Lackey, Pham Guide Cardinals To Win, Cubs Blank Brewers

About the only thing as consistent as veteran John Lackey's pitching for the St. Louis Cardinals these days is rookie Tommy Pham's hitting. Both delivered strong games Tuesday night in a 3-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

Lackey (13-9) pitched seven innings and allowed only a first-inning homer by Jay Bruce during his 16th quality start in 16 outings at Busch Stadium. Pham doubled and hit a sacrifice fly to drive in St. Louis' first two runs.

The Cardinals improved to a major league-best 95-56 and maintained their four-game NL Central lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-3 winners at Colorado.

Lackey struck out seven, walked none and lowered his home ERA to 1.97. Reds manager Bryan Price said the right-hander is pitching as well if not better than he has in any of his 13 seasons.

Cubs 4, Brewers 0

Jake Arrieta said he didn't feel sharp and that he was a little off Tuesday night. The National League Cy Young Award candidate still tossed a three-hitter.

Arrieta became the first pitcher in the major leagues to reach 20 victories, Kris Bryant set the Cubs' rookie record for home runs and Chicago inched closer to a playoff berth with a 4-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Looking loose after manager Joe Maddon entertained the team with a petting zoo in the outfield at Wrigley Field before the game, Arrieta (20-6) struck out 11 for Chicago, whose magic number for making its first postseason in seven years dropped to three.

The right-hander retired 14 in a row in one stretch in becoming the first Cubs pitcher to win 20 games since Jon Lieber in 2001.

Bryant, whose April 17 debut was one of the most anticipated in years, hit a two-run homer in the third off Tyler Cravy (0-8) to give Chicago a 2-0 lead. It was Bryant's 26th long ball, besting Billy Williams' mark set in 1961. Bryant added a run-scoring double in the eighth.

Tigers 2, White Sox 1

For the second time in a month, the Detroit Tigers couldn't finish off a no-hitter in the ninth inning. By the end of Tuesday night, they were just happy to get a win.

Rajai Davis' two-out triple in the 10th gave Detroit a 2-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox, one inning after the Tigers lost what would have been the first combined no-hitter in franchise history. Instead, they got their third walk-off win in five days.

Anthony Gose drew a two-out walk from Zach Duke (3-6) in the 10th. Davis sliced a 3-1 fastball into the corner in right field and Gose easily beat Trayce Thompson's throw to the plate.

Tuesday, September 22 Scoreboard

Tuesday, September 22

New York Yankees 6, Toronto 4 (F/10)

Baltimore 4, Washington 1

Detroit 2, Chicago White Sox 1 (F/10)

Tampa Bay 5, Boston 2

Atlanta 6, New York Mets 2

Philadelphia 6, Miami 2

Chicago Cubs 4, Milwaukee 0

Seattle 11, Kansas City 2

Minnesota 3, Cleveland 1

Los Angeles Angels 4, Houston 3

St. Louis 3, Cincinnati 1

Pittsburgh 6, Colorado 3

Texas 8, Oakland 6

Arizona 8, Los Angeles Dodgers 0

San Francisco 4, San Diego 2

Wednesday, September 23 Schedule (All Times Central)

Chicago at Detroit, 12:08 p.m.

Los Angeles at Houston, 1:10 p.m.

New York at Toronto, 6 p.m.

Baltimore at Washington, 6:05 p.m.

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

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

Philadelphia at Miami, 6:10 p.m.

Milwaukee at Chicago, 7:05 p.m.

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

Cleveland at Minnesota, 7:10 p.m.

Cincinnati at St. Louis, 7:15 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Colorado, 7:40 p.m.

Arizona at Los Angeles, 9:00 p.m.

Texas at Oakland, 9:05 p.m.

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