MLB report: Ian Happ hits two HRs, Justin Steele pitches Cubs to win in London

Pushing back the outfield fences in London couldn’t keep Ian Happ in the ballpark.

Happ refound his power stroke with a pair of solo home runs, pitcher Justin Steele used the crowd's energy to zap a rally attempt and the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 9-1, on Saturday night in MLB's pandemic-delayed return to London.

Happ led off the second inning with a drive to straightaway center and put another Adam Wainwright (3-2) pitch over the rightfield fence in the third as the Cubs won their fourth straight game.

“They were both really well struck,” Happ said. “He’s the kind of guy that you just love to compete against.”

A crowd of 54,662, MLB's largest this season, filled London Stadium, some singing “Go Cubs Go." “It’s definitely something different in the energy and the electricity in this building,” said Steele (8-2), who allowed five hits in six innings.

The lefthander kept the Cardinals hitless before a leadoff single in the fifth by Jordan Walker, who has the longest active hitting streak at 14 games.

Atlanta 7, Reds 6: Host Cincinnati's longest winning streak in 66 years was stopped at 12 games when Raisel Iglesias struck out Jonathan India for the final out as Atlanta prevailed in an eight-homer slugfest.

Matt Olson hit the 200th of his big league career and Travis d'Arnaud, Ozzie Albies and Marcell Ozuna also went deep for Atlanta.

Royals 9, Rays 4: Jordan Lyles (1-11) ended a 15-game winless streak as lowly Kansas City had their second win in three days against the team with the MLB's best record.

Tampa Bay shortstop Wander Franco returned after being benched for two games for how he was handled frustrating situations this season and hit a 417-foot solo homer during a two-run first.

Orioles 6, Mariners 4: Ryan McKenna hit a two-run walk-off homer in the 10th inning for host Baltimore.

Dodgers 8, Astros 7: James Outman scored the go-ahead run on a balk by Ryne Stanek in the eighth for host Los Angeles. Alex Bregman hit a grand slam in the fifth for Houston.

Blue Jays 7, A's 3: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Danny Jansen each hit two-run homers, and Jose Berrios (8-5) pitched six innings for host Toronto.

White Sox 5, Red Sox 4:  Elvis Andrus hit a walk-off RBI single in the ninth inning for host Chicago. Luis Robert Jr., Andrew Vaughn, Yasmani Grandal and Jake Burger homered for the White Sox.

Marlins 4, Pirates 3: Jon Berti had an RBI single in the 11th inning and Luis Arraez (.401) homered for host Miami.

Giants 7, D-backs 6: Luis Matos hit his first career home run, a go-ahead two-run drive in the sixth inning, as host San Francisco won its 12th in 13 games.

Guardians 4, Brewers 2: Josh Naylor and David Fry had RBI singles in a two-run sixth inning, and rookie Tanner Bibee (4-2) pitched six innings for host Cleveland.

Tigers 3, Twins 2: Zach McKinstry had a two-run single in a three-run second for host Detroit.  — AP