Bednar picks up 17th save in win over Twins

Bregman smacked a one-out double off of Andre Pallante in the fourth inning and scored the Cubs’ first run on an error by Lars Nootbaar. He then poked an RBI double into right field off of Luis Gastelum to give the Cubs the lead in the 10th before scoring on Ian Happ’s RBI double. The 32-year-old third baseman is now hitting .248/.341/.381 with 11 home runs, 47 RBI and a pair of stolen bases in his first 487 plate appearances with the Cubs.

The 31-year-old hurler was brought on with a man on second base and one out in the 10th inning with the Cubs clinging to a two-run advantage. Civale made it look easy in this one, getting Jimmy Crooks on a fly ball to center field and Lars Nootbaar on strikes to end it. Don’t expect him to put himself into the mix for saves in the Cubs’ bullpen anytime soon.

Assad racked up six strikeouts on the afternoon while allowing a pair of walks. The lone tally against him came on an RBI single by Bryan Torres in the second inning. The 29-year-old righty threw 83 pitches in the ballgame (53 strikes), getting seven whiffs and posting a CSW of 27 percent. He’ll try to get back in the win column as he totes a 3.75 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and a 48/18 K/BB ratio (69 2/3 innings) into Tuesday’s battle against the Dodgers.

The rookie sensation led off the fifth inning with a single off of Javier Assad and swiped second base, but the Cardinals were unable to cash him in from there. He then clobbered a 406-foot (105.2-mph EV) solo shot off of Caleb Thielbar in the seventh that tied the game at 2-2. He’s enjoying an awfully impressive rookie campaign, slashing .253/.349/.396 with 16 long balls, 41 RBI and 12 stolen bases.

Torres opened the scoring in the ballgame as he plated Lars Nootbaar with an RBI single off of Javier Assad in the second inning. That would be their only lead in the contest. With his two-hit attack, the 29-year-old outfielder is now slashing .244/.295/.451 with four homers and 13 RBI in his first 89 plate appearances with the big league club.

The right-hander struck out three opposing hitters on the day while issuing a pair of walks. The Cubs scratched out a run against him in the fourth inning, then chased Pallante after a one-out walk in the seventh, with that run ultimately coming around to score. Pallante got 11 whiffs on 90 pitches on the afternoon, registering a CSW of 24 percent. He’ll carry a solid 3.64 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and an 86/34 K/BB ratio (118 2/3 innings) into a tough matchup against the Yankees in New York on Tuesday.

Chisholm struggled to run to first base on a grounder in his previous at-bat and didn’t look right in the field afterwards. He was allowed to hit and was intentionally walked in the 11th, but one he reached, the Yankees replaced him. It’s probably just a day-to-day injury, but we’ll know more soon.

The expectation had been that Parker would undergo the traditional Tommy John reconstructive elbow procedure, so the fact that he had the internal brace procedure instead should at least shave a bit of time off of his recovery. He’s still expected to miss the majority of the 2027 campaign while recovering.

The versatile 23-year-old has been really struggling the plate over the past few weeks, slashing .212/.241/.288 with zero homers and one RBI over 54 plate appearances in his last 15 games. Graham Pauley will man the hot corner for the Marlins and bat eighth against Mets’ right-hander Nolan McLean.

It is notable that the Royals didn’t turn to nominal closer Alex Lange in a save situation after he blew Tuesday’s game. It didn’t work out very well for Matt Quatraro, who had Lucas Erceg load the bases while getting two outs in a 3-0 game and then had Strahm unload them. It’s hard to be confident about any closer emerging here down the stretch, though it’s a bit surprising they haven’t at least dabbled with Daniel Lynch IV in the role since he’s the only Royals reliever who has been appreciably good this year.