Carpenter Guides Cards To Win, Brewers Down Cubs

Matt Carpenter had it backward on Thursday. The leadoff hitter in the St. Louis batting order, Carpenter homered and drove in a career-high six runs to lead the Cardinals to a 13-7 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Thursday night.

St. Louis, which has won three of four, scored a season-high six runs in the fourth inning to take the lead for good.

"If I do my job, I get on base and we've got the guys that can drive me in," Carpenter said. "That's the way it's supposed to happen."

It was Carpenter who did the heavy lifting this time.

He smashed a three-run homer in the eighth inning and also had a bases-loaded double in the fourth.

"I feel like our lineup is very flexible," Carpenter said. "Guys can hit in some different spots, including me."

St. Louis manager Mike Matheny shook up his batting order, placing Stephen Piscotty in the cleanup spot for only the third time this season. He also moved Aledmys Diaz into the No. 2 hole for the first time.

"Good at-bats all the way through," Matheny said. "We talked about those relentless at-bats. The guys are in a good place."

Matt Adams drove in four runs with two-run singles in the first and fourth.

Piscotty added three hits and drove in two runs.

Trevor Story hit his 12th home run of the season for the Rockies, a solo shot in the seventh. He had three hits.

Colorado has lost two straight after a five-game winning streak that ended in a 2-0 loss to St. Louis on Wednesday.

Brewers 5, Cubs 3

Junior Guerra used his split-finger fastball to carry the Milwaukee Brewers to victory.

Guerra struck out a career-high 11, Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Chris Carter homered and the Milwaukee Brewers slowed the Chicago Cubs with a 5-3 victory Thursday.

"It is rare," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "You don't see it that much, certainly from starting pitchers. You see it from the bullpen a little bit but we don't see it much in the game."

It was the first time the Cubs had faced Guerra and his splitter.

"Their guy today, Guerra, pitched really, really well," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "They had a bunch of punch outs. We hadn't been swinging and missing like that in bit. So, you got to give them credit. He had a really good splitter going on."

Guerra mixed in his other pitches to keep the Cubs guessing.

"It plays off his fastball very well," Counsell said. "He's got enough velocity on his fastball to keep them honest. It really plays off that pitch."

Guerra, speaking through translator Carlos Brizuela, said the speed variance between his splitter and fastball is just enough.

"You can't really tell the difference from the fastball," Guerra said after posting a season-high in strikeouts by a Brewers pitcher. "It's hard and late movement. I've got a lot more confidence on it. I can throw it any count. I can throw it for strikes."

Jason Hammel (5-1) allowed four runs and five hits in six innings. He had been 8-0 with a 2.37 ERA in 11 career starts against the Brewers.

White Sox 2, Astros 1

White Sox ace Chris Sale is on a historic roll, but that's not the scary news for opponents. Sale and manager Robin Ventura believe they haven't seen the best of him just yet.

Sale went the distance on a masterful four-hitter Thursday night, becoming the first major leaguer since 2008 to win his first nine starts, and the Chicago White Sox edged the Houston Astros 2-1 to snap their season-high four game losing streak.

Sale joined the New York Giants' Sal Maglie (1952) as the only pitchers to win their first nine starts with sub-2.00 ERAs in major league history. His 1.58 ERA ranks second to teammate Jose Quintana (1.54) in the American League.

"I just see him continuing to get better as the season goes along, as he goes through his career," Ventura said. "He's confident. He's doing a lot of different things that he hasn't done in the past as far as just adding a little bit [to his pitches], taking a little off in the heat of the moment."

Sale walked none and struck out a season-high nine en route to his second straight complete game. No other pitcher has more than seven victories in the big leagues this season.

Thursday, May 19 Scoreboard

Seattle 7, Baltimore 2

Milwaukee 5, Chicago Cubs 3

Pittsburgh 8, Atlanta 2

Washington 9, New York Mets 1

Cleveland 7, Cincinnati 2

St. Louis 13, Colorado 7    

Chicago White Sox 2, Houston 1

Toronto 3, Minnesota 2 (F/11)

San Francisco 3, San Diego 1

Los Angeles Angels 7, Los Angeles Dodgers 4

New York Yankees 4, Oakland 1

Friday, May 20 Schedule (All Times Central)

Atlanta at Philadelphia, 6:05 p.m.

Colorado at Pittsburgh, 6:05 p.m.

Cleveland at Boston, 6:10 p.m.

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

Seattle at Cincinnati, 6:10 p.m.

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

Washington at Miami, 6:10 p.m.

Kansas City at Chicago White Sox, 7:10 p.m.

Toronto at Minnesota, 7:10 p.m.

Texas at Houston, 7:10 p.m.

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

New York Yankees at Oakland, 8:35 p.m.

Baltimore at Los Angeles Angels, 9:05 p.m.

Chicago Cubs at San Francisco, 9:15 p.m.

Los Angeles Dodgers at San Diego 9:40 p.m.

Saturday, May 21 Schedule (All Times Central)

Kansas City at Chicago White Sox, 1:10 p.m.

Toronto at Minnesota, 1:10 p.m.

Arizona at St. Louis, 1:15 p.m.

Atlanta at Philadelphia, 2:05 p.m.

Cleveland at Boston, 3:05 p.m.

New York Yankees at Oakland, 3:05 p.m.

Colorado at Pittsburgh, 3:05 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Detroit, 3:10 p.m.

Seattle at Cincinnati, 3:10 p.m.

Milwaukee at New York Mets, 3:10 p.m.

Texas at Houston, 6:15 p.m.

Chicago Cubs at San Francisco 6:15 p.m.

Washington at Miami, 6:15 p.m.

Baltimore at Los Angeles Angels 9:05 p.m.

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

Sunday, May 22 Schedule (All Times Central)

Tampa Bay at Detroit, 12:08 p.m.

Seattle at Cincinnati, 12:10 p.m.

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

Washington at Miami, 12:10 p.m.

Cleveland at Boston, 12:35 p.m.

Atlanta at Philadelphia, 12:35 p.m.

Colorado at Pittsburgh, 12:35 p.m.

Kansas City at Chicago White Sox, 1:10 p.m.

Toronto at Minnesota, 1:10 p.m.

Texas at Houston, 1:10 p.m.

Arizona at St. Louis 1:15 p.m.

Baltimore at Los Angeles Angels, 2:35 p.m.

New York Yankees at Oakland, 3:05 p.m.

Los Angeles Dodgers at San Diego, 3:40 p.m.

Chicago Cubs at San Francisco, 7:00 p.m.