Walk in 11th Gives Cubs Win Over Cardinals

By ESPN

Anthony Rizzo finished celebrating, retreated to the clubhouse and reminded his Chicago Cubs teammates that they've now won games in their last at-bat on a wild pitch, a squeeze bunt and a bases-loaded walk.

It's been that kind of season.

Rizzo drew a walk from Zach Duke with two outs in the 11th inning and the Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 on Thursday night for their 10th consecutive win.

Not only did the Cubs open a 13-game lead over the second-place Cardinals in the NL Central, St. Louis lost slugger Matt Holliday to a broken right thumb after he was hit by a pitch in the 10th inning.

Holliday wasn't sure if he'll miss the rest of the season. He's to see a hand specialist Friday.

"For sure it's super disappointing but it's part of sport unfortunately," Holliday said.

Pinch-hitters Willson Contreras and Jorge Soler led off with singles against the lefty Duke (2-1) and Dexter Fowler walked to load the bases with one out. Kris Bryant struck out before Rizzo took a 3-1 pitch inside to give the Cubs their longest winning streak since getting 12 straight in 2001.

"Crazy stuff," manager Joe Maddon said. "Entertaining? Yes."

Mike Montgomery (4-5) allowed a single and two walks to load the bases in the 11th before striking out Matt Carpenter to end the threat. Montgomery, who won his first game with Chicago after being acquired from Seattle last month, also hit Holliday with a 94 mph fastball on a 1-1 count with nobody on and two out an inning earlier.

"I definitely feel for him," Montgomery said. "It wasn't on purpose. It's just one of those pitches that's a big part of the game, going inside, and it just got away."

Randal Grichuk, called up from the minors before the game, tied it for St. Louis with a pinch-hit solo home run off Travis Wood in the seventh. Brandon Moss also homered for St. Louis.

Chris Coghlan had a two-run single and David Ross an RBI bunt single in the sixth for the Cubs.

Royals 2, White Sox 1

Danny Duffy has gone from starting the season in the Kansas City Royals' bullpen to leading the American League with a 2.82 ERA.

Duffy pitched his first complete game to win his eighth straight decision, Cheslor Cuthbert had two hits and drove in a run and the Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 2-1 on Thursday night.

Duffy (9-1) limited the White Sox to seven singles, struck out six and walked none. The left-hander has not lost since June 6 and has a 1.73 ERA in his past five starts. Duffy threw 98 pitches, 71 for strikes.

"I'm stoked," Duffy said on getting his first complete game. "I've gotten pretty close a couple of times this year. When I went eight (innings) the first time (teammate Kris) Medlen told me, `You should expect that every night.'

"This is a cool milestone. I'm just worried about getting outs and keeping my team in the game."

Duffy moved into the rotation on May 15 and has thrown eight or more innings in four starts.

"It's one of those things where it's going our way," Rizzo said. "We just want it to keep going our way."

Thursday, August 11 Scoreboard

Arizona 9, New York Mets 0

Pittsburgh 4, San Diego 0

Houston 15, Minnesota 7

Colorado 12, Texas 9

Milwaukee 11, Atlanta 3

Baltimore 9, Oakland 6

New York Yankees 4, Boston 2

Cleveland 14, Los Angeles Angels 4

Houston 10, Minnesota 2

Chicago Cubs 4, St. Louis 3 (F/11)

Kansas City 2, Chicago White Sox 1

Friday, August 12 Schedule (All Times Central)

St. Louis at Chicago Cubs, 1:20 p.m.

Tampa Bay at New York Yankees, 6:05 p.m.

Atlanta at Washington, 6:05 p.m.

Colorado at Philadelphia, 6:05 p.m.

Houston at Toronto, 6:07 p.m.

Arizona at Boston, 6:10 p.m.

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

San Diego at New York Mets, 6:10 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Miami, 6:10 p.m.

Detroit at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

Cincinnati at Milwaukee, 7:10 p.m.

Kansas City at Minnesota, 7:10 p.m.

Seattle at Oakland, 9:05 p.m.

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

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

Saturday, August 13 Schedule (All Times Central)

Tampa Bay at New York Yankees, 12:05 p.m.

Houston at Toronto, 12:07 p.m.

St. Louis at Chicago Cubs, 1:20 p.m.

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

Atlanta at Washington, 6:05 p.m.

Colorado at Philadelphia, 6:05 p.m.

Arizona at Boston, 6:10 p.m.

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

Cincinnati at Milwaukee, 6:10 p.m.

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

San Diego at New York Mets, 6:10 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Miami, 6:10 p.m.

Detroit at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

Seattle at Oakland, 8:05 p.m.

Baltimore at San Francisco, 8:05 p.m.

Sunday, August 14 Schedule (All Times Central)

Tampa Bay at New York Yankees, 12:05 p.m.

Houston at Toronto, 12:07 p.m.

Los Angeles Angels at Cleveland, 12:10 p.m.

San Diego at New York Mets, 12:10 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Miami, 12:10 p.m.

Arizona at Boston, 12:35 p.m.

Atlanta at Washington, 12:35 p.m.

Colorado at Philadelphia, 12:35 p.m.

Cincinnati at Milwaukee, 1:10 p.m.

Kansas City at Minnesota, 1:10 p.m.

Detroit at Texas, 2:05 p.m.

Seattle at Oakland, 3:05 p.m.

Baltimore at San Francisco, 3:05 p.m.

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

St. Louis at Chicago Cubs, 7 p.m.