Cubs Edge Brewers, Dodgers Beat Cardinals

By ESPN

Entering his first big league game in 16 months, Joe Nathan felt his heart racing while doing a full sprint to the mound.

Nathan has 377 career saves, and yet Sunday still felt like Opening Day all over again for the 41-year-old reliever.

Anthony Rizzo's three-run double in the seventh inning helped the Chicago Cubs overcome a four-run deficit and made a winner of Nathan in a 6-5 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.

"It was Opening Day for me today, and the adrenaline was ... through the roof. It was almost too much," Nathan said. "I almost needed a defibrillator for the run into the mound."

The six-time All-Star joined a club with World Series aspirations hoping to shore up its bullpen. The heart of the order finally came up with hits after the Cubs struggled with runners in scoring position against Brewers starter Junior Guerra.

That changed after Will Smith took over for Guerra with one out in the seventh.

Tommy La Stella, who went 3 for 3, had an RBI double before Smith (1-3) walked Kris Bryant to load the bases for third-place hitter Rizzo. He hit a 2-2 slider down in the zone into right-center to clear the bases and give Chicago a 5-4 lead.

Ben Zobrist's RBI single scored Rizzo in the seventh and gave the Cubs a needed insurance run after closer Hector Rondon gave up a homer to Kirk Nieuwenhuis with two outs in the ninth to draw Milwaukee within a run.

Rondon struck out Jake Elmore looking for his 18th save.

Dodgers 9, Cardinals 6

The Los Angeles Dodgers gave St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Mike Mayers one of the worst major league debuts ever.

Adrian Gonzalez hit a grand slam and Howie Kendrick added a two-run homer while the Dodgers exploded for nine runs in the first two innings off Mayers and held on for a 9-6 win over the Cardinals on a hot, muggy Sunday night.

Mayers lasted 1 1/3 innings and became the first pitcher to allow nine or more runs with fewer than two innings pitched in his debut since at least 1913.

"Sometimes, it can be more difficult when you have a young kid out there you don't know anything about," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "So for us to get on him earlier and the home run early there by Adrian was big. To see that power surge come was a big boost for us. To tack on another three in the next inning was big for us.

"Then we basically held on."

Scott Kazmir (9-3) pitched five innings to earn the victory. He allowed three runs on six hits.

White Sox 5, Tigers 4

White Sox 4, Tigers 3

The Chicago White Sox suspended their ace and picked up a pair of wins in their final at-bat. It was quite a day for a fading team.

Melky Cabrera drove in Adam Eaton with a game-ending single in the ninth inning after closer David Robertson gave up three home runs in the top half to lead the White Sox to a 5-4 victory hours after they suspended All-Star Chris Sale for five days on Sunday afternoon.

"Baseball is funny like that," Eaton said. "It will beat you down, but then it will build you back up. It's a love-hate relationship, for sure."

There hasn't been much love for the White Sox since a 23-10 start. They've been in a tailspin ever since, but they at least got a bit of a break after dropping eight of nine.

They beat the Tigers 4-3 on a single by Eaton in the ninth after play was suspended the previous night because of rain and finished the day with another wild victory.

Robertson got the win in both, though he didn't feel like he deserved it after that rough ninth in the scheduled game.

Sunday, July 24 Scoreboard

Chicago White Sox 4, Detroit 3

Chicago White Sox 5, Detroit 4

New York Yankees 5, San Francisco 2

Toronto 2, Seattle 0

Arizona 9, Cincinnati 8

New York Mets 3, Miami 0

Baltimore 5, Cleveland 3

Boston 8, Minnesota 7

San Diego 10, Washington 6

Pittsburgh 5, Philadelphia 4

Chicago Cubs 6, Milwaukee 5

Houston 13, Los Angeles Angels 3

Texas 2, Kansas City 1

Oakland 3, Tampa Bay 2

Colorado 7, Atlanta 2

Los Angeles 9, St. Louis 6

Monday, July 25 Schedule (All Times Central)

Detroit at Boston, 6 p.m.

Colorado at Baltimore, 6:05 p.m.

San Diego at Toronto, 6:07 p.m.

St. Louis at New York Mets, 6:10 p.m.

Philadelphia at Miami, 6:10 p.m.

Arizona at Milwaukee, 6:20 p.m.

Oakland at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

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

New York Yankees at Houston, 7:10 p.m.

Los Angeles Angels at Kansas City, 7:15 p.m.

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