Rally Lifts Red Sox Past Cardinals, Cubs Edge Reds

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Published on August 17 2017 6:22 am
Last Updated on August 17 2017 6:22 am

By ESPN

Mookie Betts finally had a pitch he could drive and the Boston Red Sox pulled out anther last at-bat win in Fenway Park.

Betts lined a two-run double off the Green Monster with two outs in the ninth inning, capping a three-run rally that lifted the Red Sox to a 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night.

Xander Bogaerts opened the ninth with a solo homer for the AL East-leading Red Sox, who won for the 12th time in 14 games and maintained their 4 1/2-game lead over the second-place New York Yankees.

It was Boston's eighth walk-off win in its last 19 victories at home.

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny was ejected by home plate umpire Chris Segal in a wild ninth inning. Trevor Rosenthal gave up Bogaerts' homer into the Monster seats.

Zach Duke (0-1) struck out a batter and walked one before John Brebbia gave up Betts' hit after he laid off a pair of tough sliders, with Jackie Bradley Jr. beating a relay home with a headfirst slide for the winning run as catcher Yadier Molina dropped the throw.

"It changed the whole at-bat. I was able to force him to throw a strike," Betts said. "Anytime I get a strike, I've got a better chance to put good wood on it."

Bradley didn't see Molina drop the throw as he slid past the plate without touching it. He had to reach back after he stopped.

"I pulled my hand back completely to try and avoid the tag," he said. "I knew I didn't tag it at first. I didn't pay attention whether he had the ball or not. I was just trying to tag the plate."

Molina was arguing with Segal before Matheny came out.

"The fact that he was kind of going at it with our catcher, you hate to see it at that particular point of the game," Matheny said. "But a lot of barking going on all game long."

Kolten Wong had three hits, including an RBI single in St. Louis' four-run second inning, and Lance Lynn held Boston's offense down with six solid innings before the Red Sox rallied.

It was just the third loss in 11 games for the Cardinals, who were swept in the two-game series, their first visit to Fenway Park since the 2013 World Series.

Craig Kimbrel (5-0) pitched one hitless inning for the win.

Lynn allowed two runs and seven hits, walking and striking out three.

Eduardo Rodriguez gave up four runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings.

The Cardinals jumped ahead 4-0 when Wong and Matt Carpenter sandwiched RBI singles around Luke Voit's run-scoring double. Wong scored on Christian Vazquez's passed ball.

Vazquez scored on a throwing error in the third when Lynn fired the ball wildly past first on Eduardo Nunez's infield hit. Betts added his sacrifice fly.


Cubs 7, Reds 6

The Chicago Cubs had a division rival lose on a ball that got away from the catcher on Wednesday night.

Then, about an hour later, the Cubs increased their NL Central lead the same way.

Javier Baez scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth to cap a wild 7-6 win over the Cincinnati Reds, in which the Cubs almost squandered a grand slam by Anthony Rizzo in the first inning and another strong start by John Lackey because of three home runs allowed by the bullpen.

Baez opened the bottom of the ninth with a double off Wandy Peralta (3-3) and pinch-hitter Jon Jay walked. Then, Ben Zobrist moved the runners with a groundout, but only after manager Joe Maddon was ejected during the at-bat.

Reliever Blake Wood came in and struck out Albert Almora Jr. But on the first pitch to Kris Bryant with two outs, Wood threw a breaking pitch that got away from catcher Tucker Barnhart, ending the game.

"Tuck (Barnhart) does an awesome job back there," Wood said. "He did everything that he could, but I just yanked it a little bit too far."

Afterward, the Cubs were 1 1/2 games ahead of Milwaukee and 2 1/2 ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals, who lost in similar fashion in Boston as catcher Yadier Molina couldn't handle the decisive play at the plate.

"It doesn't matter how you do it, as long as you get that win," Cubs catcher Alex Avila said. "It's exciting because when moments like today happen, you win a game of that variety, you're not only excited for that, but obviously it means something as well."

Cincinnati's Joey Votto had his streak of reaching base at least twice in a game come to an end. Votto did reach once but he fell one game shy of tying Ted Williams' record of 21 straight games.

Wade Davis (3-1) pitched a perfect ninth, redeeming the bullpen, which surrendered a five-run lead.

The third grand slam of Rizzo's career came after both teams loaded the bases with their first three batters of the game.

