Reds Beat Cubs, Nationals Edge Cardinals

Kris Bryant hardly had time to enjoy his latest home run. The rookie third baseman hit a tying drive in the eighth inning, then made a two-out error in the ninth that set up Joey Votto's three-run homer and lifted the Cincinnati Reds over the Chicago Cubs 7-4 Wednesday.

Bryant's two-run shot made it 4-all. The rookie has 22 home runs and 84 RBI this season.

The top of the ninth started innocently enough with Cubs closer Hector Rondon (5-3) retiring the first two batters. Jason Bourgeois, who led off the game with a homer, then hit a high chopper to the right of the mound that he beat out for a base hit.

Jay Bruce followed by slicing a sharp grounder through Bryant's legs for the error.

Rondon fell behind Votto 2-0 before leaving a 97 mph fastball out over the plate. Votto drove it to left-center and the wind guided it several rows back into the bleachers.

Nationals 4, Cardinals 3

Max Scherzer and the Washington Nationals' bullpen got plenty of big outs. Ryan Zimmerman took care of the offense. Zimmerman homered twice, then doubled home the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning as the Nationals ended their nine-game losing streak at St. Louis, beating the Cardinals 4-3 Wednesday night.

Zimmerman reached 200 career home runs with his second shot. Jayson Werth also homered for the Nationals. Scherzer struck out 11, gave up 11 hits and left with a 3-2 lead after the sixth. Walking none was a big help.

Johnathon Papelbon earned his 23rd save in 23 chances, escaping a first-and-third, one-out jam in the ninth. Rafael Martin (1-0) got one out for his first career victory.

Johnathan Broxton (1-4) took the loss. The Cardinals had a base open with one out in the eighth but elected to pitch to Zimmerman and see if he would expand his zone with two strikes.

Twins 3, White Sox 0

Tommy Milone gave the Minnesota Twins seven superb innings. All Miguel Sano needed was one at-bat. Milone struck out seven and Sano hit another monster home run to help the Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 3-0 on Wednesday night.

Milone (7-4) gave up three hits and finished seven innings for the first time since July 8. He is 4-0 with a 1.39 ERA in his career against the White Sox.

Wednesday, September 2 Scoreboard

Miami 7, Atlanta 3

Cincinnati 7, Chicago Cubs 4

Los Angeles Angels 9, Oakland 4

New York Yankees 13, Boston 8

Baltimore 7, Tampa Bay 6 (F/11)

Toronto 5, Cleveland 1

New York Mets 9, Philadelphia 4

Washington 4, St. Louis 3

Kansas City 12, Detroit 1

Milwaukee 9, Pittsburgh 4

Minnesota 3, Chicago White Sox 0

Seattle 8, Houston 3

Colorado 9, Arizona 4

Los Angeles Dodgers 2, San Francisco 1

Texas 4, San Diego 3 (F/10)

Thursday, September 3 Schedule (All Times Central)

Chicago at Minnesota, 12:10 p.m.

Atlanta at Washington, 6:05 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Milwaukee, 6:20 p.m.

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

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

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