D-backs Down Cubs, Brewers Edge Cardinals

By ESPN

The shortest of Paul Goldschmidt's three home runs on Thursday -- the one that went only about halfway up the left-center bleachers at Wrigley Field -- turned out to be his biggest.

Goldschmidt snapped a tie in the ninth inning with his third long drive of the game, and the Arizona Diamondbacks pulled out a rain-delayed 10-8 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Thursday.

The Diamondbacks first baseman hit a 3-2 pitch from Wade Davis (2-1) deep into the right-center bleachers with one out. J.D. Martinez followed with another solo blast off the Cubs closer.

"Crazy. I've never had three home runs and just to win that game back and forth is good for our team," Goldschmidt said.

Goldschmidt's first homer was a three-run shot to the top of the left-center bleachers in the first. His two-run shot in the fifth rocketed down the left field line and bounced high on Waveland Avenue to make it 6-1.

In the ninth, Goldschmidt wasn't swinging for the fences.

"When it's a tie game and you're facing Wade Davis who's one of the best closers in the game, it's not a guy you try to hit a home run off of," Goldschmidt said. "I just told myself to get on for J.D. Just try to hit a single and not do too much."

Brandon Drury also homered for Arizona, which remained percentage points ahead of Colorado for the top NL wild card despite blowing a five-run lead.

"Bottom line is, we won the game and found a way to do that," manager Torey Lovullo said. "Goldschmidt has one of those special days you dream about and the timing couldn't have been any better."

Willson Contreras hit two home runs and had a career-high six RBI for Chicago, which lost consecutive games for the first time since the All-Star break. The Cubs' NL Central lead over Milwaukee slipped to 1 1/2 games.

"I feel like I didn't do enough to help the team to win," Contreras said. "I'd rather go 0 for 5 with a win than 3 for 5 with 6 RBI."

Jake Barrett (1-0), Arizona's fifth reliever, got two outs in the eighth for the win. Fernando Rodney worked around two walks in the ninth to earn his 24th save in 29 chances.

Jake Lamb singled in two runs in the eighth to put Arizona back ahead 8-7 after blowing a five-run lead. Chicago's John Jay tied game at 8 in the bottom of the inning when he bounced into fielder's choice with the bases loaded and Jason Heyward scored.

Jose Quintana was hit hard in his fourth start with the Cubs, allowing up six runs. The lefty had not permitted more than three runs in three starts since moving across town in a July 13 trade with the White Sox.

Arizona starter Zack Greinke allowed a season-high six runs in six-plus innings.

Contreras' performance had something do with that, manager Joe Maddon said. The Cubs catcher has 13 of his 18 homers since June 19 and is batting .343 since July 9.

"That's a good test for (Contreras) right there, how he handles a pitcher who knows how to pitch," Maddon said.

Contreras' second homer, a three-run drive in the sixth, got the Cubs within 6-5.

The game started 90 minutes late because of storms and then was interrupted for 35 minutes in the second and 30 in the ninth.

Brewers 2, Cardinals 1

Keon Broxton did a little bit of everything for the Brewers on Thursday.

Broxton drove in the go-ahead run and saved a run with a leaping catch, Matt Garza made a strong start in his return from the disabled list, and Milwaukee beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1.

Broxton, who robbed Jose Martinez of a homer in the second when he stretched his glove atop the center field wall, gave Milwaukee a 2-1 lead with a single in the fifth off reliever Brett Cecil (1-4).

"It was awesome to be able to come out today and do something good for the team," Broxton said. "I'm just trying to make plays. That's my job. It's huge for my confidence, it's huge for the team's confidence. It's a win-win situation for everyone."

Garza (5-5), making his first start since July 21 because of a right leg strain, gave up one earned run on four hits in 5 2/3 innings to give second-place Milwaukee its first home series win over St. Louis since July 2012. The Brewers, trying to stay close to first-place Chicago in the NL Central, won for just the fifth time in their last 17 games.

Kolten Wong missed a tying home run by a few feet when his drive to right-center bounced off the wall in the eighth. He was stranded at second when Anthony Swarzak retired Tommy Pham on a groundout and Matt Carpenter on a flyout.

Corey Knebel worked the ninth and struck out Greg Garcia with runners on first and second to earn his 20th save in 25 opportunities.

Cardinals starter Michael Wacha allowed one run on five hits in four innings. With the game tied at 1 in the fifth and runners on first and third, manager Mike Matheny pulled Wacha for pinch-hitter Luke Voit, who hit into an inning-ending double play.

"We have to take a shot, especially when you can see we weren't getting many opportunities up until that point," Matheny said. "He was averaging 20 pitches per inning, so he was only going one more inning. We had guys like Cecil that needed to pitch."

Wacha's only blemish was Jesus Aguilar's homer to left in the third. Aguilar's drive was his 11th this season, and he homered in consecutive games for the first time in his career.

Cecil retired the first two batters in the fifth but then gave up three consecutive singles. Broxton's hit drove in Travis Shaw, who went 2-for-4 after getting just two hits in his previous 19 at-bats.

Garza retired 12 of his first 13 batters to improve to 2-0 against St. Louis this season.

"I thought Matt was very efficient through four innings," Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said.

Red Sox 9, White Sox 5

Rick Porcello wasn't getting carried away after ending a four-game losing streak with his first win since June.

The reigning AL Cy Young winner knew he had plenty of help as Boston tagged Chicago for 15 hits and the Red Sox beat the White Sox 9-5 on Thursday night.

