Cubs Take Doubleheader, Cards Beat Astros

By ESPN

John Lackey's right shoulder was still sore when he arrived at Wrigley Field. Trevor Cahill then proved the Chicago Cubs have options if they need another starting pitcher.

Cahill came off the disabled list to throw five innings of two-hit ball in his first start in nearly 16 months, and the Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-0 Tuesday in the opener of a day-night doubleheader.

"He gave us something to talk about," manager Joe Maddon said.

Lackey is nursing an injury that forced him to leave Sunday's start and will be pushed back until at least Saturday.

Mike Montgomery followed Cahill and pitched two innings, Hector Rondon worked the eighth and Joe Smith walked two in the ninth before Aroldis Chapman got two outs to close a three-hitter.

Cahill (2-3) also drove in a run with a safety squeeze bunt, and the Cubs added runs on a wild pitch and Addison Russell's sacrifice fly off Matt Garza (4-5).

Cahill allowed two walks and struck out Manny Pina with a runner on third to end the fifth on his 84th pitch.

Anthony Rizzo has been watching a lot of the "Final Five" gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic women's gymnastics team. So when he jumped onto a wall to make a remarkable catch of a foul ball before sticking the landing, he had one thought.

"Maybe Final Six?" Rizzo said, grinning.

Jason Hammel threw seven innings of two-hit ball, Rizzo drew "MVP" chants after his circus catch, and the Chicago Cubs beat the banged-up Milwaukee Brewers 4-1 on Tuesday night to sweep a day-night doubleheader.

Javier Baez hit a two-run homer while Hammel (13-5) struck out seven to extend his scoreless streak to 22 innings.

But Hammel was more interested in talking about Rizzo. The first baseman jumped on the wall with both feet, leaned into the crowd and made a one-handed grab of Keon Broxton's popup in the fifth. He then snapped back and landed on his feet on the field.

"Stuck the landing," Hammel said. "It was a great dismount."

Cardinals 8, Astros 5

Jedd Gyorko is providing enough power to keep banged-up St. Louis going.

Gyorko and Tommy Pham each homered to help the Cardinals beat the Houston Astros 8-5 on Tuesday night for their third straight win.

Gyorko has 11 of his 18 homers since July 18, including three in his past four games. It's helped keep St. Louis in the NL wild-card race despite injuries to top hitters like Matt Carpenter and Aledmys Diaz.

The Cardinals got more bad news Tuesday: outfielder Matt Holliday and reliever Seth Maness are headed for the disabled list. Holliday will have surgery on his right thumb and could miss the remainder of the regular season, while Maness will have Tommy John surgery, likely sidelining him until 2018.

Which means Gyorko's bat is becoming all the more important for the Cardinals, who have a one-game lead for the second NL wild-card spot.

"When he gets going, he's amazing," manager Mike Matheny said. "You just don't know when he's going to hit you. When he gets into a good rhythm he's going to sneak up there and do some damage."

The Cardinals roughed up ace Dallas Keuchel (7-12) to overcome a rocky outing from starter Jaime Garcia (10-8). Garcia gave up five runs and seven hits in five innings, including three home runs.

Indians 3, White Sox 1

Corey Kluber is pitching like an ace during the most crucial time of the season.

Kluber allowed one run in six innings to win his fourth consecutive start, and the Cleveland Indians defeated the Chicago White Sox for the seventh straight time, 3-1 on Tuesday night.

"He looks like the tank's full, which is good news for us," Indians manager Terry Francona said.

Kluber (13-8) struck out seven and walked two, allowing his only run on Justin Morneau's one-out homer in the sixth. Kluber is 5-0 with a 1.80 ERA in seven starts since a July 3 loss at Toronto.

Kluber's latest win helped Cleveland open a six-game lead over second-place Detroit in the AL Central. The Indians have outscored the White Sox by a combined 36-13 in their last seven meetings.

Tuesday, August 16 Scoreboard

Chicago Cubs 4, Milwaukee 0

Chicago Cubs 4, Milwaukee 1

Boston 5, Baltimore 3

Toronto 12, New York Yankees 6

Los Angeles Dodgers 15, Philadelphia 5

Cleveland 3, Chicago White Sox 1

Kansas City 6, Detroit 1

Minnesota 4, Atlanta 2

Cincinnati 6, Miami 3

Tampa Bay 15, San Diego 1

Texas 5, Oakland 4 (F-10)

Chicago Cubs 4, Milwaukee 1

St. Louis 8, Houston 5

Colorado 6, Washington 2

New York Mets 7, Arizona 5

Los Angeles Angels 7, Seattle 6

Pittsburgh 4, San Francisco 3

Wednesday, August 17 Schedule (All Times Central)

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

San Diego at Tampa Bay, 12:10 p.m.

St. Louis at Houston, 1:10 p.m.

Washington at Colorado, 2:10 p.m.

Pittsburgh at San Francisco, 2:45 p.m.

Boston at Baltimore, 6 p.m.

Los Angeles Dodgers at Philadelphia, 6:05 p.m.

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

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

Minnesota at Atlanta, 6:10 p.m.

Miami at Cincinnati, 6:10 p.m.

Oakland at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

Milwaukee at Chicago Cubs, 7:05 p.m.

New York Mets at Arizona, 8:40 p.m.

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