Wacha Pitches Cardinals To 2-1 Victory, White Sox Drop Game

This time, the San Francisco Giants saw the real Michael Wacha. The St. Louis Cardinals right-hander insisted last year's NL championship series failure was absolutely not on his mind preparing to face the Giants for the first time this season.

"I mean, everyone seems to make it out like I was going out for vengeance or something, like I was after these guys since Day 1," Wacha said after working seven dominant innings in the Cardinals' 2-1 victory on Monday night.

"Everyone tries to amp it up and make a story out of it, but I was just trying to approach it just like another game."

Rookie Stephen Piscotty tripled and scored the go-ahead run on Mark Reynolds' groundout in the eighth.

Angels 2, White Sox 1

C.J. Cron, Albert Pujols and rookie Andrew Heaney helped the Los Angeles Angels stop a slide that had put them out of a playoff spot for the first time since July 2.

Cron hit a tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning, Pujols also homered and Heaney pitched six effective innings in the Angels' 2-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Monday night.

"We needed this win. There was really no other way around that," Cron said. "The way Heaney threw, we knew we had to win this game -- and he kept us in it throughout the whole time."

The victory was only the second in eight games for the defending AL West champion Angels, who still trail Houston by 3 1/2 games in the division race and Toronto by a half-game for the second wild-card spot.

Yankees Pitcher Takes Line Drive To Face

Yankees rookie right-hander Bryan Mitchell took a line drive off his face Monday, which caused a small nasal fracture, the team announced. The injury forced him to be removed from the team's 8-7 win over the Minnesota Twins with two outs in the second inning.

With one arm around trainer Steve Donohue and the other hand holding a towel to his bloodied face, Mitchell received a standing ovation as he walked into the dugout.

He is expected to be placed on the disabled list.

Mitchell was released from New York-Presbyterian Hospital after a full evaluation, but the Yankees' doctors will continue to monitor him for a possible concussion.

"It was really, really scary," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "It seems like your heart just drops into your stomach, and you are scared for the kid. You see blood coming out. ... I was really worried."

Monday, August 17 Scoreboard

Baltimore 4, Oakland 2

New York Yankees 8, Minnesota 7 (F/10)

Arizona 4, Pittsburgh 1

Cleveland 8, Boston 2

St. Louis 2, San Francisco 1

Texas 4, Seattle 3

Miami 6, Milwaukee 2

Tampa Bay 9, Houston 2

Los Angeles Angels 2, Chicago White Sox 1

San Diego 5, Atlanta 3

Tuesday, August 18 Schedule (All Times Central)

New York at Baltimore, 6:05 p.m.

Minnesota at New York, 6:05 p.m.

Toronto at Philadelphia, 6:05 p.m.

Arizona at Pittsburgh, 6:05 p.m.

Cleveland at Boston, 6:10 p.m.

Kansas City at Cincinnati, 6:10 p.m.

Detroit at Chicago Cubs, 7:05 p.m.

Seattle at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

Miami at Milwaukee, 7:10 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Houston, 7:10 p.m.

San Francisco at St. Louis, 7:15 p.m.

Washington at Colorado, 7:40 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Los Angeles, 9:05 p.m.

Los Angeles at Oakland, 9:05 p.m.

Atlanta at San Diego, 9:10 p.m.