Baez Grand Slam Guides Cubs Past Reds, Mariners Edge White Sox

By ESPN

The Cubs are starting to show the pop that helped propel them to their first championship in 108 years.

For that, manager Joe Maddon credited their starting pitching.

Javier Baez hit a grand slam, Kris Bryant homered and the Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 9-5 Thursday to complete a three-game sweep.

"Starting pitching drives the engine," Maddon said. "I will never be deceived by that thought. While that's happening, you have a chance to hit better just by keeping the other team down. Guys get a chance to get in the flow and do their thing."

Chicago outscored Cincinnati 25-15 in the series after struggling at the plate for much of this season. The Cubs have 23 wins in their last 28 games against the Reds.

Baez came through with three hits and a season-high five RBI. He got the rout going when he capped a five-run first inning against Amir Garrett (3-3) with his third career slam .

Bryant hit his eighth homer this season in the fourth, a long solo drive to center , and the Cubs scored three in the fifth to take a 9-0 lead.

Jon Lester (2-2) followed up solid starts from John Lackey and Kyle Hendricks by allowing three runs and six hits in six-plus innings. He improved to 11-0 in his last 15 regular-season home starts. Lester left with a 9-1 lead after giving up singles to Jose Peraza, Tucker Barnhart and Arismendy Alcantara in the seventh.

"We're trending in the right direction, which is good," Lester said.

Cincinnati has lost six straight, its longest skid since dropping 11 in a row last May. Recalled from Triple-A Louisville, Garrett gave up six runs and five hits in four innings. He walked four -- three in the first inning.

"We didn't throw strikes here," manager Bryan Price said. "This was not a series where we did what we're capable of doing as a staff. We didn't throw enough strikes and it exacerbates a problem."

Chicago's Koji Uehara got his first save this season after he entered with the bases loaded and no outs in the ninth. He retired Adam Duvall on a sacrifice fly , then struck out Eugenio Suarez and Stuart Turner, both on three pitches.

Mariners 5, White Sox 4

Jarrod Dyson needed every bit of his speed to get into scoring position. Guillermo Heredia's clutch hit allowed Dyson a chance to jog home with winning run.

Heredia's pinch-hit, two-out single in the ninth inning scored Dyson from second base to give the Seattle Mariners a 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday night.

Seattle's bullpen squandered a 4-0 lead giving up three late home runs to the White Sox. But the Mariners were able to piece together a late rally that was highly reliant on Dyson's speed and Heredia's hit.

"A little bit of everything. That's kind of what we need right now. Everybody has to chip in one way or another," Seattle manager Scott Servais said.

With one out in the ninth and Carlos Ruiz at the plate, Dyson took off from first on a 3-2 pitch from Dan Jennings. Ruiz hit a chopper to third but Dyson was able to beat the throw to second, though the relay was in plenty of time to get Ruiz for the second out.

Jean Segura, who extended his hitting streak to 17 games earlier with a three-run homer, was intentionally walked and Heredia batted for Ben Gamel.

Heredia was able to loop a slider from Jennings (2-1) into right-center field and Dyson easily scored the winning run. Heredia said he started warming up in the batting cage in the seventh inning waiting for his chance.

"That guy has been doing his job, toting us a little bit and I like to see it out there," Dyson said of Heredia.

Segura's three-run shot in the fifth inning tied him with Mike Trout for the longest hitting streak in baseball this season. Dyson also added a solo shot in the third inning, his second of the year.

Chicago rallied also thanks to the long ball. Matt Davidson hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning, and Todd Frazier and Tim Anderson added back-to-back solo shots off Seattle reliever Dan Altavilla with two outs in the eighth to tie it.

Chicago lost for the 10th time in 12 games.

"They are tough loses but hopefully they are things that we are going to continue to get over," Chicago manager Rick Renteria said. "We don't want to continue to have these type of loses, but I think they battled back."

Seattle reliever Nick Vincent (2-1) settled the shaky bullpen with a perfect ninth inning to get the victory.

Thursday, May 18  Scoreboard

Pittsburgh 10, Washington 4

Detroit 6, Baltimore 5

Colorado 5, Minnesota 1

Texas 8, Philadelphia 4

Chicago Cubs 9, Cincinnati 5

Milwaukee 4, San Diego 2

Minnesota 2, Colorado 0

Toronto 9, Atlanta 0

Kansas City 5, New York Yankees 1

Oakland 8, Boston 3

Seattle 5, Chicago White Sox 4

Los Angeles Dodgers 7, Miami 2

Friday, May 19 Schedule (All Times Central)

Milwaukee at Chicago Cubs, 1:20 p.m.

Toronto at Baltimore, 6:05 p.m.

Philadelphia at Pittsburgh, 6:05 p.m.

Texas at Detroit, 6:10 p.m.

Colorado at Cincinnati, 6:10 p.m.

Los Angeles Angels at New York Mets, 6:10 p.m.

New York Yankees at Tampa Bay, 6;10 p.m.

Washington at Atlanta, 6:35 p.m.

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

Cleveland at Houston, 7:10 p.m.

San Francisco at St. Louis, 7:15 p.m.

Boston at Oakland, 8:35 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.

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

Arizona at  San Diego, 9:10 p.m.

Saturday, May 20 Schedule (All Times Central)

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

Milwaukee at Chicago Cubs, 1:20 p.m.

Boston at Oakland, 3:05 p.m.

Philadelphia at Pittsburgh, 3:05 p.m.

Washington at Atlanta, 3:10 p.m.

Colorado at Cincinnati, 3:10 p.m.

Cleveland at Houston, 3:10 p.m.

New York Yankees at Tampa  Bay, 3:10 p.m.

Texas at Detroit, 6:15 p.m.

Los Angeles Angels at New York Mets, 6:15 p.m.

San Francisco at St. Louis, 6:15 p.m.

Toronto at Baltimore, 6:35 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.

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

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

Sunday, May 21 Schedule (All Times Central)

Colorado at Cincinnati, 12:10 p.m.

Los Angeles Angels at New York Mets, 12:10 p.m.

New York Yankees at Tampa Bay, 12:10 p.m.

Toronto at Baltimore, 12:35 p.m.

Washington at Atlanta, 12:35 p.m.

Philadelphia at Pittsburgh, 12:35 p.m.

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

Cleveland at Houston, 1:10 p.m.

San Francisco at St. Louis, 1:15 p.m.

Milwaukee at Chicago Cubs, 1:20 p.m.

Boston at Oakland, 3:05 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Seattle, 3:10 p.m.

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

Arizona at San Diego, 3:40 p.m.

Texas at Detroit, 7 p.m.