Twins Edge Cardinals, Cubs Drop Loss To Indians

The Minnesota Twins have been struggling to score this month, with Joe Mauer and Kennys Vargas at the top of the slump list. Well, guess who hit the home runs to tie and win the game in the last two innings?

Vargas hit a solo shot with two outs in the bottom of the ninth Thursday, lifting the Twins to a 2-1 victory and a two-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals.

"It's always fun to get out there and jump around," said Mauer, who went deep in the eighth to answer Jason Heyward's solo shot for the Cardinals in the seventh.

Arriving at home on the first game-ending hit of his career at any level, Vargas was showered with water and a bucket of bubble gum in celebration. He grounded into two double plays, ruining a bases-loaded rally on one of those with one out in the seventh inning, and he's only 5 for 27 since being recalled from Triple-A Rochester.

Indians 4, Cubs 3

Cody Allen didn't get credit for a win or a save Thursday night. He did record the biggest out of the Cleveland Indians' 4-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

Following a rain delay of 1 hour and 16 minutes in the fifth inning, Indians manager Terry Francona went with his closer to work out of a bases-loaded jam and the score tied 3-all.

Francona's move paid off and the Indians bounced back from Wednesday's 17-0 drubbing.

Rookie Giovanny Urshela's seventh-inning single drove in the go-ahead run for the Indians and Zach McAllister (2-2) pitched 1 1/3 innings while Bryan Shaw recorded the final four outs for his first save.

Rookie Kyle Schwarber's two-run homer off Danny Salazar tied the game in the fifth. The Cubs then loaded the bases only to have the game delayed again. During the delay, Francona decided to go with Allen, who retired Miguel Montero on a fly ball and pitched a scoreless sixth.

Pirates 3, White Sox 2

Gerrit Cole downplayed becoming the majors' first 11-game winner by crediting his Pittsburgh Pirates teammates for his terrific start. Cole allowed two runs and three hits in seven innings and the Pirates beat the struggling Chicago White Sox 3-2 on Thursday night to extend their winning streak to a season-high eight games.

"It's a testament to how well we've played when I take the mound," Cole said. "It's more of a team stat than an individual stat."

Win No. 11 was certainly a team effort. Cole (11-2) has won each of his last six starts, but it looked as if he would receive a no-decision after the White Sox rallied to tie the score at two in the bottom of the seventh inning.

The Pirates, though, answered with a run in the top of the eighth -- Jung Ho Kang scored on an infield groundout by Gregory Polanco -- to put Cole on the plus-side again.

Thursday, June 18 Scoreboard

Philadelphia 2, Baltimore 1

Minnesota 2, St. Louis 1

Houston 8, Colorado 4

San Diego 3, Oakland 1

Los Angeles Angels 7, Arizona 1

New York Yankees 9, Miami 4

Tampa Bay 5, Washington 3

Toronto 7, New York Mets 1

Cleveland 4, Chicago Cubs 3

Boston5, Atlanta 2

Detroit vs. Cincinnati, Postponed

Pittsburgh 3, Chicago White Sox 2

Kansas City 3, Milwaukee 2

San Francisco 7, Seattle 0

Los Angeles Dodgers 1, Texas 0

Friday, June 19 Schedule (All Times Central)

Detroit at New York, 6:05 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Washington, 6:05 p.m.

St. Louis at Philadelphia, 6:05 p.m.

Baltimore at Toronto, 6:07 p.m.

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

Miami at Cincinnati, 6:10 p.m.

New York at Atlanta, 6:35 p.m.

Texas at Chicago, 7:10 p.m.

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

Chicago at Minnesota, 7:10 p.m.

Milwaukee at Colorado, 7:40 p.m.

Los Angeles at Oakland, 8:35 p.m.

San Diego at Arizona, 8:40 p.m.

Houston at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.

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