Rizzo Hits Inside-The-Park Homer, Royals Edge Cards in 12

By ESPN

Anthony Rizzo saw the ball ricochet across the outfield and kicked his legs into high gear, deciding he was going to try to touch `em all. His sides were aching by the time he slid safely into home plate.

Rizzo legged out his first inside-the-park homer on Wednesday -- a fitting final touch to a series full of unusual moments -- and the Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 9-2 for a three-game sweep that put them back on solid footing after a rough stretch.

"They were on top of it, man, after a long one last night," Chicago starter Kyle Hendricks said.

The Cubs went 1-6 last week, hurt by an injury-depleted lineup and a balky bullpen. With thousands of Cubs fans in the stands at Great American Ball Park for each game, they pulled off an invigorating sweep.

The NL Central leaders won the opener 11-8 as Kris Bryant became the first major leaguer with three homers and two doubles in a game. They won 7-2 in 15 innings Tuesday night in a game that featured Javier Baez's grand slam and three relievers playing left field alternately.

Manager Joe Maddon went with a lot of his young backups after the long night. They piled up a dozen hits and made impressive plays all over the field.

"A bunch of babies played in that game today," Maddon said. "They were inexperienced, they were young, and they came out and played hard and played well."

There was more wackiness, too.

Rizzo drove in three runs in the first inning off left-hander Cody Reed (0-2) with the Cubs' first inside-the-park homer since 2011, when Tony Campana circled the bases against Cincinnati. Left fielder Adam Duvall cut in front of center fielder Billy Hamilton but couldn't get to the ball, which deflected off Hamilton's cheek.

Rizzo couldn't remember the last time he circled the bases that way.

"Maybe Little League?" he said. "Nothing like that. I'll take it."

Hamilton left the game to get tested for a concussion. He missed a week earlier this month after suffering a concussion when he slid into third base and got hit in the head.

Royals 3, Cardinals 2 (12 innings)

Overcoming two blown saves gave the Kansas City Royals reason to believe this trip would be better.

"It's hard to come in here and not only once but twice take the lead and have them answer back," Eric Hosmer said after a 3-2, 12-inning victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night. "I think the guys realize our bullpen doesn't do that too often, so when it does happen we do whatever we can to pick them up."

The Royals are just 14-25 on the road, one of the worst records in the majors. They're the best at home at 27-11.

"We've just got to continue to play our game," Hosmer said. "There's still a lot of season left."

Alcides Escobar hit a go-ahead RBI double just inside the right-field line in the 12th after driving in the first run of the game with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the eighth. His fly to shallow right off Seth Maness (0-2) fell just in front of Stephen Piscotty, whose homer leading off the 10th tied it at 2.

"They scratched one, we scratched one," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "It was one of those nights where pitching was really, really good."

Chien-Ming Wang (5-0) worked two scoreless innings for Kansas City, which survived blown saves by Wade Davis and Joakim Soria, stranded 19 runners and used all of its bench players. The Royals are 39-50 in the I-70 interleague series but 14-12 at 11-year-old Busch Stadium.

Whit Merrifield put Kansas City ahead in the 10th when a potential double-play grounder was booted by second baseman Matt Carpenter and Merrifield got an RBI. He also doubled with one out in the 12th.

White Sox 9, Twins 6

James Shields insisted career win No. 130 was just like every other one. He offered no sign of relief or satisfaction. There was just praise for his defense and a big smile.

It was simply time to move on.

Shields broke out of a slump with 6 2/3 innings against one of baseball's worst lineups, helping the Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins 9-6 on Wednesday night.

"It was coming out of his hand better and he was finishing," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "Locating better as well. Just the way it was out of his hand, it was getting better and better."

Shields (3-9) allowed one run and eight hits in his first win since he tossed seven scoreless innings for San Diego at Milwaukee on May 12. The right-hander got hit hard after he was acquired by Chicago in a trade June 4, going 0-2 with a 15.80 ERA in his first four starts.

"It was a tough stretch," he said. "It's nice to get off the schneid there and get a win, but I don't really focus on that kind of stuff. I've been around this game for a long time, but my main focus is to win games for this team right now."

