Cardinals Homer Four Times in Win, Cubs Pound Rockies

By ESPN

Next to all of that St. Louis power, Mike Leake's single might've looked puny.

But it scored two runs and those helped, too.

Leake pitched seven strong innings and contributed at the plate, and the Cardinals homered four times Sunday to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 9-0.

Jedd Gyorko, Stephen Piscotty, Brandon Moss and Jeremy Hazelbaker went deep.

"It's not the only way we can score runs but it's our main way," Moss said. "We've got a lot of guys in the lineup that can do a lot of damage. It's nice to have guys in the lineup who can change a game like that."

The Cardinals had hit multiple home runs in nine straight games, tying a major league record, before failing to connect twice Saturday night in a 4-2 loss. Manager Mike Matheny was happy to see the bats get going again.

"We needed that to continue to watch these guys stay in a good rhythm," he said.

Jhonny Peralta added three hits as the Cardinals finished a 6-3 road trip. They remained 1 1/2 games ahead of Miami for the final wild-card spot in the National League.

The Cardinals got six extra-base hits to set a club record of 14 straight games with at least three extra-base hits.

Cubs 11, Rockies 4

A late-night session in the batting cage and a spirited discussion helped Nolan Arenado get his swing back.

Arenado broke out of a slump in a big way, hitting two homers and driving in six runs Sunday to boost the Colorado Rockies past the Chicago Cubs, 11-4.

The All-Star third baseman was 1 of 16 during the Rockies' homestand before getting four hits. He passed Cubs slugger Kris Bryant for the NL homer lead.

"I've been grinding, I haven't really felt like myself, so to be up there, it's a good feeling," Arenado said.

Arenado credited Sunday's results to his work with batting practice pitcher Garrett Carson late Saturday night. He said the two stayed after the loss to the Cubs to watch video and work in the cage.

"We almost got into an argument," Arenado said. "He would be like, `I feel like there's not much off' and I'd be like, 'No, there is something off.' "

The two concluded Arenado was overstriding, and he went into Sunday's game with renewed confidence.

"After (Saturday) night I was able to sleep better after what I worked on," Arenado said. "I applied it today and it worked out."

Arenado hit a three-run homer during a seven-run burst in the first inning that included three Cubs errors, then added another three-run drive in the fourth.

Arenado leads the majors with 104 RBI -- he had a big league-high 130 last year -- and tops the NL with 32 home runs.

Jorge De La Rosa (8-7) tossed eight innings, giving up two home runs to Addison Russell.

White Sox 4, Athletics 2

Quintana pitched into the eighth inning to earn a career-best 10th win and Jose Abreu homered for the second straight game to lead the Chicago White Sox to a 4-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Sunday.

"This was really special for me," Quintana said. "When the year started, (winning 10) was my first goal.

"All my guys, teammates, celebrated with me."

Todd Frazier had three hits and drove in two runs, and Justin Morneau added an RBI double in Chicago's three-run first as the White Sox took the final two games of the series and handed Oakland its seventh loss in eight games. Tim Anderson also had three hits.

Khris Davis hit his 32nd homer, a two-run shot , off Quintana (10-9) who finished with nine wins in each of the previous three seasons. The left-hander allowed struck out six and walked one in this one while allowing eight hits, and improved to 5-1 with a 2.25 ERA in his last nine starts.

Sunday, August 21 Scoreboard

Detroit 10, Boston 5

Cleveland 3, Toronto 2

Los Angeles Dodgers 4, Cincinnati 0

Tampa Bay 8, Texas 4

Atlanta 7, Washington 6 (F/10)

St. Louis 9, Philadelphia 0

Miami 3, Pittsburgh 2

Chicago White Sox 4, Oakland 2

Kansas City 2, Minnesota 1

Los Angeles Angels 2, New York Yankees 0

Milwaukee 7, Seattle 6

Colorado 11, Chicago Cubs 4

San Diego 9, Arizona 1

Houston 5, Baltimore 3

New York Mets 2, San Francisco 0

Monday, August 22 Schedule (All Times Central)

Los Angeles Dodgers at Cincinnati, 11:35 a.m.

Washington at Baltimore, 6:05 p.m.

Houston at Pittsburgh, 6:05 p.m.

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

Colorado at Milwaukee, 6:20 p.m.

Atlanta at Arizona, 8:40 p.m.

Cleveland at Oakland, 9:05 p.m.

New York Yankees at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.

Chicago Cubs at San Diego, 9:10 p.m.