Cubs, White Sox Lose, Cards Win, ML Roundup

Pirates Pop Cubs

(Pittsburgh, PA) -- Justin Morneau singled in the winning run during the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Pirates a 3-2 win over the Cubs at PNC Park. Pirates manager Clint Hurdle says starter Francisco Liriano was lights out early in the game. Tony Sanchez lifted a solo homer for Pittsburgh, which has won six of its last seven overall. Kyle Farnsworth picked up his first win while Mark Melancon notched his 16th save. Welington Castillo hit a two-run homer for Chicago, which has lost four-of-five. Pedro Strop suffered his second loss in relief.

 

Cards Crush M's

(St. Louis, MO) -- Matt Adams belted a two-run homer and Yadier Molina went 4-for-5 with a solo shot as the Cardinals crushed the Mariners 12-2 in the rubber match of a weekend series at Busch Stadium.  Matt Carpenter and Matt Holliday both had three hits, two RBI and scored a run for the Redbirds, who have won seven of their last nine and remain tied with the Pirates atop the NL Central with 13 games to play. Shelby Miller gave up two runs, one earned, in five innings as he improved to 14-9. Abraham Almonte and Franklin Gutierrez plated a run each for Seattle, which has dropped six-of-seven. Erasmo Ramirez allowed five runs in four frames as he fell to 5-2.

 

Indians Blast White Sox

(Chicago, IL) -- Nick Swisher blasted two home runs to power the Indians to a 7-1 win over the White Sox in Chicago. Asdrubal Cabrera hit a three-run home run for Cleveland, which swept the four-game series. Matt Carson was 3-for-3 with a solo shot and two RBI in the win.  Zach McAllister allowed a run over 6 2/3 innings for the win. Chris Sale allowed six runs in under six innings for the loss. Josh Phegley knocked in the only run for Chicago, which has lost six straight.

 

Mets Blank Marlins In 12th

(Flushing, NY) -- Travis d'Arnaud hit a walk-off RBI-single in the bottom of the 12th inning as the Mets blanked the Marlins 1-0 at Citi Field. Lucas Duda scored the lone run for the Mets, who won three-of-four in the series after being swept in four games by Washington.  Vic Black picked up his first win in relief. Justin Ruggiano, Logan Morrison and Ed Lucas had two hits apiece for Miami, which has lost eight of its last 10. Zach Phillips suffered the loss.

 

Nationals Trounce Phillies

(Washington, D.C.) -- Jordan Zimmermann allowed two runs on seven hits and struck out seven over seven innings, leading the Nationals to an 11-2 win over the Phillies at Nationals Park.  He improved to 18-8 as Washington remained 4 1/2 games out of a National League wild card spot. Wilson Ramos homered in a 4-for-4 afternoon in which he drove in five runs. Ian Desmond added two hits and three RBI and Bryce Harper doubled twice and scored three runs.  The Nats have surged into contention with 10 wins in their last 12 games. Tyler Cloyd took the loss for the Phillies. He's 2-5.

 

Brewers Rally By Reds

(Milwaukee, WI) -- Sean Halton hit a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth to give the Brewers a 6-5 walk-off win over the Reds at Miller Park. Jean Segura tripled in two runs to kick off a three-run eighth inning for Milwaukee, which has won three-of-four. Jonathan Lucroy hit a sac-fly to tie it at five in the eighth. Caleb Gindl also went deep for the Brew Crew. Jim Henderson picked up his fourth win. Todd Frazier hit a solo shot and finished with two RBI for Cincinnati, which has lost four-of-six. Zach Duke suffered the loss.

