The new week begins with a light slate of MLB action. There are only eight games on the schedule Monday, and one of the eight is a makeup game in Denver. Nearly half the league is enjoying an off-day. 

The big storylines from the night included the Cardinals blowing out the Brewers, the Phillies rallying thanks to the long ball and Tim Melville giving the Rockies another good start.

You can check out more on those stories (and more) by reading our full recap below.

Select games can be streamed regionally via fuboTV (Try for free). For more on what channel each game is on, click here.

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Baseball schedule/scores for Monday, August 26

Cardinals blow out Brewers to extend NL Central lead

The Cardinals entered the week 4 ½ games up on the Brewers in the National League Central. With a 12-2 win against Milwaukee on Monday, the Cardinals have widened the gap.

The Cardinals jumped on starter Gio Gonzalez, tagging him for nine runs on nine hits in five innings. Gonzalez yielded only one home run -- to Yadier Molina -- but did walk four. St. Louis, meanwhile, had three players (Marcell Ozuna, Paul DeJong and Molina) drive in three runs apiece.

As for the pitching side of things, the Cardinals yanked Adam Wainwright before he could complete the fourth inning. John Gant then threw 2 ⅓ scoreless innings as part of a strong effort from the bullpen. 

With the Cubs off Monday, the Cardinals now hold a three-game lead in the division.

Semien drives in seven 

The Athletics lineup had itself a field day against the Royals on Monday night. No one more so than Marcus Semien, who drove in seven as part of the A's 19-4 victory.

Semien's seven-RBI night isn't as impressive as it may seem -- or, at least, not quite as rare. After all, earlier this season the A's saw Josh Phegley drive in eight runs. Beyond the A's, it's the 12th time this season someone has driven in exactly seven runs. 

Anyway, Semien did all his damage on two hits: a three-run triple and a three-run homer. He also received credit for an RBI on a fielder's choice later in the game. 

Melville turns in another strong start for Rockies

Over the winter Tim Melville worked at an Arizona barbecue joint because he was unable to land a job in baseball. Fast forward to Monday, and Melville turned in his second straight strong start for the Rockies. The 29-year-old right-hander blanked the Braves across five innings in their makeup game at Coors Field.

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Tim Melville
BAL • SP • #46
August 26 vs. Braves
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Melville, 29, allowed one run in seven innings against the D-Backs last week, his first MLB action since 2017. The Royals gave him a $1.25 million signing bonus as their fourth-round pick in 2008, but Melville never developed consistent command, and he bounced from organization to organization. He pitched in an independent league before signing with Colorado in May.

Jon Gray's season-ending foot injury pushed Melville into the rotation. Unfortunately for him, he was not rewarded with a win for Monday's performance. Julio Teheran matched Melville zero for zero and the game was still scoreless when Melville was removed. Still, two starts in to his MLB return, the Rockies couldn't have asked Melville for more. 

The Rockies, by the way, went on to win by a 3-1 final.

Stat of the day: Suarez nears 40th homer

Eugenio Suarez jumped the fence on Monday as part of the Reds' 6-3 victory against the Marlins. It was his 36th homer of the year:

Suarez is now four homers away from the 16th 40-plus-homer season in franchise history, and the first since Adam Dunn accomplished the feat in 2007. 

By the way, Suarez's previous career-high was 34. As a reminder, there's a month left in the season.

Highlights of the day: Phillies rally behind long ball

With four outs remaining, the Phillies trailed the Pirates by a 4-2 margin. Based on the score listed above (a 6-5 Phillies win) and the subheading, you know what happened next -- at least in broad terms. Let's walk you through things though.

First, Bryce Harper hit this home run to cut the lead to 4-3:

Then Corey Dickerson hit his own home run to give the Phillies a 5-4 lead:

The Pirates tied the score in the ninth on a Josh Bell homer, and the two sides traded zeros until the bottom of the 11th. That's when Sean Rodriguez -- yes, Sean Rodriguez -- sent a ball into the left-field seats for the walk-off winner:

Quick hits