Cubs stick it to Molina, Cardinals

ST. LOUIS — In a most sticky situation, Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina couldn’t find a ball that clung to his chest protector and the Chicago Cubs turned the bizarre play into a late rally, beating St. Louis 6-4 on Thursday.

The Cardinals led 4-2 in the seventh inning when things became kooky at Busch Stadium.

Pinch-hitter Matt Szczur led off by striking out on a pitch from Brett Cecil that skipped in the dirt. The ball bounced into Molina’s protector and appeared to get trapped by a sticky substance.

Molina kept looking around for the ball, and didn’t find it until Szczur safely made it to first base.

The Gold Glove catcher could only smile and fans in the sellout crowd laughed — really, who’d ever seen such a thing?

Matt Harvey dominated with a fastball in the mid-90 mph range and uncommon efficiency in his return from major surgery, beating Atlanta and giving New York hope his injury woes are behind him. Yasiel Puig homered twice to help Los Angeles rout San Diego. Puig was 2 for 3 with two walks, two runs, four RBIs and a stolen base.

Jason Castro and Jorge Polanco hit consecutive RBI doubles in the seventh inning, and Minnesota dented Kansas City’s bullpen again to sweep the season-opening series.

Justin Bour doubled in the go-ahead run with two outs in the 10th inning after the Marlins erased two leads against a shaky Nationals bullpen, and Miami earned its first win of the season. Kendrys Morales hit his fourth career grand slam, Marcus Stroman pitched 6 1/3 effective innings and Toronto beat Tampa Bay. Morales homered off Blake Snell (0-1) in the third. Stroman (1-0), the MVP of last month’s World Baseball Classic, allowed one run and six hits in his 2017 debut. Nolan Arenado and Mark Reynolds homered and Antonio Senzatela pitched five strong innings in his major league debut to help Colorado beat Milwaukee.