BRYSE WILSON

Albert Pujols hit his 697th home run, moving past Alex Rodriguez into fourth place on the career list and doing it in dramatic fashion with a ninth-inning drive that rallied the St. Louis Cardinals over the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3.

Bryce Harper hit a two-run single in his first at-bat after a 52-game absence due to a broken left thumb, helping the streaking Philadelphia Phillies to a 7-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Ryan McKenna hit a two-run double in the fifth inning, and the Baltimore Orioles won their fifth straight game, 6-3 over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Willson Contreras drew a standing ovation in perhaps his last home game at Wrigley Field, then keyed an early burst as the Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-2 for their season-high sixth straight win.

Aaron Judge and Aaron Hicks hit grand slams as the New York Yankees drilled the Pittsburgh Pirates 16-0.

Miles Mikolas was one strike from a no-hitter when he gave up a double to Cal Mitchell with two outs in the ninth inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals routed the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-1 to sweep a doubleheader.

Albert Pujols hit two home runs, then caught the warmup tosses when star catcher Yadier Molina made his first pitching appearance to close out the St. Louis Cardinals' 18-4 romp over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Brandon Woodruff pitched hitless ball into the sixth inning, Rowdy Tellez homered for the second straight day and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-2 for a three-game sweep.

Nolan Arenado hit three doubles and a single, Paul DeJong homered and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-2.

Kevin Newman tied a major league record with four doubles and the Pittsburgh Pirates rolled over the Milwaukee Brewers 14-4 to snap their eight-game losing streak in the first game of a doubleheader.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Blue Jays are set to play their final home game in Buffalo when they host the Red Sox.

Austin Riley drove in five runs while hitting two of Atlanta three homers and the Braves capped their impressive power display in the series by beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-1.

Madison Bumgarner threw a seven-inning no-hitter, an achievement that won’t count in the Major League Baseball record book but completed a dominant day of Arizona Diamondbacks pitching for a 7-0 win over the Atlanta Braves and a doubleheader sweep.

Freddie Freeman crushed one of Atlanta’s four homers in the first inning against Kyle Hendricks, leading the Braves to a potentially costly 13-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

Sean Kazmar Jr. returned to the major leagues after a 13-year absence, pinch hitting for the Atlanta Braves and grounding into a double play against the Chicago Cubs.

Atlanta Braves left-hander Max Fried has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained right hamstring after injuring himself while running the bases.

Trevor Williams went five innings in his fourth start, allowing a run on three hits. Austin Gomber made his fourth start for Colorado, allowing two runs on three hits, striking out four in 4 1/3 innings. Dylan Cease made his second start, allowing three hits and three walks in 3 2/3 scoreless innings. Matthew Boyd made his fourth start, allowing one run on four hits and a walk in four innings, striking out five. Tyler Anderson went five innings in his fourth start for Pittsburgh, giving up one run on two hits.

(AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)ARLINGTON, Texas – Marcell Ozuna and the Atlanta Braves turned things around in a hurry, and now are one win from ending a two-decade World Series drought. Atlanta will try to reach its first World Series since 1999 when it plays Game 5 Friday night. Ozuna went even deeper in the seventh, a 434-foot shot to straightaway center. Wilson became the third-youngest pitcher to allow one or no hits over at least six innings in a postseason game. He had one of the Dodgers’ postseason record five on Wednesday night.

The longtime ace of the Dodgers just can't shake his playoff curse, not even on friendly turf in a neutral-site NL Championship Series. In the sixth, Ronald Acuña Jr.'s high chopper eluded the glove of a leaping Kershaw behind the mound for an infield single. Kershaw still doesn't have one despite the club record in playoff starts (28) and innings (177 1/3). Kershaw now has 11 career postseason starts of allowing at least four runs, tied with Maddux for the second-most. Ozuna's first homer in Game 4 was the 27th Kershaw has allowed in the playoffs, breaking a tie with Justin Verlander for second-most, also behind Pettitte (31).

ARLINGTON, Texas – Atlanta's Freddie Freeman and Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw apparently had trouble seeing early in Game 4 of the NL Championship Series because of windy conditions in a stadium with a retractable roof. Major League Baseball said it wanted to keep the roof open at Globe Life Field — barring rain — when the agreement was reached for the new home of the Texas Rangers to host three rounds of the playoffs in the pandemic-shortened season. Fox reported during the telecast Thursday night that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told umpire Cory Blaser between innings that Kershaw and first baseman Max Muncy were having trouble seeing. Freeman didn't appear to be having trouble seeing when he lined out to shortstop in the fourth. The roof has been open for all seven postseason games at Globe Life Field, across the street from open-air Globe Life Park that was Texas' home for 25 seasons.

(AP Photo/Eric Gay)ARLINGTON, Texas – The Baby Braves were the Battered Braves in their first loss of these playoffs. The 15 runs allowed in the first three innings were more than the Braves permitted in their first seven postseason games combined. And those 13 previous runs included seven scored by Los Angeles in the final three innings of Atlanta's 8-7 win in Game 2. Wright gave up seven runs while getting just two outs after Atlanta starters allowed only five runs over 38 2/3 innings in the first seven playoff games. Bartolo Colon (seven runs) and Steve Reed (eight) did it with Cleveland in a 23-7 loss to Boston in Game 4 of the 1999 ALDS.

The Dodgers set franchise postseason records for runs and home runs with five, cutting their NLCS deficit to 2 games to 1. Winner Julio Urías, made his first postseason start and improved to 3-0 in these playoffs, striking out five while allowing one run and three hits over five innings. LOT OF BIG NUMBERSThe 15 runs matched the most in an NLCS game — the Braves beat the St. Louis Cardinals 15-0 in Game 7 of the 1996 NLCS. ... Only the Chicago Cubs, with six in Game 3 of the 2015 NLDS, hit more homers in any postseason game. The Dodgers’ eight extra-base hits matched the franchise record for a postseason game, and their 18 total bases in the first were an MLB record for an inning.

Clayton Kershaw could start Game 4 of the NL Championship Series for the Dodgers if the left-hander’s back continues to improve. Kershaw was scratched from his scheduled Game 2 start because of back spasms, and manager Dave Roberts decided to stick with left-hander Julio Urías for Game 3 against Atlanta on Wednesday night. Veteran right-hander Zack Greinke delivered six gutsy innings in a 4-3 Game 4 victory for Houston's first win of the series, and usual No. A three-time World Series-winning manager, the 76-year-old La Russa joined the Angels prior to this season as senior advisor of baseball operations. He hasn’t managed since 2011, when he led St. Louis past Texas in the World Series.

ATLANTA Former Cy Young winner Flix Hernndez has opted out of the 2020 season, at least temporarily ending his bid to revive his career with the Atlanta Braves. Braves manager Brian Snitker said Sunday that Hernndez, 34, opted out due to the coronavirus pandemic. Snitker said Hernndez may have realized it is way, way different now as players must deal with the concerns of trying to start the season during the pandemic. The right-hander called King Felix posted a 6.40 ERA, was 1-8 in 15 starts and lost his spot in the rotation. Hernndez made a strong early impression in spring training and may have been on track for winning a spot in the rotation before the coronavirus pandemic delayed the season.