The Reds managed just one run in the top of the first, while Rizzo regained the lead for Lackey with an opposite field blast, his 28th of the season.

Cincinnati put on seven baserunners in the first two innings against Lackey, but got just the one run in his six innings.

Lackey allowed one baserunner over his final four innings, retiring the final 10 without allowing a ball out of the infield. He had six strikeouts and walked three. Lackey is 5-0 with a 3.06 ERA since the All-Star break after going 5-9 with a 5.20 ERA in the first half. He was trying for a career-best sixth straight win.

Lackey also caught Reds starter Homer Bailey not paying attention to him on the bases for his first career steal in the fourth inning after he singled. He was later picked off second base after straying following a walk by Zobrist.

"When I got the hit, (first base coach Brandon Hyde) was like, `Do you want to steal a base?' because of how they were playing and I was like, `Heck no, I'm tired," Lackey said. "But then after the first pitch, nobody was really watching me and I thought it was pretty easy, so I just went ahead and went."

Added Maddon: "It was cute, until he got picked off second."

"I made two bets," Lackey said. "One worked, one didn't."

Bailey allowed six earned runs in 5 2/3 innings, waking five and striking out 10.

Phillip Ervin became the first Reds player since Juan Francisco in 2009 to homer on his first career hit when his solo shot off reliever Hector Rondon made it 6-2 in the seventh inning.

Two batters later, Zack Cozart's home run off Rondon made it 6-4, forcing Maddon to insert Brian Duensing in the game. He got Votto to ground out, ending the rally and Votto's chance at history.

Votto singled in the first but took Lackey to the warning track in the third inning before the pitcher snared a line drive up the middle in the fifth inning to retire the first baseman.

"He's tough to pitch to," Lackey said of Votto, who left Wrigley Field without speaking to the media. "He's one of those guys where you hold him to a single and you call it a win."

Votto would have led off the 10th if the game had gone extra innings.

Adam Duvall, a pinch-hitter, took the second pitch from reliever Carl Edwards Jr. into the bleachers to make it 6-6 in the eighth inning.


Dodgers 5, White Sox 4

The Dodgers won in -- what else -- dramatic fashion, scoring three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning for their major league-leading 10th walk-off victory of the season.

Trailing 4-2, Yasiel Puig's two-run double drove in the tying and go-ahead runs to beat the Chicago White Sox 5-4 on Wednesday night for the Dodgers' second comeback win in two games.

"That's what we do, we come back," said Kike Hernandez, who homered in the fourth to tie the game 2-all. "If you're the other team, you better score a lot of runs because we're coming for your pitching staff."

Puig worked a full count against Jake Petricka (1-1) before crushing the ball into center field to end the game.

"The pitch he hit to win the game was in a good location, but that's part of the business," Petricka said. "I can see why they love this place, they're unbeatable here."

The victory salvaged the much-anticipated home debut of Yu Darvish, who didn't figure in the decision while pitching on his 31st birthday.

"What better gift than on his birthday the Dodgers win," Puig said through a translator.

Leury Garcia, Nicky Delmonico and Jose Abreu homered off Darvish, who gave up three runs and eight hits in six innings. The Japanese right-hander struck out a season-low two and walked one in his third game for his new team since being acquired in a deadline deal from Texas last month.

Afterward, Darvish said his back was bothering him, something he first felt last week in his start at Arizona. Ace Clayton Kershaw is already on the disabled list with a bad back.

"Between innings I talked to Kershaw and he asked me how do you feel," Darvish said through a translator. "I told him I feel something in my back and he said we need you really bad in six weeks.

"I was getting tight so I talked to Doc (manager Dave Roberts) and he just said, `Let's play it safe."

Ross Stripling (2-4) got the victory with one inning of relief.

Darvish had struck out 10 in each of his first two starts, but didn't record his first one against the White Sox until the sixth inning.

The Dodgers rallied to tie the game in the second and fourth innings only to have the White Sox take a 4-2 lead in the eighth. But baseball's best team (85-34) wasn't to be denied a night after Los Angeles scored five runs in the eighth to win 6-1.

"I never felt comfortable with a two-run lead against the Dodgers," Chicago manager Rick Renteria said. "They have so much depth and they continue to grind."

The Dodgers closed to 4-3 with one out in the ninth on Logan Forsythe's RBI double in the left-field corner that scored pinch-hitter Cody Bellinger, who singled. Austin Barnes followed with a single to center, putting runners on the corners.

