MADISON BUMGARNER

Given the hype about Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns, Arizona needs a devil’s advocate. I volunteer.

Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols blasted two more homers, pushing his career total to 692 and helping St. Louis beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 16-7.

St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol leaned back in his chair postgame, trying to find more superlatives to describe ageless Albert Pujols. “Listen to the names that we're talking about, man,” Marmol said. Pujols blasted two more homers on Saturday night, pushing his career total to 692 and helping St. Louis beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 16-7.

Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols hit two more home runs, boosting his total to 692 and moving him past Stan Musial into second place on the career list for total bases.

Pittsburgh infielder Rodolfo Castro lost his phone on the field and the Pirates were stymied by rookie Tommy Henry in a 6-4 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Houston ace Justin Verlander, who leads the major leagues in wins, takes a 13-3 record and 1.86 ERA into his start Friday against visiting Seattle.

LeBron James liked the clown nose.

Zack Wheeler struck out eight over six sharp innings, Bryson Stott hit a two-run homer and the Philadelphia Phillies won their ninth straight game with a 4-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Rhys Hoskins hit a pair of solo home runs and Kyle Schwarber added a three-run shot to lead the red-hot Philadelphia Phillies to their eighth straight win.

Josh Rojas hit a go-ahead single during a four-run rally in the ninth inning and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-4, earning a split in the four-game series.

Hunter Greene allowed a bunt single to begin the game and then faced the minimum through seven innings, retiring his final 20 batters as the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-0 in a rain-shortened game.

Mike Trout is mired in the worst slump of his brilliant career and the Angels are one loss from matching their longest skid in 34 years.

A look at what’s happening around the majors on Monday:.

Josh Rojas launched his first three longballs of the season and the Arizona Diamondbacks powered past the Chicago Cubs 10-6 in a game of home run derby at Wrigley Field.

Justin Verlander and the Astros try for their eighth straight win when they visit Joe Ryan and the first-place Twins in a matchup of American League contenders with identical 18-11 records.

Major League Baseball veteran umpire Dan Bellino has issued an apology after ejecting Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Madison Bumgarner from a game this week.

Pavin Smith hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning, and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Miami Marlins 8-7 after left-hander Madison Bumgarner was ejected.

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Madison Bumgarner has been ejected after his hand was checked for a foreign substance.

The second act of Madison Bumgarner’s career hasn’t been nearly as successful as the first.

The future Pro Hall of Fame quarterback and seven-time Super Bowl champion announced on Twitter Sunday that he will come out retirement and play his 23rd season.

Sports Seriously: While most of the sports world thought Tom Brady was ready to ride his 7 Super Bowl wins off into the sunset, Bills quarterback Josh Allen was never buying it.

It was an impressive holdout for the National League, which made it nearly 50 years staving off a full-time designated hitter rule that the American League implemented before the 1973 season.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — “Late Night LaMonte" finally delivered at home for San Francisco on Thursday night. LaMonte Wade Jr. singled home the winning run with one out in the ninth inning and the Giants held their two-game lead in the NL West, beating Madison Bumgarner and the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-4. The Giants posted their 105th victory — one off the franchise record set in 1904 — and kept their two-game edge over the second-place Los Angeles Dodgers going into the final weekend of the season.

Atlanta can clinch its fourth consecutive NL East title Thursday night with a win at home over Philadelphia, which would complete a three-game sweep of their high-stakes series.

Ian Anderson pitched two-hit ball over six-plus innings and Austin Riley, Ozzie Albies and Freddie Freeman homered as the Braves beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 9-2.

Milwaukee ace Corbin Burnes combined with reliever Josh Hader to pitch baseball’s record ninth no-hitter this season, breaking a mark set when pitchers began throwing overhand in 1884 as the Brewers beat the Cleveland Indians 3-0.

Diamondbacks rookie Tyler Gilbert has thrown seven hitless innings in his first big league start against the San Diego Padres.

The Philadelphia Phillies are six outs from completing the eighth no-hitter in the majors this year, which would be the most in a season since 1900.

