Baez Hits Inside-Park HR As Cubs Win, Cardinals Stomp Royals

By ESPN

As his teammates went crazy celebrating, Javier Baez needed a couple of minutes just to catch his breath after running like mad around the bases.

Baez hit an inside-the-park homer to back Jake Arrieta's 11th win and Chicago beat the Giants 5-3 on Monday night in the champion Cubs' first visit to AT&T Park since rallying to eliminate San Francisco in Game 4 of the NL Division Series last October.

"Little League, I guess," a grinning Baez said about the only time he had done that before.

Baez's 16th homer took a tricky bounce off the low wall in right-center and deflected past oncoming right fielder Carlos Moncrief nearly 100 feet back in the direction of the corner in right. Moncrief eventually chased down the ball and Baez used a headfirst slide to beat a pretty one-hop throw home -- "That's Bo Jackson-arm stuff right there," quipped Cubs manager Joe Maddon -- and catcher Buster Posey's tag attempt.

"It's the deepest part of the field so I didn't know if it was gone or not," Baez said. "I just think he took the wrong turn off the wall and the ball just went really far from him. I couldn't see it so I was just trying to run faster."

The NL Central leaders moved 1 1/2 games ahead of second-place Milwaukee, which lost 5-4 at Minnesota.

San Francisco rookie Ryder Jones hit his first career home run with a two-run shot in the sixth off Arrieta (11-8).

Arrieta hardly felt his best physically, but still struck out five and didn't walk a batter in 6 1/3 innings. The nine hits he surrendered matched his second-highest total of the year.

"You're going to have five to seven or eight starts over the course of the year where you don't feel good physically but that has no bearing on the result," Arrieta said. "That's where the mental side of the game really comes into play."

Wade Davis got three outs for his 24th save in 24 tries.

Jason Heyward scored on Baez's home run after his two-out single against Matt Moore (3-12). Moncrief played on a night starter Hunter Pence sat out for scheduled rest.

"The other day we worked on everything, angles coming off of that right-field wall, but that was like the only one we didn't," Moncrief said. "I wasn't really anticipating it to bounce like that. Now I know for next time. Hopefully there's not a next time."

It was Baez's first career inside-the-park homer, and the first by a Cubs player since Anthony Rizzo on June 29 of last season at Cincinnati.

It marked the 10th at AT&T Park history, fourth by a non-Giants player that includes Ichiro Suzuki in the 2007 All-Star game. San Francisco's Kelby Tomlinson last hit one on Oct. 3, 2015.

Rizzo and Albert Almora Jr. each hit RBI singles in the fifth as the Cubs added on, but they left the bases loaded in the eighth.

Moore struck out seven in six innings but gave up five runs and lost his fifth straight decision. He is winless in seven starts since beating the Braves on June 20.

Cardinals 11, Royals 3

Matt Carpenter likes hitting in the western side of the state.

Carpenter hit a three-run homer in St. Louis' six-run fourth inning, and the Cardinals beat the Kansas City Royals 11-3 on Monday night for their third consecutive victory.

In 13 games at Kauffman Stadium, Carpenter is hitting .451 with four home runs and 14 RBI. He led off the game with a double.

"I've always thought it's a good place to hit, but that's kind of the funny thing about baseball, when you get off to a good start, your confidence is high and that's the case here," Carpenter said.

Paul DeJong and Kolten Wong also connected for the Cardinals, who returned to .500 at 56-56. Carlos Martinez (8-9) pitched eight innings of two-run ball for just his second win in his last nine starts.

"I didn't even know we were back at .500," said Dexter Fowler, who tripled, walked and scored two runs in his first game back off the disabled list. "At the end of the day, you look at it at the end of the season."

St. Louis also got some help from Kansas City during its outburst in the fourth. Ian Kennedy (4-8) walked No. 9 hitter Greg Garcia on five pitches with the bases loaded, and shortstop Alcides Escobar and catcher Drew Butera each committed an error.

Butera made an errant throw while trying to pick off Fowler at third, allowing the speedy center fielder to score.

Five pitches later Carpenter hit a drive to right with Wong and Garcia aboard.

"The whole time I was falling behind guys and the home run just kind of capped it off as a bad pitch," Kennedy said. "You know it's going to be like one of those back-foot sliders, one that is going to bounce. Just maybe not a good pitch to him."

Wong added a two-run shot in the eighth, and DeJong belted his own two-run homer in the ninth.

Kennedy was charged with seven runs, six earned, and six hits in six innings. He is winless in 14 consecutive starts at Kauffman since beating the Minnesota Twins on Aug. 20, 2016.

"He had a bad inning," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "In the fourth inning, they unloaded on him."

Mike Moustakas, Eric Hosmer and Brandon Moss homered for Kansas City, which has dropped six of eight. Moustakas has 32 home runs, four shy of the Royals' single-season record of 36 set by Steve Balboni in 1985.

Monday, August 7 Scoreboard

Pittsburgh 3, Detroit 0

Washington 3, Miami 2

Cincinnati 11, San Diego 3

Minnesota 5, Milwaukee 4

St. Louis 11, Kansas City 3

Chicago Cubs 5, San Francisco 3

Baltimore 6, Los Angeles Angels 2

Tuesday, August 8 Schedule (All Times Central)

Miami at Washington, 6:05 p.m.

Detroit at Pittsburgh, 6:05 p.m.

New York Yankees at Toronto, 6:07 p.m.

Colorado at Cleveland, 6:10 p.m.

San Diego at Cincinnati, 6:10 p.m.

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

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

Philadelphia at Atlanta, 6:35 p.m.

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

Milwaukee at Minnesota, 7:10 p.m.

St. Louis at Kansas City, 7:15 p.m.

Los Angeles Dodgers at Arizona, 8:40 p.m.

Seattle at Oakland, 9:05 p.m.

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

Chicago Cubs at San Francisco, 9:15 p.m.