Lester Pitches Cubs To Win, Brewers Down Cardinals

Jon Lester was surprised when manager Joe Maddon let him bat in the ninth inning. After the pitcher struck out swinging, the rest of the night went according to plan.

Lester tossed a four-hitter for his first complete game of the season, helping the Chicago Cubs edge the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 on Wednesday despite another quiet performance at the plate.

"I really think that might have been the best I've seen Jonny since he's been here," Maddon said.

The Cubs finished with just three hits against Mike Bolsinger and two relievers after they managed only one in Tuesday night's 5-0 loss to Los Angeles. But one of Chicago's hits was a long, two-run homer by Kris Bryant in the third inning, and Lester (6-3) took over from there.

The left-hander struck out 10 and walked none in his second straight win, settling down quite nicely after Kike Hernandez's leadoff homer on his second pitch. He retired his last 15 batters and threw 113 pitches in his 13th career complete game.

"To dominate the way he did, it's probably a lot more about him than it is about us," Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis said.

With two relievers standing on the mound in the bullpen, Lester retired Justin Turner and Corey Seager on grounders to shortstop before Howie Kendrick struck out swinging for the final out. It was Lester's first complete game since a 2-1 win at Pittsburgh on Sept. 15.

Brewers 3, Cardinals 1

Zach Davies had pinpoint command. He frustrated hitters with four pitches and stayed ahead in counts.

What made Davies' crisp outing on Wednesday even more impressive was that he shut down the formidable lineup of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Davies had a career-high nine strikeouts over eight shutout innings, and the Milwaukee Brewers averted a three-game sweep with a 3-1 win over their NL Central rivals.

"It's hard to get much better than that," manager Craig Counsell said.

Davies (3-3) allowed three hits and retired 13 in a row to finish the longest outing of his young career before yielding to Jeremy Jeffress. The closer gave up a pinch-hit solo homer to Brandon Moss before retiring the final three batters for his 13th save.

It was a memorable afternoon for Davies, who got stronger as the game wore on. He struck out the side in the eighth to draw a standing ovation from an appreciative hometown crowd.

Davies, a 23-year-old right-hander, didn't allow a runner to reach second. He kept hitters guessing with his fastball, curve, cutter and changeup.

That left the Cardinals frustrated after entering the day second in the National League with 71 homers and a .460 slugging percentage.

White Sox 2, Mets 1

Told he was going to hit in the 13th inning, Matt Albers scrambled. The Chicago White Sox reliever had not batted since 2009, had not gotten a hit since he was a rookie in 2007.

Since he pitches right-handed but bats from the other side, Albers needed an elbow pad. Dioner Navarro found Brett Lawrie's on the bat rack and strapped it on the 33-year-old pitcher.

Fellow pitcher Mat Latos handed him a bat.

"It's too big," Albers said.

So Navarro gave him his own wood, a Rawlings custom DN4 made of ash, weighing 32 ounces and 33 1/2 inches long.

Albers stepped in against New York Mets reliever Logan Verrett, took a ball followed by two strikes, fouled a pitch into the dirt and took another ball. And then the astonishing occurred.

Verrett threw a 91 mph belt-high fastball, and the pudgy pitcher sent the ball soaring the opposite way, deep beyond the drawn-in outfielders. It landed just short of the warning track, took two hops and bounced off the fence.

Albers went into second standing up, pumping a fist three times as teammates roared, pounding the dugout railing and each other on the back. He chugged to third when Verrett's next pitch hit the dirt and caromed off the backstop and scored his first big league run on Jose Abreu's 326-foot sacrifice fly to center, easily beating Juan Lagares' off-line throw. Then he caught his breath and got the three final outs, giving the White Sox a whacky 2-1 win Wednesday.

