MLB capsules: Chicago Cubs beat Tampa Bay Rays in Maddon’s return to Tropicana Field
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Mike Montgomery took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning, Kyle Schwarber hit his 28th home run and the Chicago Cubs extended their winning streak to a season-high seven games by beating the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 on Tuesday night in manager Joe Maddon’s return to Tropicana Field.
Maddon managed Tampa Bay from 2006-14, then left for Chicago and last year led the Cubs to their first World Series title since 1908. Chicago holds a 3 1/2-game lead over second-place Milwaukee in the NL Central.
A crowd of 25,046, the largest at the Trop since opening day, gave Maddon a standing ovation in the middle of the first inning.
Montgomery (7-8) allowed one hit in six innings, a one-out homer in the sixth by Brad Miller. The left-hander struck out six and walked one.
Pedro Strop, Carl Edwards Jr. and Wade Davis each followed with an inning of perfect relief to complete the one-hitter. Davis struck out the side and remained perfect in 32 save chances.
Javier Baez hit an RBI double against Chris Archer (9-11), who gave up four hits in six innings.
RED SOX 1, ORIOLES 0 (11)
BALTIMORE – Jackie Bradley Jr. scored the game’s lone run on a wild pitch by Brad Brach in the 11th inning, helping the Red Sox improve to 15-3 in extra-inning games.
Boston has won 10 of 13 to move a season-high 23 games over .500 (87-64) and draw closer to clinching a postseason berth. The Red Sox stayed three games ahead of the second-place Yankees in the A.L. East.
With a runner on second and two outs in the 11th, Brach (4-5) walked Andrew Benintendi and Mookie Betts to load the bases for Mitch Moreland, who sidestepped a bouncing pitch from Brach that enabled Bradley to score without a throw.
Joe Kelly (4-1) worked the 10th and Matt Barnes got three outs for his first save.
The Orioles have lost 11 of 13 to fall out of contention.
YANKEES 5, TWINS 2
NEW YORK – CC Sabathia recovered from a shaky start to pitch six innings, Brett Gardner had a pair of tying hits and the Yankees clinched their sixth straight series win.
With their ninth victory in 11 games, the Yankees opened six-game lead over the Twins for the top A.L. wild card. Minnesota, which started the night 1 1/2 games ahead of the Los Angeles Angels for the second A.L. wild card, has lost four of five.
Pitching on seven days’ rest in a game that started 65 minutes late because of a downpour, Sabathia (12-5) allowed two runs and six hits. Aroldis Chapman worked a scoreless ninth for his 20th save in 24 chances.
Minnesota right-hander Jose Berrios (12-8) yielded three runs in 3 1/3 innings.
PHILLIES 6, DODGERS 2
PHILADELPHIA – Rhys Hoskins had four RBIs for Philadelphia, including a tiebreaking three-run double off Pedro Baez in seventh inning.
Los Angeles’ magic number to clinch its fifth straight division title is two. The Dodgers have lost three consecutive games and 19 of 24.
Hoskins saw 30 pitches in going 2 for 3 with a walk. He knocked out Yu Darvish with a sixth-inning RBI single that cut Philadelphia’s deficit to 2-1, and then doubled to the left-center gap on the 10th pitch of his at-bat against Baez (3-6) for a 5-2 lead.
Aaron Nola (12-10) allowed two runs in seven innings while striking out eight. The Phillies have won seven of 10.
BREWERS 1, PIRATES 0
PITTSBURGH – Chase Anderson struck out eight in six innings, Domingo Santana homered and the Brewers shut out the Pirates for the second straight day.
The Brewers won for the ninth time in 11 games, keeping pace in the N.L. Central and wild-card races. They won for the fourth time in the past seven days against reeling Pittsburgh, which has lost a season-high seven consecutive games and 12 of 13.
It was the 12th shutout of the season for the Brewers, tied for the second-most in the N.L.
Anderson (11-3) allowed five singles. Anthony Swarzak retired six of his seven batters, and Corey Knebel earned his 37th save.
Pirates right-hander Trevor Williams (6-9) pitched five innings of three-hit ball.
