DENVER (AP) — Dexter Fowler and Kolten Wong opened the game with successive home runs and the St. Louis Cardinals connected five times in all to beat the Colorado Rockies 10-3. Marcell Ozuna, Rangel Ravelo and Harrison Bader also homered for St. Louis, which holds a four-game lead over Chicago and Milwaukee atop the NL Central. Held to a total of two runs in losing the first two games of the series at Coors Field, the Cardinals quickly bounced back. Fowler homered on the first pitch of the game.
CHICAGO (AP) — Hunter Dozier hit a tie-breaking, three-run home run in the sixth, Jorge Soler had his third homer in two days and the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 6-3. Whit Merrifield walked and Soler singled off Chicago starter Lucas Giolito in the decisive inning. Then Dozier drove a 1-2 pitch into the left-field bleachers for a 5-2 lead. The homers spoiled a record performance by Giolito, who set a team mark with eight consecutive strikeouts.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — When AFC West rivals Kansas City and Oakland meet both teams will be without the receivers they thought would be major parts of their offense. Tyreek Hill of the Chiefs got injured in Week 1, while the Raiders released Antonio Brown two days before their opener. Sammy Watkins stepped up last week for Kansas City. Oakland got big contributions from Tyrell Williams and Darren Waller.
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Kansas State heads to Mississippi State for its first road game under Chris Klieman, while Kansas hits the road to Boston College for the first time under Les Miles. West Virginia has a home game against North Carolina State and Texas Tech heads to Arizona. What do they all have in common? The four Big 12 programs have a chance to make Power Five statements this weekend for their new head coaches.
UNDATED (AP) — Boston College coach Steve Addazio has plenty of memories of facing Les Miles when he was at Florida and the latter was the head man at LSU. Their current programs will face off on Friday night in Chestnut Hill, when the Eagles take on rebuilding Kansas. Miles’ team is coming off its first loss, a home upset at the hands of Coastal Carolina.
National Headlines
UNDATED (AP) _ Yu Darvish struck out a season-high 14 and allowed only two hits over six shutout innings as the Chicago Cubs downed the Padres, 4-1 in San Diego to remain tied with Milwaukee for the second NL wild card. Ian Happ had two of the Cubs’ eight hits, including a two-run single that put Chicago ahead, 4-0 in the fourth. Ryan Braun hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the third inning to help the Brewers earn their seventh consecutive win, 3-2 at Miami.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ Atlanta’s lead in the NL East is down to eight games over Washington after Philadelphia belted four home runs in a 9-5 win versus the Braves. Cesar Hernandez, J.T. Realmuto, Jean Segura and Adam Haseley provided the longballs as the Phils gained a split of the four-game set and stayed two games out of a playoff berth. Ronald Acuna Jr. hit his 39th homer for the Braves.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) _ The Washington Nationals solidified their hold on the first NL wild card as Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto each homered and drove in three runs in a 12-6 pounding of the Minnesota Twins. Adam Eaton and Yan Gomes also homered and Asdrúbal Cabrera added a pair of run-scoring hits for the Nats. Nelson Cruz homered for Minnesota, which saw its lead in the AL Central cut to 3 ½ games over idle Cleveland.
HOUSTON (AP) _ Matt Olson hit a two-run homer while the Oakland Athletics were scoring three times off Justin Verlander over the first three innings of a 3-2 win at Houston. Homer Bailey yielded three hits and one run in 5 1/3 innings to help the A’s take a half-game lead over Tampa Bay for the first AL wild card. Oakland won the last three games of the series after the AL West leaders rolled to a 15-0 rout in the opener.
Thursday Scores
INTERLEAGUE
Final L-A Dodgers 4 Baltimore 2
Final Washington 12 Minnesota 6
Final Cincinnati 11 Seattle 5
AMERICAN LEAGUE
N-Y Yankees at Detroit 4:40 p.m.
Final N-Y Yankees 10 Detroit 4 (1st game)
Final Kansas City 6 Chi White Sox 3
Final Boston 7 Toronto 4
Final Texas 6 Tampa Bay 4
Final Oakland 3 Houston 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Milwaukee 3 Miami 2
Final N-Y Mets 11 Arizona 1
Final Pittsburgh 4 San Francisco 2
Final St. Louis 10 Colorado 3
Final Chi Cubs 4 San Diego 1
Final Philadelphia 9 Atlanta 5
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Final Tampa Bay 20 Carolina 14