Cardinals Thump Padres, Cubs Drop Game To Pirates

By ESPN

The Cardinals' Jose Martinez is making the most of his opportunity. A series of injuries has opened the door for Martinez and his power was on display when St. Louis thumped the San Diego Padres 8-4 on Tuesday night.

"Talk about sparks," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "He has just come up with big at-bats in big situations."

Martinez smacked two home runs, rookie Harrison Bader added a career-high three RBI and Michael Wacha survived a shaky start to last six innings as the streaking Cardinals won for the fifth time in six games.

Martinez added a double to go 3 for 3 and finish with three RBI.

"I think it's confidence," Martinez said. "I think no matter what pitcher is out there I'm trying to do the best I can. You have to take advantage of this time and just try to stay positive and do the same thing."

Bader, who was a September call-up on Friday, stroked his third home run and had his third multi-hit game since being summoned for his second stint with the club.

"I'm just more relaxed," Bader said. "It's just a feeling that you belong. I think some young players struggle with that aspect."

Wacha (11-7), who blanked the Padres over his last four innings, was charged with four runs (three earned) and seven hits. He walked three and struck out six in winning for the second straight time after suffering three consecutive losses.

"Today wasn't necessarily what you are looking for but that is great sign of him just trusting himself," Matheny said. "He was taking his time, catching his breath, making sure he had his mind right. He has grown as a pitcher in how he is using his stuff."

Three Cardinals relievers shut out the Padres in the final three innings.

Travis Wood (2-2) lasted two-plus innings and was nicked for two home runs. Wood was rocked for seven runs (six earned) and seven hits, with two walks and two strikeouts. It was his second loss in his last three decisions.

"I was leaving some balls up, I made some mistakes and they didn't miss them," Wood said. "They made me pay for them and they got me out of there pretty quick."

Padres manager Andy Green agreed that Wood was careless with his location as numerous offerings found the heart of the plate.

"Too many mid-middle mistakes," Green said. "Really whatever pitcher was thrown it ended up middle-middle."

Neither starting pitcher was effective early, although Wacha didn't struggle as badly as Wood.

Both teams came out swinging as they combined for 11 runs through the first 2 1/2 innings.

The Cardinals scored twice in the first when Martinez smacked his 12th homer, a two-run shot off Wood's 85 mph cut fastball.

The Padres tied it with two of their own, on Wil Myers' RBI single and Bader's throwing error.

St. Louis tacked on three runs in the second, in what would be Wood's last full inning. Bader compensated for his erratic throw with a three-run homer into the left-field seats for a 5-2 lead.

San Diego made it 5-4 thanks to an unlikely, but not surprising, power source: Wood. He blasted a two-run homer, his 12th career homer (counting the playoffs) and his second in consecutive outings.

But Wood didn't record an out in the third, pulled after 45 pitches. Stephen Piscotty and Yadier Molina each contributed RBI for a 7-4 lead.

Padres rookie Miguel Diaz threw four innings of scoreless relief.

Pirates 4, Cubs 3

Clint Hurdle agreed to a four-year contract extension on Tuesday afternoon, confident the next wave of Pittsburgh Pirates could help steer the club through what it hopes is a transitional period and back into the thick of the playoff chase.

The early returns have been surprising. Perhaps a bit promising too.

Max Moroff and David Freese delivered RBI singles off Carl Edwards Jr. in the eighth inning as the Pirates rallied past the Chicago Cubs 4-3 on Tuesday night for their fourth straight victory.

John Jaso led off the eighth with a pinch-hit walk then later scored when Moroff hit a bloop single to left off Edwards (3-4) to tie the game. Freese drove home Moroff three batters later after the Cubs intentionally walked Josh Bell, one of four rookies in the Pittsburgh lineup.

"I didn't really know if (Edwards) was going to drop the curveball in," Freese said. "I chose to stay hard and got a good swing on it."

Cubs manager Joe Maddon didn't second-guess the decision to avoid the switch-hitting Bell and have a go at Freese instead.

"You think you can at least get out of it with a tied game," Maddon said. "But Freese hits a bullet up the middle and that's it."

Jordan Luplow hit the second home run of his career for Pittsburgh. Wade LeBlanc (5-2) earned the win in relief of Steven Brault, the Pirates' first left-handed starter this season. Felipe Rivero worked a perfect ninth for his 18th save after going through an abbreviated warmup.

"It happened quick," Hurdle said just hours after he and general manager Neal Huntington had their contracts extended through 2021 . "We pitched well enough to stay in the hunt and in the game and then found a way late."

