Cardinals, Cubs, White Sox Capture Victories

By ESPN

Lance Lynn made it clear he wants to stay in St. Louis. With his words -- and his performance.

The subject of numerous trade rumors, Lynn threw six strong innings and Jose Martinez homered and drove in three runs as the Cardinals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-2 Sunday for their fifth win in seven games.

Lynn (9-6) gave up two runs and four hits. He has allowed no more than two earned runs in each of his last six starts.

"I told you guys all along, I'm not going anywhere," Lynn said. "So, I'm not worried about anything. What's there to worry about? I don't control it."

Lynn retired the last eight batters he faced in improving to 5-0 lifetime against Arizona.

St. Louis manager Mike Matheny was impressed with Lynn's ability to push the speculation aside.

"I think you have to attribute that to his toughness," Matheny said. "You know he's been around a little while, and he's been around other people who have been through it."

Lynn recorded his 70th career victory.

"He's got a ton of experience, nothing seems to faze him," Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said.

Trevor Rosenthal struck out the side in the ninth to pick up his sixth save in eight opportunities.

Martinez hit a two-run drive in the fourth to tie it, then had a sacrifice fly in the sixth that scored Jedd Gyorko with the go-ahead run.

The home run was his seventh of the season.

"I saw a pretty good cutter in my first at-bat and I was (visualizing) that," Martinez said. "I got it elevated and put a pretty good swing on it and it went out."

Taijuan Walker (6-5) allowed three runs on four hits over 5 2/3 innings. He struck out 10.

"I felt like I threw some pretty good pitches," Walker said. "But, I didn't do my job. The offense gave me a lead, I didn't hold it."

Arizona, in prime position for an NL wild-card spot, is 2-2 on its 10-game road trip.

Yadier Molina singled Gyorko to third base in the sixth. Molina also singled ahead of Martinez's home run.

Cardinals reliever Matt Bowman induced Paul Goldschmidt to ground out with a runner on second to end the seventh.

Ketel Marte doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Chris Iannetta in Arizona's two-run second.

Arizona second baseman Chris Owings fractured the middle finger on his right hand during a bunt attempt in the second inning. The ball appeared to hit his bat as well as his finger.

Owings is returning to Phoenix to be examined by the medical staff, but is likely to miss considerable time.

"It's tough," Lovullo said. "He's one of the guys we turn to for leadership. He's helped us get to where we are now."

Pinch-hitter A.J. Pollock was ejected in the ninth after arguing a called strike.

Cubs 4, Brewers 2

Two levels up at Miller Park, two Chicago Cubs fans held up a "W" banner to signify another win for the one of the hottest teams in the majors since the All-Star break.

The Cubs are rolling with the non-waiver trade deadline approaching Monday, having surged into first place over the last two weeks thanks to effective starting pitching and just enough timely hitting.

Victor Caratini hit his first career home run, a solo shot that broke a 2-all tie in the seventh and backed John Lackey's solid six-inning start in 4-2 win on Sunday over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Kris Bryant added an insurance run in the eighth with a solo homer off the left-field pole for the Cubs, who took two of three games in an important road series. Now 13-3 since the break, Chicago increased its lead in the National League Central over the second-place Brewers to 2 1/2 games.

"Hitting is always sporadic, it's tough to string together things sometimes," Bryant said. "But our pitching has been really consistent, giving us a chance every day."

Lackey (8-9) struck out seven and allowed five hits over six innings, including Domingo Santana's game-tying, two-run homer in the sixth that just landed beyond outfielder Jason Heyward's outstretched glove in the right-field corner.

Caratini gave the Cubs the lead for good an inning later after homering off a 1-2 fastball from Zach Davies (12-5) with one out in the seventh for a 3-2 lead. A bevy of Cubs fans who made the trek north from Chicago celebrated in the stands as if they were home at Wrigley Field.

Chicago starters are 11-1 with a 2.53 ERA since the All-Star break.

"We always knew there was talent in the room," Lackey said. "We've done a pretty good job of that since the break, but we have a long way to go too."

Davies allowed seven hits and three runs over an otherwise effective seven innings. The right-hander struck out seven and gave up his first earned run since July 14 on Willson Contreras' infield single with two outs to open the scoring in a two-run sixth.

