Cubs Continue To Roll, Cardinals Edge Pirates

Whether they're playing the defending World Series champions or a last-place team, it doesn't seem to matter to the Chicago Cubs. They just keep winning.

Anthony Rizzo and Jorge Soler each drove in two runs, Dan Haren picked up his first victory for the Cubs and Chicago won for the 11th time in 12 games, beating the Milwaukee Brewers 6-3 on Tuesday night.

The Brewers, last in the NL Central, announced earlier in the day that Doug Melvin is moving into an advisory role after 13 years as general manager. The Cubs, meanwhile, continue to roll.

They moved 15 games over .500 at 63-48 and pulled within 2 1/2 of Pittsburgh for the first wild card. Most of all, there was no letdown against a struggling team after the Cubs swept four games from defending champion San Francisco.

Haren (8-7), acquired from Miami on July 31, pitched into the sixth. Rizzo had two hits, including an RBI double, and drew a bases-loaded walk. He is 19 for 42 in his past 12 games.

Soler extended his hitting streak to 10, and Chicago took advantage of three errors along with some wild pitching on the way to yet another win.

Soler singled and scored in a three-run second that was aided by two errors. Rizzo added an RBI double in the third before Chicago chased Taylor Jungmann (6-4).

Cardinals 4, Pirates 3

All season, the St. Louis Cardinals have tried to minimize the innings load for Carlos Martinez and Michael Wacha, saving their two young pitchers for the postseason.

During a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night, manager Mike Matheny said the 23-year-old Martinez was simply too good to take out early. In the eighth inning, he judged "awkward swings" from the Pirates.

"The potential win supersedes anything we have in place right now," Matheny said. "Right then we needed our best pitcher, and to me he was the best pitcher we had for that situation, and I think he proved that."

Yadier Molina tied it with a sacrifice fly and rookie Stephen Piscotty singled in the go-ahead run on consecutive at-bats off Jeff Locke (6-7) in the fifth inning. Kolten Wong singled twice for his first multihit game of the month and Piscotty had three hits.

Trevor Rosenthal struck out the side in the ninth for his 34th save in 36 chances. The Cardinals lead the Pirates by six games in the NL Central and are 6-5 in the season series with seven of the games decided by one run and five in the final at-bat.

White Sox 3, Angels 0

A pair of rookies came through for the Chicago White Sox. Carlos Rodon threw seven scoreless innings, Trayce Thompson hit his first career home run in their 3-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night.

Rodon (5-4) had struggled in his previous four starts, going 1-2 with a 9.33 ERA. He did considerably better Tuesday, striking out a career-high 11, allowing four hits and finishing seven innings for the first time for the White Sox, who have won the first two of the three-game series.

"I've been trying to get seven innings this whole year and it just hadn't been happening for me," Rodon said.

He set the tone in the first. Shane Victorino started the game with a walk and Kole Calhoun followed with a single. Rodon struck out Mike Trout and Albert Pujols, before getting Erick Aybar to fly out to left and end the inning.

Tuesday, August 11 Scoreboard

Toronto 4, Oakland 2

Cleveland 5, New York Yankees 4 (F/16)

New York Mets 4, Colorado 0

Miami 5, Boston 4 (F/10)

Tampa Bay 2, Atlanta 0

Chicago Cubs 6, Milwaukee 3

Kansas City 6, Detroit 1

Chicago White Sox 3, Los Angeles Angels 0

Minnesota 3, Texas 2

St. Louis 4, Pittsburgh 3

Arizona 13, Philadelphia 1

Seattle 6, Baltimore 5 (F/10)

Los Angeles Dodgers 5, Washington 0

San Diego 11, Cincinnati 6

San Francisco 3, Houston 1

Wednesday, August 12 Schedule (All Times Central)

Baltimore at Seattle, 2:40 p.m.

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

Philadelphia at Arizona, 2:40 p.m.

Houston at San Francisco, 2:45 p.m.

Boston at Miami, 3:10 p.m.

Oakland at Toronto, 6:07 p.m.

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

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

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

Pittsburgh at St. Louis, 7:00 p.m.

Milwaukee at Chicago, 7:05 p.m.

Los Angeles at Chicago, 7:10 p.m.

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

Texas at Minnesota, 7:10 p.m.

Washington at Los Angeles, 9:10 p.m.