Cubs Preserve 5-4 Win, Cardinals Down Reds

By ESPN

After a nail-biting victory over the NL East leading Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon still cringed to consider what could've happened.

He almost found out after the Nationals scored four runs in the ninth before Wade Davis struck out big league batting leader Ryan Zimmerman with runners on second and third to blunt a comeback bid, and Cubs preserved a 5-4 victory in the opener of a four game series Monday night

"To play so well and not win that game, that would have been awful," said Maddon. "That would have been tough."

In jeopardy of being shut out for the first time this season, the Nationals' comeback began against Hector Rondon and continued when Davis became the Cubs' eighth pitcher of the game.

With Washington down 5-3, Bryce Harper's single and third hit of the game loaded the bases with two outs. Davis threw a wild pitch that scored a run before striking out a swinging Zimmerman, who's hitting .344. The final pitch bounced, and catcher Willson Contreras zipped a low throw to first baseman Anthony Rizzo to close out the victory.

"We pitched really well but arguably one of our best pitchers had the roughest night," Maddon said. "The add-on runs in the ninth inning were large once again."

Said Zimmerman: "He's been one of the best in the game for a while and he still is. I had one good pitch to hit, and usually that's all you get against guys like that."

Contreras hit a leadoff home run in his first career game-opening at-bat and Eddie Butler (4-2) worked five scoreless innings to keep the Cubs ahead.

Gio Gonzalez (7-2) allowed a run and two hits, striking out eight over six innings in his sixth start. Afterward, he was more excited about his offense's comeback.

"We were kicking (butt) in the ninth inning, giving them something to bite their nails about," he said. "We were fighting all the way until the end and showed that (we have) a stronger way of thinking from last year to this year."

Rizzo began the day in a 2-for-20 rut, so Maddon moved the big first baseman out of the leadoff spot and put another unlikely hitter there. It paid off immediately when Contreras hit his eighth homer, a drive about 10 rows deep into the seats in left.

Chicago made it 2-0 on Albert Amora Jr.'s squeeze bunt single in the eighth. The Cubs scored three more in the ninth, capped by Javier Baez's two-run double. The shortstop struck out three times before singling and scoring on Amora's squeeze.

"He came back with two knocks," Maddon said. "That's beautiful."

Cardinals 8, Reds 2

Randal Grichuk looks good since his return from Triple-A. So does the St. Louis lineup.

Grichuk homered for the second straight game and the Cardinals broke out the bats again for an 8-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday.

"I feel good with where I'm at mentally and I feel good with where I'm at mechanically with my swing," Grichuk said.

"It's one of those things, I think I'm more of a guy who kind of thrives off almost playing stupid -- just going up there and seeing ball, hit ball and not overthinking my swing and my stance and how I feel and just letting the body take over."

Grichuk, who was hitting .222 when he was demoted last month, is 4 for 10 with two homers, four RBI and three runs scored since his recall on Sunday. His two-run homer in the fourth inning was his sixth of the season.

The Cardinals avoided a three-game sweep with an 8-4 win over the Pirates on Sunday night. On Monday, a makeup from the April 29 contest that was postponed because of severe weather, they scored eight more runs on 13 hits.

Grichuk and Jedd Gyorko each had two hits, including a homer, and three RBI. Tommy Pham had two hits, walked twice, stole a base and scored three runs. Paul DeJong added three hits.

"They hit a lot of bad pitches and that's what good teams do," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "I just said the same thing about the Nationals. It's not a matter of having to consistently hit good pitches, it's taking the mistakes that you get and not missing them and not taking and not fouling them back, not hooking them down the line just foul there and putting it on the barrel."

St. Louis gave starter Michael Wacha (4-3) more than enough support.

Wacha, who began the day with an 8.17 ERA over his last seven starts, limited the Reds to one run on five hits in six innings. He struck out five and walked one.

"I thought he was great," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "He did a nice job establishing the bottom of the zone. I think we saw the kind of swing and misses that we were hoping for with the changeup. I do believe that curveball has become a much better pitch. He's using it to steal strikes. He's also using it to put guys away."

