Pozo's pinch-hit homer in the 8th powers Cardinals past Cubs, Busch 8-6
CHICAGO (AP) — Yohel Pozo pinch-hit a three-run homer to cap St. Louis' five-run eight-inning rally, and the Cardinals came back to top the Chicago Cubs 8-6 on Saturday, ending a four-game slide.
Pozo's drive off Brad Keller reached Waveland Avenue to put St. Louis ahead 8-5. Alec Burleson, who finished with three hits, cracked a solo shot to start the rally.
Nolan Gorman also went deep for the Cardinals, who rebounded after Michael Busch and Carson Kelly homered for the second straight day to help Chicago build a two-run lead after seven.
Thomas Saggese, a late replacement for Nolan Arenado at third, had two hits and two RBIs.
Busch lined his 18th home run in his first at-bat, then doubled and singled. He smacked three of Chicago's franchise-record eight home runs an 11-3 rout of the Cardinals on Friday.
Busch ran his streak of consecutive hits to seven Saturday before striking out in the seventh. Kelly also doubled and scored two runs for the NL Central leaders.
Steven Matz (5-2), the Cardinals second reliever, got five outs for the win. Ryan Helsley pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 17th save.
Keller (3-1) was charged with five runs and the loss.
St. Louis starter Matthew Liberatore allowed two runs on four hits in five innings.
Drew Pomeranz opened for the Cubs but got just one out and yielded his first two earned runs of the season in his 27th game. Key moment
The Cardinals tied at 5 in the eight on Burleson's homer and Gorman's RBI single. Keller then served up Pozo's third homer of the season on full-count slider. Key stat
Pomeranz, who has opened three times, saw his ERA go from 0.00 to 0.76. Up next
The Cardinals send RHP Erick Fedde (3-8, 4.56 ERA) to the mound on Sunday versus Cubs LHP Matthew Boyd (8-3, 2.65) who has a 1.66 ERA over his last seven starts
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb
recommended
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
7 minutes ago
- USA Today
Estevan Moreno signs with Seattle Mariners, officially done with Notre Dame
The Fighting Irish lose Moreno just as Andrew Graham transfers in. Estevan Moreno is no longer with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball team. That's because the shortstop, who was selected in the MLB draft by the Seattle Mariners, has signed with his new organization. Moreno was taken in the 20th round with pick 602. Moreno hit .230 in 53 games, with 10 home runs and 43 RBI. He did make 14 errors. As we noted before, grad transfer Andrew Graham could slot in to replace Moreno. Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions. Follow Tim on X: @tehealey
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Cardinals announce exciting roster move ahead of Rockies series
The St. Louis Cardinals are in the middle of a rough stretch, where the team has lost 11 of their last 15 games. Amid their fall out of a wild-card spot and sitting 3.5 games back, the Cardinals are making some exciting changes to the pitching staff. Ahead of the series against the Colorado Rockies, the Cardinals announced that they have optioned right-handed pitcher Gordon Graceffo to Triple-A Memphis and recalled right-handed pitcher Michael McGreevy to the Major Leagues. This move comes after being swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks, and with less than two weeks until the MLB trade deadline. Graceffo had a 5.11 ERA in 24.2 innings with the Cardinals in 2025, and will head back to the minors while McGreevy is back up. McGreevy is back in the Majors after a stint in the minors, where he had a 3.72 ERA in 15 starts, going 8-3 with 78 strikeouts, 15 walks, and a 1.24 WHIP in 75 innings pitched. The 9th-ranked Cardinals prospect was solid in the minors and now will make his second stint in the Majors. His first go-around lasted four games in 2024, where he had a 1.96 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 23 innings pitched. MORE: Trio of Cardinals relievers most likely to be moved at MLB trade deadline But, in 2025, McGreevy took a step back, as he had a 4.22 ERA in 21.1 innings across four games and three starts, the same as he did a year prior. He also struck out 16 batters and had a 1.03 WHIP, which was a bit higher than his 0.78 WHIP in 2024. The Cardinals' 25-year-old is set to start for the team on Monday, July 21st, against the Rockies for his first start back in the majors. He'll pitch in Coors Field, which is notoriously a hitters' park. Regardless, the Cardinals are shaking things up with less than two weeks until the trade deadline. St. Louis could have a lot more change coming their way in the coming weeks, and McGreevy is the first sign things are shifting in the Cardinals organization. McGreevy joins a Cardinals team which has been reeling lately. While he likely won't make a huge difference, he will look to get off to a strong start against the Rockies in his first MLB start in nearly a month. MORE MLB NEWS: Padres' A.J. Preller predicted to 'aim high' at MLB trade deadline Padres linked to MLB insiders' 'least valuable player' at trade deadline Guardians trade negotiations 'frustrating' MLB teams ahead of deadline Tigers 'likely' to add a high-leverage reliever at trade deadline Astros writer reveals 'ideal outcome' at MLB trade deadline Tigers 'strongly interested' in pair of Twins righty relievers
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Four scary stats that must change in 2025, plus readers' pick the best football movie
