Martinez Leads Cardinals To Win, Cubs Move Into First Place

By ESPN

Like a true power hitter, Carlos Martinez took a hefty cut and came up empty on the 92 mph fastball.

The St. Louis pitcher missed wildly on a 1-1 offering in the fourth inning of the Cardinals' 10-5 victory over Colorado on Wednesday night.

Martinez slammed his bat to the ground in anger, drawing chuckles from his teammates in the dugout.

Undaunted, Martinez dug back in and three pitches later, slammed a run-scoring single to right to tie the game 4-all.

The hit kick-started a five-run inning that turned a two-run deficit into a 7-4 lead.

"I was mad, I thought it was a pitch I should hit," Martinez said.

The always-intense Martinez helped lead a balanced 15-hit attack.

Rookie Paul DeJong continued his hot hitting with a two-run homer in the first inning. It was his eighth of the month and set a franchise record for a rookie in July. His 14th homer of the season, in just 49 games, ties him for the team lead with Matt Carpenter, Tommy Pham and Jedd Gyorko.

Randal Grichuk went 4 for 5 with successive singles in his final four at-bats. Rookie Harrison Bader, in his second major league start, added three hits.

"It's exciting to watch when the guys get into a good rhythm," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. "We just had everything we're looking for. Putting up double-digit (runs) makes everything look good."

DeJong has driven in at least one run in his last six games, the longest string by a St. Louis rookie since Albert Pujols had an eight-game streak in 2001.

"Today we showed a lot of fight," DeJong said. "The offense scored a lot of runs and everyone contributed. I was just happy to get it going in the first inning."

Martinez (7-8) struck out eight and gave up five runs and seven hits in six innings for his first win since June 16.

His high-level display of intensity at the plate did not surprise Matheny.

"He just comes out some days really fired up," Matheny said. "We don't want to take the passion out of him. That's part of what makes him so good."

Nolan Arenado hit his 23rd homer for the Rockies who are 18-34 in St. Louis since the start of the 2010 season.

"We didn't pitch well," Colorado manager Bud Black said, "When your starter only goes four innings and gives up a lot of runs, it makes it tough."

Jeff Hoffman (6-3) allowed seven hits and six earned runs in a four-inning stint.

Gerado Parra gave the Rockies a 4-2 lead with a two-run double in the third.

St. Louis took the lead for good at 6-4 on a two-run double by Carpenter in the fourth.

Yadier Molina added a two-run double in the sixth to push the lead to 9-5.

The Rockies announced after the game that they have acquired right-handed pitcher Pat Neshek from Philadelphia for minor league pitchers J.D. Hammer, Alejandro Requena and infielder Jose Gomez.

"He's having a good year," Arenado said. "He's a veteran. He'll be a great addition to our bullpen."

Neskek is looking forward to his environs.

"It's exciting, jump right into a playoff race," Neshek said. "It's a great team with a great offense."

Cubs 8, White Sox 3

One after another, the starting pitchers for the Chicago Cubs are delivering every night.

It was Jake Arrieta's turn on Wednesday.

Arrieta pitched two-hit ball into the seventh inning, and the Cubs beat the Chicago White Sox 8-3 to move into first in the NL Central.

After a disappointing start to the season, the Cubs (53-47) are roaring again. The reigning World Series champions moved a season-high six games over .500 and a half-game ahead of Milwaukee after trailing the Brewers by 5 1/2 games just two weeks ago.

"We expect to remain in first place throughout the remainder of the way," Arrieta said. "We know it's going to be a tough task, but that's kind of what you deal with at the highest level of sports."

If their starting pitchers continue their recent roll, they should be in great shape at the end of the season. The rotation of Arrieta, Jon Lester, Jose Quintana, John Lackey and Kyle Hendricks is 9-0 with a 2.50 ERA in the last 12 games.

"I just want to be able to have all my pitches available regardless of the situation," Arrieta said, "and that's kind of how tonight worked out."

Anthony Rizzo had three hits and four RBI, helping the Cubs improve to 10-2 since the All-Star break. Jon Jay drove in a run and robbed Melky Cabrera of a hit with an outstanding diving catch in left-center.

After finishing their series against the last-place White Sox on Thursday night, the Cubs visit Milwaukee for a three-game set this weekend.

Top prospect Yoan Moncada hit his first career homer and Alen Hanson also went deep, but the White Sox lost for the 11th time in 12 games. Moncada came over from Boston in the Chris Sale trade.

"It means a lot because it's the first one of many that are coming. I'm happy." Moncada said through a translator.

Third baseman Yolmer Sanchez committed a costly error for the South Siders, and James Shields (2-3) lasted just four-plus innings.