"We're swinging the bats well. We've got to continue throwing the ball well. That's the recipe right there," said Porcello, who survived a rough stretch in the second and third and pitched into the sixth.

Porcello (5-14) was winless in his last six starts, losing four straight before the Red Sox capitalized on the White Sox's woes with seven runs in the first two innings. He allowed five runs and seven hits and struck out six in 5 1/3 innings.

"Obviously my performance wasn't as good as I would want it personally," Porcello said. "At this point I don't really care. We got the win. We started a four-game series with these guys on the right note and that's all that matters."

Rafael Devers hit a three-run homer in the first inning for Boston and Mookie Betts added a two-run shot in the second. Andrew Benintendi went 3 for 3, scoring twice and driving in a run as the Red Sox won their third straight. Benintendi reached base all five times he batted, getting hit by a pitch and walking once to go along with two doubles and a single.

Nicky Delmonico hit his first career homer, a three-run shot in the third, for the White Sox. Chicago lost its third straight and fell to 3-15 since the All-Star break.

The White Sox did manage to turn around the early rout and kept pressure on Porcello.

"Our guys don't quit. They have been this way all season," manager Rick Renteria said. "It's easy to lose sight of the fact most clubs have a tendency to lay down when they get down big early."

The Red Sox led 4-0 before Porcello even threw a pitch. The fast start was enough to help Porcello end a skid of going winless in his last six starts won for the first time since the Red Sox beat the Angels on June 23.

Benintendi, who sat out the last two games, surged out of an 8-for-54 slump with a ground-rule double to the triangle in center field in the first. Miguel Gonzalez (5-10) hit him with a pitch in the second, followed by a leadoff double in the fourth and an RBI single in the fifth.

Benintendi's single to right in the fifth drove in Mitch Moreland, who doubled to lead off the inning and added an RBI double in the sixth to put Boston up 9-5. Boston got to Gonzalez right away with four runs and four hits, including Devers' three-run homer to center. After Chicago got two runs back in the second to cut the lead in half, the Red Sox struck again for three in the third. Betts hit a two-run homer and Hanley Ramirez beat out an infield single, allowing Benintendi to score by sliding around Omar Narvaez's tag at the plate.

Delmonico, who singled and scored in the first, belted a shot out to right with two on in the third for his first career homer.

"I went too fast running the bases and didn't really register that I did it, but it was awesome," said Delmonico, who made his big-league debut Tuesday and was playing in just his third game.

Gonzalez threw 53 pitches without making it out of the second inning. He allowed seven runs, seven hits and hit a batter, before he was replaced by Gregory Infante with two outs in the second.

"They capitalized early and hit every single mistake," Gonzalez said.

Thursday, August 3 Scoreboard

Milwaukee 2, St. Louis 1

Arizona 10, Chicago Cubs 8

Colorado 5,  New York Mets 4

Detroit 7, Baltimore 5

Pittsburgh 6, Cincinnati 0

Boston 9, Chicago White Sox 5

Cleveland 5, New York Yankees 1

Los Angeles Dodgers 7, Atlanta 4

Texas 4, Minnesota 1

Tampa Bay 5, Houston 3

Kansas City 6, Seattle 4

Los Angeles Angels 5, Philadelphia 4

San Francisco 11, Oakland 2

Friday, August 4 Schedule (All Times Central)

Washington at Chicago Cubs, 1:20 p.m.

St. Louis at Cincinnati, 5:40 p.m.

Detroit at Baltimore, 6:05 p.m.

San Diego at Pittsburgh, 6:05 p.m.

New York Yankees at Cleveland, 6:10 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Boston, 6:10 p.m.

Los Angeles Dodgers at New York Mets, 6:10 p.m.

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

Miami at Atlanta, 6:35 p.m.

Texas at Minnesota, 7:10 p.m.

Toronto at Houston, 7:10 p.m.

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

Philadelphia at Colorado, 7:40 p.m.

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

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

Saturday, August 5 Schedule (All Times Central)

Washington at Chicago Cubs, 1:20 p.m.

Los Angeles Dodgers at New York Mets, 3:05 p.m.

Milwaukee at Tampa Bay, 5:10 p.m.

Detroit at Baltimore, 6:05 p.m.

San Diego at Pittsburgh, 6:05 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Boston, 6:10 p.m.

New York Yankees at Cleveland, 6:10 p.m.

Texas at Minnesota, 6:10 p.m.

Miami at Atlanta, 6:10 p.m.

St. Louis at Cincinnati, 6:10 p.m.

Toronto at Houston, 6:10 p.m.

Seattle at Kansas City, 6:15 p.m.

Philadelphia at Colorado, 7:10 p.m.

Arizona at San Francisco, 8:05 p.m.

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

Sunday, August 6 Schedule (All Times Central)

New York Yankees at Cleveland, 12:10 p.m.

St. Louis at Cincinnati, 12:10 p.m.

Milwaukee at Tampa  Bay, 12:10 p.m.

Detroit at Baltimore, 12:35 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Boston, 12:35 p.m.

Miami at Atlanta, 12:35 p.m.

San Diego at Pittsburgh, 12:35 p.m.

Texas at Minnesota, 1:10 p.m.

Toronto at Houston,1 :10 p.m.

Seattle at Kansas City, 1:15 p.m.

Washington at Chicago Cubs, 1:20 p.m.

Philadelphia at Colorado, 2:10 p.m.

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

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

Los Angeles Dodgers at New York Mets, 7 p.m.