Cardinals On Roll, Giants Beat Cubs

By ESPN

The St. Louis Cardinals scored so many times off Jason Vargas and the Kansas City bullpen in the fifth inning Tuesday night that they broke the Royals' crown-shaped scoreboard.

Or maybe it was just a coincidence that the massive outfield video screen suddenly went dark.

Regardless, the malfunction saved Royals fans from having to watch the runs pile up. Yadier Molina, Jedd Gyorko and Randal Grichuk each went deep, and the Cardinals pounded out 14 hits in a 10-3 victory -- the fourth straight for the suddenly serious NL Central contenders.

"You never know what the key is. If you did, you'd never put it away," said Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, whose team began the night 3 1/2 games behind the division-leading Chicago Cubs.

Michael Wacha (9-4) allowed a three-run double to Cheslor Cuthbert but otherwise kept the Royals in check, surrendering six hits over six innings to win for the sixth time in seven decisions.

His life was made easier by the run support: St. Louis has scored 38 times in the last four games .

"The ball started falling. I don't see it any different," said Molina, who finished with three RBI. "We hit the ball hard and the ball wasn't finding holes. Now it's finding holes."

Finding the way over the wall, too. Grichuk and Gyorko connected off Vargas (13-6) to highlight the six-run fifth , when the scoreboard at Kauffman Stadium suddenly went dark. It remained that way until the seventh, when about half of it blinked back online and the Cardinals were tacking on runs.

"It was one I felt like I let get away from the team right there in that fifth inning," Vargas said. "Some weird things happened, but with Cheslor coming up big in the half inning before, there's just got to be a stop put to that inning, regardless of what happens."

Cuthbert's knock down the left-field line staked Vargas to a 3-1 lead, but the left-hander responded with the kind of outing that's become common since his All-Star appearance last month.

Grichuk homered to begin the fifth for St. Louis, and Vargas hit Matt Carpenter before allowing a single to Tommy Pham. Vargas also threw two wild pitches to put runners on second and third, then he walked Jose Martinez before giving up Molina's go-ahead single.

Dexter Fowler doubled to right to chase Vargas from the game, but reliever Mike Minor was unable to stop the cascade of runs. Gyorko pounded his 2-2 pitch an estimated 420 feet over the left-field bullpen to give the Cardinals a 7-3 lead and close the book on Vargas's latest miserable outing.

He was 12-3 with a 2.22 ERA at the end of June. He's 1-4 with a 7.62 ERA in six starts since.

"He started out good," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "The fifth inning was just a strange inning."

Vargas's downturn has coincided with a slump by the Royals, who made a series of trades in late July with an eye on contending for the AL Central. Instead, they've dropped seven of the last nine to fall off the division-leading Cleveland Indians' pace.

"Looking at the standings aren't as big of a deal," Vargas said. "The guys in here have been through way bigger lows and way higher highs than this. I don't think anybody is too concerned."

Giants 6, Cubs 3

Buster Posey twice watched plays he was part of go to replay, first on a three-run homer that held up and then a stolen base. A rare stolen base for San Francisco's catcher, who now has five to move within one of his career high set last season.

He matched teammate Denard Span's five stolen bases.

"I told Span I'm tied with him now so he needs to step it up," Posey said.

Posey's first-inning shot provided a nice early cushion to Ty Blach, who won his second straight start as the Giants beat the Chicago Cubs 6-3 on Tuesday night.

Replay showed Posey's drive to left-center had just enough to clear the wall and left fielder Jon Jay's outstretched glove before being caught by a fan.

Blach (8-7) hit an RBI single to help his cause and the Giants snapped a four-game losing streak to the Cubs with just their third win in the last 10 against Chicago, which rallied to win Game 4 of the NL Division Series and eliminate the Giants last October on the way to a World Series title.

Blach also beat the Cubs again after a May 22 win at Wrigley Field, allowing two runs on seven hits in seven innings Tuesday with three strikeouts and a walk. He sure likes it when he takes the mound already with a bit of wiggle room.

"The last couple of outings we've had some early leads for me," Blach said. "It makes it fun to pitch, attack the zone."

Brandon Crawford added an RBI single in the eighth after Joe Panik drove in a run on a seventh-inning groundout, then Sam Dyson closed it out for his seventh save.

Ian Happ had an RBI double and sacrifice fly as Chicago lost for only the second time in its last 14 road games dating to July 2.

