COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gabriel Slonina made a career-high nine saves, some of them fantastic, helping the Fire salvage a 0-0 draw with the Crew on Saturday.

Slonina earned his 12th shutout of the season, and the Fire (8-13-8, 32 points) are unbeaten in their last two games with only five left in the regular season.

“He came up with another great performance,” coach Ezra Hendrickson said. “We know that he’s a good goalkeeper and has been good all year for us. So we’re happy to have him.”

“He’s always been a confident goalkeeper. He’s always been a good ‘keeper. Hence, he signed a contract with Chelsea.”

The Fire are six points out of the seventh and last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, held by Cincinnati (9-8-11, 38 points). The Crew (9-6-13, 40 points) are sixth.

“At the end of the season, at the end of the day, we want to make the playoffs,” Slonina said. “So I’m happy for [the career high in saves], but it would be better if I made three saves and we got the win.

“The clean sheet is nice, but obviously,we want to get as much points as possible. So going for the win is the most important.”

In a first half that saw the Crew utilize high pressure, the Fire were forced to make a substitution in the 33rd minute when midfielder Brian Gutierrez was replaced by Jhon Duran after going down with an injury.

The team shifted into a 4-4-2 formation for the first time this season, with Kacper Przybylko and Duran leading the charge on the attack.

Slonina was called into action during the second minute of first-half stoppage time when Derrick Etienne Jr. took advantage of a wall created by his teammates at the top of the Fire’s box, curling a shot around to the second post that Slonina did well to dive to his right to make the save.

Slonina and the Fire defense were again put on high alert in the 63rd minute by -Columbus forward Cucho Hernandez, who took a shot that Slonina reacted well to save. Both players quickly went after the rebound, with Slonina blocking the shot and Fire defender Carlos Teran then clearing the ball out of danger.

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After making three consecutive starts following a return from a left knee strain, Yasmani Grandal said he’s ready and determined to catch as much as possible for the White Sox’ stretch drive.

“Yeah, that’s what I want to do,” said Grandal, who has made only 46 starts at catcher due to back spasms and a knee injury. “I’ve maybe DH’d more than I’ve caught this year. I’ve never done that in my life, nor am I looking forward to doing that. So, hopefully I’ll be able to finish strong, be able to finish catching as much as I can, and we’ll see where it takes me.”

Actually, Grandal has started at designated hitter 24 times and first base three times. He didn’t start Saturday night after making three consecutive starts at catcher — marking the first time he made at least three consecutive starts behind the plate since June 8-11. He left the June 11 game at Texas after three innings because of spasms that ran down his left leg and sidelined him for 35 games.

But Grandal reported that he felt OK after catching all nine innings of Friday’s dramatic 4-3 victory over the Twins in which he hit an RBI single and a game-tying home run to lift his batting average to .207.

“Quite frankly, I thought I was going to feel worse than I did just because I didn’t really get that much sleep the night before,” Grandal said. “I got a 16-month old that’s sick at the house so it’s like getting up every other hour.

“But the funny thing as soon as the game gets here, it’s go time, so all of a sudden that adrenaline picks up. As soon as that picks up, it kind of takes you to the game. I actually felt way better than I thought I was going to feel.”

Acting manager Miguel Cairo understands Grandal’s desire to catch as much as possible and said he would start in Sunday’s series finale.

“The main thing is the communication,” Cairo said. “That’s what I preach. You communicate, you talk. You might disagree or agree, stuff like that. At the end of the day everything has been working fine.”

Grandal would seem likely to start Monday against the Mariners and left-hander Marco Gonzales. Grandal is batting .321 with a .931 OPS against lefties, compared to a .178 average and .493 OPS against right-handers.

This and that

Outfielder Luis Robert was expected to return Sunday and will have his wrist examined with the possibility he could be reinstated from the Paternity List.

o Pitcher Michael Kopech (left knee soreness) could be activated on the Sox’s upcoming trip to Seattle and Oakland, Cairo said. Kopech hasn’t pitched since Aug. 22.

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ST. LOUIS — When Cubs rookie Christopher Morel was a boy in the Dominican Republic, he often stood at the plate and imitated a superstar and countryman he deeply admired.

Feet spread extra-wide, rear end down low, hands and bat up high — that was how the great Albert Pujols did it.

Morel even imitated Pujols’ stance when playing “vitilla,” a baseball-like game played with the large, plastic cap of a gallon water jug in place of a ball and a broomstick in place of a bat.

“In the Dominican, I think Pujols is the one who sits at the top with the numbers that he’s put up,” Morel said through a translator Saturday before the Cubs lost 8-4 to the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

Maybe during Sunday’s series finale — as the first-place Cardinals go for a three-game sweep and a 13-6 finish in the season series against the Cubs — Morel can imitate Pujols one more time. It’ll be the Cubs’ final game against the first-ballot Hall-of-Famer, who, along with catcher Yadier Molina, will call it a career at season’s end.

“Since I’ve gotten to this level, it’s a privilege to be able to meet him or talk to him,” Morel said. “He tells me respect the game, love what I do and keep playing hard.”

Cubs teammate and fellow Dominican Franmil Reyes — recent recipient of yet another big, warm Pujols hug — calls the 42-year-old “the Machine.”

“We all, as Dominicans, admire him and want to be like him,” Reyes said, “not just to get to play like he [does] but get to be the professional on and off the field like he is. We’re always going to want to be like him. You can see a lot of players have success out there, but nobody respects them how they respect the Machine. That means a lot to all of us.”

