ANDREW KNIZNER

Andrew Knizner hit a two-run homer, Miles Mikolas pitched six strong innings and the St. Louis Cardinals clinched the NL Central title with a 6-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Yadier Molina hit a two-run drive while Albert Pujols went hitless in his quest for 700 homers, and the St. Louis Cardinals swept a doubleheader from the Cincinnati Reds 5-1 and 1-0 in 11 innings on Saturday. Pujols started at first base in the opener and hit second for the first time this season. St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said playing Pujols so frequently is a no-brainer despite his age of 42.

Paul Goldschmidt and Tommy Edman homered, and St. Louis scored the winning run when Tyler O’Neill was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning, leading the Cardinals to a 5-4 win over the Colorado Rockies.

Hanser Alberto hit a tiebreaking single with two outs in the ninth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers climbed out of a huge hole in a 7-6 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Corbin Burnes pitched seven dominant innings, Tyrone Taylor hit a two-run homer and the Milwaukee Brewers regained sole possession of first place in the NL Central with a 2-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Rylan Bannon became just the third Baltimore player since 2000 to get a hit on the first pitch of his big league career, Jorge Mateo and Anthony Bemboom homered and the Orioles beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2.

Bobby Witt Jr. hit his first major league home run, Brad Keller pitched shutout ball into the seventh inning and the Kansas City Royals beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-1 to end a four-game losing streak.

Albert Pujols homered for the first time since returning to St. Louis and Andrew Knizner hit a three-run shot as the Cardinals defeated the Kansas City Royals 6-5.

Albert Pujols called his shot. The veteran slugger told Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol he was going to hit the first pitch he saw Tuesday night for a home run — and then did just that. Pujols homered for the first time since returning to St. Louis and Andrew Knizner launched a three-run shot as the Cardinals defeated the Kansas City Royals 6-5 on Tuesday night.

The Chicago Cubs have hired Carter Hawkins as general manager, dipping into Cleveland’s front office in an effort to bolster their own player development system.

Paul Goldschmidt hit a walk-off RBI single in the ninth inning, and the playoff-bound St. Louis Cardinals won for the 19th time in their last 20 games, 4-3 over the Chicago Cubs on Friday night. Tyler O'Neill homered twice and threw out the potential go-ahead run in the ninth inning for the Cardinals, who will play either the Los Angeles Dodgers or the San Francisco Giants in the NL wild-card game. Dakota Hudson made his first start for the Cardinals in more than a year, allowing three hits in five scoreless innings.

Make it a very sweet 16 for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Andrew Knizner slid across home plate, hopped up and pumped his right arm in jubilation. Make it a very sweet 16 for the St. Louis Cardinals. Knizner scored the go-ahead run on Codi Heuer's wild pitch in the ninth inning, and the Cardinals beat the lowly Chicago Cubs 4-2 on Sunday for their 16th straight victory.

Edmundo Sosa hit the go-ahead single in a three-run 11th inning and the hard-charging St. Louis Cardinals climbed all the way back into playoff position with a 7-6 victory over the New York Mets.

Tyler O’Neill hit a tiebreaking homer, Cardinals relievers combined for five scoreless innings, and St. Louis salvaged a split of its four-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 2-1 win.

TWINS 1, ORIOLES 0 (7 INNINGS)Minnesota ace Kenta Maeda allowed one hit in three innings, striking out four in his second start. Baltimore's Dean Kremer fared better in his second start, allowing a hit and a walk in three scoreless innings. Deivi García pitched three shutout innings in his second start for the Yankees. Nick Pivetta made his second start for Boston, allowing a run on three hits with three strikeouts in three innings. Alex Wood worked two innings in the start for San Francisco and gave up a home run to Omar Narvaez.

Playing its first game since July 29, St. Louis looked much sharper than Chicago while improving to 3-3 on the season. Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright (2-0) pitched five innings of one-run ball in his second start of the year. The White Sox finished with just three hits two for Danny Mendick and never recovered after Lucas Giolito (1-2) got off to a shaky start. White Sox: RHP Reynaldo Lpez (shoulder soreness) threw Friday and is scheduled for another session Monday. Cardinals right-hander Dakota Hudson (0-1, 8.31 ERA) and White Sox left-hander Dallas Keuchel (2-2, 3.04 ERA) get the ball for the series finale Sunday.