Cardinals Beat Brewers, Cubs Down Pirates

Startled at the sight of his line drive hitting Brewers pitcher Jimmy Nelson in the head, Tommy Pham felt himself freeze for a moment.

"You see it go off his head, the first thing that went through my head was, `Oh no, is he all right?"` Pham said. "I had to kind of remind myself to run."

Pham wound up with a double when the ball ricocheted off the back of Nelson's head and down the left field line, a scary sight in the St. Louis Cardinals' 6-3 win over Milwaukee on Thursday night.

Prone face down on the mound for about a minute, Nelson later walked off the field and was hospitalized overnight for observation. A CT scan showed a contusion, and Pham was relieved it wasn't a more severe injury.

"That's good news," Pham said. "I was expecting worse."

Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell also was relieved.

"I don't think it's easy for anybody to see. It wasn't good. We're fortunate he was able to walk off the field," Counsell said.

John Lackey pitched seven shutout innings as the NL Central leaders completed a three-game sweep. The Cardinals extended their winning streak to four and now lead Pittsburgh by five games in the division race.

Cubs 9, Pirates 6

By winning three of four games in Pittsburgh, the Chicago Cubs made a bold move as they try to catch the Pirates for the top NL wild card. Manager Joe Maddon wants more.

Anthony Rizzo started a six-run fifth inning with his 30th homer, and the Cubs rallied for a 9-6 victory Thursday.

Chicago pulled within two games of the wild-card leaders. Should the teams end up tied at the end of the regular season, Chicago would have home-field advantage, having won the season series with 10 wins in 16 games.

Pittsburgh began the day four games behind first-place St. Louis in the NL Central. The Cardinals were set to play a night game at Milwaukee before going to Chicago for the start of a three-game series Friday against the Cubs.

"The division title is still the goal," Maddon said. "That's what we're after."

The Cubs turned a 4-3 deficit into a 9-4 lead with a fifth-inning outburst that included a two-run double by reliever Clayton Richard (4-2) and RBI singles by Addison Russell and Tommy La Stella.

Athletics 4, White Sox 2

Billy Butler's ninth-inning drive cleared the right-field wall and Avisail Garcia's glove -- barely. Butler's three-run homer off David Robertson lifted the Oakland Athletics over the Chicago White Sox 4-2 Thursday. At first, Butler was not sure he had a hit.

"I saw him catch it, and when I saw the bullpen's reaction, it was a pretty cool feeling," Butler said. "When I saw their hands go up, I realized it had gone over the fence."

Chicago led 2-1 but Robertson (6-4) blew a save for the seventh time in 36 chances. Brett Lawrie doubled, Danny Valencia singled, and Butler hit his 13th homer.

Garcia jumped at the wall and appeared to snag Butler's drive, but the ball fell out of his glove and into Oakland's bullpen as Garcia hit the fence.

Thursday, September 17 Scoreboard

Chicago Cubs 9, Pittsburgh 6

Oakland 4, Chicago White Sox 2

Miami 6, Washington 4

Kansas City 8, Cleveland 4

Toronto 5, Atlanta 0

Baltimore 4, Tampa Bay 3

Texas 8, Houston 2

St. Louis 6, Milwaukee 3

Los Angeles Angels 11, Minnesota 8

Friday, September 18 Schedule (All Times Central)

St. Louis at Chicago, 1:20 p.m.

Miami at Washington, 6:05 p.m.

Boston at Toronto, 6:07 p.m.

Kansas City at Detroit, 6:08 p.m.

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

Chicago at Cleveland, 6:10 p.m.

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

Philadelphia at Atlanta, 6:35 p.m.

Seattle at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

Cincinnati at Milwaukee, 7:10 p.m.

Los Angeles Angels at Minnesota, 7:10 p.m.

Oakland at Houston, 7:10 p.m.

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

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

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