Expect Pujols to be in the lineup or at least get an at-bat or two Sunday. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol regretted not getting Pujols to the plate during his final game at Wrigley Field on Aug. 25. The Cardinals — running away with the division and 10-1-1 in their last 12 series — have far bigger fish to fry than the Cubs, but Sunday still has real symbolic and sentimental appeal.

Pujols has 58 career homers against the Cubs, more than he has against any other National League team. He would have 59 if his first-inning shot off Drew Smyly on Saturday didn’t die in left fielder Ian Happ’s glove with Happ’s back pressing against the outfield wall. It was so close to No. 695, but Pujols remained two homers shy of Alex Rodriguez’s 696 and six away from joining Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth in the 700 club.

It will take something special for Pujols to equal the night Molina had in what almost certainly was his own final game against the North Siders. Molina singled off Smyly in the second inning and cleared the bases with a three-run double off reliever Jeremiah Estrada in the fourth, pumping his hands in the air above his head after chugging — ever so slowly — into second.

Then — come on, you kind of have to love it — the 40-year-old thorn in the Cubs’ sides went ahead and stole third base, just his second bag swiped this season. One couldn’t have scripted that maneuver.

But even bigger and better for Molina than all that: He was in the starting lineup as 41-year-old righty Adam Wainwright’s batterymate for the 323rd time, one shy of the major league record set together by the Tigers’ Mickey Lolich and Bill Freeham. Molina and Wainwright — who beat the Cubs for the 19th time in his career and, many suspect, will be back again in 2023 to try to add to that total — are projected to set the record on Sept. 14 against the Brewers at Busch. Molina also started a game at catcher for the 2,097th time, tying Carlton Fisk for second behind all-time leader Pudge Rodriguez.

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ST. LOUIS — Every baseball writer with hotdog on his or her breath is certain catcher Willson Contreras won’t be back with the Cubs next season. Then again, everyone just knew Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer would trade Contreras at the deadline, but Hoyer couldn’t get it done.

What do we know, right?

Scratch that. You can trust us on this one: Contreras is an offseason goner.

And one of the teams that might be interested in his services is the Cardinals, who are counting down to an emotional farewell to retiring star catcher Yadier Molina. What would Cubs manager David Ross think of seeing Contreras wearing the Bird on the Bat?

“Then we’ll try to kick his butt every time we come here,” Ross said Saturday before the Cubs lost 8-4 to the Cardinals in the middle game of a weekend series.

Contreras hasn’t played since he left Tuesday’s game in Toronto with a sore left ankle. Depending how he feels Sunday morning, he might be in the lineup for the series finale.

A reporter wanted to know if Ross is voicing to his bosses that he’d prefer to show up to work next season and find a three-time All-Star in a Cubs uniform squatting behind the plate.

“I’ll let Jed take care of all that stuff. The budget and how they make up the roster, I leave up to them,” Ross said. “When they ask my opinion, I give it. I think Willson has proven he’s a very good player, he’s a winning player, a World Series champion. … Any team he’s on is going to be better for it.”

Ross compared himself to one of his children in a candy store, wanting Dad to say yes to “four Snickers and three Reese’s.”

“I want all the toys,” he said, “as many as we can get.”

But if Ross really believes there’s a chance Contreras will remain a Cub, he didn’t give it away.

“If it’s here, we’re all going to be happy,” he said. “If it’s not, another team is going to benefit from how good a player he is.”

Goldy knocks

The Cubs will not be devastated to be finished with Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt after the weekend. The runaway favorite for National League MVP hit an opposite-field homer off Drew Smyly in the first inning for his seventh long ball of the season against the North Siders. That’s one off the Cardinals record shared by Matt Carpenter (2018), Jim Edmonds (2004), Albert Pujols (2004), Stan Musial (1950) and Rogers Hornsby (1925).

Goodness, St. Louis sure has seen its share of pretty good players. But enough about that.

So much for that

Smyly’s rough night — which included surrendering back-to-back homers to Tommy Edman and Tyler O’Neill before he was yanked in the third inning — ended one of the best brief stretches of his career. The lefty posted a 0.90 ERA over 30 innings in his previous five starts.

First of all …

With a three-run first inning, the Cubs scored first for the 78th time this season, an almost impossible-to-believe numbers considering (1) they’re going to finish a few miles short of .500 and (2) only two teams in all of baseball have scored first more often. The Mets and Astros (81 each)? They’re actually pretty dang good.

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Dylan Cease pitched an absolute gem earning his 13th win of the season as the White Sox won their fourth in a row in a key series against the Twins.

Dylan Cease was one pitch away from history when he lost a no-hitter on the last batter of the bottom of the 9th inning.

You have to wonder if the Sox scoring six runs in the eighth inning led to the Twins getting the final hit off of Dylan Cease. But all that matters is the win.

The White Sox won 13-0 as Dylan Cease threw a one-hit shutout in a masterful performance for the White Sox who have won four straight and now find themselves 2.5 games out of first place in the AL Central.

The White Sox winning streak comes with manager Tony La Russa being out indefinitely with health issues.  let the speculation build on the team responding to La Russa’s health issues because they play better without him, or whether they’re playing for him.

The White Sox will look to close out the Twins with a sweep tomorrow at 1:10 pm with Lucas Giolito getting the start.  

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