Last Place Reds Edge Cubs, Red Sox Down Cardinals

By ESPN

The last-place Cincinnati Reds tightened up their act to rebound from a lopsided loss and hang on against the top team in the NL Central.

Scooter Gennett's sacrifice fly drove in Joey Votto from third to break a scoreless tie in the eighth, and Billy Hamilton singled in a run in the ninth as Cincinnati edged the Chicago Cubs 2-1 on Tuesday night.

After Votto walked for the third time and advanced to third on Adam Duvall's single off reliever Pedro Strop (3-3), Gennett smacked a line drive to right that Jason Heyward caught on the run.

"Overall it was just a really fun baseball game on both ends," Gennett said. "Pitching was great."

Cincinnati rookie Luis Castillo allowed only two singles over six innings as the Reds -- drubbed by Chicago 15-5 on Monday -- beat the Cubs for just the eighth time in the last 33 games. Chicago remained 1 1/2 games ahead of both St. Louis and Milwaukee in the NL Central.

"I was focused today," Castillo said, speaking through a translator. "Today was just amazing. I felt really, really good on the mound."

Ben Zobrist singled in a run in the ninth off Raisel Iglesias to cut the Reds' lead to 2-1, but Iglesias worked around three hits in the ninth for his 21st save in 22 chances.

After pinch hitter Kyle Schwarber and Heyward singled to start the ninth, Javier Baez's sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third.

Zobrist, who had entered as a pinch-hitter in the eighth, singled sharply to right. Schwarber scored, but Heyward was held up at third.

"Great at-bat by Zobrist," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "He just hit it in the wrong spot."

Iglesias then struck out Jon Jay and and Alex Avila to end it.

"My back is turned to that play," Heyward said. "I've just got to trust my third base coach there."

Starters Castillo and Kyle Hendricks got no-decisions as they matched up in a crisp duel. Michael Lorenzen (7-2), pitched a scoreless seventh for the win in a game with just one extra-base hit -- Reds pinch hitter Jose Peraza's ground-rule double in the ninth.

Votto was held hitless, but reached base at least twice for the 20th consecutive game. That extended his Reds club record, matched Barry Bonds for the longest streak since 2004, and is one game short of Ted Williams' major-league record set in 1948.

Castillo, one of three rookies in the Reds rotation, walked two and fanned seven in his 11th start and first againt the Cubs.

Hendricks, making his fifth start since coming off the disabled list on July 24, allowed five hits while walking four and striking out six through six-plus innings.

"All the things I've been working on came to fruition," Hendricks said. "Fastball command, No. 1, was good."

Hendricks left with none out in the seventh with two runners on. Carl Edwards Jr. closed out the inning with three strikeouts to keep the Reds off the board.

Hendricks is 0-1 with four no-decisions since coming back from right hand tendinitis. His last win was on May 24 versus San Francisco.

Red Sox 10, Cardinals 4

The Red Sox have found different ways to win ball games over the past month.

Their latest came thanks to relentless offense and a rare defensive feat.

Xander Bogaerts had three hits, Hanley Ramirez, Sandy Leon and Jackie Bradley Jr. all added two RBI and the Boston Red Sox beat the St. Louis Cardinals 10-4 on Tuesday night.

Boston blew the game open courtesy of a wild fifth inning, tallying eight hits and eight runs against Cardinals starter Mike Leake and reliever Matt Bowman. It came an inning after the Red Sox turned their first triple play in six years .

The win kept Boston's lead in the AL East at 4 1/2 games over the New York Yankees. It marked the third time this season that the Red Sox have scored 10 or more runs without hitting a home run.

"I think it shows we don't have to hit homers to win ball games," Bradley said.

The Red Sox have won 11 of their last 13.

Manager John Farrell said he was most pleased to see Ramirez and Bogaerts continuing to provide pop in the middle of the order.

"Those two guys are critical to this offense," he said. "And not just the hits that they had -- the way they were able to impact the baseball and drive the ball, it was good to see."

Rick Porcello (7-14) was mostly able to cruise, giving up eight hits and three runs over seven innings to pick up the victory. He has won his past three starts after going winless for more than a month.

Leake (7-11) got the loss and has failed to win in his last four starts. He has yielded 28 hits and 15 earned runs in 15 1/3 innings over his last three outings.

"You've got a team that's swinging the bat well," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "He wasn't getting a lot of chases. ... Eventually you've got to come back and challenge them."

Nearly everyone had a hand in the Red Sox's offensive onslaught in the fifth.