"Nobody feels good after you lose a game," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "But there's a big chunk of the schedule left. ... We have a tremendous opportunity still. I know we recognize that."

Wade Davis pitched a scoreless ninth for his 22nd save.

White Sox 3, Indians 1

After the Chicago White Sox continued their tear-down on Sunday, two players they hope will be part of the eventual rebuild led them to a much-needed win.

Matt Davidson hit his first career walk-off home run, Carlos Rodon had his longest start of the season and the White Sox beat Cleveland 3-1 to end the Indians' nine-game winning streak.

The White Sox snapped a seven-game home losing streak and won for just the second time in 16 games. The team also traded fan favorite Melky Cabrera to Kansas City shortly before the first pitch as part of a roster overhaul.

Jose Abreu got the ninth-inning rally started with a double off Bryan Shaw (4-5) to set up Davidson's heroics, his 21st home run of his rookie season.

"It's been a rough go for us, so to get that feeling and get that win was huge for us," Davidson said. "We needed it really bad. We're working hard, but it's been a tough go. That's why these things probably mean more than just a normal win."

Tyler Clippard (2-6) pitched a scoreless ninth to earn the win, the first for the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field since July 2. That game featured strong pitching from Jose Quintana and David Robertson, both of whom have since been traded.

Rodon allowed one run and struck out nine in 6 2/3 innings. He has 20 strikeouts over his last two starts.

"The outing that he had today, based on the skill set that he has, is what we're hoping that he will continue to become," White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. "Obviously, everybody knows what he can do with the baseball. A very strong man with great life on his pitches."

Francisco Lindor extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a third-inning homer, his 16th, giving first-place Cleveland a 1-0 lead. The Indians were 1 for 14 with runners on base.

Josh Tomlin threw four innings of no-hit ball before being removed from the game because of left hamstring tightness. He allowed two baserunners. It was Tomlin's first scoreless start since Sept. 20, 2015 against the White Sox, and it was the third game in five days where the opposition took a no-hitter into the fifth inning against Chicago.

Indians manager Terry Francona said Tomlin hurt himself fielding a ground ball in the fourth.

"On that ground ball, I don't know if he hit the rubber but it grabbed him a little bit," Francona said. "When we were watching him warm up, it didn't look good. ... He'll fight you tooth and nail to stay in a game, part of why we like him so much. But we also can't let him hurt himself."

Tomlin did lobby to stay in.

"I understand we're short-handed in the pen. You never want to put them in a bind. You also don't want to cost them a game by trying to compensate either," Tomlin said. "It's kind of a tough situation. They made a decision that was probably the right one."

Nick Goody relieved Tomlin and struck out the first five batters he faced until allowing a home run to Leury Garcia with two outs in the sixth, tying the game at 1.

With two runners on and two out in the seventh, Rodon gave way to Jake Petricka, who retired Lindor on a flyout. Petricka has stranded all eight runners he's inherited this season.

Sunday, July 30 Scoreboard

Tampa Bay 5, New York Yankees 3

Toronto 11, Los Angeles Angels 10

Detroit 13, Houston 1

Cincinnati 6, Miami 4

Kansas City 5, Boston 3

Philadelphia 3, Atlanta 1

Colorado 10, Washington 6

Chicago Cubs 4, Milwaukee 2

Chicago  White Sox 3, Cleveland 1

St. Louis 3, Arizona 2

Baltimore 10, Texas 6

Oakland 6, Minnesota 5 (F/12)

Seattle 9, New York Mets 1

Pittsburgh 7, San Diego 1

Washington 3, Colorado 1

Los Angeles Dodgers 3, San Francisco 2 (F/11)

Monday, July 31 Schedule (All Times Central)

Atlanta at Philadelphia, 11:35 a.m.

Cleveland at Boston, 6 p.m.

Detroit at New York Yankees, 6:05 p.m.

Kansas City at Baltimore, 6:05 p.m.

Washington at Miami, 6:10 p.m.

Seattle at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

Toronto at Chicago White Sox, 7:10 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Houston, 7:10 p.m.

San Francisco at Oakland, 9:05 p.m.