Cubs On Roll, Mets Hand Cardinals Loss

By ESPN

The Cubs are on the roll that had been long expected from the defending World Series champions.

Manager Joe Maddon said he likes the momentum created by a season-best six straight wins and feels even better about the positive energy in his clubhouse.

Mike Montgomery hit his first career home run and allowed two hits and one run in six innings to lead streaking Chicago to an 8-2 win over the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday.

Javier Baez hit a three-run homer in the eighth for Chicago, which hasn't lost since the All-Star break. The Cubs completed a three-game sweep of the Braves.

"It's even beyond that," Maddon said when asked about the winning streak. "It's just how we're starting to feel about ourselves. Yeah, the momentum is part of it but we've had this energy since the beginning of the second half in Baltimore."

The mood might have been spoiled if not for an encouraging report on Kris Bryant, the Cubs' 2016 NL MVP who left the game with a sprained left little finger in the first inning.

"I don't have any final conclusions but I think we really kind of dodged the bullet right there," Maddon said.

The team said X-rays were negative and Bryant is day to day.

Tommy La Stella, who replaced Bryant, also homered and Addison Russell drove in two runs with four hits, including two doubles.

The Cubs came to Atlanta only one-half game ahead of the Braves in the NL wild-card standings. Now they're bearing down on NL Central-leading Milwaukee.

"That's not a team that's going to stay dormant," Braves manager Brian Snitker said. "They're too good for that."

The Braves loaded the bases with three singles off Koji Uehara in the eighth. After Pedro Strop replaced Uehara, Matt Kemp grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Montgomery (2-6) earned his first win since June 20. The only run he allowed came on a sixth-inning leadoff homer by Ender Inciarte . It was Montgomery's best start since throwing six scoreless innings in a 4-0 win over San Diego on June 20.

Tyler Flowers led off the seventh with a homer off Justin Grimm.

Montgomery reached the second level of the right-field seats with his homer off R.A. Dickey (6-6) in the fifth inning. After the game, he found the home run ball had been left in his locker.

"The first homer obviously is pretty exciting," Montgomery said. "I had a bunch of family here so to do it in front of them was a lot of fun."

Bryant's injury scare threatened to spoil the Cubs' win.

After hitting a double to center field off Dickey, Bryant tried to advance to third on a pitch in the dirt. He slid head-first and was thrown out by Flowers. Bryant immediately looked at his left hand while still on the ground and when he rose to his feet.

Mets 7, Cardinals 3

With the non-waiver trade deadline approaching, Jacob deGrom's name has been tied to playoff contenders in both leagues.

For now, the hard-throwing right-hander is doing his best to help the scuffling Mets get back into the playoff race.

Staked to an early lead on Wednesday, deGrom (11-3) pitched into the seventh inning and won his career-best seventh straight start as the Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-3.

"I guess it's a good thing if other teams want you," said deGrom, who has a 1.51 ERA over those seven wins. "But like I said, I got a job to do here and that's my main focus right now."

DeGrom, 29, has been among the Mets' few bright spots in a season that quickly went sour during the first three months. He could be traded along with a few other players if management gets a tempting offer.

"It's a long season. Yeah, it's been a rough year. We've played some ugly games, but everybody in baseball does that," New York manager Terry Collins said. "What I am trying to do is make sure that we don't get down, that we keep the spirits up. They compete. They come every day to the park wanting to play and play hard."

A night after being shut out by St. Louis' Michael Wacha, New York jumped on Mike Leake (6-8) for seven runs in the first two innings and cruised from there behind deGrom to snap a three-game losing streak.

DeGrom settled down after a 25-pitch first inning, allowing seven hits and striking out three. He was pulled with two outs in the seventh after Luke Voit's double scored Greg Garcia for the Cardinals' first run.

The Mets sent eight batters to the plate in the first inning and strung together three straight run-scoring hits with two outs, capped by Wilmer Flores' RBI single.

The Mets added four more runs off of Leake in the second, only one of them earned. Third baseman Jedd Gyorko's throw sailed into right field when second baseman Kolten Wong and shortstop Paul DeJong convened at the bag on what could have been a double-play grounder by Asdrubal Cabrera. Jay Bruce followed with an RBI single and Yoenis Cespedes doubled to right to make it 5-0.

"Saw Kolten was way over with the lefty and I just went to the bag, but Kolten is pretty quick," DeJong said. "Just a learning curve, I guess, playing up the middle playing with him."

Jose Reyes drove in two more runs with a single to center, and Leake, who came in with the sixth-best ERA in the National League, was pulled after two innings.

In the eighth, St. Louis loaded the bases with two outs and Magneuris Sierra drove in two runs with a single off Jerry Blevins. Out of pinch hitters, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny sent pitcher Adam Wainwright to plate, and he drew a walk to chase Blevins.

Addison Reed struck out Voit to end the threat and retired the Cardinals in the ninth for his 15th save in 17 chances.

"Luke took a couple nice swings. Great at-bat by Wainwright to get us there and couple other guys doing the same thing," Matheny said. "We had a chance. Unfortunately it got away."

Dodgers 9, White Sox 1

While the Chicago White Sox are looking to the future as their top prospect made his debut with the club, the Los Angeles Dodgers are just fine in the present.

The MLB-best Dodgers slugged their way to a 9-1 victory Wednesday night in a rain-shortened game, winning their 11th straight and spoiling the White Sox debut of Yoan Moncada.

Kike Hernandez homered in his first two at-bats, breaking out of a 1-for-23 slump and helping the Dodgers to their 31st victory in 35 games. The game was called in the top of the eighth inning after a 37-minute delay.

