Cardinals outlast the Braves 2-1 early Saturday after a long rain delay

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jimmy Crooks homered in the eighth inning and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Atlanta Braves 2-1 early Saturday in a game that featured a 2-hour, 44-minute rain delay.

Crooks entered the game in the seventh as a defensive replacement, then hit his second home run off the season off Danny Young (0-1) 405 feet into the right-center field bleachers to break a 1-1 tie.

JoJo Romero (1-2) pitched a scoreless eighth inning, and Riley O’Brien pitched the ninth for his 23rd save of the season.

Jordan Walker hit an RBI single to right field off Didier Fuentes in the sixth inning to drive in JJ Wetherholt.

Mike Yastrzemski hit a double down the right field line off George Soriano and scored on Austin Riley’s single up the middle to give Atlanta a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning.

Ozzie Albies had a 1-2 count against Kyle Leahy when play was stopped at 8:02 p.m. in the top of the fourth inning because of the heavy rain that flooded the dugouts and the field. Geroge Soriano replaced Leahy after the rain delay and struck out Albies.

Braves starter Chris Sale had five strikeouts in three scoreless innings before play was stopped.

Braves first baseman Matt Olson played in his 741st consecutive game breaking Dale Murphy’s franchise record that was set in 1986.

Braves RHP Reynaldo López (4-1, 3.18 ERA) was scheduled to face Cardinals LHP Matthew Liberatore (4-6, 5.34) on Saturday night.

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

St. Louis Cardinals' JJ Wetherholt (26) scores a run ahead of the throw to Atlanta Braves' Drake Baldwin during the sixth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Scott Kane)

St. Louis Cardinals' Jordan Walker hits an RBI single during the sixth inning against the Atlanta Braves Friday, July 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Scott Kane)

Water flows down the steps into the dugout during a rain delay in the fourth inning of a baseball game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Atlanta Braves Friday, July 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Scott Kane)

Members of the St. Louis Cardinals grounds crew tarp the field during a rain delay at the top of the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves Friday, July 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Scott Kane)

St. Louis Cardinals' JJ Wetherholt is congratulated by teammates after scoring a run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves Friday, July 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Scott Kane)

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Kazuma Okamoto hit his 22nd home run to tie Shohei Ohtani for the most by a Japanese-born rookie in a season in the majors to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to a 5-3 victory over the San Diego Padres on Friday night.

Okamoto drove a tiebreaking, three-run shot into the left-field seats on a 95-mph sinker from reliever Jhony Brito with one out in the fifth.

Ohtani was with the Los Angeles Angels when he hit 22 in 2018. Ohtani, in his third season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, hit his 300th career homer on Tuesday night against Colorado’s Michael Lorenzen to become the first Japanese-born player in the majors to reach the milestone.

Okamoto, 30, hit his first grand slam on Wednesday at San Francisco.

Okamoto’s 22 homers before the All-Star break are the most by a Blue Jays player since Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s 28 and Marcus Semien’s 22 in 2021, and the most by a Toronto rookie in franchise history.

The Blue Jays won their third straight game while handing the Padres their 11th loss in 14 games.

Mason Fluharty (4-0) got the win. Louis Varland allowed a run on three hits in the ninth for his 19th save.

The Blue Jays chased starter JP Sears (2-2) with singles sandwiched around the first out of the fifth before Guerrero greeted Brito with an RBI single.

San Diego's Xander Bogaerts hit a two-run shot with one out in the first, his ninth. It broke a homerless streak of 128 plate appearances.

Toronto's Shane Bieber allowed two runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings in his fourth start of the season. He didn't make his season debut until June 23 due to forearm fatigue.

Blue Jays RHP Trey Yesavage (4-4, 3.31 ERA) and Padres RHP Walker Buehler (5-5, 5.07) were scheduled to start Saturday night.

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

Toronto Blue Jays' Kazuma Okamoto, right, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. celebrate after he hit a three-run home run against the San Diego Padres in the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 10, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Derrick Tuskan)

Toronto Blue Jays' Kazuma Okamoto, right, runs the bases past San Diego Padres' Xander Bogaerts, left, after hitting a three-run home run in the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 10, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Derrick Tuskan)

Toronto Blue Jays' Brandon Valenzuela, right, puts a home run jacket on Kazuma Okamoto, left, after Okamoto hit a three-run home run against the San Diego Padres in the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 10, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Derrick Tuskan)

Toronto Blue Jays' Kazuma Okamoto, right, is congratulated by Ernie Clement, center, as Vladimir Guerrero Jr., left, looks on after Okamoto hit a three-run home run against the San Diego Padres in the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 10, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Derrick Tuskan)

Toronto Blue Jays' Kazuma Okamoto watches his three-run home run against the Toronto Blue Jays in the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 10, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Derrick Tuskan)