MARLINS 5, METS 4 (10)
MIAMI – J.T. Realmuto homered in the 10th inning and Miami beat New York after rallying for three runs in the ninth against former teammate A.J. Ramos.
With one out, Realmuto connected off Paul Sewald (0-6) for his 17th homer.
Miami trailed 4-1 in the ninth before coming back against Ramos, who faced the Marlins for the first time since they traded him to New York on July 28. Justin Bour led off with his 22nd homer, and first since a six-week stint on the disabled list. Ramos then gave up four singles, including two-out RBI hits by pinch-hitter A.J. Ellis and Ichiro Suzuki.
Ramos’ blown save was his first with the Mets.
Major league home run leader Giancarlo Stanton walked a season-high four times and struck out in his only at-bat to remain at 55 homers with 11 games to go.
Jose Reyes hit his 14th homer for the Mets and went 4 for 5. Travis d’Arnaud had a two-run shot.
Christian Yelich went deep for Miami. Kyle Barraclough (6-2) worked a scoreless 10th.
CARDINALS 8, REDS 7 (10)
CINCINNATI – Dexter Fowler hit a tying homer in the eighth inning and a go-ahead double in the 10th to help St. Louis get past Cincinnati.
Yadier Molina and Paul DeJong also connected for the Cardinals, who were swept by N.L. Central-leading Chicago last weekend and had dropped four of five overall. Juan Nicasio (4-5) pitched 1 1/3 innings for the win, and Tyler Lyons got two outs for his third save.
The third-place Cardinals (78-72) remained six games back of the Cubs in the division. St. Louis also is in the mix for a wild card after missing the playoffs last season.
The winning rally began when Tim Adelman (5-11) hit Kolten Wong with a pitch leading off the 10th. After the double by Fowler, DeJong added a two-out RBI single.
Cincinnati got one back on Scooter Gennett’s 26th homer. Zack Cozart also went deep for the Reds.
Each team used eight pitchers.
NATIONALS 4, BRAVES 2
ATLANTA – Max Scherzer allowed five hits in seven innings, and Washington tuned up for the playoffs with a victory over Atlanta.
Scherzer (15-6) bounced back from his worst start of the season, also against the Braves last week, when he walked six and was roughed up for seven runs in an 8-2 loss.
This time, Scherzer struck out seven and walked only one while throwing 83 of 112 pitches for strikes.
Sean Doolittle earned his 22nd save, his 19th in as many chances since the Nationals acquired him from Oakland on July 16.
Ryan Zimmerman had three hits and two RBIs for the NL East champions.
Braves rookie Luiz Gohara (1-2) gave up four runs and 11 hits in 6 1/3 innings.
BLUE JAYS 5, ROYALS 2
TORONTO – Marcus Stroman pitched seven innings to win for the first time in six starts and Darwin Barney hit a two-run homer, helping the Blue Jays to the victory.
Alex Gordon’s solo drive for Kansas City in the eighth was the majors’ 5,694th homer of the season, breaking the record set in 2000 at the height of the Steroids Era. There were 5,610 homers last year, an average of 2.31 per game, and this year’s average of 2.53 entering Tuesday’s action projects to 6,139.
Barney went 2 for 3 with three RBIs as the Blue Jays opened their final homestand on a winning note. Stroman (12-8) allowed one run and four hits, and Roberto Osuna got his 37th save.
Royals right-hander Ian Kennedy (4-12) was charged with two runs in five-plus innings.
ASTROS 3, WHITE SOX 1
HOUSTON – Jose Altuve homered, Alex Bregman hit an RBI double and A.L. West champion Houston extended its winning streak to five games with a victory over Chicago.
Collin McHugh (3-2) allowed one run and five hits with five strikeouts in five innings for the Astros. It was the right-hander’s first outing since detaching a fingernail on his pitching hand Sept. 8.
McHugh has made only 10 starts this season after also missing time with a shoulder issue.
Will Harris, Luke Gregerson and Chris Devenski each threw a scoreless inning before Ken Giles pitched the ninth for his 32nd save.
Lucas Giolito (2-3) gave up two runs in 6 2/3 innings for the White Sox.
