Kaelen Culpepper continues hitting eighth

Saggese hit a two-run homer off Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the sixth and singled in the go-ahead run in a three-run 10th inning. He has eight hits and three homers in his last three games. It sounds like Masyn Winn is about ready to return, but one imagines Saggese will stay in the lineup. He probably should have been getting at-bats at Nolan Gorman’s expense months ago, but there’s still time for that to happen now.

The Cardinals scored three times in the top of the inning to give O’Brien some margin for error. He’s often needed that recently, but he retired all three batters he faced tonight. The unearned run was produced by a passed ball and a groundout.

Leo Bernal’s two-run homer in the seventh made this just the fourth time this year that Yamamoto has given up four runs and only the third time he’s allowed four earned runs. He did leave with a one-run lead anyway, but it didn’t hold up in what turned into an extra-inning loss. Yamamoto finished up with eight strikeouts, making this four straight starts in which he’s totaled eight or nine. He’ll face the Reds next week.

Instead of holding him back for a save situation, the Dodgers used Scott against the heart of the order in the eighth tonight. Unfortunately, he went on give up a run on an 85-mph groundball double pulled down the third base line, a runner-advancing groundout and then a sac fly. It was just his third blown save of the year, and it shouldn’t have any effect on his standing in the Dodgers pen.

Bernal DH’d tonight after catching in his major league debut Tuesday. His homer in the seventh, a 377-foot fly to right center, brought the Cardinals to within one run. In the ninth, he hit a 359-footer down the right field line that would have been a homer in 23 ballparks but not at Dodger Stadium. Bernal is 2-for-9 with four RBI in his two games, and it looks like he might get enough playing time to justify a roster spot in two-catcher leagues.

Freeman had been stuck on 15 homers since July 4 before hitting a ball 416 feet tonight. It was his 383rd career homer, moving him past Frank Howard, Ryan Howard and Jim Rice and into a tie with Larry Walker for 74th place all-time. The five times on base moved him past Lou Brock and Fred McGriff into 62nd place all-time at 3,836.

It’s Ohtani’s seventh career four-strikeout game. It’s nice that he stole another base tonight, but while it seems like that should be a good sign for his knee, he’s just not swinging the bat very well right now. In his last 12 games, he has four steals yet no RBI while going 6-for-42.

Stowers absolutely had Royals’ starter Noah Cameron’s number in this one. He poked a run-scoring single in the first inning and then took him deep for a 410 foot home run in the third. That homer dragged his OPS over .800 for the first time in nearly two months as he’s quietly put together a solid season.

It’s almost impossible to have a less stressful ninth inning than the one Faucher pitched here. It took him just six pitches to force three ground balls and close this one out. He now has two saves and two holds over his last six appearances and looks to be the Marlins’ closer with Peter Fairbanks on the injured list.

The Royals jumped all over Pérez for a five-run first inning in this rough start. It started poorly when Carter Jensen hit a lead-off home run and then Pérez allowed another home run and two doubles on the way to that crooked number. Things didn’t get much better after that as he struggled to command each of his fastball and sinker while his slider was inconsistent. Also, his velocity was down by about one mile per hour across the board, which is always scary this time of year. He’s scheduled for a two-start week against the Mets and Dodgers coming up.