The White Sox (39-59) played without All-Star outfielder Avisail Garcia, who is expected to miss a couple weeks after an MRI revealed a strained ligament in his right thumb. He went 0 for 5 in Tuesday's 7-2 loss to the Cubs.

"It's been like this one week and getting worse, worse, worse," he said. "So that's why I decided to stop because my swing is not the same and I don't want to keep playing like this. Try to get this thing better and try to get back on the field soon."

Arrieta (10-7) departed after Moncada's solo shot made it 6-2 with two out in the seventh. The 2015 NL Cy Young Award winner struck out five and walked two while improving to 3-1 with a 2.25 ERA in five July starts.

"When the fastball is going where he want to, he's going to be successful," manager Joe Maddon said, "and then off that's going to be the confidence, then off that you're going to see the cutter and the curveball working better because he's just going to be a more confident pitcher."

Kyle Schwarber singled in Rizzo in the fourth, and the Cubs broke it open with four runs in the fifth at Guaranteed Rate Field.

With no outs and runners on first and second, Sanchez misplayed Kris Bryant's grounder for an error that loaded the bases. Rizzo followed with a drive to the base of the wall in center, making it 4-0 with a three-run double.

Wednesday, July 26 Scoreboard

Tampa Bay 5, Baltimore 1

New York Yankees 9, Cincinnati 5

Boston 4, Seattle 0

Arizona 10, Atlanta 3

San Francisco 2, Pittsburgh 1

Washington 8, Milwaukee 5

Philadelphia 9, Houston 0

Toronto 3, Oakland 2

Cleveland 10, Los Angeles Angels 4

Kansas City 16, Detroit 2

Chicago Cubs 8, Chicago White Sox 3

Miami 22, Texas 10

St. Louis 10, Colorado 5

Los Angeles Dodgers 6, Minnesota 5

San Diego 6, New York Mets 3

Thursday, July 27 Schedule (All Times Central)

Milwaukee at Washington, 11:05 a.m.

Los Angeles Angels at Cleveland, 11:10 a.m.

Oakland at Toronto, 11:37 a.m.

Tampa Bay at New York Yankees, 6:05 p.m.

Cincinnati at Miami, 6:10 p.m.

Arizona at St. Louis, 6:15 p.m.

Chicago Cubs at Chicago White Sox, 7:10 p.m.

New York Mets at San Diego, 8:10 p.m.

Friday, July 28 Schedule (All Times Central)

Tampa Bay at New York Yankees, 6:05 p.m.

Colorado at Washington, 6:05 p.m.

Atlanta at Philadelphia, 6:05 p.m.

Los Angeles Angels at Toronto, 6:07 p.m.

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

Houston at Detroit, 6:10 p.m.

Cincinnati at Miami, 6:10 p.m.

Baltimore at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

Cleveland at Chicago White Sox, 7:10 p.m.

Chicago Cubs at MIlwaukee, 7:10 p.m.

Arizona at St. Louis, 7:15 p.m.

Minnesota at Oakland, 9:05 p.m.

New York Mets at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.

San Francisco at Los Angeles Dodgers, 9:10 p.m.

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

Saturday, July 29 Schedule (All Times Central)

Tampa Bay at New York Yankees, 12:05 p.m.

Los Angeles Angels at Toronto, 12:07 p.m.

San Francisco at Los Angeles Dodgers, 3:05 p.m.

New York Mets at Seattle, 3:10 p.m.

Houston at Detroit, 5:10 p.m.

Colorado at  Washington, 6:05 p.m.

Atlanta at Philadelphia, 6:05 p.m.

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

Cleveland at Chicago White Sox, 6:10 p.m.

Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee, 6:10 p.m.

Cincinnati at Miami, 6:10 p.m.

Arizona at St. Louis, 6:15 p.m.

Baltimore at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

Pittsburgh at San Diego, 7:40 p.m.

Minnesota at Oakland, 8:05 p.m.

Sunday, July 30 Schedule (All Times Central)

Tampa Bay at New York Yankees, 12:05 p.m.

Los Angeles Angels at Toronto, 12:07 p.m.

Houston at Detroit, 12:10 p.m.

Cincinnati at Miami, 12:10 p.m.

Kansas City at Boston, 12:35 p.m.

Colorado at Washington, 12:35 p.m.

Atlanta at Philadelphia, 12:35 p.m.

Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee, 1:10 p.m.

Cleveland at Chicago White Sox, 1:10 p.m.

Arizona at St. Louis, 1:15 p.m.

Baltimore at Texas, 2:05 p.m.

Minnesota at Oakland, 3:05 p.m.

New York Mets at Seattle, 3:10 p.m.

Pittsburgh at San Diego, 3:40 p.m.

San Francisco at Los Angeles Dodgers, 7 p.m.