Baez Homer Gives Cubs Win, Cardinals Lose

Bryce Harper was drawing walks at such a ridiculous rate he wound up tying a major league record. That's because the Chicago Cubs gave the Nationals star little to hit.

Chicago walked Harper a record-tying six times, then beat Washington 4-3 when Javier Baez homered in the 13th inning Sunday for a four-game sweep.

The Cubs won their seventh in a row and improved the best record in the majors to 24-6. Washington, which had been leading the NL East, lost its fourth straight.

"They had a plan. They had a plan and unfortunately it worked," Harper said.

While Cubs manager Joe Maddon insisted the walks were more a product of the circumstances than a concerted effort to avoid him, Chicago looked like a team that had little interest in giving Harper much to hit. The reigning NL MVP walked 13 times in this series.

"I know that he's not as hot as he can be coming into this series, but you don't want to get him hot," Maddon said. "I've been part of that in the past. We did what we thought we had to do today, and it happened to work. So good for our guys."

Harper matched the major league record for walks in a game, last done by Jeff Bagwell in 1999. Harper was hit by a pitch the other time he came to the plate.

The Elias Sports Bureau said he was the first player in history to reach base seven times without an official at-bat.

Things almost became almost comical when Harper strolled to the batter's box. In the 10th inning and again in the 12th, the Cubs intentionally walked him with runners on first and second and two outs. At one point, Harper was kidding with catcher David Ross as four balls sailed wide.

The Cubs escaped both bases-loaded jams by retiring Ryan Zimmerman. Harper drew three intentional walks in the game.

"It takes patience on Bryce's part not to go out of the zone," manager Dusty Baker said. "You can feel the pressure mounting on Zim, but this guy's been a clutch man in this organization for a long time and he's one of the premier clutch men in the game, so I'm sure it's killing him."

Baez homered with one out off Blake Treinen (2-1). Baez entered as a pinch hitter, stayed in to play third base and later connected for his second home run of the season.

Travis Wood (1-0) went one inning for the win.

Pirates 10, Cardinals 5

Gregory Polanco helped the Pittsburgh Pirates serve up a nice slice of victory pie.

Polanco went the opposite way for a three-run homer and John Jaso added a two-run drive, leading Gerrit Cole and the Pirates over the St. Louis Cardinals 10-5 Sunday.

Facing reliever Matt Bowman, Polanco capped a four-run seventh inning by slicing his homer barely over the wall in left field, just inside the foul pole.

"I was looking for a good pitch. He threw me one that was out and over the plate and it was something I could drive," Polanco said. "Whenever you hit the ball to the opposite field, it's good. I stayed with the pitch and hit it that way."

"I was a little surprised it went out. I was more worried about it staying fair," he said.

Cole (3-3) gave up two runs and six hits in six innings. He struck out seven and walked two.

"He stayed aggressive and used all his pitches," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "I felt it was a really good bounce-back start from his last start. As the game went along, he got stronger."

Mark Melancon relieved with the bases loaded in the ninth and got Yadier Molina to ground into a game-ending double play for his ninth save.

The Pirates took two of three at Busch Stadium and have won five of six from St. Louis this season.

White Sox 3, Twins 1

The White Sox are playing so well, they scored a run in the seventh inning while striking out four times.

Jose Quintana pitched seven innings of one-run ball and Austin Jackson hit a go-ahead double in the fifth inning of a 3-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Sunday that completed Chicago's fourth series sweep this season.

"I've been on teams before when you come to the ballpark and you're like, `I'm seeing your face again' and the same old stuff," said Todd Frazier, one of Chicago's key offseason acquisitions. "This is fun to see. Guys are making great plays out there, timely hitting and pitching is doing their job."

Quintana (5-1) gave up six hits, struck out five and lowered his ERA to 1.38. David Robertson pitched a hitless ninth for his 10th save in 11 tries as the White Sox (22-10) completed a three-game sweep and moved 12 games above .500 for the first time since September 2012.

"You couldn't really ask for a better start," Frazier said.

Sunday, May 8 Scoreboard

Los Angeles Dodgers 4, Toronto 2

Cleveland 5, Kansas city 4

Texas 8, Detroit 3

Milwaukee 5, Cincinnati 4

Philadelphia 6, Miami 5

Baltimore 11,Oakland 3

Arizona 5,Atlanta 3 (F/11)

Chicago White Sox 3, Minnesota 1

Houston 5, Seattle 1

Pittsburgh 10,  St. Louis 5

Chicago Cubs 4, Washington 3 (F/13)

Tampa Bay 3, Los Angeles Angels 1

Colorado 2, San Francisco 0

New York Mets 4, San Diego 3

Boston 5, New York Yankees 1

Monday, May 9 Schedule (All Times Central)

Detroit at Washington, 6:00 PM    ESPN

Kansas City at New York, 6:05 p.m.

Oakland at Boston, 6:10 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, 6:10 p.m.

Milwaukee at Miami, 6:10 p.m.

Chicago at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

San Diego at Chicago, 7:05 p.m.

Baltimore at Minnesota, 7:10 p.m.

Cleveland at Houston, 7:10 p.m.

Arizona at Colorado, 7:40 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.

New York at Los Angeles, 9:10 p.m.

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