OLIVER MARMOL

Good afternoon, Chicago. Here's what is happening today.

Aaron Judge remains a free agent as baseball's winter meetings continue in San Diego.

Houston's Dusty Baker and the Los Angeles Dodgers' Dave Roberts are the only Black managers in Major League Baseball.

Adam Wainwright will pitch for the St. Louis Cardinals next season, choosing to return for an 18th with the franchise while longtime teammates Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina head into retirement.

Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina have played their final games with the Cardinals, who were eliminated by the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League wild-card series.

Albert Pujols hit his 703rd home run, breaking a tie with Babe Ruth for second place in career RBIs, but the St. Louis Cardinals lost to Pittsburgh 3-2 when the Pirates drew four consecutive walks in the ninth inning to force home the winning run.

Albert Pujols has hit his 703rd home run, breaking a tie with Babe Ruth for second place in career RBIs.

Yadier Molina hit a two-run drive while Albert Pujols went hitless in his quest for 700 homers, and the St. Louis Cardinals swept a doubleheader from the Cincinnati Reds 5-1 and 1-0 in 11 innings on Saturday. Pujols started at first base in the opener and hit second for the first time this season. St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said playing Pujols so frequently is a no-brainer despite his age of 42.

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright and catcher Yadier Molina have made their 325th career start together, setting a major league record for most as a battery.

Albert Pujols hit his 696th home run, tying Alex Rodriguez for fourth place on the career list, and the St. Louis Cardinals rallied past the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-5 Saturday night. The 42-year-old Pujols has 22 games left in his 22nd and final season in the big leagues. “I don’t care who I tied,” Pujols said.

Albert Pujols hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the 13th inning, Lars Nootbaar added a two-run homer and the St. Louis Cardinals twice used five-man infields to stop the Cincinnati Reds and pull out a 5-3 win on Wednesday night. In his final game in Cincinnati, Pujols shook off going hitless in five at-bats to deliver against Chase Anderson (0-2), driving in automatic runner Paul Goldschmidt with one out. “I know he enjoyed it,” St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said of Pujols, who plans to retire after the season.

Paul Goldschmidt slugged his 32nd and 33rd homers to highlight a five-RBI performance, Corey Dickerson set a franchise record for consecutive hits and the St. Louis Cardinals rolled to an 8-3 win over the Chicago Cubs.

Javier Assad pitched four scoreless innings in his major league debut and combined with four relievers on a five-hitter as the Chicago Cubs cooled off the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0 in the first game of a doubleheader.

Albert Pujols hit career homer No. 693, Jordan Montgomery pitched a one-hitter and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 1-0 for their season-high eighth straight victory.

The St. Louis Cardinals are one of the few teams with too many options. The jumbo digs were eventually assigned to Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina, and who could really argue? Across the room was 34-year-old Paul Goldschmidt, one of the game's best first basemen who is a seven-time All-Star and in the midst of an MVP-caliber campaign.

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.

St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina was put on the restricted list Saturday and is expected to miss the next two games. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said Molina left for “business matters” and is expected to return to the team on Monday. Marmol added that the star previously asked permission to leave for the weekend and the request was granted.

There are no Latino general managers left in Major League Baseball after the Detroit Tigers fired Al Avila.

Albert Pujols hit a three-run homer and finished with three hits, passing Rogers Hornsby on St. Louis’ career list, and the Cardinals stopped Toronto’s seven-game win streak with a 6-1 victory over the Blue Jays on Wednesday night. Adam Wainwright pitched seven sparkling innings to help St. Louis earn a split of the two-game set while playing without unvaccinated sluggers Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado.

Cardinals reliever Genesis Cabrera slammed the ball to the ground in frustration when he was removed from the game, prompting a stern response from manager Oliver Marmol moments before St. Louis closed out a 7-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

Cardinals reliever Genesis Cabrera slammed the ball to the ground in frustration when he was removed from the game Friday night, prompting a stern response from manager Oliver Marmol moments before St. Louis closed out a 7-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. Cabrera was pulled after giving up consecutive hits to start the ninth inning.

Hanser Alberto hit a tiebreaking single with two outs in the ninth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers climbed out of a huge hole in a 7-6 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Philadelphia slugger Bryce Harper could return to the lineup Wednesday for the finale of a two-game series at Texas after an infected blister on his left index finger sidelined him for two games last weekend at Washington.

Dansby Swanson and the Braves go for their 14th straight victory Wednesday night when they wrap up a series at Washington.

Miles Mikolas was one strike from a no-hitter when he gave up a double to Cal Mitchell with two outs in the ninth inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals routed the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-1 to sweep a doubleheader.

Tommy Edman hit a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning for the first walkoff RBI of his major league career, lifting the St. Louis Cardinals over Cincinnati 5-4 on Saturday in yet another Reds bullpen collapse. “Off the bat, I honestly didn't think it was going to get out,” Edman said. St. Louis pitcher Adam Wainwright and catcher Yadier Molina made their 316th start together, tying the Boston and Milwaukee Braves’ Warren Spahn and Del Crandall for second-most behind the 324 of Detroit’s Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan.