Todd Frazier, Brett Lawrie and Tyler Saladino homered for the White Sox, who improved to 7-1 against the Twins after losing 4-0 in the series opener on Tuesday. Saladino and Tim Anderson each had two hits and two RBI.

Wednesday, June 29 Scoreboard

Tampa Bay 4, Boston 0

Chicago Cubs 9, Cincinnati 2

Detroit 10, Miami 3

Toronto 5, Colorado 3

Houston 10, Los Angeles Angels 4

Baltimore 12, San Diego 6

Philadelphia 9, Arizona 8 (F/10)

Washington 4, New York Mets 2

New York Yankees 9, Texas 7

Cleveland 3, Atlanta 0

Chicago White sox 9, Minnesota 6

Milwaukee 7, Los Angeles Dodgers 0

Kansas City 3, St. Louis 2 (F/12)

Oakland 7, San Francisco 1

Pittsburgh 8, Seattle 1

Thursday, June 30 Schedule (All Times Central)

Texas at New York Yankees, 12:05 p.m.

Minnesota at Chicago White Sox, 1:10 p.m.

Los Angeles Dodgers at Milwaukee, 1:10 p.m.

Cincinnati at Washington, 6:05 p.m.

Cleveland at Toronto, 6:07 p.m.

Chicago Cubs at New York Mets 6:10 p.m.

Miami at Atlanta, 6:10 p.m.

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

Kansas City at St. Louis, 6:15 p.m.

San Francisco at Oakland, 9:05 p.m.

Baltimore at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.    

Friday, July 1 Schedule (All Times Central)

Cleveland at Toronto, 12:07 p.m.

Cincinnati at Washington, 5:05 p.m.

Kansas City at Philadelphia, 6:05 p.m.

Chicago Cubs at New York Mets, 6:10 p.m.

Los Angeles Angels at Boston, 6:10 p.m.

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

Miami at Atlanta, 6:35 p.m.

Texas at Minnesota, 7:10 p.m.

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

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

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

Pittsburgh at Oakland, 9:05 p.m.

Baltimore at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.

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

New York Yankees at San Diego, 9:40 p.m.

Saturday, July 2 Schedule (All Times Central)

Cleveland at Toronto, 12:07 p.m.

Texas at Minnesota, 1:10 p.m.

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

Miami at Atlanta, 3:10 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Houston, 3:10 p.m.

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

Kansas City at Philadelphia, 4:50 p.m.

Los Angeles Angels at Boston, 6:15 p.m.

Cincinnati at Washington, 6:15 p.m.

Chicago Cubs at New York Mets, 6:15 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Oakland, 9:05 p.m.

Baltimore at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.

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

New York Yankees at San Diego, 9:10 p.m.

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

Sunday, July 3 Schedule (All Times Central)

Cleveland at Toronto, 12:07 p.m.

Chicago Cubs at New York Mets, 12:10 p.m.

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

Los Angeles Angels at Boston, 12:35 p.m.

Cincinnati at Washington, 12:35 p.m.

Kansas City at Philadelphia, 12:35 p.m.

Texas at Minnesota, 1:10 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Houston, 1:10 p.m.

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

Pittsburgh at Oakland, 3:05 p.m.

Baltimore at Seattle, 3:10 p.m.

Colorado at Los Angeles Dodgers, 3:10 p.m.

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

New York Yankees at San Diego, 3:40 p.m.

Miami at Atlanta, 7 p.m.

Monday, July 4 Schedule (All Times Central)

Milwaukee at Washington, 10:05 a.m.

Los Angeles at Tampa Bay, 12:10 p.m.

Texas at Boston, 12:35 p.m.

New York Yankees at Chicago White Sox, 1:10 p.m.

Oakland at Minnesota, 1:10 p.m.

Seattle at Houston, 1:10 p.m.

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

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

Colorado at San Francisco, 3 p.m.

Atlanta at Philadelphia, 3:05 p.m.

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

Detroit at Cleveland, 6 p.m.

Kansas City at Toronto, 6:07 p.m.

Baltimore at Los Angeles Dodgers, 8:10 p.m.

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