ATHLETICS 9, TIGERS 8
DETROIT – Jed Lowrie hit a go-ahead grand slam against Alex Wilson, and Oakland overcame a four-run deficit to beat Detroit.
The Tigers trailed 3-0 in the third inning, then took an 8-4 lead into the seventh, when Ryon Healy hit a bases-loaded grounder to shortstop Jose Iglesias, who bobbled the ball for an error as Lowrie scored.
Joey Wendle, Franklin Barreto and Chad Pinder started the eighth with singles off Wilson (2-5), and Lowrie followed with his third career slam.
Miguel Cabrera singled off Chris Hatcher starting the bottom half and took third on Nicholas Castellanos’ double. But Jeimer Candelario grounded out and, after an intentional walk, Hatcher struck out James McCann and Mikie Mahtook.
Santiago Casilla (4-5) pitched a perfect seventh. Blake Treinen closed for his 12th save this season and ninth since being traded from Washington to Oakland.
Oakland rookie Matt Olson homered for the fifth straight game, tying Matt Stairs (1998), Dave Kingman (1986) and George Alusik (1962) for the second-longest streak in Athletics history behind Frank Thomas’ six in 2006. Olson has 15 home runs in his last 21 games.
Castellanos, Alex Presley and Ian Kinsler homered for Detroit.
GIANTS 4, ROCKIES 3
SAN FRANCISCO – Charlie Blackmon had a two-run double in the second inning for his first career 200-hit season, but the contending Colorado Rockies couldn’t hold the early lead and lost 4-3 to the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night.
The Rockies’ lead over the Brewers for the second NL wild card dropped to a half-game after Milwaukee won at Pittsburgh.
Hunter Pence hit a game-ending sacrifice fly with Colorado playing a five-man infield, with Carlos Gonzalez making an incredible diving catch. Pence followed up his two-run homer in the fifth as San Francisco grabbed the opener of a short two-game series between the N.L. West opponents.
PADRES 6, DIAMONDBACKS 2
SAN DIEGO – Travis Wood pitched six efficient innings and contributed two RBIs as the San Diego Padres beat the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Arizona failed to gain ground in the N.L. wildcard race despite A. J. Pollock’s two homers and a double. The loss reduced the Dodgers’ magic number to clinch the NL West to two.
Wood (4-6), who surrendered a career-high nine runs in his last start, rebounded to win for the first time since Aug. 19. The southpaw was the benefactor of three double plays as he allowed two runs, three hits and two walks. He struck out three in raising his record at Petco Park this year to 4-1 in five starts.
San Diego scored five times in the first three innings as it beat the Diamondbacks for the second straight game to clinch the series. Arizona has still won 20 of its last 28 games since Aug. 21.
MARINERS 3, RANGERS 1
SEATTLE – Shin-Soo Choo’s sacrifice fly broke a tie in the eighth inning, Elvis Andrus followed with an RBI single and the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners to help their slim playoff chances.
The Rangers won their second straight after a five-game losing streak and pulled within 3 1/2 games of Minnesota for the second American League wild card.
Pinch-hitter Carlos Gomez, slowed for the past week by a sprained ankle, led off the eighth with a double against Nick Vincent (3-3). Delino DeShields beat out a bunt single and Choo followed with a fly ball deep enough that pinch-runner Will Middlebrooks easily scored to give Texas the lead.
Andrus added a broken-bat single that scored DeShields.
INDIANS 6, ANGELS 3
ANAHEIM, Calif. – Jay Bruce had a triple and a double among his three hits, Austin Jackson singled four times and the incredible Cleveland Indians rolled on by beating the Los Angeles Angels for their 25th victory in 26 games.
Roberto Perez added a solo home run for the A.L. Central champions to support a strong outing by Mike Clevinger (11-5).
Los Angeles’ offense struggled for the third consecutive game as the Angels missed a chance to gain ground on Minnesota in their bid for the final American League playoff berth.
The loss was the fourth in five games for the Angels, who remained 1 1/2 games behind the Twins. In each of the team’s previous two games, Los Angeles scored two runs on four hits.
Clevinger, drafted by the Angels in 2011, allowed one run and three hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out six. The right-hander did not give up his first hit until the fifth.