Cubs Edge Cardinals, Arrieta Remains Unbeaten

Jake Arrieta got some help from the Cubs' offense to stay perfect. Arrieta remained unbeaten on the season despite allowing as many as four runs for the first time in nearly a year and the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 9-8 on Wednesday.

"I picked a good day to be (bad)," Arrieta said.

"I was aggressive but they had a good game plan coming in and it was a good thing our offense was able to be extremely productive today."

Arrieta (9-0) joined the White Sox's Chris Sale as the only nine-game winners in the majors.

Arrieta allowed four runs in a regular-season game for the first time since June 16, 2015.

"We grind whoever it is," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "We acknowledge the fact that he's a good pitcher and has had a good start, but I think for us to give him too much credit and go up defeated it a bad route."

Arrieta became the first Cub to win his first nine decisions since Kenny Holtzman in 1967 and it is the best start to a season for the franchise since Jim McCormick went 16-0 in 1886.

The Cubs have won Arrieta's past 23 starts, a franchise record.

"There was not any good flow to his pitching today," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "You look at the gun everything's normal. The guy competes."

Kris Bryant hit a three-run homer and Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist each drove in two runs for the Cubs.

Bryant drove a 3-2 pitch from Seung Hwan Oh about 411 feet in the sixth inning, giving the Cubs a 9-4 lead. Bryant has homered in three of his past six games.

The Cubs sent 11 men to the plate in a six-run second, five of the runs scored with two outs. Heyward's two-run double and Zobrist's two-run single capped the scoring as Cardinals starter Carlos Martinez threw 38 pitches.

Hector Rondon earned his eighth save.

Stephen Piscotty, hitting .360 in May, had an RBI single in the first to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. It was the first run Arrieta had given up in the first inning of a regular-season game since May 29, 2015.

Randal Grichuk's solo homer in the second inning cut the Cubs' lead to 6-2 and was the first homer Arrieta had given up in 51 regular-season innings, which was the longest active streak in the majors.

The Cardinals made it 6-4 in the fourth on RBI hits by Matt Adams and Grichuk and they loaded the bases again in the fifth, but Cubs third baseman Tommy La Stella bailed out Arrieta with a diving stop on Grichuk's grounder and forced Yadier Molina at second.

Indians 4, White Sox 3

Corey Kluber still is considered an ace in the Cleveland Indians' clubhouse.

"There's been a couple of hiccups, but, I promise you, the day he pitches we're thrilled," manager Terry Francona said.

Kluber allowed two runs over 7 1/3 innings and Cleveland beat a top Chicago White Sox pitcher for the second straight day in a 4-3 win Wednesday.

After sending Chris Sale to his first loss after a 9-0 start, the Indians got three runs and five hits in six innings against Jose Quintana (5-4). Quintana's ERA, an AL-best 1.98 at the start of the day, rose to 2.22.

Before Tuesday, the White Sox had been 15-3 in games started by Sale and Quintana.

Cleveland, which trailed by six games before play on May 10, closed within a half-game of the AL Central-leading White Sox, who lost for the ninth time in 12 games. Chicago finished a 3-7 homestand in which it scored more than three runs just twice.

"It didn't go well for us," manager Robin Ventura said. "Offensively, we can do a lot more."

Kluber (4-5) has won his last two outings following a slow start. The 2014 AL Cy Young Award winner gave up seven hits and struck out nine. Just one of the two runs he allowed was earned.

Cody Allen struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth to remain perfect in 11 save chances.

Lonnie Chisenhall hit a two-run triple, Yan Gomes had an RBI triple and Juan Uribe had a sacrifice fly.

Melky Cabrera hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning, and Jose Abreu had three hits for the White Sox.

Wednesday, May 25 Scoreboard

New York Mets 2, Washington 0

Philadelphia 8, Detroit 5

Minnesota 7, Kansas City 5

Chicago Cubs 9, St. Louis 8

Texas 15, Los Angeles Angels 9

Cleveland 4, Chicago  White Sox 3
    
San Francisco 4, San Diego 3 (F/10)

Toronto 8, New York Yankees 4

Pittsburgh 5, Arizona 4

Boston 10, Colorado 3

Milwaukee 3, Atlanta 2 (F/13)

Miami 4, Tampa Bay 3

Houston 4, Baltimore 3

Seattle 13, Oakland 3

Thursday, May 26 Schedule (All Times Central)

Arizona at Pittsburgh, 11:35 a.m.

Miami at Tampa Bay, 12:10 p.m.

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

St. Louis at Washington, 6:05 p.m.

Colorado at Boston, 6:10 p.m.

Milwaukee at Atlanta, 6:10 p.m.

Baltimore at Houston, 7:10 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Kansas City, 7:15 p.m.

Friday, May 27 Schedule (All Times Central)

Philadelphia at Chicago Cubs, 1:20 p.m.

St. Louis at Washington, 6:05 p.m.

Boston at Toronto, 6:07 p.m.

Los Angeles Dodgers at New York Mets, 6:10 p.m.

Baltimore at Cleveland, 6:10 p.m.

New York Yankees at Tampa Bay, 6:10 p.m.

Miami at Atlanta, 6:35 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

Cincinnati at Milwaukee, 7:10 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Kansas City, 7:15 p.m.

San Francisco at Colorado, 7:40 p.m.

San Diego at Arizona, 8:40 p.m.

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

Detroit at Oakland, 9:05 p.m.

Minnesota at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.

Saturday, May 28 Schedule (All Times Central)

Boston at Toronto, 12:07 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Kansas City, 1:15 p.m.

Philadelphia at Chicago Cubs, 1:20 p.m.

Detroit at Oakland, 3:05 p.m.

Baltimore at Cleveland, 3:10 p.m.

Cincinnati at Milwaukee, 3:10 p.m.

Miami at Atlanta, 3:10 p.m.

San Francisco at Colorado, 3:10 p.m.

New York Yankees at Tampa Bay, 3:10 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Texas, 6:15 p.m.

St. Louis at Washington, 6:15 p.m.

Los Angeles Dodgers at New York Mets, 6:15 p.m.

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

Minnesota at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.

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

Sunday, May 29 Schedule (All Times Central)

Boston at Toronto, 12:07 p.m.

Baltimore at Cleveland, 12:10 p.m.

New York Yankees at Tampa Bay, 12:10 p.m.

St. Louis at Washington, 12:35 p.m.

Cincinnati at Milwaukee, 1:10 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Kansas City, 1:15 p.m.

Philadelphia at Chicago Cubs, 1:20 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Texas, 2:05 p.m.

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

Detroit at Oakland, 3:05 p.m.

Minnesota at Seattle, 3:10 p.m.

San Francisco at Colorado, 3:10 p.m.

San Diego at Arizona, 3:10 p.m.

Miami at Atlanta, 4:05 p.m.

Los Angeles at New York, 7 p.m.

Monday, May 30 Schedule (All Times Central)

Chicago White Sox at New York Mets, noon    

San Francisco at Atlanta, 12:10 p.m.

Boston at Baltimore, 12:35 p.m.

St. Louis at Milwaukee, 1:10 p.m.

Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicago Cubs, 1:20 p.m.

Minnesota at Oakland, 3 p.m.    

San Diego at Seattle, 3:10 p.m.

Cincinnati at Colorado, 3:10 p.m.

Houston at Arizona, 3:10 p.m.

Texas at Cleveland, 5:10 p.m.

Washington at Philadelphia, 6:05 p.m.

New York Yankees at Toronto, 6:07 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Miami, 6:10 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Kansas City, 7:15 p.m.

Detroit at Los Angeles Angels, 8:05 p.m.