MLB Home Plate Umpire Rob Drake rubs his face after St. Louis Cardinals' batter Yadier Molina spit in his face and is restrained by teammate Daniel Descalso (R), when Drake called Molina out looking at a pitch from Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher John Axford to end the top of the ninth inning at Miller Park in Milwaukee Tuesday. Yadier Molina was suspended five games by Major League Baseball Thursday. — Reuters PITTSBURGH – Carlos Pena hit one of Chicago's three home runs and walked with the bases loaded during a three-run eighth-inning rally as the Cubs won their season-high fifth straight, a 7-6 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates Thursday. Pena, Geovany Soto and Blake DeWitt homered to give Chicago 10 in the four-game sweep, the Cubs' first in Pittsburgh in 52 years. The Pirates — in first place in the NL Central 10 days ago — have lost nine of 10 and a season-high seven consecutive. Pirates starter James McDonald made it through seven innings for the first time this season and had his first three career RBIs during a six-run fourth. Daniel McCutchen relieved him in the eighth and did not retire any of the three batters he faced. All of them scored. Trailing 6-4 heading into the eighth, the Cubs' Reed Johnson and Starlin Castro began with singles. McCutchen (3-3) hit Darwin Barney with a pitch to load the bases. Aramis Ramirez followed with an RBI single off Jason Grilli, and then Joe Beimel walked Pena before Jose Veras finally recorded an out in the eighth — a sacrifice fly by Marlon Byrd. It was the Cubs' eighth win this season when they entered the eighth inning trailing. Chicago heads home after completing a 10-game trip in which it lost the first five but won the rest. Jeff Samardzija (6-4) pitched a scoreless seventh to earn the win, and Carlos Marmol worked a perfect ninth for his fourth save in the past five days and 23rd of the season. Cardinals 7, Marlins 4: Albert Pujols hit his 25th home run and finished a triple shy of the cycle, and six relievers combined to pitch six innings and help the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Florida Marlins. Pujols came into the game only 1 for 14 on the Cardinals' trip. He walked and scored in the first inning, singled and scored in the third, homered in the fourth and doubled in the sixth. The first baseman also made a lunging backhanded stop to start a 3-6-3 double play. The Cardinals' David Freese earned a tough go-ahead RBI when he was hit in the helmet by a 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded in the third inning. That put the Cardinals ahead to stay, 4-3. Freese left the game with a mild concussion and a bruise. Marlins second baseman Omar Infante broke his right middle finger diving for a grounder in the third. St. Louis' Kyle Lohse left after three innings — his shortest outing this season — even though his teammates gave him a 7-3 lead. He allowed seven hits, walked three and threw 74 pitches. In other games it was: Colorado 6, Washington 3; Philadelphia 3, San Francisco 0.
