Cardinals rally in the eighth and then hold off Cubs for a 7-6 victory

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Brendan Donovan had a two-run single, Lars Nootbaar added an RBI triple and the St. Louis Cardinals rallied in the eighth inning to beat the Chicago Cubs 7-6 on Saturday night.

In front of their first sellout crowd since opening day, the Cardinals scored four times with two outs in the eighth and won for the ninth time in 11 games in a surge that followed a seven-game losing streak.

Matt Carpenter had a pinch-hit single to tie it, with Alec Burleson sliding head first and touching home plate with his left hand just before he was tagged by catcher Miguel Amaya.

“It was so close,” Burleson said. “I was just trying to get to the plate as fast as I could with my hand.”

Donovan followed by chopping a single into left field to put St. Louis up 6-4 and chase Mark Leiter Jr. (1-2). Nootbaar added a run with his triple off Porter Hodge.

“He’s got really good stuff,” Donovan said about Leiter, who came in with a 0.90 ERA while allowing lefties to hit just .149. “I was just trying to hit something hard."

Ryan Helsley gave up RBI singles by Mike Tauchman and Cody Bellinger in the ninth, but he retired Christopher Morel on a grounder for his 16th save in 17 chances.

“Just going against one of the best back-end bullpens in the game in that situation, to keep fighting, I really thought we were going to pull that out,” Cubs starter Jameson Taillon said. “That was pretty incredible."

The Cubs went ahead in the seventh with a rally that started after Michael Busch reached when the ball squirted out of Paul Goldschmidt’s glove when he tried to catch a throw from second baseman Nolan Gorman. After Swanson walked, Patrick Wisdom pulled a tiebreaking RBI double just inside third base to score Busch.

JoJo Romero (2-0) got the final out of the seventh and pitched a scoreless eighth.

“That was a lot of fun,” Burleson said. “That game, just the back and forth, you can’t really describe it."

The Cubs have lost eight of 11, getting shutout three times in that stretch. They averaged 2.3 runs in their previous 10 games.

Nico Hoerner hit a two-run double in the fourth that just cleared a leaping Donovan and hit the bullpen wall in left field. He then scored on Busch’s single to center to give the Cubs their first lead.

Masyn Winn’s two-out RBI double to the left-field corner in the sixth made it 3-3 and brought Taillon’s outing to an end. Taillon gave up three runs on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings.

The Cubs decided to skip of rookie sensation Shota Imanaga (5-0, 0.84 ERA), the scheduled starter in Friday night’s rainout.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cubs: Manager Craig Counsell said OF Ian Happ didn’t start because of an illness. He pinch hit in the ninth inning and flied out. … LHP Drew Smyly (right hip impingement) rejoined the team after a month on the injured list, and RHP José Cuas was optioned to Triple-A Iowa to make room for him on the roster.

Cardinals: RHP Giovanny Gallegos, who rejoined the team after a rehab stint with Double-A Springfield, threw a bullpen session.

UP NEXT

Chicago RHP Javier Assad (4-0, 1.70) was set to face St. Louis ace Sonny Gray (6-2, 2.87) in the series finale Sunday night.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

Chicago Cubs' Seiya Suzuki flies out during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Saturday, May 25, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

St. Louis Cardinals' Nolan Arenado removes his helmet after grounding out to end the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs Saturday, May 25, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Fans shake balloons as Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jameson Taillon steps to the mound during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Saturday, May 25, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Chicago Cubs' Seiya Suzuki tosses down his bat after flying out during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Saturday, May 25, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

St. Louis Cardinals' Brendan Donovan, right, heads to first on a two-run single as teammate Nolan Gorman runs in to score during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs Saturday, May 25, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

St. Louis Cardinals' Alec Burleson, left, scores past Chicago Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya during the eighth inning of a baseball game Saturday, May 25, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

NEW DELHI (AP) — A cargo train rammed into a passenger train in India's eastern state of West Bengal on Monday, killing at least eight people and injuring several others, officials said.

Doctors, disaster-response teams and ambulances were engaged in rescue work, the state’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in a post on social media platform X. The accident took place the Darjeeling district, a tourist spot nestled in the Himalayan foothills.

Three of the eight dead were railway personnel, said Sabyasachi De, the spokesperson of the Northeast Frontier Railway. At least 25 people were injured in the collision, which occurred close to the New Jalpaiguri station.

Television channels showed footage of one train rammed into the end of the other, with one compartment rising vertically in the air. Many people gathered as rescuers searched the crash site.

The driver of the cargo train disregarded a signal, causing the collision, De said. Four compartments at the rear of the passenger train had derailed due to the impact, he said, adding most of the cars were carrying cargo while one was a passenger coach.

The Kanchanjunga Express is a daily train that connects West Bengal state with other cities in the northeast. It is often used by tourists who travel to the hill station of Darjeeling, popular at this time of year when other Indian cities are sweltering in the heat.

More than 12 million people ride 14,000 trains across India daily, traveling on 64,000 kilometers (40,000 miles) of track. Despite government efforts to improve rail safety, several hundred accidents happen annually, most blamed on human error or outdated signaling equipment.

Last year, a train crash in eastern India killed over 280 people in one of the country's deadliest accidents in decades.

Onlookers watch as rescuers work after a cargo train rammed into Kanchanjunga Express, a passenger train, near New Jalpaiguri station, West Bengal state, India, Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Diptendu Dutta)

Onlookers watch as rescuers work after a cargo train rammed into Kanchanjunga Express, a passenger train, near New Jalpaiguri station, West Bengal state, India, Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Diptendu Dutta)

Onlookers watch as rescuers work after a cargo train rammed into Kanchanjunga Express, a passenger train, near New Jalpaiguri station, West Bengal state, India, Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Diptendu Dutta)