Arrieta Pitches Cubs to Win, Phillies Edge Cardinals

Seven months later, the Pittsburgh Pirates still can't hit Jake Arrieta. Then again, they're hardly the only ones.

The Chicago Cubs ace scattered two hits in seven shutout innings in a 7-1 victory that looked more than a little like Arrieta's dominant performance in the NL wild-card playoff win in October at PNC Park. Arrieta (6-0) allowed only singles to Sean Rodriguez in the second and Francisco Cervelli in the seventh, struck out five and walked two while lowering his ERA to 0.84. He became the second six-game winner in the major leagues, after Chris Sale of the Chicago White Sox.

"He struggled early, then once he finds out where the ball is going, everything takes off for him," Chicago manager Joe Maddon said. "He's going to keep going down this path with his skill and the way he works."

Kris Bryant had three hits for the Cubs, who have won seven of eight and moved five games ahead of Pittsburgh in the NL Central.

"We had some good at-bats right out of the shoot," Maddon said. "We did some good things early. We put them a bit on their heels, and that's always important in a game like tonight."

Jon Niese (3-1) gave up six runs and nine hits over five innings while losing for the first time since the Pirates acquired him from the New York Mets in an offseason trade.

Two starts removed from his second career no-hitter, Arrieta kept going. His only real trouble spot came in the first, when he issued consecutive walks to John Jaso and Andrew McCutchen. A strikeout, a fielder's choice and a harmless grounder back to the mound later, Arrieta had his bearings.

The Pirates could do little to stop him, even with manager Clint Hurdle using an unorthodox lineup that included Matt Joyce in right field, thanks in large part to his career .500 batting average (7-for-14) against Arrieta. However, the last time Joyce had faced Arrieta was in 2013, when Arrieta was struggling in Baltimore. Not so anymore.

"He's facing a different guy now," Arrieta said.

Joyce went 0-for-3 with Arrieta in the game, and Pittsburgh didn't get a runner over the Cubs ace's final six innings.

Phillies 1, Cardinals 0

Ryan Howard still gets psyched up to play in St. Louis. The Philadelphia first baseman homered and Aaron Nola threw seven innings to lead the Phillies to a 1-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.

Philadelphia has won seven of eight while St. Louis has lost five of six. Howard, a St. Louis native, has 12 homers and 40 RBI in 36 games in Busch Stadium.

"This is home, this is where it all began for me," Howard said. "I guess, being at home, I do feel I see the ball a lot better."

Howard has 22 homers in 66 career games against the Cardinals, his favorite boyhood team.

"For some reason guys hit well in certain ballparks," Philadelphia manager Pete Mackanin said. "It was good to see him bust out."

Howard broke out of an 0-for-12 skid with a sixth-inning homer off Michael Wacha (2-2) that traveled 411 feet. Howard, who attended Lafayette High in the St. Louis suburb of Wildwood, picked on the first pitch.

"I was just looking for something up in the zone," Howard said. "He does a great job of keeping the ball down and putting it where he wants to put it. He kind of left that one over the middle and I tried to take advantage of it."

Wacha admitted he made a mistake.

"A backed up cutter, I left it over the middle," Wacha said. "He put a good swing on it. He doesn't miss those."

Nola (2-2) allowed two hits and struck out seven in a career-high 111-pitch stint. He has a string of 20 consecutive scoreless innings dating to April 22. Nola, who retired the last 10 batters, has given up one run or fewer in four of six starts this season.

White Sox 4, Red Sox 1

Jose Quintana supplied the pitching, Jose Abreu took care of the offense and the defense was there all night long.

The White Sox said goodbye to a longtime teammate, and then went right back to work. Quintana pitched eight crisp innings for his third straight win, and AL-leading Chicago cooled off the Boston Red Sox with a 4-1 victory on Tuesday.

"They bring it every day, which is great," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said.

Abreu had two hits and three RBI as Chicago ran its record to 19-8 for its best start since it had the same record in 2006. It has won three straight and nine of 11 overall to keep up with the major league-leading Cubs, revving up the anticipation for an intriguing summer in the Windy City.

The White Sox kicked off a six-game homestand without John Danks after general manager Rick Hahn said the team will cut the left-hander on Thursday, ending a 10-year run with the franchise. Erik Johnson will be promoted to pitch against the Red Sox, but Hahn said the fifth starter is "going to be a bit of a fluid situation."

Danks hasn't been the same since he had shoulder surgery in 2012. He was hit hard while dropping his first four starts this year.

"It's kind of sad to see a guy like that leave," catcher Dioner Navarro said. "Everybody loves him, he's a great teammate, he's a great pitcher. Just going through a tough stretch right now."

Tuesday, May 3 Scoreboard

Cleveland 7, Detroit 3

Baltimore 4, New York Yankees 1

Chicago Cubs 7, Pittsburgh 1

Toronto 3, Texas 1 (F/10)

San Francisco 3, Cincinnati 1

Atlanta 3, New York Mets 0

Miami 7, Arizona 4

Los Angeles Dodgers 10, Tampa Bay 5

Chicago White Sox 4, Boston 1

Milwaukee 5, Los Angeles Angels 4

Houston 6, Minnesota 4

Kansas City 7, Washington 6

Philadelphia 1, St. Louis 0

Seattle 8, Oakland 2

San Diego 6, Colorado 3

Wednesday, May 4 Schedule (All Times Central)

San Francisco at Cincinnati, 11:35 a.m.

Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh, 11:35 a.m.

Atlanta at New York Mets, 12:10 p.m.

Los Angeles Angels at Milwaukee, 12:40 p.m.

Washington at Kansas City, 1:15 p.m.

Seattle at Oakland, 2:35 p.m.

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

Detroit at Cleveland, 5:10 p.m.

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

Texas at Toronto, 6:07 p.m.

Arizona at Miami, 6:10 p.m.

Los Angeles Dodgers at Tampa Bay, 6:10 p.m.

Boston at Chicago White Sox, 7 p.m.

Minnesota at Houston, 7:10 p.m.

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