Castro Drives In Winning Run For Cubs, Cardinals Postponed

Starlin Castro has been deflecting criticism with game-winning hits. Castro drove in the winning run for the second straight night with an RBI single in the 11th inning to lift the Chicago Cubs to a 2-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday night.

Chris Coghlan doubled just out of the reach of left fielder Kristopher Negron with one out in the 11th inning and scored the winning run on Castro's single to left-center off reliever Burke Badenhop (0-2). Chicago took three of four in this series and is a season high seven games over .500. Castro's RBI single in the ninth gave the Cubs the win Saturday night.

"He's starting to really get his mojo back, which is good for us," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said.

The 25 year-old shortstop, in his sixth season with the Cubs, has been criticized at times for his lack of development.

"Because he's been around for a while people may pick on him a little bit more because they kind of expect more out of him. He's still learning and he is listening," Maddon said.

The Cubs won for the eighth time with a game-ending hit.

Cardinals, Royals Postponed

Mike Matheny stared at a weather map that seemed to recycle unfavorable conditions every half hour or so, signed some items and made sure no one fell for the inevitable rumors that the game would be rained out.

"There's always a jokester walks around who says, `They banged it and it's over' and nobody knows what's truth. So I have to kind of make sure we monitor that," Matheny said after Sunday's game against the Kansas City Royals was postponed after a delay of 2 hours, 31 minutes.

"Mark Reynolds wrote that on the board the other day and it wasn't even raining," he said. "You get stuck in these dungeons, sometimes you don't know what's going on outside."

During the delay, Matheny also firmed up the rotation. Call-up Tyler Lyons will get at least one more shot, on Friday at Philadelphia, after making a solid showing and earning the victory on Saturday.

Rays 2, White Sox 1

Asdrubal Cabrera ruined a milestone day for Chris Sale with one late-game swing. Cabrera hit a two-run homer off the Chicago ace in the seventh inning, lifting the Tampa Bay Rays to a 2-1 victory over the White Sox on Sunday for a three-game sweep.

"Nothing's better than when you do something to help the team win," Cabrera said. "As soon as I hit it, I knew it was out. It was awesome."

Sale (6-3) struck out 12, walked three and hit a batter over 6 2/3 innings. He became the first pitcher since Boston's Pedro Martinez in 2001 to strikeout 12 or more in four straight starts. The left-hander allowed two runs and three hits during a 125-pitch outing.

Sunday, June 14 Scoreboard

Detroit 8, Cleveland 1

New York Mets 10, Atlanta 8

Colorado 4, Miami 1

Tampa Bay 2, Chicago White Sox 1

New York Yankees 5, Baltimore 3

Toronto 13, Boston 5

Pittsburgh 1, Philadelphia 0 (F/11)

Washington 4, Milwaukee 0

Houston 13, Seattle 0

Kansas City vs. St. Louis, Postponed

Minnesota 4, Texas 3

Oakland 8, Los Angeles Angels 1

Arizona 4, San Francisco 0

Los Angeles 4, San Diego 2 (F/12)

Chicago Cubs 2, Cincinnati 1 (F/11)

Monday, June 15 Schedule (All Times Central)

Atlanta at Boston, 6 p.m.

Philadelphia at Baltimore, 6:05 p.m.

Chicago at Pittsburgh, 6:05 p.m.

Cincinnati at Detroit 6:08 p.m.

Toronto at New York, 6:10 p.m.

New York at Miami, 6:10 p.m.

Washington at Tampa Bay, 6:10 p.m.

Los Angeles at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

Cleveland at Chicago, 7:05 p.m.

Kansas City at Milwaukee, 7:10 p.m.

Colorado at Houston, 7:10 p.m.

Minnesota at St. Louis 7:15 p.m.

Arizona at Los Angeles, 9:05 p.m.

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

Seattle at San Francisco, 9:15 p.m.