Matt Swarmer earned his first big league win and Frank Schwindel homered in a three-hit showing to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 6-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in the first game of a doubleheader.

Josh Hader escaped a ninth-inning jam in his 37th straight scoreless appearance and the Milwaukee Brewers held off the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 for their third straight win.

First, Albert Pujols.

Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina set a major league record for wins by a starting battery as the St. Louis Cardinals routed the San Francisco Giants 15-6 in a game that ended with longtime slugger Albert Pujols on the mound.

Jordan Binnington made 25 saves and the St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild 5-1 in Game 6 to advance to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs.

Bobby Witt Jr. hit his first major league home run, Brad Keller pitched shutout ball into the seventh inning and the Kansas City Royals beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-1 to end a four-game losing streak.

Merrill Kelly threw seven shutout innings and Ketel Marte and Nick Ahmed each homered in the eighth inning, lifting the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-0 over the St. Louis Cardinals.

The New York Mets’ hit-by-pitch frustrations boiled over when reliever Yoan López threw a pitch near Nolan Arenado’s head, sparking a benches-clearing brawl that led to Arenado’s ejection in the St. Louis Cardinals’ 10-5 victory.

Chris Bassitt pitched six strong innings, and the New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-0 for their franchise-best sixth straight series win to start a season.

Detroit Tigers star Miguel Cabrera needs one more hit for 3,000 in his career, and will try to reach the mark at Comerica Park.

Albert Pujols homered for the first time since returning to St. Louis and Andrew Knizner hit a three-run shot as the Cardinals defeated the Kansas City Royals 6-5.

Albert Pujols called his shot. The veteran slugger told Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol he was going to hit the first pitch he saw Tuesday night for a home run — and then did just that. Pujols homered for the first time since returning to St. Louis and Andrew Knizner launched a three-run shot as the Cardinals defeated the Kansas City Royals 6-5 on Tuesday night.

Reds right-hander Hunter Greene will make his much-anticipated major league debut when he faces the World Series champion Braves in Atlanta.

Nolan Arenado hit three doubles and a single, Paul DeJong homered and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-2.

Cardinals bench coach Skip Schumaker learned less than an hour before game time that he'd be filling in for ill manager Oliver Marmol. Nolan Arenado helped make his job a lot easier. Arenado hit three doubles and a single, Paul DeJong homered and St. Louis, minus its rookie skipper, beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-2 Saturday.

Adam Wainwright pitched six scoreless innings, Tyler O’Neill hit a three-run homer and drove in five, and the St. Louis Cardinals celebrated Albert Pujols’ return with a 9-0 season-opening win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

There's a lot to catch up on from a bizarre baseball offseason before the 2022 season officially begins with first pitch at Wrigley Field.

Albert Pujols will be in the starting lineup for the St. Louis Cardinals against the Pittsburgh Pirates when he begins his final big league season Thursday in what should be an emotional return to Busch Stadium.

Connor Dawson is a psychologist, gatekeeper, analyst and strategist.

Primed to become the most prolific battery in baseball history, St. Louis Cardinals stars Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina didn’t always agree on everything. During one of their earliest outings at Triple-A Memphis, Wainwright kept shaking off Molina’s signs. After the game, Wainwright said the catcher got in his face.

The young man calling in the shots in the St. Louis Cardinals' dugout is new this season. In fact, the return of erstwhile slugger Albert Pujols to a clubhouse that still includes longtime St. Louis stalwarts Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina gives the club a decidedly old-school, nostalgic feel heading into the new season. "Oh, he's got something left," said Oliver Marmol, the youngest skipper in the big leagues at 35 years old, when asked about the return of the 42-year-old Pujols following more than a decade playing for the Dodgers and Angels in Los Angeles.

The full Shohei Ohtani experience will be on display when the Los Angeles Angels take the field on opening day.

Yadier Molina is back, and both he and the St. Louis Cardinals couldn’t be happier. After missing the first week of camp for personal reasons, the 39-year-old Molina arrived at the Cardinals' complex on Monday for what will likely be his final spring training. “It’s been tough the last couple of months but everything is all right right now,” Molina said.

It may look a little weird for a few days, but Freddie Freeman is officially wearing Dodger blue and Kris Bryant is donning the purple and black of the Colorado Rockies.

Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge and the rest of baseball’s biggest stars are due at spring training Sunday for the first official day of preseason training following the end of Major League Baseball’s 99-day labor lockout.

Cleveland ace Shane Bieber limbered up in Guardians gear, Toronto Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. began taking grounders and new St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol signed autographs as spring training camps in Florida and Arizona finally opened to big leaguers.

Oliver Marmol has been promoted from bench coach to the majors’ youngest manager, taking over the St. Louis Cardinals almost two weeks after Mike Shildt was fired in a surprise move by one of baseball's most stable franchises.

The St. Louis Cardinals plan to announce Monday that bench coach Oliver Marmol will be promoted to replace fired manager Mike Shildt, according to a person familiar with the decision.