Masyn Winn and Jose Fermin smacked their first home runs, and the visiting St. Louis Cardinals clinched an interleague series win over the Houston Astros with a 7-5 victory on Saturday.

Alec Burleson also homered for the Cardinals, who pounced on Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr. (1-1) and rode a solid start from right-hander Andre Pallante (2-1), who worked five innings.

The Astros lost their third consecutive game and have dropped 11 of 13.

McCullers labored throughout his five-inning stint. He plunked JJ Wetherholt and Ivan Herrera with pitches to begin his outing and, after walking Jordan Walker to load the bases with one out in the top of the first inning, surrendered a single to Nolan Gorman that plated Wetherholt and Herrera and spotted the Cardinals a 2-0 lead.

McCullers issued walks to Fermin and Wetherholt but stranded both in the second. But with Gorman on first and one out in the third, McCullers grooved a 2-0 sinker that Winn launched into the left-field seats. That 373-foot blast extended the Cardinals’ lead to 4-1. McCullers allowed four runs on four hits and three walks with four strikeouts. He threw 91 pitches, 58 for strikes.

Yordan Alvarez crushed his league-leading ninth home run to straightaway center with one out in the bottom of the first. Pallante limited the Astros to that lone tally by working around two baserunners in the second and third innings, and stranding Cam Smith at first in the fourth.

Pallante retired the side in order in the fifth, recording strikeouts of Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa in the frame. He allowed three hits and issued three walks while notching five strikeouts.

The Cardinals tacked on solo runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Fermin won a 10-pitch battle with Astros left-hander Colton Gordon with his 370-foot shot to left-center that pushed the Cardinals to a 5-1 lead. Burleson led off the seventh with his third homer, a 408-foot blast into the second deck in right field.

Shay Whitcomb slugged a three-run home run off Cardinals reliever George Soriano in the ninth, but closer Riley O’Brien retired Altuve and Alvarez to earn his sixth save.

–Field Level Media

Jon Rahm dominated the back nine once again on Saturday to remain atop the leaderboard at 14 under through three rounds of LIV Golf Mexico City in Naucalpan, Mexico.

Rahm overcame a double-bogey on the par-4 fifth hole and a 1-over showing on the front nine by shooting 5 under on the back nine to post his second consecutive 4-under-par 67. Through three rounds this week, the Spaniard has shot 11 under on the back nine at Club de Golf Chapultepec.

He’s two strokes clear of Legion XIII teammate Tyrrell Hatton (66) of England at 12 under, who had a bogey-free Saturday round which included an eagle on the par-5 seventh hole. Another Legion XIII player, Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin (69), is tied for third at 11 under with Brendan Grace (65) of South Africa.

Three members of the same team haven’t finished in the top three spots in a LIV event since the inaugural LIV event at London in 2022.

“It’s a real honor. Honestly. It’s great to see them playing well, too,” Rahm said of his team’s performance. ” … I’m not surprised at all. I’m happy to see them up there. And let’s see if it’s not me, but one of the three of us who wins tomorrow.”

Rahm, who has won the LIV individual championship each of the last two seasons, is seeking his second win of the season and sixth top-five finish in as many 2026 LIV events.

Grace, who was even par in the first round, has surged toward the top of the leaderboard after an up-and-down third round. He got to 4 under through his first five holes after an eagle at No. 7 before going bogey, birdie, birdie, double bogey on the next four holes.

He finished the back nine with four birdies in five holes before a bogey at the 18th and pars on the first and second holes to finish his rocky but effective round.

“I gave myself chances. I think I made eight birdies and an eagle today and then obviously a couple of mishaps out there,” Grace said. “But around a place like this, it’s easy to do.”

Included in a five-way tie for fifth at 10 under is Spain’s David Puig, who scattered eight birdies, an eagle and a bogey Saturday for the second 9-under round of the week. Victor Perez, who shot 9 under on Thursday, has fallen back into a tie for 22nd after posting a combined score of 5 over the last two rounds.

Bryson DeChambeau’s pursuit of becoming the first player in LIV Golf history to win three straight individual events appears quite finished after he shot 2 over in the third round to fall into a tie for 41st.

–Field Level Media

George Kirby continued his mastery of the Texas Rangers, allowing one run over 5 2/3 innings, as the host Seattle Mariners posted a 7-3 victory Saturday against their American League West rivals.

Luke Raley homered for the Mariners, who snapped a four-game losing streak and beat Texas for the first time in five tries this season.

Seattle closer Andres Munoz entered with two outs and the bases loaded in the ninth and struck out Brandon Nimmo for the right-hander’s second save of the season.

Josh Jung went deep for the Rangers, who had won their previous two games.

Trailing 7-1, the Rangers scored twice in the ninth off Cole Wilcox, with singles by Wyatt Langford and Josh Smith and a walk to Jung loading the bases. Evan Carter hit a sacrifice fly down the right field line caught in foul territory by second baseman Cole Young. Ezequiel Duran’s run-scoring double into the left field corner made it 7-3 and a walk to Kyle Higashioka forced the Mariners to use Munoz.

Kirby (3-2) improved to 9-1 in 12 career starts against Texas. The right-hander gave up seven hits, walked two and struck out five. The only run he allowed came on Jung’s homer to straightaway center field with one out in the sixth that trimmed Seattle’s lead to 3-1.

An out later, Duran grounded a single to right, ending Kirby’s outing. Reliever Matt Brash got Higashioka to ground out to short to end the threat.

Raley led off the bottom of the inning with a towering shot to right off Nathan Eovaldi (2-3) to restore Seattle’s three-run lead.

The Mariners scored three more runs off Cal Quantrill in the eighth. Raley drew a one-out walk and took third on Dominic Canzone’s double off the wall in left. Young grounded a two-run single to center against a drawn-in infield to make it 6-1. Young stole second, took third on catcher Higashioka’s throwing error and scored on Leo Rivas’ sacrifice fly.

Eovaldi gave up four runs (two earned) on eight hits in five-plus innings. The righty walked one and struck out three.

The Mariners opened the scoring in the first. J.P. Crawford, batting leadoff with Brendan Donovan out with a hip injury, doubled to right and advanced as Cal Raleigh grounded out to first. With the infield drawn in, Julio Rodriguez grounded an RBI single into right.

Seattle extended its lead with a pair of unearned runs in the fourth. With one out, Randy Arozarena hit a bloop single down the right field line. Raley grounded to second, with Duran’s throw in a bid to start a double play sailing into left field, putting the runners at second and third. With the infield again drawn in, Canzone hit a hard grounder up the middle to make it 3-0.

Nimmo got his 1,000th career hit with an eighth-inning single.

–Field Level Media