Wednesday, June 1 Scoreboard

Chicago White Sox 2, New York Mets 1 (F/13)

Milwaukee 3, St. Louis 1

Oakland 5, Minnesota 1

Cleveland 5, Texas 4 (F/11)

Baltimore 13, Boston 9

Detroit 3, Los Angeles Angels 0

Washington 7, Philadelphia 2

Toronto 7, New York Yankees 0

Atlanta 5, San Francisco 4 (F/11)

Miami 3, Pittsburgh 2

Chicago Cubs 2, Los Angeles Dodgers 1

Houston 5, Arizona 4 (F/11)

Kansas City 6, Tampa Bay 3

Cincinnati 7, Colorado 2

San Diego 14, Seattle 6

Thursday, June 2 Schedule (All Times Central)

San Francisco at Atlanta, 11:10 a.m.

Arizona at Houston, 1:10 p.m.

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

Boston at Baltimore, 6:05 p.m.

Milwaukee at Philadelphia, 6:05 p.m.

Kansas City at Cleveland, 6:10 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Miami, 6:10 p.m.

New York at Detroit, 6:40 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Minnesota, 7:10 p.m.

Cincinnati at Colorado, 7:40 p.m.

Seattle at San Diego, 8:10 p.m.

Friday, June 3 Schedule (All Times Central)

Arizona at Chicago, 1:20 p.m.

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

Milwaukee at Philadelphia, 6:05 p.m.

Los Angeles at Pittsburgh, 6:05 p.m.

Toronto at Boston, 6:10 p.m.

Kansas City at Cleveland, 6:10 p.m.

Chicago at Detroit, 6:10 p.m.

Washington at Cincinnati, 6:10 p.m.

New York at Miami, 6:10 p.m.

Seattle at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Minnesota, 7:10 p.m.

Oakland at Houston, 7:10 p.m.

San Francisco at St. Louis, 7:15 p.m.

Atlanta at Los Angeles, 9:10 p.m.

Colorado at San Diego, 9:40 p.m.

Friday, June 3 Schedule (All Times Central)

Arizona at Chicago, 1:20 p.m.

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

Milwaukee at Philadelphia, 6:05 p.m.

Los Angeles at Pittsburgh, 6:05 p.m.

Toronto at Boston, 6:10 p.m.

Kansas City at Cleveland, 6:10 p.m.

Chicago at Detroit, 6:10 p.m.

Washington at Cincinnati, 6:10 p.m.

New York at Miami, 6:10 p.m.

Seattle at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Minnesota, 7:10 p.m.

Oakland at Houston, 7:10 p.m.

San Francisco at St. Louis, 7:15 p.m.

Atlanta at Los Angeles, 9:10 p.m.

Colorado at San Diego, 9:40 p.m.

Saturday, June 4 Schedule (All Times Central)

Arizona at Chicago, 1:20 p.m.

Milwaukee at Philadelphia, 2:05 p.m.

Toronto at Boston, 3:05 p.m.

Los Angeles at Pittsburgh, 3:05 p.m.

Chicago at Detroit, 3:10 p.m.

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

Washington at Cincinnati, 3:10 p.m.

Oakland at Houston, 3:10 p.m.

New York at Miami, 3:10 p.m.

New York at Baltimore, 6:15 p.m.

Kansas City at Cleveland, 6:15 p.m.

San Francisco at St. Louis, 6:15 p.m.

Seattle at Texas, 8:05 p.m.

Atlanta at Los Angeles, 9:10 p.m.

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

Sunday, June 5 Schedule (All Times Central)

Kansas City at Cleveland, 12:10 p.m.

Chicago at Detroit, 12:10 p.m.

Washington at Cincinnati, 12:10 p.m.

New York at Miami, 12:10 p.m.

New York at Baltimore, 12:35 p.m.

Toronto at Boston, 12:35 p.m.

Milwaukee at Philadelphia, 12:35 p.m.

Los Angeles at Pittsburgh, 12:35 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Minnesota, 1:10 p.m.

Oakland at Houston, 1:10 p.m.

Arizona at Chicago, 1:20 p.m.

Seattle at Texas, 2:05 p.m.

Atlanta at Los Angeles, 3:10 p.m.

San Francisco at St. Louis, 7 p.m.

Colorado at San Diego, 8:10 p.m.