 

Giants Hold On For Win Over Dodgers

(Los Angeles, CA) -- Hunter Pence hit a pair of home runs and drove in three to lead the Giants over the Dodgers 4-3 in Los Angeles. Brett Pill's eighth-inning home run was the difference. Jean Machi pitched an inning of scoreless relief for the win and Sergio Romo worked out of a bases-loaded jam for his 35th save. Adrian Gonzalez drove in all three runs for the Dodgers, who lost the four-game series to their NL West rivals. L.A. played without slugging shortstop Hanley Ramirez and outfielders Andre Ethier and Yasiel Puig, until Puig came on a pinch hitter in the ninth inning and made the last out. Paco Rodriguez took the loss and is 3-3.

 

Orioles Top Blue Jays

(Toronto, Ontario) -- Danny Valencia knocked in two runs to power the Orioles to a 3-1 win over the Blue Jays. The O's took two-of-three in Toronto. Miguel Gonzalez allowed a run over 5 1/3 innings for his 10th win. Jim Johnson picked up his 45th save for Baltimore, which is two-and-a-half games back of Tampa Bay for the second AL Wild Card spot. Mark Buehrle gave up three runs in five innings for his ninth loss. Adam Lind hit a solo home run for Toronto, which has lost five-of-six.

 

Tigers Top Royals

(Detroit, MI) -- Alex Avila lifted a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a tie and give the Tigers a 3-2 win over the Royals at Comerica Park. Avila also hit a two-run homer in the second for Detroit, which has won four-of-five. Max Scherzer struck out 12 in seven innings of one-run ball for a no-decision. Drew Smyly improved to 6-0 while Joaquin Benoit notched his 20th save.  Jeremy Guthrie gave up all the runs in eight innings for the loss.  Alex Gordon hit a solo homer for Kansas City, which is 3 1/2 games back of Tampa Bay for the second AL Wild Card spot.

 

Angels Edge Astros

(Houston, TX) -- Jerome Williams allowed one run on five hits over seven innings to lead the Angels to a 2-1 win over the Astros at Minute Maid Park. Josh Hamilton tripled in a run while Andrew Romine added a sac-fly for the Halos. Mike Trout added his 33rd stolen base and scored a run.  The Angels have won five of their last six games and are 72-77. Marc Krauss homered for the Astros in the second inning for their only run.  Paul Clemens took the loss despite pitching seven strong innings.  Houston is 51-98.  

 

Twins Top Rays

(Minneapolis, MN) -- Ryan Doumit and Josmil Pinto hit home runs for the Twins in their 6-4 win over the Rays at Target Field.  Pinto drove in three runs and Trevor Plouffe had three hits. Casey Fien got the win in relief for Minnesota though he only pitched a third-of-an-inning. The Twins trailed 4-2 going into the bottom of the eighth inning but scored four runs to take the lead.  Glen Perkins earned his 35th save. Wil Myers had two hits including a home run, two runs batted in and scored twice for the Rays. Joel Peralta took the loss to fall to 2-8. The Rays remained tied at the top of the AL wild card standings at 81-67 but are only a half-game ahead of Cleveland.

 

A's Stay Hot, Rope Rangers

(Arlington, TX) -- The Athletics' 5-1 win over the Rangers at Rangers Ballpark completed a crucial three-game road series sweep for the A's. Oakland seized command of the AL West moving six-and-a-half games up on Texas at 88-61. Josh Donaldson, Chris Young and Josh Reddick hit home runs for Oakland.  Tommy Milone allowed one run on six hits, and struck out five in five innings, to improve to 11-9. The Rangers got 10 hits including three from Jim Adduci. Martin Perez took the loss to drop to 9-5. Texas is tied with Tampa for the AL wild card spot but has lost six-in-a-row overall.

 

Red Sox Blow Away Yankees

(Boston, MA) -- Clay Buchholz allowed an unearned run over six innings to power the Red Sox in a 9-2 win over the Yankees at Fenway Park. Buchholz improved to 11-0 on the year. Mike Napoli hit a two-run homer while Daniel Nava went 4-for-5 with an RBI. Napoli was then ejected in the sixth inning for arguing balls and strikes. David Ortiz was 2-for-4 with two RBI for Boston, which has won three straight and reduced its magic number to win the AL East to four. Ivan Nova allowed five runs in four-plus innings and fell to 8-5 for New York.  Ichiro Suzuki went 2-for-4 with an RBI as the Yanks lost their third straight and dipped three games out of the Wild Card race. Alex Rodriguez left in the fifth with a tight calf.