Yu Darvish left a rocky start early with lower back tightness, and the Arizona Diamondbacks took advantage to beat the San Diego Padres 12-3.

Five Tampa Bay pitchers combined for seven hitless innings, and the Rays beat the Indians 4-0 for a doubleheader sweep.

San Francisco right-hander Kevin Gausman hasn’t allowed a hit through six innings against the St. Louis Cardinals, closing in on what would be the record-tying eighth no-hitter in the majors this season.

The Arizona Diamondbacks snapped their record 24-game road losing streak by routing the San Diego Padres 10-1, getting six strong innings from Merrill Kelly and four hits and five RBIs from Eduardo Escobar.

San Diego slugger Fernando Tatis Jr. hit three homers, hours after saying he would skip the All-Star Home Run Derby because of an ailing shoulder, and the Padres sent the Arizona Diamondbacks to their record 24th straight road loss, 11-5.

Kevin Kiermaier broke up a combined no-hit bid by the Boston Red Sox with a one-out double in the eighth inning and Manuel Margot scored on a wild pitch in the ninth to give the Tampa Bay Rays a 1-0 victory.

Merrill Kelly pitched seven effective innings, Ketel Marte had two hits and the Arizona Diamondbacks finally snapped a 17-game losing streak by beating the Milwaukee Brewers 5-1 on Monday night.

Maikel Franco hit a two-run homer with one out in the eighth inning, denying the Houston Astros in their attempt to throw a combined no-hitter at Baltimore.

The Arizona Diamondbacks have dropped 23 straight away games, setting a major league record.

Walker Buehler had another masterful mound performance, taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the skidding Arizona Diamondbacks 9-3.

Walker Buehler’s no-hit bid for the Los Angeles Dodgers ended in the eighth inning when Arizona’s David Peralta lined a leadoff single into center field.

Braves starter Charlie Morton has not allowed a hit through six innings against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Shohei Ohtani struck out eight, hit two doubles at the plate and pushed through an injury scare to lead the Los Angeles Angels past the slumping Arizona Diamondbacks 6-5 in 10 innings.

Slumping DJ LeMahieu and the skidding Yankees hope to get back on target when they start a set at Target Field against the Twins on Tuesday night.

Nationals reliever Austin Voth was sent to a Philadelphia hospital to get his nose reset after it was broken when he was hit by a pitch while squaring around to bunt.

Padres left-hander Blake Snell has thrown six no-hit innings against the New York Mets.

Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Freddy Peralta is celebrating his 25th birthday with a no-hit bid through six innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The major league batting average rose slightly in May, though it remained at its lowest level in 53 years.

St. Louis’ Carlos Martinez has a no-hitter through six innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

MLB pitchers have thrown six no-hitters in a span of just 41 days this season.

Tossing a major league no-hitter should be a monumental achievement. But is it losing its glamour after a sixth no-hitter was thrown in 41 days?

Spencer Turnbull pitched the fifth no-hitter in the majors already this season, sending the Detroit Tigers to a 5-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

Albert Pujols delivered an RBI single in his Dodgers debut, and Walker Buehler pitched seven scoreless innings of one-hit ball in Los Angeles’ 3-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Jon Lester is set to start for the Washington Nationals at Wrigley Field after spending the past six seasons with the Chicago Cubs.

Gerrit Cole starts against Houston on Thursday for the first time since leaving the Astros for a $324 million, nine-year contract with the Yankees before the 2020 season.

Baseball is swinging and missing.

Arizona LHP Madison Bumgarner starts against Colorado in his first appearance since pitching a seven-inning no-hitter against Atlanta last Sunday, a game that Major League Baseball does not consider to be a no-hitter.

Merrill Kelly starts for the Arizona Diamondbacks when they host Fernando Tatis Jr. and the Padres following a dominant pitching performance in a doubleheader at Atlanta.

Limited to a total of one hit in an entire doubleheader, Freddie Freeman and the Braves try to do better with the bats when they begin a set against the Cubs.