Cubs Beat Cardinals, Move Into Tie For First

By ESPN

Willson Contreras yelled as he rounded first base and the ball landed in the bleachers at Wrigley Field.

The Chicago Cubs are having fun again, led by their exuberant catcher.

Contreras hit a tiebreaking two-run homer, handing another victory to Jose Quintana, and the Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-3 on Sunday night to move into a virtual tie for first in the NL Central.

Kyle Schwarber also connected as the Cubs won for the eighth time in nine games since the All-Star break. The World Series champions improved to 51-46, just a few percentage points ahead of Milwaukee after the Brewers (53-48) lost 6-3 at Philadelphia.

"Starting the second half with this kind of energy feels good," Contreras said.

With one out and Kris Bryant aboard after a leadoff double in the sixth, Contreras drove a 3-1 pitch from Michael Wacha into the bleachers in left-center for his third homer in his last four games and No. 15 on the year.

The 25-year-old Contreras also threw out Yadier Molina trying to steal second ahead of Paul DeJong's solo homer in the fourth. He is batting .339 (21 for 62) in July.

"He's doing everything," manager Joe Maddon said . "He's hitting fourth, he's catching, he's handling a really good pitching staff, he's throwing people out, he's blocking the ball really well and he's hitting homers."

Randal Grichuk hit a two-run homer for the Cardinals, who closed out a 4-6 road trip with their fourth loss in five games. Paul DeJong also went deep.

Coming off his first career shutout, Wacha (7-4) was charged with five runs and six hits in six innings in his first loss since May 30. The right-hander was 4-0 with a 1.01 ERA in his previous four starts, including a three-hitter in a 5-0 victory against the Mets on Tuesday.

"I fell behind a couple of guys and didn't make a pitch on a few guys when I needed to," Wacha said. "That pretty much cost us."

Quintana (6-8) struck out seven in six innings in his first home start since he was acquired in a blockbuster trade with the White Sox on July 13. He pitched seven sparkling innings in an 8-0 victory at Baltimore in his Cubs debut last Sunday.

The veteran left-hander wasn't nearly as sharp this time around, but he was good enough. He shook off some early excitement and allowed three runs and five hits while improving to 3-0 in three career starts against St. Louis.

"Try to be focused inning by inning and, like I said, get my team in good position for a W," he said.

After Contreras went deep, the Cubs' bullpen took over. Hector Rondon and Carl Edwards Jr. each got three outs before Wade Davis finished for his 20th save in 20 opportunities, breaking the club's single-season record for most consecutive saves.

The Cardinals pulled Matt Carpenter in the second inning with right quad tightness, but the first baseman said he doesn't think it's serious. Carpenter reached on an error in the first and was thrown out at home when he tried to score on Jedd Gyorko's two-out double to left-center.

"I hope to be in there tomorrow," Carpenter said.

Royals 5, White Sox 4

The Royals had four walk-off wins during a homestand for the first time since April 2000.

Brandon Moss hit a game-ending double off Tyler Clippard that lifted Kansas City over the White Sox 5-4 Sunday, extending Chicago's longest losing streak in four years to nine games.

Whit Merrifield, Jorge Bonifacio and Eric Hosmer hit consecutive home runs off Derek Holland in the fourth inning for a 3-0 lead, and Merrifield hit another solo shot in the eighth off Dan Jennings to tie the score at 4.

Mike Moustakas singled off Gregory Infante (0-1) leading off the ninth and pinch-runner Lorenzo Cain advanced when Infante bounced a slider to Alcides Escobar for a wild pitch. Infante hit Escobar on the left hand, Clippard relieved in his second appearance since he was acquired from the New York Yankees, and Moss doubled.

"I got to two strikes and just tried to battle through it, hope he left something up that I could hit," Moss said. "Before the last couple of weeks, I'd get to two strikes and not to say you'd think it was over, but that you probably missed your chance. But I've been seeing the ball a lot better, and better balance at the plate, so it's not a panic anymore."

Moss is 8 for 19 during a five-game hitting streak that coincides with the winning streak. After hitting .156 in June, Moss is batting .326 with four home runs, five doubles and nine RBI in July.

"We all know what he can do," Merrifield said. "He was just going through a funk. When he's going well, it's an unbelievable lift to this offense."

Kelvin Herrera (3-2) struck out two in a perfect ninth, extending the scoreless streak by the Royals bullpen to 18 innings over five games. Kansas City has won five straight following a skid of seven losses in eight games and went 6-4 on its homestand.

Chicago had not lost nine in a row since Aug. 30-Sept. 7, 2013.

Holland allowed three runs, four hits and three walks in 4 2/3 innings, throwing 87 pitches. He is 1-6 in his past 10 starts,

"Just bad execution," Holland said.

Kansas City had not hit three straight homers since Tony Graffanino, Angel Berroa and Doug Mientkiewicz against Detroit's Mike Maroth on May 25, 2006, a game the Royals lost 13-8.

Royals starter Travis Wood gave up four runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings. He has an 8.31 ERA in three starts this season and is winless as a starter in eight appearances since April 28, 2015.

Adam Engel hit a three-run double in the fourth and scored on Jose Abreu's double for a 4-3 lead.

Sunday, July 23 Scoreboard

Cleveland 8, Toronto 1

Cincinnati 6, Miami 3

Oakland 3, New York Mets 2

Texas 6, Tampa Bay 5

Baltimore 9, Houston 7

Philadelphia 6, Milwaukee 3

Detroit 9, Minnesota 6

Kansas City 5, Chicago White Sox 4

Colorado 13, Pittsburgh 3

Los Angeles Angels 3, Boston 2

San Diego 5, San Francisco 2

New York Yankees 6, Seattle 4

Los Angeles Dodgers 5, Atlanta 4 (F/10)

Washington 6, Arizona 2

Chicago Cubs 5, St. Louis 3

Monday, July 24 Schedule (All Times Central)

Chicago White Sox at Chicago Cubs, 1:20 p.m.

Houston at Philadelphia, 6:05 p.m.

Oakland at Toronto, 6:07 p.m.

Cincinnati at Cleveland, 6:10 p.m.

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

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

Colorado at St. Louis, 7 p.m.

Miami at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

Atlanta at Arizona, 8:40 p.m.

Boston at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.

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

New York Mets at San Diego, 9:10 p.m.

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