Cubs Finish Off Reds, Gardewine Has Major League Debut

By ESPN

With the Cubs comfortably ahead, Joe Maddon added to his lore as a manager who's not afraid to go against tradition and have some fun, too.

Maddon had left-handed Anthony Rizzo play third base in the ninth inning -- filling in while Kris Bryant went for precautionary X-rays on his hand -- as Chicago finished off a 13-9 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night.

Why not?

"Looking at it, the only thing left was (catcher Alex) Avila at third, which is no fun, or Rizzo at third and Avila at first, which is fun, and that's why we did it," Maddon said.

Rizzo didn't get any balls hit his way in his role as only the third left-handed third baseman in Cubs history. George Decker and Jimmy Ryan also played there in the 1800s.

Bryant's hand was fine -- X-rays were negative, and he might miss a day. The National League MVP wasn't aware that Rizzo had taken his spot in the ninth, and he knew he wouldn't hear the end of it from his lefty fill-in.

"He'll put that on his Twitter bio: Third baseman," Bryant said.

The Cubs' day not only ended with weirdness, it started that way, too. Ben Zobrist was in the original starting lineup, but couldn't make it to Cincinnati because he couldn't find a rental car in Nashville. The Cubs were off on Monday, and Zobrist was in a panic as he tried to get back from his home state.

"Holy smokes, I was flustered for about seven hours today," said Zobrist, who finally made it to Great American Ball Park about an hour before the first pitch. "It was a nightmare. I've had nightmares about being late to games before."

He was scratched from the lineup, but got his chance in the seventh when the Cubs started their big rally and moved a season-high 10 games over .500.

Chicago loaded the bases with two outs. Javier Baez fell behind 0-2 against left-hander Wandy Peralta (3-4), worked the count full, fouled off a pitch and then singled to right for a pair of runs that tied it 6-6, his bat shattering on impact.

Zobrist pinch-hit and doubled for Chicago's first lead and was a bit sheepish over the congratulations he received.

"When I got back to the dugout, I said, `If you show up for the game when I did today, you'd better do something good," Zobrist said.

Chicago sent nine batters to the plate for five more runs in the eighth against Blake Wood, with Zobrist driving in another run.

The nine-run surge in the last three innings preserved John Lackey's streak of no losses since the All-Star break. He gave up six runs in five innings, including the first of Eugenio Suarez's two homers and Scooter Gennett's solo shot. The right-hander is 5-0 in his last seven starts.

Hector Rondon (4-1) escaped a bases-loaded threat in the sixth.

Reds starter Homer Bailey left after only three innings because he felt irritation in the back of his pitching shoulder. Bailey missed the first half of the season while recovering from elbow surgery.

"I probably could've continued tonight, but we thought it was better to get out and make sure I can keep going (for the rest of the season)," Bailey said. "I want to finish this thing up right."

Padres 12, Cardinals 4

Yangervis Solarte ended his RBI drought with a barrage of timely hits.

Solarte homered and drove in a career-high six runs, Austin Hedges also went deep and the San Diego Padres beat the St. Louis Cardinals 12-4 on Tuesday night.

Solarte hit his homer a projected 455 feet over the right-field bullpen in the eighth inning to cap his career night. The Padres, who tied a season high for runs, had scored six runs over their previous four games combined, and Solarte had six RBI over the last two weeks.

"I just focused on the middle of the field and the results were good," Solarte said through an interpreter.

Solarte capitalized on starter Lance Lynn's lack of control with a three-run double in the second. Lynn needed 64 pitches to get through the first three innings. He hit two batters, including opposing starter Clayton Richard, ahead of Solarte.

Solarte said a 13-pitch at-bat by Carlos Asuaje, which ended in a strikeout, helped to set up the double.

"It's always going to help when you have guys going up ahead of you and battling because for one, it tires them out, and two, you get to see how he's pitching," Solarte said. "At the same time, when you finally get up there, he's not as fresh, he's not as crisp, and when we go up there after an at-bat like that, he's going to make a mistake."

Hedges' three-run homer off Zach Duke capped a six-run seventh inning that also included three runs off Matt Bowman (3-5). It was Hedges' first homer since Aug. 8.

Richard allowed three homers and four runs in 5 2/3 innings despite entering the game with the NL's best groundball percentage at 59.5 percent. Craig Stammen (1-2) got one out in the sixth for the victory.

Solarte doubled in the fifth to regain the lead for the Padres. He has hit safely in 13 of his last 15 games.

"When you look at who's going to give us the best at-bat against top flight pitching, it's consistently him," Padres manager Andy Green said of Solarte. "So if you're looking to beat a really good team like we are and a really good pitcher in this ballpark, he's the guy that usually anchors that or causes that to happen."

Lynn struck out four through six innings. All three batters Bowman faced scored as St. Louis pitchers gave up at least five runs for the 12th straight game.

"I need to be better than that," Lynn said. "I mean better overall. I had better stuff than the line showed. Next time I should be better and I just need to get back on it."

Jedd Gyorko and Stephen Piscotty hit back-to-back homers to tie it in the fourth. Gyorko's two-run blast was his seventh in seven career games against his former club, and it was Piscotty's first homer since June 18. It was the sixth time this season the Cardinals hit back-to-back home runs.

Yadier Molina's solo homer in the sixth drove Richard out of the game and tied it 4-4. He passed Ted Simmons for 12th on the Cardinals' career hit list (1705) and tied George Hendrick at 17th for homers (123).

