Kim continues winning ways as Cards top Cubs

CARDINALS 3, CUBS 2

ST. LOUIS — Kwang Hyun-Kim earned his fifth consecutive win on his 34th birthday and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 3-2 Thursday night.

Nolan Arenado and Dylan Carlson homered as the Cardinals improved to a game over .500 at 49-48. It’s the Cardinals first winning record since being 36-35 after winning the first game of a doubleheader at Atlanta on June 20.

“I don’t think that the goal here is just to finish over .500.” Arenado said. “We’re looking at way more important things, and we’ve just got to continue to compete. We should finish over .500, but we want to get into the playoffs.

“This series, it was a tough series,” Arenado said. “We had one tough loss. To come back these last two days with the same energy, same fire, it’s really important. I think that’s what winning teams do.”

Kim (6-5) allowed 2 runs on 2 hits and a walk with 7 strikeouts in 6 innings.

“The past two months, I did not have a win, so that was really a tough time,” Kim said via interpreter Craig Choi. “Since today was my fifth consecutive win, I want this to extend [it] for two months to the end of the season.”

Kim’s last loss came in the second game of the doubleheader on June 20.

“He’s been really good with every outing,” Cardinals Manager Mike Shildt said. “He’s given us more than a chance to win, which we’ve done. Good tonight, ahead of hitters, got leadoff hitters out.”

Ryan Helsley and T.J. McFarland each pitched a scoreless inning. Alex Reyes pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his 23rd save after suffering his first career blown save on Tuesday night.

Carlson lined a 3-2 pitch over the right field wall for his ninth home run of the season. It was his first career leadoff home run and first for the Cardinals this season.

Arenado drove in Carlson in the third inning with his team-leading 19th home run of the season, giving St. Louis a 3-0 lead.

PADRES 3, MARLINS 2 Blake Snell allowed one run in six-plus innings, Jurickson Profar had two hits and two RBI, and San Diego beat Miami.

BRAVES 7, PHILLIES 2 Dansby Swanson hit his first career grand slam, Orlando Arcia added a home run and Atlanta beat Philadelphia to inch closer in the NL East race. Charlie Morton allowed 2 earned runs over 6 innings and struck out 8 in his latest strong start. With the victory, the Braves — winners of the last three NL East titles — closed within four games of the idle New York Mets and tied Philadelphia for second place at 47-48.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

RED SOX 5, YANKEES 4 (10) Kike Hernandez hit a two-run double that tied the game with two outs in the ninth inning, and Boston took advantage of a record four wild pitches by Brooks Kriske in the 10th to rally past rival New York at Fenway Park. Xander Bogaerts scored on a sacrifice fly by Hunter Renfroe in the 10th to win it. The victory was Boston’s third in a row and snapped New York’s four-game winning streak.

RAYS 5, INDIANS 4 (10) Austin Meadows hit an RBI single in the 10th inning to cap Tampa Bay’s comeback in a victory over Cleveland. Meadows’ one-out liner off Bryan Shaw brought home Randy Arozarena, who began the 10th at second base. Down 4-2 in the ninth, the Rays rallied to tie it against closer James Karinchak on a leadoff home run by Yandy Diaz and Brandon Lowe’s two-out RBI double.

TIGERS 7, RANGERS 5 Eric Haase hit a three-run home run in the first inning and Detroit extended its winning streak to a season-best seven games by topping slumping Texas. Zack Short and Victor Reyes also homered for the Tigers, who completed a four-game sweep. Texas has lost nine in a row, equaling its longest slide this season.

ANGELS 3, TWINS 2 Jack Mayfield hit a three-run home run and Andrew Heaney finished seven innings for his longest start of the season, leading Los Angeles past Minnesota.