Cardinals Blank Cubs, White Sox Nab Win

By ESPN

St. Louis infielder Matt Carpenter finally got the best of close friend Jake Arrieta.

But he isn't going to brag about it.

Carpenter slammed a two-run homer, Yadier Molina homered twice and Adam Wainwright threw seven shutout innings to lead the Cardinals to a 5-0 win over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday.

Randal Grichuk added three hits for St. Louis, which won for the eighth time in nine games. Chicago has lost three of four.

Carpenter entered his third-inning at-bat with a 1-for-31 career slate against Arrieta. The two were college teammates at TCU. Carpenter served as a groomsman at Arrieta's wedding.

"It was great to get out there and finally have some success against him," Carpenter said. "He's given me a hard time over the years, we jab back-and-forth but, I won't rub that kind of stuff in."

Arrieta (4-3) realized that his success against Carpenter was not going to last forever.

"A hitter like that, regardless of the history -- you make a mistake and they're going to make you pay for it," Arrieta said.

Carpenter came into the game 0 for 27 against Arrieta in the regular season and 1 for 3 in the post season. He grounded back to the mound in his first trip to the plate.

"I always kid him that I'm a .300 hitter against him in the post-season," Carpenter said.

Molina recorded the third multi-homer game of his career. His last came on Aug. 21, 2011 at Wrigley Field. He drilled a two-run homer off Arrieta in the second inning.

Swinging a pink bat in honor of mother's day, Molina added a solo blast off Brian Duensing in the eighth. Molina pointed to his mother, Gladys, in the stands as he headed into the dugout.

"It's special, every time you have your family and your mama here," Molina said. "I got lucky and put a good swing on it."

Wainwright (3-3) allowed four hits in a 102-pitch stint. He struck out three and walked four. Wainwright had given up four earned run in each of his last three starts.

"It's a good outing to build off," Wainwright said. "I can still get better. I can still have better fastball command. It's certainly a stepping stone."

Trevor Rosenthal and Kevin Siegrist each pitched a perfect inning to complete the four-hitter.

Chicago had runners on in six of the first seven innings.

"Overall, we're not doing a good job with runners in scoring position," Chicago manager Joe Maddon said.

White Sox 9, Padres 3

San Diego Padres manager Andy Green said his team gave one away on Sunday. That was just fine with Todd Frazier and the Chicago White Sox.

Frazier's alert baserunning helped spark Chicago's eight-run eighth inning, sending the White Sox to a 9-3 win.

After pinch hitter Melky Cabrera's two-run single off Brandon Maurer gave the White Sox a 4-3 lead, Frazier tagged up on Tyler Saladino's popped-up bunt while first baseman Wil Myers held the ball in the infield with his back to home plate. When he finally caught on, Myers threw the ball to the backstop.

"It's just one of those things where you kind of read what's going on and you take a chance," Frazier said. "I thought it was a good chance to take. We scored two runs already with our closer coming in."

From San Diego's perspective, the play was emblematic of a comeback that should have been shut down before it happened.

"Those are painful losses," Green said. "Walks and defensive breakdowns. That's one of the ugliest half-innings I've ever seen in baseball; especially at the major league level. There's no excuse for so many things that happened that inning."

The collapse denied Jered Weaver his first win with the Padres after his best outing of the season.

Ryan Buchter (2-2) took the loss, walking three batters while recording only one out. Shortstop Luis Sardinas committed an error on a potential double-play ball that could have made it a scoreless inning for the Padres.

Instead, the White Sox sent 14 batters to the plate. Willy Garcia, Leury Garcia and Yolmer Sanchez each came up with big hits as the White Sox earned their second straight win after a six-game slide.

Weaver (0-4), a three-time All-Star in 11 seasons with the Angels, has struggled since signing with San Diego over the winter. But he pitched six innings of one-run ball against the White Sox.

The right-hander is 12-2 with a 1.87 ERA in 16 career starts against Chicago. His season ERA is now 6.05.

Jose Quintana was working on a shutout for the White Sox before he got into trouble in the seventh. Yangervis Solarte walked, Austin Hedges singled and Hunter Renfroe drove a high fastball just over the right-field fence for a 3-1 lead.

Quintana allowed five hits and walked four in seven innings. Michael Ynoa (1-0) earned the win with a scoreless eighth.

Sunday, May 14 Scoreboard

Toronto 3, Seattle 2

Cleveland 8, Minnesota 3

Miami 3, Atlanta 1

Tampa Bay 11, Boston 2

Philadelphia 4, Washington 3

New York Yankees 11, Houston 6

Chicago White Sox 9, San Diego 3

Milwaukee 11, New York Mets 9

Kansas City 9, Baltimore 8

St. Louis 5, Chicago Cubs 0

Texas 6, Oakland 4

Colorado 9, Los Angeles Dodgers 6

Los Angeles Angels 4, Detroit 1

San Francisco 8, Cincinnati 3

Pittsburgh 6, Arizona 4 (F/10)

Washington 6, Philadelphia 5

Houston 10, New York Yankees 7

Monday, May 15 Schedule (All Times Central)

Tampa  Bay at Cleveland, 5:10 p.m.

Houston at Miami, 6 p.m.

Atlanta at Toronto, 6:07 p.m.

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

Chicago White Sox at Los Angeles Angels, 9:07 p.m.

Oakland at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.

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

Los Angeles Dodgers at San Francisco, 9:15 p.m.