Twins 4, White Sox 1

Kyle Gibson knows his poor season has him in a precarious position with the Minnesota Twins.

Starts like Tuesday night could make him a surprise piece in a playoff push.

Gibson escaped early trouble for his best start of the season, Jorge Polanco homered for the third time in two days and the Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 4-1.

Gibson (7-10) struck out a season-high eight over seven innings, allowing one run. He entered the game with a 6.05 ERA and uncertainty about his spot in the rotation.

"Whenever you can go through a lineup and feel like you're in control most of the game, I feel like, to me, that's what confidence is," Gibson said. "If you have an idea in your head that it's going to work before you even throw the pitch. There were a lot of pitches tonight where I had that feeling again. I don't know how many times this year that I've had that feeling consistently in a game.

"If you want to call that a turning point, then I hope it is."

A trip to the Windy City helped, as Gibson is 6-2 against the White Sox in his career, his most wins against any opponent. He has a 2.26 ERA in those games.

Gibson stranded the bases loaded in the second and third innings, getting three straight swinging strikeouts in the third after three White Sox reached with no outs.

"I'm really happy for him. I'm not sure I can imagine some of the things swirling around his head heading into this start," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "I think the story was Kyle and his ability to go deep."

Polanco led off the fourth inning with his sixth homer of the season after going deep in both ends of a doubleheader Monday.

Kennys Vargas and Eddie Rosario added home runs against rookie Lucas Giolito (0-1) in his White Sox debut. The Twins remained in playoff position with their sixth win in seven games.

Giolito, who came to Chicago from the Washington Nationals in an offseason trade for Adam Eaton, allowed six hits and four runs, striking out four.

"A few mistakes got me tonight, trying to go in with the heater and leaving it over middle," Giolito said. "Guys up there are going to hit mistakes, and that's kind of what happened. I feel like I belong. I feel my stuff plays."

White Sox manager Rick Renteria said Giolito's outing was excellent. "It was a very positive outing," Renteria said. "Lucas threw the ball very, very well."

Rookie Yoan Moncada hustled for a double on a slow ground ball through the infield in the first inning, moved to third base on a fly ball from Jose Abreu and then scored on a wild pitch to open the scoring.

Minnesota entered with a half-game lead for the second AL wild card and is attempting to hold off a pack that includes the Los Angeles Angels, Seattle, Kansas City and Texas, who all entered Tuesday within two games of the Twins.

Trevor Hildenberger retired all three batters in the eighth and Matt Belisle closed his fourth save.

Effingham's Nick Gardewine Has Debut

For Albert Pujols, the home runs keep coming and the records keep falling.

The Angels slugger hit a three-run homer Tuesday night, the 610th of his career, snapping his tie for eighth on the career list with Sammy Sosa to become baseball's all-time leader for home runs by a player born outside the U.S.

Los Angeles also got a three-run homer from Kaleb Cowart, pummeling the Texas Rangers 10-1 to keep the Angels a half-game back of the Minnesota Twins for the second AL wild card.

Pujols' record home run was his 19th of the season.

"It's pretty special," Pujols said. "Obviously, all the great players from the Dominican Republic, Latin America, Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia, they've gone through the big leagues and to be able to accomplish something like this is very humbling."

Rangers right-hander Tyson Ross (3-3) allowed three runs and seven hits in 3⅔ innings. Los Angeles righty Ricky Nolasco allowed a run over 4⅔ innings, and Keynan Middleton (5-1) followed with 1⅓ scoreless innings for the victory.

The Angels have won 10 of their last 13 games and pounded out 16 hits Tuesday. Cowart's home run came in the fifth to give the Angels a 6-1 lead. It was his third home run of the season.

"We had a really good offensive game," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "Even starting off where we left some ducks on the pond, but we came back and really got some clutch hits."

The Rangers got nine hits but left 10 runners on base.

"We managed some baserunners, but kind of that nemesis of ours, the offense gets tough for us and we're incapable of coming up with the big hit," Rangers manager Jeff Banister said.

Pujols hit his homer in the seventh against right-hander Nick Gardewine (Effingham High School graduate), who was making his major league debut. The three runs were unearned because of an error by shortstop Elvis Andrus.

Tuesday, August 22 Scoreboard

Miami 12, Philadelphia 8

Oakland 6, Baltimore 4

Los Angeles Dodgers 8, Pittsburgh 5

Boston 9, Cleveland 1

New York Yankees 13, Detroit 4

Chicago Cubs 13, Cincinnati 9

Arizona 7,  New York Mets 4

Tampa Bay 6, Toronto 5

Atlanta 4, Seattle 0

Miami 7, Philadelphia 4

Minnesota 4, Chicago White Sox 1

Washington 4, Houston 3

Kansas City 3, Colorado 2

San Diego 12, St. Louis 4

Los Angeles Angels 10, Texas 1

Milwaukee 4, San Francisco 3

Wednesday, August 23 Schedule (All Times Central)

Oakland at Baltimore, 2:05 p.m.

Milwaukee at San Francisco, 2:45 p.m.

Miami at Philadelphia, 6:05 p.m.

Los Angeles Dodgers at Pittsburgh, 6:05 p.m.

Boston at Cleveland, 6:10p.m.

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

Chicago Cubs at Cincinnati, 6:10 p.m.

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

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

Seattle at Atlanta, 6:35 p.m.

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

Washington at Houston, 7:10 p.m.

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

San Diego at St. Louis, 7:15 p.m.

Texas at Los Angeles Angels, 9 p.m.