Cardinals: Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras was placed on the injured list Monday and will miss at least three weeks after breaking a finger when he was hit by a pitch last week against the Twins. The three-time All-Star will not need surgery, according to manager Oliver Marmol. The Cardinals hope he will be able to return before the end of the regular season. Contreras, 32, already missed seven weeks earlier this season after fracturing his left arm. The Cardinals have two other catchers on the active roster in Ivan Herrera, who played Monday against the Padres, and Pedro Pages.
Tigers: Two-time All-Star SS Javier Baez will undergo season-ending hip surgery, manager A.J. Hinch announced. Baez had already been placed on the 10-day IL. He was transferred to the 60-day IL on Monday. The 31-year-old Baez will finish the season with a .184 average in 289 plate appearances with 12 doubles, six HRs and eight stolen bases. He had 12 walks and struck out 69 times. His .516 OPS (44 OPS+) was the worst in baseball among players with similar playing time. Baez missed a month earlier in the season with lumbar spine inflammation and he has also battled hip soreness on an off throughout the year. He signed a six-year, $140 million deal with the Tigers before the 2022 season after five years with the Cubs, including their 2016 World Series championship season. But he underachieved expectations from the start and has gotten progressively worse in each of his three seasons with the Tigers.
Cubs, Pirates: For the first time in more than 100 years, the Cubs stole eight bases in a game as they ran wild Monday night against the Pirates. The Cubs last had eight steals in 1913. Rookie OF Pete Crow-Armstrong led the way with three stolen bases. That raised his season total to 26 in 93 games. Crow-Armstrong has only been caught once this year. “I think we’ve done a good job all year of going into it with the mindset of being aggressive on the bases,” Crow-Armstrong said. “Against these guys, we’ve had a pretty good plan and you saw it today because guys were very aggressive.” Ian Happ added two steals and Nico Hoerner, Cody Bellinger and Seiya Suzuki had one each. All eight steals came in eight attempts against catcher Yasmani Grandal. Pirates starter Mitch Keller was on the mound for seven steals during his four innings. The visiting Cubs entered the game eighth in the major leagues in stolen bases with 112. They led 11-2 after six innings and won 18-8. “There wasn’t a lot that went right tonight, so I don’t know if I would highlight the stolen bases as being the issue,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “But, yeah, we’ve got to do a better job of holding runners.” ... At age 33, Pirates LHP Brady Feigl made his major league debut during Monday’s game.