Cardinals Stop Three-Game Losing Streak, Brewers Beat Cubs

By ESPN

The Cardinals lost the first two games Lance Lynn started this season and he didn't like it.

In his third start, Lynn did something about it. He pitched seven shutout innings.

Kolten Wong helped with a home run and the Cardinals stopped a three-game losing streak, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 Monday night.

"You want to be known as the stopper," Lynn said. "When you go through a rotation and see we've not pitched the way we're capable of or played the way we're capable of, you want to be the guy that kind of gets us going and stops it. Hopefully, that will bleed into the next start."

The Cardinals, who had lost six of seven, are 4-9 and still have the worst record in the NL.

Pittsburgh had won three in a row before losing in a game that took only 2 hours, 14 minutes.

Lynn (1-1) allowed three hits and struck out five while walking one. He also hit two batters.

"Lynn was good," Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. "We've seen Lynn good here. We've had more success against him at home. The slider plagued our right-handers."

It was the outing Lynn wanted to have.

"I really hate losing, especially when I don't do my job," Lynn said. "It was time for me to get going and get back to doing what I'm capable of doing."

"I felt good tonight. You know, it's the biggest win possible in April that you could have, so we're going to be all right," he said.

Seung-Hwan Oh worked around an RBI double by pinch hitter Gregory Polanco in the ninth to record the Cardinals' first save of the season. The last time it took St. Louis 13 games into a season to get a save was 1980, when Mark Littell closed out the Phillies at Veterans Stadium.

Ivan Nova (1-2) gave up five hits and no walks in eight innings while striking out three. In 14 overall starts for the Pirates, Nova has four complete games and a grand total of three walks.

Wong led off the third with a home run that landed in the right field bullpen. It was his seventh career homer against the Pirates.

"He's been a thorn in our side," Hurdle said.

Nova knew right away he made a bad pitch.

"I made a mistake," he said. "I wanted to go outside and the ball was inside to his power and he took advantage of it."

St. Louis added a run in the seventh when Randal Grichuk singled, stole second, took third on a throwing error by catcher Francisco Cervelli and scored on a single by Jose Martinez.

Trevor Rosenthal pitched a spotless eighth for the Cardinals. Polanco doubled with two outs in the ninth before Oh retired pinch hitter John Jaso on a grounder.

"Rosie came in and was terrific and Oh got through it," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said.

Brewers 6, Cubs 3

The Milwaukee Brewers have found a left-handed complement for Ryan Braun in the batting order, and everything is right in their world at the moment.

Early season sensation Eric Thames homered in his club record-tying fifth straight game and the streaking Brewers turned back the Chicago Cubs 6-3 on Monday night. The victory was their sixth in the last seven games.

Milwaukee never trailed after Thames hit an opposite-field homer to snap a 3-3 tie in the third inning. Jeromy Burnitz became the first and last Brewers player to homer in five straight games in August, 1997.

"You've just got to ride the wave and enjoy it," said Thames, 30, who played in Korea the last three years. "There's always dark times around the corner, so you've just got to take it in stride."

Braun and Jett Bandy also went deep for Milwaukee, the only team to hit as many as three homers in a game off Chicago starter John Lackey (1-2) last season.

"It's unique that Ryan's not getting the attention after a five-home run start in the first couple weeks of the season," manager Craig Counsell said. "But he's happy with it, I guarantee you."

The Cubs lost for a fourth straight time, their worst stretch since a five-game skid from July 5-9 last season. At 6-7, the defending World Series champs have lost four consecutive games at Wrigley Field for the first time since May, 2014.

"There's no panic on our side at all," Kyle Schwarber said. "We know that we're a good baseball team and we'll bounce back. We have to turn the page."

Brewers starter Chase Anderson (2-0) pitched five innings of three-run, seven-hit ball to pick up the victory. He walked two batters and struck out five. Neftali Feliz pitched a scoreless ninth for his fifth save in as many tries.

Milwaukee added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth inning on Braun's RBI double and steal of third base followed by catcher Willson Contreras' throwing error.

"We did a lot of things well," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "We have to take better care of the latter part of the game."

Chicago trailed 3-1 when Albert Almora Jr. reached Anderson for a two-run double in the third inning. The hit scored Jason Heyward and Miguel Montero, who had led off with singles.

It took the Brewers three batters to break through against Lackey in the first inning.

