Giants Edge Cubs, D'backs Down Cardinals

The San Francisco Giants aren't lighting up the scoreboard, but they're doing enough to keep piling up the wins.

Madison Bumgarner pitched 7 2/3 dominant innings and doubled in a run in the fifth to lift the Giants to a 1-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday night.

The Giants won for the 11th time in 12 games and took two of three from a Cubs team with the best record in baseball.

Bumgarner (6-2) struck out six and allowed three hits and two walks while winning his fifth straight decision. The Giants have won each of the left-hander's last six starts.

"It's not a bad day for Bum to pitch like that, shut them out and knock in the only run," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "That's a pretty good day."

San Francisco hasn't scored more than five runs in 15 straight games. Going into Sunday, the averaged 2.7 runs in their previous 14 games, batting .220 over that stretch.

The Cubs began the day with their best record in franchise history through 41 games since 1918.

"It's a fun series," Bumgarner said. "It was a little bit of the playoff atmosphere I guess with all the hype and the talk leading up to these games. You've got to look past that, but it is fun."

The Giants won despite a persistent problem hitting with runners in scoring position. They were 0 for 7 in that department and have 16 hits in their last 98 at-bats with runners in scoring position.

Bumgarner's run-scoring double to left off Kyle Hendricks (2-4) followed Gregor Blanco's leadoff walk.

Giants closer Santiago Casilla pitched a scoreless ninth for his 12th save.

Diamondbacks 7, Cardinals 2

Zack Greinke felt as if he was becoming a little too predictable. So the Arizona right-hander decided to mix things up on Sunday.

"I even threw my curve more than I usually do," Greinke said.

Greinke's new approach led to a strong eight-inning performance as the Diamondbacks rolled to a 7-2 win over the Cardinals.

Paul Goldschmidt drove in a pair of runs and Michael Bourn added three hits for Arizona, which has won four of six.

The Diamondbacks won a series in St. Louis for the first time since April 18-20, 2003.

"I felt like I was mixing things up (well), making better pitches," Greinke said.

Brandon Moss homered for the Cardinals, who fell to 3-3 on their nine-game homestand.

Greinke (5-3), who has won five of his past six starts, allowed five hits and one run. He struck out seven and walked one. Greinke used his fastball and changeup effectively as well. That balance kept the St. Louis hitters guessing all game.

The reigning NL ERA champion improved to 11-4 against St. Louis. He also drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the third.

White Sox 3, Royals 2

The White Sox didn't completely break out of their offensive funk. But they scored just enough runs to win for the third time in 11 games.

Todd Frazier tied for the AL lead with his 13th home run, Melky Cabrera drove in two runs and the Chicago beat the Kansas City Royals 3-2 Sunday to avoid what would have been its first losing sweep this season.

"Hopefully, we can keep tacking on some more runs, because we still left a couple out there today that we could have easily gotten," Frazier said. "We're still focused and determined to get those in."

Carlos Rodon (2-4) allowed two runs and pitched into the seventh inning for his first victory since April 13.

"We didn't want to get swept during that series," Rodon said. "I came out and pitched the best I could and gave the team a chance to win. We did that today. All around good baseball."

David Robertson overcame dizziness to get three outs for his 11th save in 13 chances for the AL Central leaders.

Lorenzo Cain and Paulo Orlando had two hits apiece for the World Series champions, who had won six of their previous eight.

Yordano Ventura (4-3) gave up three runs and six hits in six innings for the Royals, who were trying for their first road series sweep. He is 3-0 in four home starts but 1/3 in five road games.

Rodon allowed eight hits and struck out four in his first time facing Kansas City.

Sunday, May 22 Scoreboard

Detroit 9, Tampa Bay 4

Seattle 5, Cincinnati 4

New York Mets 3, Milwaukee 1

Washington 8, Miami 2

Boston 5, Cleveland 2

Philadelphia 5, Atlanta 0

Coloradto at Pittsburgh, postponed

Chicago White Sox 3, Kansas City 2

Toronto 3, Minnesota 1    

Texas 9, Houston 2

Arizona 7,  St. Louis 2

Los Angeles Angels 10, Baltimore 2

New York Yankees 5, Oakland 4

Los Angeles Dodgers 9, San Diego 5 (F/17)

San Francisco 1, Chicago Cubs 0

Monday, May 23 Schedule (All Times Central)

Colorado at Pittsburgh, 11:35 a.m.

Cleveland at Chicago Cubs, 4:10 p.m.

New York Mets at Washington, 6:05 p.m.

Philadelphia at Detroit, 6:10 p.m.

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

Los Angeles Angels at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

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

Cleveland at Chicago White Sox, 7:10 p.m.

Chicago Cubs at St. Louis, 7:15 p.m.

Oakland at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.

Cincinnati at Los Angeles Dodgers, 9:10 p.m.

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