Eduardo Nunez and Mookie Betts reached on consecutive singles with one out, then Leake loaded the bases by hitting Andrew Benintendi's left knee with a pitch. Benintendi needed a few moments to shake off the pain before jogging to first to load the bases for Ramirez. He then promptly doubled off the Green Monster to drive in Nunez and Betts.

Leake intentionally walked rookie Rafael Devers, loading the bases once again, and Bogaerts and Mitch Moreland followed with RBI singles to put Boston up 5-0.

Bowman replaced Leake after Moreland's single and allowed a two-run double by Leon, Boston's 10th hit of the game and sixth in the inning, bringing up Bradley for the second time in the inning.

Bradley, whose fly out to left remained the only out of the inning, singled to right bringing in two more runs and Nunez followed with his second single of the inning.

Betts popped out to first for the second out, ending a run of 10 straight batters reaching base.

Dodgers 6, White Sox 1

Fifty over .500. The Dodgers hit that mark for the first time since September 1953 with a come-from-behind 6-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night.

It's just the fourth time in franchise history they've been that many games over.

"Our focus isn't on being 50, 60 games over .500," Los Angeles third baseman Justin Turner said. "We're trying to figure out how to win the World Series."

That hasn't happened since 1988.

"We just want to win," starting pitcher Alex Wood said. "We're not really thinking about how much we've won."

Joc Pederson got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in the go-ahead run in a five-run eighth inning for the Dodgers (84-34).

Pederson was hit in the upper right thigh by a pitch from Jake Petricka, forcing home Yasmani Grandal with two outs and opening the floodgates for a Dodgers offense that had been stifled most of the game.

By the end of the inning, Los Angeles had batted around in taking a 6-1 lead. Pinch-hitter Austin Barnes and Corey Seager each added a two-run single.

"When the game is close, we have a good chance to win it," manager Dave Roberts said.

Petricka relieved Aaron Bummer with the bases loaded. Cody Bellinger grounded into a fielder's choice and stole second before Bummer issued consecutive walks to Grandal and Yasiel Puig.

"For the most part I got ground balls, but they found holes," Petricka said. "I always think attack. After I hit Pederson I just focused on the next batter."

Brandon Morrow (5-0) got the win with an inning of scoreless relief. Juan Minaya (1-1) took the loss.

The Dodgers tied the game 1-all in the sixth on Logan Forsythe's sacrifice fly.

Chicago led 1-0 after Tim Anderson hit his 14th homer on the first pitch of the game from Wood, who remained 14-1. The left-hander retired 14 of 15 batters after giving up a single in the second, but didn't figure in the decision. He was trying to join injured teammate Clayton Kershaw as a 15-game winner.

Wood allowed one run and six hits in seven innings. He struck out six and walked one.

"I didn't feel like I had my best stuff," Wood said. "I just had to hold us in there until we had that offensive explosion."

The White Sox, who had won four of six, have lost six straight road games and 10 of their last 11. Before their recent surge at home, the last-place White Sox were 3-19 in their previous 22 games.

Chicago starter Miguel Gonzalez gave up one run and five hits over six innings, striking out four and walking three.

Tuesday, August 15 Scoreboard

Houston 9, Arizona 4

New York Yankees 5, New York mets 4

Washington 3, Los Angeles Angels 1

Tampa Bay 6, Toronto 4

Boston 10, St. Louis 4

San Francisco 9, Miami 4

Milwaukee 3, Pittsburgh 1

Texas 10, Detroit 4

Cincinnati 2, Chicago Cubs 1

Cleveland 8, Minnesota 1

Atlanta 4, Colorado 3

Oakland 10, Kansas city 8

Seattle 3, Baltimore 1

Los Angeles Dodgers 6, Chicago White Sox 1

San Diego 8, Philadelphia 4

Wednesday, August 16 Schedule (All Times Central)

Los Angeles Angels at Washington, 12:05 p.m.

San Francisco at Miami, 12:10 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Milwaukee, 1:10 p.m.

Kansas City at Oakland, 2:35 p.m.

Baltimore at Seattle, 2:40 p.m.

Philadelphia at San Diego, 2:40 p.m.

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

Tampa Bay at Toronto, 6:07 p.m.

St. Louis at Boston, 6:10 p.m.

Detroit at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

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

Cleveland at Minnesota, 7;10 p.m.

Arizona at Houston, 7:10 p.m.

Atlanta at Colorado, 7:40 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Los Angeles Dodgers, 9:10 p.m.