That set the stage for Puig, who was 0 for 2 with a walk in his first three at-bats. He crushed the ball into center field and went leaping around first base, his arms raised, as the Dodgers broke out in celebration.

It was the kind of ending the sellout crowd of 52,413 -- many Japanese fans wearing Darvish jerseys -- had arrived expecting with Darvish on the mound. They had yet to settle in their seats when Garcia homered on Darvish's first pitch of the game. The ball clanked off the right field foul pole as fans let out an audible gasp.

"I was thinking that if he puts one in close to the plate I'm going to be swinging," Garcia said.

It was the second straight night that happened and the first time in the White Sox's 117-year history. Tim Anderson homered on the first pitch from Los Angeles starter Alex Wood on Tuesday.

Chicago starter Carlos Rodon allowed two runs and five hits in 7 1/3 innings. The left-hander struck out four and walked four. He walked Chris Taylor in the third, ending a streak of 89 consecutive batters without a walk.

Chicago took a 2-1 lead in the fourth when Delmonico's first homer of the game extended his hitting streak to 11 games. The rookie also extended his streak of reaching base to 13 games. He homered again on the first pitch from Tony Watson leading off the eighth.


Wednesday, August 16 Scoreboard

Los Angeles Angels 3, Washington 2

Miami 8, San Francisco 1

Milwaukee 7, Pittsburgh 6

Kansas City 7, Oakland 6

Seattle 7, Baltimore 6

San Diego 3, Philadelphia 0

New York Yankees 5, New York Mets 3

Toronto 3, Tampa Bay 2

Boston 5, St. Louis 4

Texas 12, Detroit 6

Chicago Cubs 7, Cincinnati 6

Houston 9, Arizona 5

Colorado 17, Atlanta 2

Los Angeles Dodgers 5, Chicago White Sox 4

Cleveland at Minnesota, postponed


Thursday, August 17 Schedule (All Times Central)

Cleveland at Minnesota, 12:10 p.m.

Arizona at Houston, 1:10 p.m.

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

Atlanta at Colorado, 2:10 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Toronto, 3:07 p.m.

St. Louis at Pittsburgh, 6:05 p.m.

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

Cleveland at Minnesota, 6:10 p.m.

Chicago Whtie Sox at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

Washington at San Diego, 9:10 p.m.

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


Friday, August 18 Schedule (All Times Central)

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

Los Angeles Angels at Baltimore, 6:05 p.m.

St. Louis at PIttsburgh, 6:05 p.m.

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

Los Angeles Dodgers at Detroit, 6:10 p.m.

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

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

Cincinnati at Atlanta, 6:35 p.m.

Chicago White sox at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

Arizona at Minnesota, 7:10 p.m.

Oakland at Houston, 7:10 p.m.

Cleveland at Kansas City, 7;15 p.m.

Milwaukee at Colorado, 7:40 p.m.

Washington at San Diego, 9:10 p.m.

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


Saturday, August 19 Schedule (All Times Central)

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

Los Angeles Dodgers at Detroit, 3:05 p.m.

St. Louis at Pittsburgh, 3:05 p.m.

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

Los Angeles Angels at Baltimore, 6:05 p.m.

New York Yankees at Boston, 6;10 p.m.

Arizona at Minnesota, 6:10 p.m.

Cincinnati at Atlanta, 6:10 p.m.

Oakland at Houston, 6:10 p.m.

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

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

Chicago White Sox at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

Milwaukee at Colorado, 7:10 p.m.

Washington at San Diego, 7:40 p.m.

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


Sunday, August 20 Schedule (All Times Central)

Los Angeles Dodgers at Detroit, 12:10 p.m.

Miami at New York Mets, 12:10 p.m.

Seattle at Tampa Bay, 12:10 p.m.

New York Yankees at Boston, 12:30 p.m.

Los Angeles Angels at Baltimore, 12:35 p.m.

Cincinnati at Atlanta, 12:35 p.m.

Arizona at Minnesota, 1:10 p.m.

Oakland at Houston, 1:10 p.m.

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

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

Chicago White Sox at Texas, 2:05 p.m.

Milwaukee at Colorado, 2:10 p.m.

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

Washington at San Diego, 3:40 p.m.

St. Louis at Pittsburgh, 6 p.m.