Inside: Before the flood of training camp reports, I'm spotlighting stats for four NFC teams to fix in 2025 — starting with Caleb Williams and the Bears. Plus: The league's highest-paid non-quarterback and the best football movies of all time, as voted by you. This article is from Scoop City, The Athletic's NFL newsletter. Sign up here to receive it directly in your inbox. David Carr never had a chance. He remains the only rookie quarterback to take more sacks (76) than Caleb Williams did last season (68), and he led the league in that stat in three of his four full seasons. Watching all 76 of those sacks taught me two things: There's no lowlight reel of all 68 of Williams' sacks, but watch him take 15 in two games and you'll see a quarterback who can often blame his offensive environment. Former offensive coordinator Shane Waldron's scheme rarely got receivers open, and asked too much from the rookie quarterback and his below-average line. Chicago finished 32nd in total yards, though Williams' final stat line was closer to his fellow rookies than you might expect: Still, the Bears were determined to give Williams the chance Carr never got. They paid up for rookie head coach Ben Johnson, who immediately revamped the interior of the Bears offensive line and added receiving weapons. Optimism abounds in Chicago, for now. Johnson's progress is one of 10 storylines to watch during training camp, while the competitions in New York and Dallas, plus the health of a key Panthers defender, are likely to impact three more NFC stats: Giants: 6.0 yards per pass. Only the Browns saw their average pass fall shorter than the Giants, who also completed the league's second-fewest deep passes (63) and scored a league-low 15 passing touchdowns. Deep threats WR Malik Nabers and WR Darius Slayton should pair nicely with Russell Wilson, who had the league's third-highest passer rating on throws of 20-plus yards in 2024. Advertisement Cowboys: Six rushing touchdowns. While WR George Pickens is justifiably Dallas' entry in The Athletic's list of 32 players to watch in training camp, I'm more interested in learning who leads the Cowboys backfield. Javonte Williams, Miles Sanders and fifth-round pick Jaydon Blue are jockeying to lead a unit that ranked 27th in rushing yards per game (100.3) and 32nd in rushing scores. Panthers: 31.4 points allowed per game. The league's worst defense allowed the most points and yards per game (404.5) in 2024. Improvement should be immediate with the return of star DE Derrick Brown, whose health is crucial to their run defense, and free-agent additions at all three levels. You can follow along with The Athletic's live training camp blog, which promises to have plenty of contract-related updates. Such as ... It is rare for a player's third contract to reset the market, and even rarer for that player to be a non-quarterback on the wrong side of 30. Like most offensive linemen, the usual rules failed to stop T.J. Watt. Though he'll turn 31 in October, the Steelers' star edge rusher was given a three-year, $123 million extension that makes him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history, when sorted by average per year: Watt earned this by recording a combined 30.5 sacks and league-leading 10 forced fumbles while playing 17 regular-season games in each of the past two seasons. It's a mild surprise given his age, but Watt remains elite and should be atop the leaderboard until Micah Parsons, 26, signs his deal. Meanwhile, 30-year-old Trey Hendrickson — the only player with more sacks (35.0) than Watt since 2023 — just raised his asking price. I am once again begging the Bengals front office to sign players early. Watt's $108 million guaranteed hints at future plans to build around a rookie-contract quarterback. There's plenty more on the extension in Mike DeFabo's story. Last week I asked for your thoughts on the best football movies of all time. Thousands responded, including a producer of "Invincible." Here are your top five: An inspiring message, overcoming prejudice with a shared goal, and Denzel Washington — plus an extra appearance by my editor, Jason Kirk — combine to make the greatest football movie of all time. Your pick for most overrated football movie was "The Blind Side," with many readers citing questions over its accuracy given the shocking legal case against the Tuohy family. Advertisement If you're looking for drama, follow the NFLPA. Executive director Lloyd Howell Jr. stepped down after a tumultuous few weeks, with reports ranging from hidden arbitration decisions to charging the union for visits to strip clubs. Then one of the favorites to replace Howell, JC Tretter, former NFLPA President, resigned from the organization. Netflix could work with that. For everything else, I'll point you to the New York Times' list of the 100 best movies of the 21st century. Just don't let it distract you during fantasy football draft season. Priorities, folks. 📈 Aging gracefully. Tom Brady made it work. Brett Favre did, too. Can Aaron Rodgers join the list of quarterbacks who've succeeded over 40? Mike DeFabo searched for an answer within the history of aging quarterbacks. 📊 The next generation of college football quarterbacks promises to be better than the 2025 class. The Athletic's ranking of all 136 projected starters had Arch Manning lower than you'd expect. 💬 More headlines for Belichick? The former Patriots head coach fired another shot in his ongoing feud with Robert Kraft, saying he took a "big risk" by coaching the Patriots. ⭐ Fantasy football strategy: Shoot for the stars, urges Michael Salfino in an outline of his "if-you're-not-first-you're-last" strategy. ▶️ Thursday's most clicked: Vic Tafur's take on the win totals of all 32 NFL teams. 📫 Enjoyed this read? Sign up here to receive The Athletic's free NFL newsletter in your inbox. Also, check out our other newsletters.
