Cardinals Have Seven-Run 11th, Rizzo Lifts Cubs Past Padres

By ESPN

Tommy Pham wasn't going to let another cutter get by him.

Pham hit a two-run homer as part of a seven-run 11th inning to help the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 8-1 on Tuesday night.

Stephen Piscotty had a two-run double off Casey Fien after Edubray Ramos (0-5) started the inning with two walks. Yadier Molina and Pham followed with homers as the Cardinals had their biggest output of the season in an inning.

"(Fien) threw me a cutter first pitch and I said if he throws me another one I'm going to crush it," Pham said. "He threw it again and that normally never works, but it worked there. I wish I could predict stuff like that but I can't. I'm not that good."

Fien gave up both homers and then a single to Chad Huffman and double to Carpenter before the pitcher was removed. Philadelphia has now lost 12 of its last 13 games.

"Ramos didn't record an out and he didn't throw strikes," said Phillies manager Pete Mackanin. "Then we threw balls that were hit. It's a tough way to lose a game after we had good pitching for 10 innings."

Mike Leake started the game for St. Louis and allowed one run and three hits in six innings.

Jeremy Hellickson gave up six hits and a run in seven innings. His only blemish was a solo homer for Jedd Gyorko in the second inning.

Both bullpens pitched well until the Phillies' imploded in the 11th inning. Kevin Siegrist (1-1) pitched one inning in relief for St. Louis to earn the win. The Cardinals relievers pitched five shutout innings allowing just four singles.

Philadelphia scored its lone run of the game on a Maikel Franco RBI single after Leake walked the first two batters in the fourth inning.

"(Leake) was good," said Cardinals manager Mike Matheny. "He trusted his sinker and kept it down and got the outs when we needed it. It's really hard to complain about anything when he only gives up three hits."

The Cardinals improved to 4-0 against the Phillies this month. St. Louis is 3-12 against everyone else in June.

Cubs 4, Padres 0

Anthony Rizzo said all his talking is making him an annoying teammate.

The new leadoff hitter is making up for it with his bat, lifting the Chicago Cubs with another first-inning homer Monday night in a 4-0 victory over the San Diego Padres.

"I'm sure my teammates are starting to get a little tired of it because I'm constantly in their ears," Rizzo said. "Non-stop, telling them, `Make sure you don't miss it."

He hasn't been missing anything at the top of Joe Maddon's batting order.

"It's like on nightly basis, he's ready to go," Maddon said. "He ready, he's chirpy, he's loving this and it's helping us out incredibly."

Rizzo's home run on the second pitch from Jhoulys Chacin (6-6) was the third leading off in seven games since Rizzo was moved to first in the order. In those seven games, he is 6 for 6 with a walk to open the first inning.

It also extended his hitting streak to a career-high 14 games and came on the day Rizzo took a call from the league office about a collision at home plate with Padres catcher Austin Hedges the previous night.

MLB Chief Operating Officer Joe Torre told Rizzo on Tuesday that he violated Rule 7.13, which protects catchers from such collisions, but that he would receive no discipline. He was called out on the play.

Rizzo's home run was his 17th of the season. Rookie Ian Happ added his ninth in the eighth inning for the Cubs, who won their third straight.

Mike Montgomery (1-3) allowed three hits and two walks in six innings, striking out four. Twelve of his other 14 outs came on ground balls.

The left-hander started the season in the bullpen, but his last three appearances have been as a starter.

"I think it was just a great overall win for us, a great feeling all around," Montgomery said. "It felt like a well-played ballgame, the bullpen came in and did a great job shutting it down. It's a lot of fun when you can win like that."

Carl Edwards Jr. and Pedro Strop both allowed two baserunners apiece but pitched out of jams while each throwing an inning, and Justin Grimm had a perfect ninth.

The Padres had five hits but left eight runners stranded.

"I don't think it's really men in scoring position, I just think we have to be better offensively all the way across the board," Padres manager Andy Green said. "I think each guy has got to kind of look at themselves and realize how they're being pitched, continue to use their mind and continue to use their fight."

Addison Russell hit an RBI single in the fourth inning to make it 2-0. Pinch-hitter Albert Almora Jr. added an RBI double in the eighth.

Chacin struck out six batters in six innings, allowing two runs and five hits. Catcher Luis Torrens had two hits.

Twins 9, White Sox 7

Miguel Sano has taken to calling Kennys Vargas "Lil' Big Papi," a nod to retired Dominican slugger David Ortiz.

Vargas certainly looked the part on Tuesday night, albeit from the right side of the plate.

Vargas hit a 483-foot drive and Sano added another long homer to help the Minnesota Twins bounce back from a demoralizing sweep by beating the Chicago White Sox 9-7 on Tuesday night.

When he got to the dugout, "they tell me I'm a monster," Vargas said with a laugh.

The homers helped the Twins overcome a rough outing from Ervin Santana (9-4), who gave up six runs on 10 hits and struck out six in five innings. Brandon Kintzler pitched the ninth for his 18th save in 21 tries.

Jose Abreu went 4 for 5 with a home run and two doubles for the White Sox, and Avisail Garcia had a homer and two RBI. He leads the American League with a .339 batting average.

Derek Holland (5-7) allowed seven runs and nine hits in 2 2/3 innings for Chicago.

"It was a pretty embarrassing performance. I'm really upset about the whole thing, because I had the stuff coming out of the `pen," Holland said. "To go out to the game and let it slip up like that is just unacceptable."

The Twins won for just the 15th time in 39 games at Target Field, tied with the White Sox for fewest home wins in the American League. This one was much-needed after Cleveland took four straight at Target Field to sweep the Twins out of first place in the AL Central last weekend.

Sano got things started for the Twins with a two-run shot in the first inning, and Vargas' drive landed in the second deck in left-center to highlight a five-run third that put Minnesota up 7-4. Only Yankees rookie Aaron Judge (495 feet) and Milwaukee's Keon Broxton (489 feet) have hit longer home runs this season, according to MLB's Statcast.

The White Sox pulled to 8-7 on Abreu's solo homer in the sixth, but Garcia made two errors in right field in the eighth to give the Twins a little cushion.

Tuesday, June 20 Scoreboard

Baltimore 6, Cleveland 5

Los Angeles Angels 8, New York Yankees 3

St. Louis 8, Philadelphia 1 (F/11)

Washington 12, Miami 3

Tampa Bay 6, Cincinnati 5

San Francisco 6, Atlanta 3

Pittsburgh 7, Milwaukee 3

Texas 6, Toronto 1

Chicaog Cubs 4, San Diego 0

Minnesota 9, Chicago White Sox 7

Boston 8, Kansas City 3

Colorado 4, Arizona 3

Los Angeles Dodgers 12, New York Mets 0

Houston 8, Oakland 4

Seattle 5, Detroit 4 (F/10)

Wednesday, June 21 Schedule (All Times Central)

Washington at Miami, 11:10 a.m.

Cincinnati at Tampa Bay, 11:10 a.m.

Boston at Kansas City, 1:15 p.m.

San Diego at Chicago  Cubs, 1:20 p.m.

Cleveland at Baltimore, 6:05 p.m.

Los Angeles Angels at New York Yankees, 6:05 p.m.

St. Louis at Philadelphia, 6:05 p.m.

San Francisco at Atlanta, 6:35 p.m.

Toronto at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Milwaukee, 7:10 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Minnesota, 7:10 p.m.

Arizona at Colorado, 7:40 p.m.

New York Mets at Los Angeles Dodgers, 9 p.m.

Houston at Oakland, 9:05 p.m.

Detroit at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.