Grichuk hits a 9th inning HR to help White Sox beat Cardinals 6-5

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Randal Grichuk hit a two-run, two-out homer in the ninth inning as the Chicago White Sox snapped a four-game losing streak with a 6-5 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday night.

Grichuk, who entered the game as a pinch hitter in the fourth inning, hit his 13th home run of the season off Riley O’Brien (3-8).

Bryan Hudson pitched a perfect ninth inning to earn his eighth save after Jordan Hicks (3-2) recorded the final out of the eighth inning for Chicago, which has a 1 1/2 game lead over the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central.

Cardinals rookie Leo Bernal hit his third homer of the season to right field in the eighth inning off Grant Taylor to give St. Louis a 5-4 lead.

Chicago scored three runs to tie the game at 4-all in the fifth inning when Luis Gastelum entered the game after Cooper Hjerpe walked Munetaka Murakami with the bases loaded and nobody out in the fifth inning. He induced Grichuk to ground into a run-scoring double play before Nathan Church threw out Tristan Peters at second base after he hit an RBI single.

Hjerpe allowed four runs on two hits and four walks and hit a pair of batters in one-plus inning after tossing four perfect innings in his major league debut Sunday.

Church had three hits and an RBI for St. Louis to extend his career-best hitting streak to 11 games.

Cardinals starter Kyle Leahy allowed two hits and struck out four in three scoreless innings.

White Sox opener Sean Newcomb allowed one run and had four strikeouts in 1 1/3 innings.

RHP Michael McGreevy (6-9, 3.92 ERA) will start for the Cardinals against the White Sox, who have not named a starter for Sunday’s series finale.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

St. Louis Cardinals' Nathan Church catches a fly ball for an out against Chicago White Sox's Miguel Vargas during the seventh inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Scott Kane)

Chicago White Sox's Justin Jirschele delivers a pitch during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Scott Kane)

St. Louis Cardinals' Justin Bruihl delivers a pitch during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Scott Kane)

Chicago White Sox's Randal Grichuk hits a sacrifice RBI during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Scott Kane)

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Garrett Mitchell went 4 for 5 with a homer and four RBIs as the Milwaukee Brewers scored all their runs in the first five innings of a 13-9 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday night.

William Contreras hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the fourth inning and Brice Turang added a two-run shot one night after the Brewers clinched a playoff berth by trouncing the Reds 20-0. Never before in franchise history had the Brewers totaled that many runs in a two-game stretch.

The Reds headed to Milwaukee after losing 14-1 to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday, so they’ve allowed 47 runs over their last three games. According to Sportradar, the last time the Reds gave up 47-plus runs over a three-game stretch was in September 1901.

No major league team has given up that many runs in a span of three games since July 2022, when the Boston Red Sox allowed 55.

The Brewers’ magic number for clinching the NL Central dropped to three.

Eugenio Suárez and Juan Brito homered for Cincinnati.

Turang and Mitchell hit two-run homers off Brady Singer (6-14) in the first inning to give Milwaukee a 4-0 lead. Cincinnati rallied off Shane Drohan to tie it at 5-all on Brito’s two-run blast in the fourth.

Milwaukee responded with three runs in the fourth and five in the fifth.

Singer allowed eight runs in four innings. Graham Ashcraft allowed five runs in the fifth while retiring only one batter.

Chad Patrick (9-4) got the win by striking out four in 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Abner Uribe worked the ninth for his seventh save.

The news wasn’t all good for the Brewers.

In his first relief appearance of the season, Kyle Harrison allowed hits to each of the four batters he faced, and they all ended up scoring. Harrison has given up 19 runs – 17 earned – over 7 1/3 innings in his last three outings as his ERA has climbed from 2.79 to 3.98.

Chase Burns (15-3, 2.73 ERA) pitches for the Reds and Robert Gasser (4-5, 4.43) starts for the Brewers on Sunday.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Cincinnati Reds' Juan Brito hits a two-run home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

Milwaukee Brewers' William Contreras gestures as he rounds the bases after hitting a three-run home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

Milwaukee Brewers' Jake Bauers claps after hitting a two-run single during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

Milwaukee Brewers' Garrett Mitchell, right, watches his two-run double during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

Milwaukee Brewers' Garrett Mitchell gestures after hitting a two-run double during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)