Wainwright Sends Cards To Win, Cubs Edge Braves

By ESPN

Just when it seemed the St. Louis Cardinals were getting themselves into trouble, Brett Cecil made one big pitch and the game was over.

Paul DeJong homered against the New York Mets for the fourth straight contest and Adam Wainwright hit an RBI double while winning his fourth consecutive start, sending St. Louis to a 6-3 victory Monday night.

With runners at the corners in the bottom of the ninth inning, slugger Yoenis Cespedes grounded into a game-ending double play on a 3-0 delivery from Cecil.

"That was like Christmas came early, almost," Wainwright said. "If there's anybody in your lineup you want doing that, he's the guy. So, we were ready for him to swing and luckily Brett made a good pitch."

Tommy Pham capped a six-run sixth with a three-run homer on Hansel Robles' second pitch since returning from the minors. Four relievers combined to throw 3 1/3 spotless innings for St. Louis, which took the opener of a four-game series between losing teams that expected much better this season.

New York (41-49) has dropped seven of 10.

"You certainly can't go on a run if you're not going to get consistent pitching," Mets manager Terry Collins said.

Michael Conforto and Lucas Duda homered off Wainwright (11-5), who beat scuffling starter Zack Wheeler (3-7) for the second time in 10 days.

Wainwright allowed two earned runs and was removed in the sixth. Moments earlier, Jose Reyes dashed all the way around to score on his own double when rookie right fielder Magneuris Sierra made two errors on the play -- booting the ball in the alley before overthrowing third base.

But the Mets managed only two more hits, and Cecil got three outs for his first save since June 19, 2015, with Toronto. The left-hander squandered a one-run lead in the ninth inning of Sunday's 4-3 loss at Pittsburgh.

Conforto snapped a scoreless tie with a leadoff homer in the fifth, but Wheeler quickly faltered in losing his fifth straight decision. The right-hander escaped the fifth unscathed after issuing three two-out walks in a row, but couldn't do the same in the sixth.

"I felt comfortable. I felt strong. I don't know what happened," Wheeler said. "I just tried to slow myself down a little bit and I think I slowed myself down a little too much."

Slow-footed Yadier Molina reached on a rare infield single with a roller toward shortstop leading off the sixth. DeJong then connected on a full-count fastball from Wheeler to put the Cardinals ahead.

The rookie shortstop was 9 for 12 with seven extra-base hits and a homer in each game as the Cardinals took two of three against the Mets in St. Louis from July 7-9. He went 2 for 2 with a homer and a double off Wheeler in the middle game of the series.

No other Cardinals player has ever homered in four consecutive games against the Mets.

"I have to say it's chance, honestly. Just getting good pitches to hit," DeJong said.

Kolten Wong singled and, one out later, Wainwright doubled to right-center to make it 3-1. He has 10 RBI this season, most among major league pitchers, after racking up 18 last year.

"We know Waino can hit. You guys know that, too," DeJong said.

Matt Carpenter walked against Josh Edgin before Pham homered into the second deck in left-center off Robles, demoted to Triple-A on May 23 after serving up a string of home runs.

"I would say the key to that inning was our toughness," Pham said.

Cubs 4, Braves 3

Wade Davis has converted each of his 18 saves with the Cubs this year.

The ninth inning against the Braves was proof they haven't all been easy.

Jon Lester bounced back from the shortest start of his career by allowing only one run in seven innings and Chicago stopped Atlanta's ninth-inning comeback to give the Cubs a 4-3 win over the Braves on Monday night.

The Cubs led 4-1 before Atlanta scored two runs in the ninth off Davis. The game ended with the bases loaded.

"I've probably had two or three this year where I just don't know where anything is going," Davis said. "With the outcome that the team wins, I'm not even upset.

Davis allowed one-out singles to Brandon Phillips and Freddie Freeman before Phillips scored from third on a wild pitch. Matt Kemp followed with a run-scoring single before pinch-runner Lane Adams stole second and moved to third on Tyler Flowers' fly ball to the warning track in center field.

Following an intentional walk to pinch-hitter Matt Adams, pinch-runner Dansby Swanson stole second, leaving runners on second and third. Davis walked Sean Rodriguez, playing in his first game of the season, to load the bases.

Johan Camargo's fly ball to shallow left ended the game.

Flowers said the ninth "was fun -- and it was almost real fun."

It was a survival test for Davis.

"I was just happy I could make one or two pitches and get out of it," Davis said.

Davis has not blown a save in 24 consecutive chances, going back to September 2016 with Kansas City.

Ben Zobrist gave Chicago a 2-1 lead with a two-run single in the fifth. Anthony Rizzo hit his 23rd homer to center in the seventh, and Addison Russell drove in Javier Baez with a pinch-hit double in the eighth.

Lester (6-6) allowed one run in his first win since June 24. He added some offensive highlights to his big night. He hit a third-inning double and stole second -- the first of his career -- following a sixth-inning walk.

Lester returned to his winning form after allowing 10 runs, four earned, in two-thirds of an inning in a 14-3 loss to Pittsburgh on July 9.

The Cubs, coming off a sweep of Baltimore, have won four straight and trail first-place Milwaukee by 3 1/2 games in the NL Central. Chicago began the night only one-half game ahead of the Braves in the NL wild-card race.

Teheran (7-7) allowed two runs and five hits and four walks in six innings, leaving him 1-7 in 10 home starts. He is 6-0 on the road.

Phillips' single up the middle drove in Ender Inciarte, who stole third, in the third.

Kyle Schwarber ended the sixth inning by catching Freeman's fly ball in foul territory before tumbling over the short wall on the left field line.

Monday, July 17 Scoreboard

Washington 6, Cincinnati 1

Toronto 4, Boston 3

Baltimore 3, Texas 1

Pittsburgh 4, Milwaukee 2

St. Louis 6, New York Mets 3

Miami 6, Philadelphia 5 (F/10)

Chicago Cubs 4, Atlanta 3

Minnesota 4, New York Yankees 2

Seattle 9, Houston 7 (F/10)

Detroit 10, Kansas City 2

Colorado 9, San Diego 6

Tampa Bay 3, Oakland 2

Cleveland 5, San Francisco 3

Tuesday, July 18 Schedule (All Times Central)

Texas at Baltimore, 6:05 p.m.

Milwaukee at Pittsburgh, 6:05 p.m.

Toronto at Boston, 6:10 p.m.

Arizona at Cincinnati, 6:10 p.m.

St. Louis at New York Mets, 6:10 p.m.

Philadelphia at Miami, 6:10 p.m.

Chicago Cubs at Atlanta, 6:35 p.m.

New York Yankees at Minnesota, 7 p.m.

Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicago White Sox, 7:10 p.m.

Seattle at Houston, 7:10 p.m.

Detroit at Kansas City, 7:15 p.m.

San Diego at Colorado, 7:40 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Oakland, 9:05 p.m.

Washington at Los Angeles Angels, 9:07 p.m.

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