-18 slide with a seventh-inning single.
GUARDIANS 7, WHITE SOX 6
CLEVELAND (AP) — Pinch-hitter Bo Naylor delivered a sacrifice fly to center field with one out in the ninth inning, sending the Cleveland Guardians to a 7-6 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night.
Andrés Giménez opened the inning single off Michael Kopech (2-7), went to second on a groundout and took third on a wild pitch by the right-hander, who snagged his cleat on the mound while making his delivery. Naylor, who has bumped his average over .200 by hitting .304 in his last 15 games, then lifted a 3-2 pitch deep enough to score Giménez as center fielder Luis Robert Jr., playing more shallow than usual, didn’t bother making a throw home.
Naylor said he wasn’t surprised Robert didn’t try to get Giménez.
“A guy like Gimi with elite speed, it’s definitely going to be a tough play,” said Naylor, who had a walk-off hit against the White Sox earlier this season. “But I knew that once I got it up there, I had all the confidence in my guy to make it there.”
Robert, who hit a two-run homer and drove in four runs, said he had no chance of getting Giménez.
That’s probably true, but not making any attempt to keep the Guardians from winning, was not a great look either.
White Sox manager Pedro Grifol, who was ejected in the seventh for arguing, defended Robert’s decision not to make a throw.
“He’s playing in. He going back,” said Grifol. “Even if he runs back and comes in, there’s no play there. If we’re going to dissect that, we’re making something out of nothing. You’re not going to throw that guy out from there.”
Rookie Daniel Schneemann and Tyler Freeman hit two-run homers for the Guardians, who won their sixth straight at Progressive Field and improved MLB’s best home record to 27-9 — matching the 1938 club for the best start after 36 games.
They also evened their record this season to 4-4 against the lowly White Sox, who have the majors’ worst record (24-63). Chicago dropped to 7-17 in one-run games.
“It was one of those games where a lot of little things got away from us,” Grifol said, alluding to Kopech’s wild pitch and a throwing error by shortstop Paul DeJong in the sixrh when Cleveland scored three unearned runs. Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase (4-1) pitched a 1-2-3 ninth, helped by a diving catch from Freeman in center.
Andrew Vaughn also homered for the White Sox, who are 0-14 in road series openers.
Down 6-3, the White Sox tied it in the seventh on an RBI double by Lenyn Sosa and Robert’s two-run single, which came moments Grifol was tossed. Pinch-hitter Tommy Pham was angry at a called third strike, and Grifol fought for him before getting tossed by plate umpire Emil Jimenez.
Batting leadoff for just the second time this season, Robert tied it 3-all in the sixth with his homer.
“I tried to do the same whatever spot I’m in the lineup — first, third or ninth, it doesn’t matter,” Robert said. “No matter what, if you lose, it’s always tough. You are here to win games.”
