Agustin Ojeda scored a goal and added an assist Saturday night as New York City FC shredded the visiting Chicago Fire’s defense in the first half of a 3-1 win at Yankee Stadium.

Nicolas Fernandez Mercau and Malachi Jones also scored for NYCFC (7-6-4, 25 points), which won their second straight fixture despite numbering nine players on the injured list. NYCFC earned an 11-9 advantage in shots as Chicago couldn’t consistently maintain its defensive shape.

Joel Waterman scored the only goal for the Fire (8-6-2, 26 points). Newly-signed striker Robert Lewandowski played the second half in his second match with Chicago and generated a shot.

The storylines for each team prior to kickoff couldn’t have been more diverse. While NYCFC was coming off a solid 2-1 win Wednesday night at Columbus, the Fire suffered a 3-2 loss at Miami that had coach Gregg Berhalter upset because of their poor defense.

It took just 10 minutes for Berhalter to see a rerun of Wednesday night. A failed clearing attempt and weak marking presented Fernandez Mercau space to wire a shot from just past the top of the 18-yard box by goalie Chris Brady. The shot carried a goal expectancy of only 2%.

Chicago equalized in the 21st minute off a set piece. NYCFC deflected a free kick but Waterman pounced on it at the left post, roofing a shot under the crossbar for his first goal of the year.

But Ojeda put NYCFC ahead for good eight minutes later. Andres Perea sent him down the right side and Ojeda angled a sharply-struck shot past Brady that hit the inside of the left post before nestling into the net.

Ojeda played the feeder’s role in the 41st minute as the Fire again lost their defensive structure. Perea found Ojeda on the right side and he passed into the middle, giving Jones a point-blank opportunity that he converted.

Goalie Matt Freese helped protect the lead for NYCFC in the second half, coming up with four of his five saves.

–Field Level Media

Dylan Beavers singled in the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Baltimore Orioles beat the visiting Atlanta Braves 3-2 on Saturday night.

Gunnar Henderson homered as the Orioles evened the series at one game apiece after failing to hold a late-game lead for the second game in a row.

Ozzie Albies homered for the Braves, who lost for only the third time in their last 10 games.

Baltimore’s Jackson Holliday doubled with one out in the ninth and moved to third on pinch hitter Colton Cowser’s flyout before scoring on Beavers’ hit off losing pitcher Didier Fuentes (4-1). Yennier Cano (2-2) was the winning pitcher with one inning of shutout relief.

Brandon Young pitched into the seventh inning for the second consecutive strong start for a Baltimore pitcher, but just like Friday night the bullpen couldn’t make it hold up. Young held the Braves to one run on four hits and two walks with six strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings.

Orioles reliever Rico Garcia gave up a game-tying home run in the eighth inning for the second night in a row.

Braves starter Bryce Elder worked five innings, giving up two runs (one earned) with four hits, four walks and eight strikeouts. Victor Mederos threw two shutout innings in relief before Fuentes entered and gave up his only two hits to two of the last three batters he faced.

Holliday and Beavers each finished with two hits as the game’s only players with more than one hit. The Orioles have won nine of their last 12 games.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand continued to give the Baltimore offense a boost as his two-out single in the third inning drove in the game’s first run.

Henderson homered with two outs in the fifth to make it 2-0.

Atlanta scored in the sixth on Mauricio Dubon’s groundout. Albies’ 17th homer of the season pulled the Braves even on the second pitch of the eighth inning.

–Field Level Media

The St. Louis Cardinals broke open a pitcher’s duel Saturday night with a six-run sixth inning to support right-hander Andre Pallante in a 7-0 victory against the visiting Cincinnati Reds.

Alec Burleson, Ivan Herrera and Blaze Jordan all had key hits for the Cardinals, who came in having dropped seven of nine.

Pallante (11-6) allowed two hits in seven innings. He finished with eight strikeouts, tying his season high for the sixth time, and was just one strikeout shy of his career best. Pallante also retired his final 12 batters, and walked just one overall. He lowered his ERA to 3.77 in what likely was his best start of the season.

The Cardinals scored an unearned run against Reds right-hander Hunter Greene in the bottom of the first inning, but poured it on in the sixth, which was Greene’s third time through the lineup.

JJ Wetherholt walked to lead off and Burleson lined a single to right. Herrera followed with a two-run double to left making it 3-0.

Bryan Torres later hit an RBI single and Jordan followed with two-run single to right on a two-strike count to make it 6-0, prompting Reds manager Terry Francona to remove Greene (2-2).

Nathan Church followed with a safety squeeze against left-hander Sam Moll to push across Torres as the seventh run.

Unable to keep the Reds’ three-game winning streak going, Greene’s era ballooned to 7.06 in his fourth start of the season.

Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz made three fielding miscues in the first inning, booting a soft grounder for an error, getting his feet tangled on a pop-up single, and making a poor relay throw to the plate on Burleson’s RBI single.

Burleson finished with three hits, and Wetherholt scored twice, helping the Cardinals improve to 13-2 when he scores at least two runs.

The Reds did not mount a scoring threat until the ninth, against Cardinals right-hander Gordon Graceffo, who loaded the bases with no outs after pitching a scoreless eighth. A strikeout and a double play followed.

The Cardinals have won five of seven from the Reds in the season series, which continues Sunday afternoon at Busch Stadium.

–Field Level Media