Lester Makes Winning Play as Cubs Victorious in 12, Marlins Edge Cards

By ESPN

Travis Wood got four outs and made an impressive catch in left field. Pitcher Jon Lester made the winning play -- at the plate. Five Chicago Cubs played two or more positions.

Manager Joe Maddon went deep into his bag of tricks to steal one from the Seattle Mariners.

Lester drove in Jason Heyward with a two-strike squeeze bunt in the 12th inning, and the Cubs overcame a six-run deficit on the way to a wild 7-6 victory over the Mariners on Sunday night.

"I just kept telling myself `Don't be late to square around," Lester said. "That's one thing over the last year that I've kind of picked up on on bunting, and it's helped me just be a little more consistent."

Heyward sparked the winning rally with a leadoff double against Cody Martin (1-1). He advanced on Willson Contreras' fly ball to center before Lester, hitting for Hector Rondon (2-2), managed to get a safety squeeze down right in front of the plate.

Heyward made it home with a headfirst slide, sparking a frenzied celebration at Wrigley Field.

"Joe does it again," Lester said. "You kind of sit there sometimes and scratch your head and it seems to always kind of work out."

The Cubs trailed 6-3 before they pushed across three runs in the ninth against Steve Cishek, handing the sidewinding right-hander his sixth blown save in 31 opportunities. Addison Russell hit an RBI single and Contreras drove in another run when he hustled down the line to beat out a potential double-play grounder.

With two outs and runners on the corners, Cishek uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Russell to come home with the tying run. Matt Szczur then flied out to right, ending the inning.

"Stuff was terrible tonight," Cishek said. "I had a hard time commanding my fastball, slider was the not the same and I got exposed."

It was a heartbreaking loss for Seattle, which was in position to take the rubber game of the weekend series before the late rally by Chicago. Nelson Cruz, Robinson Cano and Dae-Ho Lee each hit a two-run homer against Brian Matusz, helping the Mariners jump out to a 6-0 lead.

Marlins 5, Cardinals 4

Derek Dietrich won the game and lost his shirt. The pinch-hitter's game-ending RBI triple with two out in the ninth inning helped the Miami Marlins beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 Sunday for split of their four-game series.

The Marlins' celebration began as Dietrich rounded third. Teammates doused him with water and then tore off his jersey.

"I can't say I haven't walked around with my shirt off before," Dietrich said. "It was a little uncomfortable, but it was a fun moment."

And what shape is the shirt in?

"It's gone," he said. "It's probably in half."

The score was tied with two out in the ninth when Adeiny Hechavarria -- who had made a costly throwing error earlier -- singled off Matt Bowman (1-3). Dietrich then hit a drive into the left-field gap, and center fielder Tommy Pham's try at a sliding backhanded catch failed, allowing Hechavarria to score without a play.

Pham said he got his glove on the ball but didn't go after it full bore because left fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker was also in pursuit.

"I couldn't dive, because if I'd have dove, I'd have dove right into him," Pham said. "So I had to slide. It should have been caught by one of the two of us."

Hazelbaker agreed.

"That ball has got to be caught," he said.

The teams finished their season series with Miami leading St. Louis by one game in the NL wild-card race.

Twins 6, White Sox 4

With 12 years in the major leagues under his belt, Ervin Santana has learned to remain calm on the mound.

Through sloppy play behind him and his name prominent in rumors ahead of the trade deadline, the veteran right-hander displayed his poise again Sunday.

Brian Dozier homered twice to support Santana's six innings as Minnesota beat the Chicago White Sox 6-4. Kennys Vargas hit a two-run homer as part of a three-run first inning for the Twins, who have won three of four games.

"It takes time ... because it's a lot of frustration," Santana said of learning to overcome defensive errors. "Then if you take every one into the next batter that you face, it's going to be a lot of trouble. So, just trying not to think about it and just try to make a good pitch."

Minnesota committed four errors on Sunday. But Santana (4-9) pitched his way through, allowing three runs -- one earned -- in six innings with five strikeouts. Ryan Pressly gave up a double to Melky Cabrera but recorded his first major league save.

Santana's demeanor didn't change, just as he has little reaction to his name being mentioned in trade rumors with the Twins floundering in last place. Minnesota sent its lone All-Star representative, infielder Eduardo Nunez, to the San Francisco Giants on Thursday.

Sunday, July 31 Scoreboard

Baltimore 6, Toronto 2 (F/12)

Miami 5, St. Louis 4

Cleveland 8, Oakland 0

Detroit 11, Houston 0

New York Mets 6, Colorado 4

Tampa Bay 5, New York Yankees 3

Atlanta 2, Philadelphia 1

Milwaukee 4, Pittsburgh 2

Minnesota 6, Chicago White Sox 4

Texas 5, Kansas City 3

Boston 5, Los Angels Angels 3

San Francisco 3, Washington 1

Los Angeles Dodgers 14, Arizona 3

Cincinnati 3, San Diego 2

Chicago Cubs 7, Seattle 6 (F/12)

Monday, August 1 Schedule (All Times Central)

New York Yankees at New York Mets, 6 p.m.

Minnesota at Cleveland, 6:10 p.m.

Kansas City at Tampa Bay, 6:10 p.m.

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

Toronto at Houston, 7:10 p.m.

Washington at Arizona, 8:40 p.m.

Boston at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.

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