Brandon Finnegan (1-1) was activated off the disabled list after missing more than two months because of a shoulder problem. The lefty exited in the fourth with a strained left triceps, an injury he said was different than his previous issue.

Finnegan gave up three runs in the first inning. He allowed three hits and four walks overall.

Pham, starting in the leadoff spot for the first time this season, manufactured the first run. He drew a walk, tagged up and took second base on a routine flyout to left-center field, stole third and scored on a passed ball when Stephen Piscotty walked.

"That was great," Gyorko said. "I haven't seen something quite like that in a while and it wasn't on normal plays that you would see. Just great hustle plays and got us a run, got us on the board early and Michael took care of the rest."

Adam Duvall had a pair of sacrifice flies for the Reds.

Yankees 6, White Sox 5

Not much has come easy for the New York Yankees over the past two weeks. Not even the wins.

Jordan Montgomery matched his season high with seven solid innings and closer Aroldis Chapman shut down a ninth-inning rally just in time, lifting the Yankees over the Chicago White Sox 6-5 on Monday night.

New York led 6-1 entering the ninth, but Yankees reliever Chasen Shreve gave up a three-run homer to Tim Anderson and Chapman allowed an RBI double to Jose Abreu. Chapman retired Avisail Garcia and Todd Frazier to finish his eighth save and first since returning from the disabled list a week ago.

"The way things have been going, we'll take it right now," said Chase Headley, who had three hits and an RBI. "It's not always pretty, but we had to find a way to win."

Recently recalled outfielder Tyler Austin lined a solo homer and had a sacrifice fly for New York, which won for the third time in 13 games to keep pace with Boston atop the AL East.

"It was a big-time win for us," Austin said. "They tried to make a little comeback there in the ninth, but Chappy, as he always does, shut the door."

Yankees second baseman Starlin Castro returned to the starting lineup after getting a shot in his wrist Saturday, but strained his right hamstring running out a grounder in the third. He was replaced by Rob Refsnyder in bottom of the inning.

Manager Joe Girardi said Castro would get an MRI on Tuesday. He wouldn't speculate how long the infielder might be sidelined.

"When I tried to run, I was just feeling something tight," Castro said.

Austin Romine and Ronald Torreyes each drove in runs with sac flies.

Montgomery improved to 4-0 over his last five starts. The 6-foot-6 left-hander allowed five hits, struck out eight and walked one.

"We're really happy with what he's doing," Girardi said. "He usually gives us pretty good distance and continues to grow as pitcher."

Austin played in his third game this season since his recall from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Saturday.

Frazier hit a solo homer for the only run off Montgomery (6-4). New York took advantage of three Chicago errors to score four unearned runs off starter David Holmberg (1-2).

"Listen, I thought Holmy kept us in the ballgame," manager Rick Renteria said. "And today was not a very clean ballgame."

The Yankees activated outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury from the disabled list and put him in center field. Out since May 24 with a concussion, he had a single in five at-bats and scored twice.

Monday, June 26 Scoreboard

Arizona 6, Philadelphia 1

St. Louis 8, Cincinnati 2

Chicago Cubs 5, Washington 4

Boston 4, Minnesota 1

Cleveland 15, Texas 9

New York Yankees 6, Chicago White sox 5

San Francisco 9, Colorado 2

Los Angeles Angels 4, Los Angeles Dodgers 0

Tuesday, June 27 Schedule (All Times Central)

Chicago Cubs at Washington, 6:05 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Pittsburgh, 6:05 p.m.

Baltimore at Toronto, 6:07 p.m.

Minnesota at  Boston, 6:10 p.m.

Texas at Cleveland, 6:10 p.m.

Kansas City at Detroit, 6:10 p.m.

Milwaukee at Cincinnati, 6:10 p.m.

New York Mets at Miami, 6:10 p.m.

New York Yankees at Chicago White Sox, 7:10 p.m.

Oakland at Houston, 7:10 p.m.

St. Louis at Arizona, 8:40 p.m.

Philadelphia at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.

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

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

Colorado at San Francisco, 9:15 p.m.