Russell Leads Cubs Over Marlins, Phillies Beat Cardinals

By ESPN

 Addison Russell has found a groove after a slow start.

Russell tied a career high with four hits, including a home run, to pace the Chicago Cubs to an 11-1 victory over the Miami Marlins on Thursday night.

"Addison looks really comfortable," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said.

Russell drove in two and also had two doubles, giving him three extra-base hits in a game for the first time in his career. He is hitting .382 (13 for 34) with four home runs and 10 RBI in his last 10 games. He batted .207 with three homers in 55 games prior to this stretch.

"I feel fine, I feel OK," Russell said. "I feel like I'm sticking to my approach, seeing the ball well, and just most importantly having good ABs."

Kris Bryant had a three-run homer, Willson Contreras added a two-run shot and Ian Happ also had four hits and drove in a pair for the Cubs, who have won four of five.

"It was really good to see," Russell said. "The bats came alive tonight."

Jake Arrieta (7-5) pitched seven innings, allowing one run and six hits. He struck out three and did not walk a batter over 82 pitches.

"I had low energy today, but that made me stay within myself and maintain a good delivery and focus on executing a good sinker down in the strike zone and our defense was phenomenal tonight," Arrieta said.

Arrieta also picked up two of the Cubs' 16 hits.

"He pitched well tonight and he got two knocks, a Silver Slugger guy," Russell said. "He's quite a talent."

It was the first of an 11-game, 11-day trip for the Cubs, who entered having won six of their previous 22 road games.

"I don't want to get too crazy over one game, but it was a nice game," Maddon said.

Jeff Locke (0-3) allowed five runs and seven hits in four innings for the Marlins.

"It's just a constant struggle so far, finishing off innings," Locke said. "There's three outs to an inning, not just two. That's what we've had a hard time with. ... That's where our hiccups been now. That needs to change."

Arrieta knocked in the Cubs' first run with an infield hit in the second and Mark Zagunis followed with a groundout scoring another run in his first major league at-bat after being called up from Triple-A Iowa in place of struggling slugger Kyle Schwarber.

Marcell Ozuna hit his 20th home run for the Marlins to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Bryant's three-run shot, his 16th, extended the Cubs' lead to 5-1 in the fourth.

"The three-run homer was large," Maddon said.

Russell's solo shot, his seventh, and Contreras's two-run homer, also his seventh, pushed the lead to 8-1.

"Ozuna's homer gets us to 2-1 and you feel like we've got a game here," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "... Then we didn't seem to be able to stop them the rest of the day."

Russell had an RBI double in the eighth, and Happ followed with a two-run double to cap the scoring.

The Cubs have sent World Series hero Kyle Schwarber down to Triple-A Iowa. Schwarber was batting .171 with a .295 on-base percentage.

Phillies 5, Cardinals 1

 Aaron Nola felt like himself again.

Nola pitched shutout ball into the eighth inning, Freddy Galvis and Tommy Joseph homered, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 Thursday to stop a five-game losing streak.

Nola (4-5) allowed one run, four hits and two walks in 7 1/3 innings and struck out eight.

"I know what I'm capable of and know what I can do," Nola said. "Today was me. I felt confident in all of my pitches."

The 24-year-old right-hander had a promising start to his career, but he did not pitch after July 20 last season because of right elbow trouble. He has been inconsistent this season.

"That looked like the old Nola, and that was great to see," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "That's the Nola we have come to love. He was outstanding, hitting paint on both sides."

Joseph drove in three runs as Philadelphia, a major league-worst 23-48, won for just the second time in 15 games.

"Positive vibes, right?" Joseph said. "You have to keep your heads up. It's a long season. It's easy to get lost in the record, but we have the opportunity to make a personal difference and team difference every day."

Paul DeJong homered on a hanging curveball leading off the eighth, pulling the Cardinals to 3-1, and Matt Carpenter walked with one out. Pat Neshek relieved and got Tommy Pham to ground into an inning-ending double play, and Luis Garcia followed with a perfect ninth.

Carlos Martinez (6-6) gave up three runs -- two earned -- and six hits with four strikeouts in six innings. The Cardinals, who made three errors, had won their previous five games against the Phillies.

"He was making pitches on the corners, getting a little help early and a lot of early outs so that kept hit pitch count down," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of Nola. "His breaking ball was good."

Galvis homered in the first and Joseph leading off the fifth. With two on and two outs, Andres Blanco scored from second on an errant flip to second by shortstop Aledmys Diaz after his fine grab of Galvis' liner up the middle.

Left fielder Jose Martinez dropped Odubel Herrera's fly ball in the eighth for a two-base error, and Joseph followed with a two-run, two-out single.

White Sox 9, Twins 0

Playing cards. Kicking soccer balls. Dancing to the music. Watching movies. Just hanging out with the guys.

Whatever the Chicago White Sox needed to pass the time with the uncooperative weather was well worth the wait.

Jose Abreu and Todd Frazier each hit two-run homers in the first inning, Jose Quintana cruised behind the extra support, and the White Sox beat Minnesota 9-0 on Thursday after a rain-delayed start of 4 hours, 50 minutes that was the longest in Twins history.

"They've been able to respond well," White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. "That's just part of who they are."

Frazier first described the experience as "miserable." Then he raved about strong team chemistry and a loose clubhouse atmosphere that aided the wait.

"We're having a good time," Frazier said. "We enjoy each other's company."

Quintana (4-8) departed with two outs in the seventh inning after throwing 113 pitches. He scattered just five singles and struck out nine without a walk for his second consecutive victory. To stay relaxed, Quintana watched "Fast and Furious 7" and "Get Out" on his tablet, giving two thumbs up to the former but not the latter.

"Too much time on the iPad. I may be bored, so I wanted the game to start quick," he said. "It's a little hard, but we don't have control with that. You just stay focused on the game and be ready."

The White Sox have scored 20 runs in the past two turns for Quintana, whose run-support average of 3.91 per game since 2012 entering the afternoon was the third lowest in the major leagues among active pitchers. That included no runs in four of his first seven starts this year.

Beginning to find his rhythm for a White Sox rotation that badly needs some stability, Quintana has a 2.25 ERA in four starts this month. His changeup was the key to this one, helping him strike Twins slugger Miguel Sano out three times.

"We had trouble picking it up all day, and the curveball was there, too," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "He did what a veteran, polished starter will do."

Unlike rookie Nik Turley (0-2), who recorded only two outs while giving up six hits and five runs before the first of five Twins relievers -- including backup catcher Chris Gimenez's sixth appearance of the season -- was summoned. The White Sox had seven runs before the Twins even got eight outs.

Matt Davidson had three hits with a home run , and Adam Engel had four hits and the first two RBIs of his career.

Thursday, June 22 Scoreboard

Philadelphia 5, St. Louis 1

Chicago White Sox 9,  Minnesota 0

Texas 11, Toronto 4

Milwaukee 4, Pittsburgh 2

Arizona 10,  Colorado 3

Houston 12, Oakland 9

Cleveland 6, Baltimore 3

Los Angeles Angels 10, New York Yankees 5

Chicago Cubs 11, Miami 1

Atlanta 12,  San Francisco 11

Seattle 9, Detroit 6

Los Angeles Dodgers 6, New York Mets 3