"We're playing like that .500 team we were in the first half and I don't like it. We've got to get sharper," manager Joe Maddon said of the defending champs. "I'm just into starting pitching, catching the ball and defense, and I'll take our chances with the rest of the game. We just have to tighten it up on defense."

Cubs starter Jose Quintana (2-2) allowed four runs -- three earned -- and six hits in six innings, striking out three and walking one.

He faced San Francisco only once previously, taking a loss on Aug. 13, 2014, at AT&T Park, while with the White Sox.

Joe Panik replaced injured Miguel Gomez in the top of the second. Gomez, who had a first-inning groundout, felt some discomfort in his right knee.

White Sox 8, Astros 5

A couple unheralded Chicago White Sox rookies helped get veteran left-hander Derek Holland back to the winning side, beating the reeling ace of the American League's best team.

Kevan Smith had a home run and drove in four runs and Adam Engel provided a highlight-reel catch as the White Sox ended a six-game losing streak by topping Dallas Keuchel and the Houston Astros 8-5 on Tuesday.

Holland (6-11) earned his first win since June 13, despite issuing seven walks in 5 2/3 innings. He had been 0-5 in eight starts and one relief appearance since beating Baltimore.

Chicago (42-68) won for the fourth time in 23 games after a rebuilding sale continued to strip the team of much of its veteran core.

"I think it just proves that even though we're young and maybe not as experienced as some of the big squads, we can still put games together," Smith said. "We just need to take it into the future. I say future, but I mean tomorrow. But obviously with this whole rebuild thing, we just need to pick out as many positives as we can from this game and roll with it."

Keuchel (9-2) allowed a season-high eight runs and 10 hits in four innings for Houston (71-41). He had a 1.67 ERA when he went on the disabled list for the second time with a neck injury, on June 8. The All-Star left-hander has a 10.50 ERA in three starts since his return.

"We'll get it right and get back to it, but it's very frustrating," Keuchel said. "This is a talented lineup but a lineup I should've done some damage against and they came out and did some damage against me."

Avisail Garcia and Yoan Moncada had RBI singles in the first inning as the White Sox took a 3-0 lead. It was Garcia's first at-bat since coming off the disabled list following a strained thumb ligament that had sidelined the All-Star since July 25.

Alex Bregman hit a bases-loaded triple in the second, but Chicago opened up a 6-3 lead in the third on Smith's two-run double and Adam Engel's single. Smith added a two-run homer in the fourth.

Jose Altuve and Yuli Gurriel had solo home runs in the seventh off Jake Petricka.

Tyler Clippard pitched the ninth in his first save chance since the White Sox acquired him from the New York Yankees on July 18. He gave up two hits and struck out two.

Engel made the play of the night in center field, robbing Brian McCann of a home run in the fourth inning by jumping foot-first into the fence, which he used as support as he extended his glove above the wall.

"That's one of the greatest catches I've ever seen," Holland said. "As soon as I gave it up I thought it was 30 rows deep the way he hit it. For him to make the play he did, that's huge."

White Sox manager Rick Renteria said it was the best catch he's seen all year.

"Probably a top 10, if you had to say" Renteria said, of grabs he's seen in his career. "It's got to be up there."

Tuesday, August 8 Scoreboard

Miami 7, Washington 3

Pittsburgh 6, Detroit 3

Toronto 4, New York Yankees 2

Cleveland 4, Colorado 1

San Diego 7, Cincinnati 3

New York Mets 5, Texas 4

Boston 2, Tampa Bay 0

Philadelphia 5, Atlanta 2

Chicago White Sox 8, Houston 5

Minnesota 11, Milwaukee 4

St. Louis 10, Kansas City 3

Arizona 6, Los Angeles Dodgers 3

Seattle 7, Oakland 6 (F/10)

Los Angeles Angels 3, Baltimore 2

San Francisco 6, Chicago Cubs 3

Wednesday, August 9, Schedule (All Times Central)

Colorado at Cleveland, 11:10 a.m.

Texas at New York Mets, 11:10 a.m.

Seattle at Oakland, 2:35 p.m.

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

Chicago Cubs at San Francisco, 2:45 p.m.

Boston at Tampa Bay, 6 p.m.

Miami at Washington, 6:05 p.m.

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

Pittsburgh at Detroit, 6:10 p.m.

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

Philadelphia at Atlanta, 6:35 p.m.

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

Minnesota at Milwaukee, 7:10 p.m.

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

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