"The confidence that we have in our group that we're going to win a game on a particular night is real," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "The talent in the room is real, the confidence that we have in each other is real. Now, it's just going out there and doing it.

"You can talk about expecting to win, but you've got to do it to really believe in it, and we're doing it."

Hernandez had solo home runs in the second and fourth innings, his second career multi-homer game. His approach to breaking out was simple.

"I told myself to swing at strikes and I did," Hernandez said. "We're trying to ride it out as long as possible, but we feel like we're the team to beat."

Chicago starter Carlos Rodon (1-3) allowed home runs to his first batter, as Chris Taylor led the game off with one, and his last, as Corey Seager's two-run homer in the fourth chased him.

Moncada, a second baseman acquired in December as the main piece in a trade with Boston for ace Chris Sale, batted sixth and was hitless in two at-bats. He drew a walk in his first plate appearance for the White Sox, then grounded out in the fourth inning and flied out in the sixth.

"I was excited with the way the fans treated me and how they were cheering for me," Moncada said through a translator. "I felt good. I executed my plan. I didn't get any base hits, but I hit the ball hard."

The White Sox sold about 5,000 tickets Wednesday partly in response to Moncada's call-up from Triple-A Charlotte, according to the team. The fans hung on every pitch of his first plate appearance, where he worked an 0-2 count for a nine-pitch walk.

"He's being welcomed by a large city that is looking forward to having him here for a long time and being a contribution to this organization, so it's a good thing," White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. "Once the dust settles a little bit, he gets his feet under him and is just playing the game of baseball, he'll take advantage of it, kind of embrace it, kind of stay on an even keel and move on."

After Taylor's home run, Melky Cabrera answered with a solo shot in the bottom of the first to tie the score.

Rodon allowed three walks and struck out four.

Kenta Maeda (8-4) allowed one run and five hits in five innings, striking out three. Reliever Ross Stribling threw two scoreless innings, retiring the final six batters he faced.

Three straight doubles by Yaisiel Puig, Trayce Thompson and Taylor and RBI singles from Seager and Justin Turner in the four-run sixth inning closed the scoring for the Dodgers, who have won 14 of 15 games.

Wednesday, June 19 Scoreboard

Chicago Cubs 8, Atlanta 2

Philadelphia 10, Miami 3

Minnesota 6, New York Yankees 1

Seattle 4, Houston 1

Colorado 18, San Diego 4

Oakland 7, Tampa Bay 2

San Francisco 5, Cleveland 4

New York Mets 7, St. Louis 3

Baltimore 10, Texas 2

Pittsburgh 3, Milwaukee 2 (F/10)

Boston 5, Toronto 1

Cincinnati 4, Arizona 3 (F/11)

Los Angeles Dodgers 9, Chicago White Sox 1 (F/8)

Kansas City 4, Detroit 3

Los Angeles Angels 7, Washington 0

Thursday, July 20 Schedule (All Times Central)

St. Louis at New York Mets, 11:10 a.m.

Arizona at  Cincinnati, 11:35 a.m.

Milwaukee at PIttsburgh, 11:35 a.m.

Toronto at Boston, 12:35 p.m.

Texas at Baltimore, 6:05 p.m.

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

New York Yankees at Seattle, 9:30 p.m.

Atlanta at Los Angeles Dodgers, 9;10 p.m.

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

Friday, July 21 Schedule (All Times Central)

St. Louis at Chicago Cubs, 1:20 p.m.

Houston at Baltimore, 6:05 p.m.

Milwaukee at Philadelphia, 6:05 p.m.

Toronto at Cleveland, 6:10 p.m.

Miami at Cincinnati, 6:10 p.m.

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

Texas at Tampa  Bay, 6:10 p.m.

Detroit at Minnesota, 7:10 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Colorado, 7:40 p.m.

Washington at Arizona, 8:40 p.m.

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

New York Yankees at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.

Atlanta at Los Angeles Dodgers, 9;10 p.m.

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

Saturday, July 22 Schedule (All Times Central)

St. Louis at Chicago Cubs, 3:05 p.m.

San Diego at San Francisco, 3:05 p.m.

Houston at Baltimore, 6:05 p.m.

Milwaukee at Philadelphia, 6:05 p.m.

Toronto at Cleveland, 6:10 p.m.

Detroit at Minnesota, 6:10 p.m.

Miami at Cincinnati, 6:10 p.m.

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

Texas at Tampa Bay, 6:10 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Kansas City, 6:15 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Colorado, 7:10 p.m.

Washington at Arizona, 7:10 p.m.

Boston at Los Angeles Angels, 8:07 p.m.

New York Yankees at Seattle, 8:10 p.m.

Atlanta at Los Angeles Dodgers, 8:10 p.m.

Sunday, July 23 Schedule (All Times Central)

Toronto at Cleveland, 12:10 p.m.

Miami at Cincinnati, 12:10 p.m.

Oakland at New York Mets, 12:10 p.m.

Texas at Tampa Bay, 12:10 p.m.

Houston at Baltimore, 12:35 p.m.

Milwaukee at Philadelphia, 12:35 p.m.

Detroit at Minnesota, 1:10 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Kansas City, 1:15 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Colorado, 2:10 p.m.

Boston at Los Angeles Angels, 2:37 p.m.

San Diego at San Francisco, 3:05 p.m.

New York Yankees at Seattle, 3:10 p.m.

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

Washington at Arizona, 3:10 p.m.

St. Louis at Chicago Cubs, 7 p.m.