The Red Sox went all out to pay tribute to one of their biggest rivals on Sunday night. The Sox honored retiring Yankees closer Mariano Rivera in his last game at Fenway Park. The team held a pre-game ceremony that included a string section playing his "Enter Sandman" theme. There was also a video montage on the scoreboard.

 

Padres Deal Braves Loss

(Atlanta, GA) -- The Braves have been able to fall back on their double-digit lead in the National League East in order to keep some perspective on their near-certain playoff chances as they have scuffled through an offensive drought in the first half of September. In the wake of another less-than-perfect outing for starter Julio Teheran and another convincing victory elsewhere in the division for the hard-charging Nationals, it seemed unlikely that the Braves would have any trouble refocusing ahead of a series in the nation's capital now that the pesky Padres are safely in their rearview mirror. Teheran surrendered home runs to Chase Headley and Tommy Medica that provided more than enough support for San Diego rookie Burch Smith, who struck out 10 and took a no-hitter into the sixth inning as the Padres dealt the Braves a 4-0 loss on Sunday afternoon. The Braves dropped just their third three-game series at home this season and wrapped up the season series against San Diego with a puzzling 1-5 record.

 

Rockies Drop Decision to D-backs

(Phoenix, AZ) -- The Rockies dropped an 8-2 decision to the D-backs on Sunday in their final game in Arizona of 2013. They'll be back to open Spring Training at nearby Salt River Fields next February, for the first time sans Todd Helton, who's ending his 17-year career, all with the Rockies. Rockies manager Walt Weiss decided to give Helton a day off on Sunday at Chase Field as Helton dealt with the interviews and aftermath of this weekend's retirement announcement. Helton will hang them up on Sept. 29, the last day of the regular season.

 

Sunday, September 15 Scoreboard

MLB NL

New York Mets 1, Miami Marlins 0 (12 inn)

Pittsburgh Pirates 3, Chicago Cubs 2

Washington Nationals 11, Philadelphia Phillies 2

San Diego Padres 4, Atlanta Braves 0

Milwaukee Brewers 6, Cincinnati Reds 5

San Francisco Giants 4, Los Angeles Dodgers 3

Arizona Diamondbacks 8, Colorado Rockies 2

 

MLB AL

Baltimore Orioles 3, Toronto Blue Jays 1

Detroit Tigers 3, Kansas City Royals 2

Los Angeles Angels 2, Houston Astros 1

Cleveland Indians 7, Chicago White Sox 1

Minnesota Twins 6, Tampa Bay Rays 4

Oakland Athletics 5, Texas Rangers 1

Boston Red Sox 9, New York Yankees 2

 

MLB Interleague

St. Louis Cardinals 12, Seattle Mariners 2

Monday, September 16 Schedule (All Times Central)

MLB NL

6:05 p.m. - Atlanta Braves at Washington Nationals

6:05 p.m. - San Diego Padres at Pittsburgh Pirates

6:05 p.m. - Miami Marlins at Philadelphia Phillies

7:10 p.m. - Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee Brewers

7:40 p.m. - St. Louis Cardinals at Colorado Rockies

8:40 p.m. - Los Angeles Dodgers at Arizona Diamondbacks

 

MLB AL

6:08 p.m. - Seattle Mariners at Detroit Tigers

6:10 p.m. - Texas Rangers at Tampa Bay Rays

7:10 p.m. - Cleveland Indians at Kansas City Royals

7:10 p.m. - Minnesota Twins at Chicago White Sox

9:05 p.m. - Los Angeles Angels at Oakland Athletics

 

MLB Interleague

7:10 p.m. - Cincinnati Reds at Houston Astros