Schwarber Homers Twice In Cubs' Win, D'backs Down Cardinals

By ESPN

Kyle Schwarber got off to a terrible start this year with the Chicago Cubs. He was sent down to Triple-A Iowa last month and then recalled after a short stint in the minors.

After months of work with a couple of different hitting coaches, it looks as if he might be coming around at the plate.

Schwarber homered twice and drove in four runs, and the rolling Cubs beat the Chicago White Sox 6-3 on Thursday night for their third consecutive victory.

"It's all paying off," he said. "Like I said, I can't be result-based. I want to be process-based still, and today was a good day."

Anthony Rizzo also connected and Jon Lester pitched seven effective innings as the Cubs improved to 11-2 since the All-Star break. The NL Central leaders also increased their advantage over the second-place Brewers to 1 1/2 games ahead of their big series this weekend in Milwaukee.

Lester (8-6) allowed two runs and four hits in his third straight win since he got just two outs in the shortest start of his career on July 9 against Pittsburgh. The starting pitchers for the Cubs are 10-0 with a 2.50 ERA in the last 13 games.

"We got a chain going," Lester said. "We're pitching well. We're playing well on all aspects of the game. We're doing everything pretty solid right now."

Jose Abreu homered twice and Willy Garcia also went deep for the lowly White Sox, who have lost seven in a row at home for the first time since 2011 and 12 of 13 overall. Mike Pelfrey (3-8) was tagged for five runs and six hits in five-plus innings.

"I'd like to go a lot deeper," Pelfrey said. "It's kind of been a concern all year. Tonight I felt like I could've gone deeper being at 75 pitches, but I wasn't necessarily getting guys out to do my part."

After winning 3-1 at Wrigley Field on Monday, the White Sox dropped three in a row by a combined score of 21-8. The Cubs won the season series for the first time since they went 4-0 against the White Sox in 2013.

Garcia's leadoff drive in the third put the White Sox in front, but the Cubs went ahead to stay with three in the fourth.

Rizzo led off with a drive to right-center for his 24th homer. Willson Contreras then walked and Schwarber belted an opposite-field shot to left for his 16th of the season.

Schwarber added a run-scoring triple in the sixth against David Holmberg and a solo drive off Aaron Bummer in the eighth for his fourth career multihomer game. He is batting .333 (8 for 24) with three homers and six RBI in his last eight games.

"Right now the game's slowing down again. His confidence is building," manager Joe Maddon said. "As his confidence builds, you're going to see less swings and misses on his pitch, or less fouling off of his pitch. It was really nice to see tonight."

Rizzo and Albert Almora Jr. each had two hits for the Cubs, who improved to 8-7 in interleague play after going 15-5 against the American League last year. Contreras walked twice and scored two runs, continuing an impressive July for the young catcher.

Diamondbacks 4, Cardinals 0

Arizona outfielder J.D. Martinez is beginning to endear himself to the Diamondbacks' fan base.

Martinez hit a grand slam and Zack Godley pitched seven innings as the Diamondbacks beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-0 on Thursday night.

The Diamondbacks won their third game out of four, improved to 59-43 and snapped the Cardinals' three-game winning streak.

Godley (4-4) reversed a trend of two poor outings, in which he allowed 10 earned runs in 11 2/3 innings, with the best performance of his 14-start career. Only three Cardinals advanced into scoring position as Godley struck out seven.

"My defense, they played unbelievably behind me," Godley said. "A lot of ground balls, a lot of tough plays to make and they made all of them."

Archie Bradley and Fernando Rodney each pitched an inning in relief for the Diamondbacks, who had their first shutout since May 30 at Pittsburgh.

Martinez's blast, his fourth homer as a Diamondback in four days and 20th overall, gave Arizona a 4-0 lead in the fourth inning. It was the fourth grand slam of his career for Martinez, who was acquired from the Detroit Tigers on July 18.

"That's really and truly the one big swing of the game right there," Godley said. "He (Cardinals starter Luke Weaver) gave up a single and a couple of walks and could have worked out of it and then that one big swing puts us up by four."

Martinez, after starting his stint with the Diamondbacks in a 2-for-12 funk, is 3 for his last 8 with three home runs and eight RBI during that stretch.

With a limited scouting report on Weaver, the Diamondbacks had to adjust quickly.

"They started to share some information as the game progressed and they made some adjustments," Diamondbacks manger Torey Lovullo said. "These guys do a good job of relying on one another, sharing with one another and J.D. hit a ball really really well."

Paul Goldschmidt had two singles, walked and scored on the grand slam.

With the loss the Cardinals, who were shut out for the first time since May 26 at Colorado, missed the opportunity to reach the .500 mark for the first time since June 2. St. Louis fell to 50-52.

Weaver (0-1), who was recalled from Triple-A Memphis after Adam Wainwright (back) was placed on the disabled list, was burned by two walks immediately in front of the Martinez grand slam, which were the only runs he gave up in his five innings.

"They got the right hitter there in that moment and I just elevated it a little too high and he got a good swing on it," Weaver said.

Paul DeJong was the only Cardinal to reach safely more than once, with two singles and a walk. DeJong extended his hitting streak to seven games and is hitting .379 (11 for 29) with four homers and seven RBI during that span.

Thursday, July 27  Scoreboard

Washington 15, Milwaukee 2

Cleveland 2, Los Angeles Angels 1

Toronto 8, Oakland 4 (F/10)

New York Yankees 6, Tampa Bay 5 (F/11)

Miami 4, Cincinnati 1

Chicago Cubs 6, Chicago White Sox 3

Arizona 4, St. Louis 0

San Diego 7, New York Mets 5