After Thames extended his hit streak to 10 games with a one-out double, Braun unloaded his seventh homer in the last nine games versus the Cubs. Braun's 651st extra-base hit moved him into second place with Paul Molitor on the Brewers' all-time list.

Chicago closed to within 2-1 on Ben Zobrist's two-out single in the bottom half of the inning.

Bandy quickly restored the two-run lead with a homer to open the second inning.

Yankees 7, White Sox 4

The way Jordan Montgomery keeps his cool on the mound, it's hard to believe he's a rookie.

The way the New York Yankees keep winning games lately, it's easy to forget who they're missing.

Montgomery took a shutout into the seventh inning for his first major league win, Matt Holliday hit a three-run homer in his return to the lineup and the Yankees romped to their eighth consecutive victory by beating the Chicago White Sox 7-4 on Monday night.

"We've just kind of found a nice rhythm and a nice recipe," Holliday said.

The veteran slugger triggered a five-run third with a titanic shot into the raised bleachers beyond the left-center bullpen, his first home run at Yankee Stadium. Aaron Judge added a two-run drive to chase Derek Holland (1-2) with the score 7-0 in the fifth.

Despite playing without injured catcher Gary Sanchez and shortstop Didi Gregorius, the Baby Bombers have rebounded from a 1-4 start with the club's longest winning streak since a 10-game run in June 2012.

"We've got guys in this room that can handle their business and are showing it," backup catcher Austin Romine said. "They want that opportunity."

Making his second career start, Montgomery (1-0) immediately found himself in a first-inning jam. But the 24-year-old lefty calmly pitched out of it by setting down slumping cleanup hitter Jose Abreu and streaking Avisail Garcia with runners at second and third.

"Just went out there and kind of stayed within myself," said Montgomery, who pitched in the College World Series as a South Carolina freshman. "Hopefully the first of many, so I'm not trying to make too big a deal of it."

Garcia began the night leading the majors with a .465 batting average, yet Montgomery never flinched.

"He's got poise beyond his years," Holliday said. "He's got a very veteran demeanor to him."

After scattering four hits over the first six innings, Montgomery gave up consecutive singles to start the seventh and then a three-run homer to Yolmer Sanchez, who finished with three hits.

That was it for the 6-foot-6 Montgomery, who jogged off the field to cheers.

"He showed that he is a very good pitcher and that he has the talent to pitch in the big leagues," Abreu said through a translator.

Adam Warren replaced Montgomery and worked into the ninth. Warren gave up an RBI double to Kevan Smith before Aroldis Chapman earned his fourth save when Tyler Saladino grounded into a game-ending double play -- the fourth turned by the Yankees.

Warren retired 22 straight batters to begin the season before issuing a two-out walk in the seventh.

Starlin Castro had three hits for New York, and Judge drove in three runs. Castro and Chase Headley hit successive doubles after Holliday's homer, estimated at 459 feet.

Holliday missed the previous two games with lower back stiffness.

Judge added a run-scoring infield single to complete the outburst. New York has won its first seven home games for the first time since 1998.

Holland was tagged for 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings and fell to 1-7 with a 6.97 ERA against the Yankees. The left-hander allowed one hit over six scoreless innings last time out in Cleveland.

"I wasn't getting the call inside," Holland said. "I have to adjust to that. That's on me."

Monday, April 17 Scoreboard

Boston 4, Tampa Bay 3

St. Louis 2, Pittsburgh 1

New York Yankees 7, Chicago White Sox 4

Atlanta 5,  San Diego 4

Milwaukee 6, Chicago Cubs 3

Cleveland 3, Minnesota 1

Houston 3, Los Angeles Angels 0

Texas 7, Oakland 0

Seattle 6, Miami 1

Arizona 4, Los Angeles Dodgers 2

Tuesday, April 18 Schedule (All Times Central)

Chicago  White sox at New York Yankees, 6:05 p.m.

Boston at Toronto, 6:07 p.m.

Baltimore at Cincinnati, 6:10 p.m.

Philadephia at New York Mets, 6;10 p.m.

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

Washington at Atlanta, 6:35 p.m.

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

Cleveland at Minnesota, 7:10 p.m.

Los  Angeles Angels at Houston, 7:10 p.m.

San  Francisco at Kansas City, 7:15 p.m.

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

Texas at Oakland, 9:05 p.m.

Miami at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.

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

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