Ian Happ had a two-run single for Chicago. Alberto Almora Jr. and Kris Bryant had two hits apiece but the Cubs left eight men on base to drop their third consecutive game. The World Series champions remained 3 1/2 games in front of Milwaukee, which fell on the road in Cincinnati.

The Pirates are out of it heading into the final month of the season but the team made a commitment to staying the course when it opted to hold on to Huntington and Hurdle. The two helped the franchise shake 20 years of losing by running off three straight playoff berths from 2013-15. Though the postseason is a long shot at this point, Pittsburgh is getting significant contributions from its younger players down the stretch.

Three rookies -- Moroff, Luplow and catcher Elias Dias -- had hits and the other -- Bell -- reached base to set up Freese. Brault, another rookie, settled down after a bumpy start to allow three runs in five innings in his first major-league start then watched as the guys he came up through the minors with help Pittsburgh improve to 6-63 when trailing after seven innings.

"We have managed to kind of come up here and be able to fight together and claw and get everything," Brault said. "It's been so much fun."

Chicago's Kyle Hendricks allowed two runs and five hits in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out two and didn't walk a batter, his only significant misstep the two-run shot he allowed to Luplow in the second. The NL ERA champion last year, Hendricks has been good but not great this season. Just like his team.

"Not every year is going to be like last year," Hendricks said. "I think we moved on from that. We know that. It was just such a special year for us. This is baseball. This is how you play. Those teams are good that we're playing against and they're bringing their best."

Happ, a Pittsburgh native, gave Chicago the lead right back with a two-run single off Brault in the third. It stood until the eighth, when Jaso's pinch-hit walk started sparked Pittsburgh's late surge.

Indians 9, White Sox 4

Jose Ramirez hit two more homers, Austin Jackson also connected and the Cleveland Indians beat the White Sox 9-4 on Tuesday night for their 13th straight victory, the longest run by a major league team this season.

Danny Salazar got just two outs in his return from right elbow inflammation, but Cleveland's deep bullpen took over from there. Seven relievers combined for 8⅓ scoreless innings as the Indians moved within one of their franchise-record 14-game win streak of last year.

Jackson and Ramirez hit back-to-back homers during Cleveland's three-run first against David Holmberg (2-4). Ramirez added another solo shot in the second, and the American League Central leaders went ahead to stay on Greg Allen's tiebreaking, two-run double in the third. Yan Gomes tacked on a three-run shot in the ninth.

Ramirez has five homers in his past three games. He is batting .500 (17-for-34) with seven homers and nine RBIs on Cleveland's 11-game road trip.

Matt Davidson hit a three-run drive for last-place Chicago, which has dropped six of eight. Top prospect Yoan Moncada went 1-for-5 in his return from a bruised right shin.

Davidson's 24th homer chased Salazar and gave the White Sox a 4-3 lead in the first. It was the first time the Indians had trailed since they were down by one against the New York Yankees on Aug. 28.

Cleveland responded with Ramirez's 25th homer of the season and then a clutch hit by Allen in the third. With two outs and runners on first and second, Allen hit a liner into the corner in left to give the Indians a 6-4 lead.

Dan Otero (3-0) pitched two scoreless innings for the win. The White Sox put two on in the eighth, but Bryan Shaw struck out Yolmer Sanchez to end the inning.

Tuesday, September 5 Scoreboard

Pittsburgh 4, Chicago Cubs 3

Boston 3, Toronto 2 (F/19)

Detroit 13, Kansas City 2

Cincinnati 9, Milwaukee 3

Philadelphia 9, New York mets 1

Washington 2, Miami 1

Tampa Bay 2, Minnesota 1

Cleveland 9, Chicago White Sox 4

Colorado 9, San Francisco 6

Baltimore 7, New York Yankees 6

Los Angeles Angels 8, Oakland 7 (F/10)

Houston 3, Seattle 1

Arizona 3, Los Angeles Dodgers 1 (F/10)

St. Louis 8, San Diego 4

Texas at Atlanta, postponed

Wednesday, September 6 Schedule (All Times Central)

Milwaukee at Cincinnati, 11:35 a.m.

Minnesota at Tampa Bay, 12:10 p.m.

Texas at Atlanta, 12:35 p.m.

Los Angeles Angels at Oakland, 2:35 p.m.

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

Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh, 6:05 p.m.

Toronto at Boston, 6:10 p.m.

Kansas City at Detroit, 6;10 p.m.

Philadelphia at New York Mets, 6:10 p.m.

Washington at Miami, 6:10 p.m.

Texas at Atlanta, 6:35 p.m.

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

San Francisco at Colorado, 7:40 p.m.

Houston at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.

Arizona at Los Angeles Dodgers, 9:10 p.m.

St. Louis at San Diego, 9:10 p.m.