Lackey Dominant as Cubs Win, Cardinals Bounce Reds

John Lackey gave the Chicago Cubs another excellent start, a common theme for baseball's best team.

Lackey struck out eight in seven dominant innings, Kris Bryant and Ben Zobrist hit homers and the Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies 8-1 on Wednesday.

Lackey (7-2) gave up three hits and extended his scoreless streak to 13 2/3 innings. Each of Chicago's starters has an ERA under 2.90 and the rotation entered with the lowest ERA (2.34) by nearly a full run.

"You don't want to be the guy who screws up,'' Lackey said. "When a guy gives you the baton, you don't want to drop it. We definitely root for each other. You don't want to let the boys down.''

The 37-year-old Lackey is off to his best start in his first season with the Cubs.

"I'm appreciating him more this time around,'' said manager Joe Maddon, who was a coach on the Angels where Lackey began his career in 2002.

"He's a really smart pitcher. He has a plan for everybody. He's unpredictable. It's unusual to see a guy his age, coming off everything he's gone through, to pitch better than I've ever seen him.''

Phillies starter Vince Velasquez left the game after getting one out because of right biceps soreness. Velasquez threw two pitches and quickly left the mound when a trainer came out. He'll be evaluated on Thursday.

"I'm not concerned at all,'' Velasquez said. "I have been in this situation before.''

Brett Oberholtzer (2-1) replaced him and allowed one unearned run following his throwing error in four innings.

Bryant hit his 14th homer off Andrew Bailey in the sixth, a two-run shot out to left. Zobrist connected one out later to make it 4-0.

Chicago scored four runs off Colton Murray in the eighth to extend the lead.

Cardinals 12, Reds 7

Brandon Moss doesn't know if he can hit balls harder than the two he hammered at Great American Ball Park on Wednesday night. He doesn't care, as long as they go out.

The St. Louis left fielder homered in consecutive at-bats, Matt Adams and Jhonny Peralta added three-run drives and the Cardinals rolled over the Cincinnati Reds 12-7.

Moss broke a 4-4, fifth-inning tie with a two-run drive deep into the seats in right field, then lined a solo homer that barely cleared the wall in right in the seventh for his eighth career multihomer game.

"I guess," he said when asked if he could hit balls harder. "I don't care how far they go. I'm just happy I hit them. I wasn't sure that second one was going to go out. I was happy when it did."

St. Louis manager Mike Matheny isn't surprised to see Moss, who hit 55 homers over two seasons with Oakland and last year he led the Cardinals with 13 home runs.

"He's dangerous," Matheny said. "He'll get the ball up in the air. The only question is whether it will stay fair and how far he hit it."

Every St. Louis starting position player had at least one hit, and Cardinals relievers retired their first 10 batters as St. Louis won for the third time in four games.

Nationals 11, White Sox 4

The first hint of boos came after James Shields walked the game's second batter. They gained intensity after each of the three home runs and reached their peak after he was yanked in the third inning.

The Chicago White Sox's big addition couldn't stop their stunning slide.

Ryan Zimmerman hit a two-run homer in the first to set the tone in Shields' miserable White Sox debut, Max Scherzer threw seven scoreless innings and the Washington Nationals routed reeling Chicago 11-4 on Wednesday night.

"You never want to come into a new team and expect to do that," Shields said.

Zimmerman's homer in a four-run first inning was followed by consecutive shots by Stephen Drew and Danny Espinosa to lead off the second.

Everyone in the Nationals lineup reached base safely at least once in two-plus innings off Shields (2-8), who couldn't command his fastball and gave up seven runs and eight hits in his first start since being acquired from San Diego.

"I didn't give them a chance," Shields said.

Instead of jump-starting a club once 23-10, Shields failed to get out of the third inning for the second straight start. The White Sox lost for the 20th time in 26 games to fall under .500 for the first time.

Wednesday, June 8 Scoreboard

Chicago Cubs 8, Philadelphia 1

Toronto 7, Detroit 2

Atlanta 4, San Diego 2

Tampa Bay 6, Arizona 3

New York Yankees 12, Los Angeles Angels 6

Baltimore 4, Kansas City 0

New YOrk Mets 6, Pittsburgh 5 (F/10)

St. Louis 12, Cincinnati 7

Houston 3, Texas 1

Washington 11, Chicago White Sox 4

Milwaukee 4, Oakland 0

Minnesota 7, Miami 5

Seattle 5, Cleveland 0

Colorado 1, Los Angeles Dodgers 0

San Francisco 2, Boston 1

Thursday, June 9 Schedule (All Times Central)

Houston at Texas, 1:05 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Colorado, 4:10 p.m.

Los Angeles at New York, 6:05 p.m.

Baltimore at Toronto, 6:07 p.m.

St. Louis at Cincinnati, 6:10 p.m.

Washington at Chicago, 7:10 p.m.

New York at Milwaukee, 7:10 p.m.

Miami at Minnesota, 7:10 p.m.

Cleveland at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.

Friday, June 10 Schedule (All Times Central)

Detroit at New York Yankees, 6:05 p.m.

Philadelphia at Washington, 6:05 p.m.

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

Baltimore at Toronto, 6:07 p.m.

Oakland at Cincinnati, 6:10 p.m.

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

Chicago Cubs at Atlanta , 6:35 p.m.

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

New York Mets at Milwaukee, 7:10 p.m.

Boston at Minnesota, 7:10 p.m.

San Diego at Colorado 7:40 p.m.

Miami at Arizona, 8:40 p.m.

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

Texas at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.

Los Angeles Dodgers at San Francisco, 9:15 p.m.

Saturday, June 11 Schedule (All Times Central)

Philadelphia at Washington, 11:05 a.m.

Baltimore at Toronto , 12:07 p.m.

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

Boston at Minnesota 1:10 p.m.

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

Chicago Cubs at Atlanta, 3:10 p.m.

Oakland at Cincinnati 3:10 p.m.

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

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

Detroit at New York Yankees, 6:15 p.m.

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

Los Angeles Dodgers at San Francisco, 6:15 p.m.

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

Texas at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.

Miami at Arizona, 9:10 p.m.

Sunday, June 12 Schedule (All Times Central)

Baltimore at Toronto 12:07 p.m.

Oakland at Cincinnati, 12:10 p.m.

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

Chicago Cubs at Atlanta, 12:35 p.m.

Detroit at New York Yankees, 1:05 p.m.

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

New York Mets at Milwaukee, 1:10 p.m.

Boston at Minnesota, 1:10 p.m.

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

Philadelphia at Washington, 3:05 p.m.

Texas at Seattle, 3:10 p.m.

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

Miami at Arizona, 3:10 p.m.

St. Louis at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m.

Los Angeles Dodgers at San Francisco, 7:30 p.m.