Weaver Gives Cardinals Boost, Cubs Take Fifth Straight

By ESPN

Luke Weaver gave the St. Louis Cardinals' ravaged pitching staff a big boost..

Making his third start of the season, the rookie right-hander struck out 10 in seven scoreless innings to help the Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres 6-2 on Wednesday night.

"I felt great," Weaver said. "I felt like everything was rolling really well. The command of the fastball was the biggest thing for me tonight."

The Cardinals had lost three straight and six of eight following an eight-game winning streak, and had allowed at least five runs in each of the last 12 games.

"We needed that," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said.

Weaver (2-1), who turned 24 on Monday, allowed three hits in his longest career outing and matched his career best with 10 strikeouts.

"He had everything and then he was able to raise the eye level, he was able to make real nice fastball pitches late in the count," Matheny said. "Just an impressive start."

San Diego's Jhoulys Chacin (11-9) allowed five runs -- four earned -- on six hits in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out three, walked three and hit four batters.

"It just wasn't a clean outing from him today," Padres manager Andy Green said. "It was a fight from the beginning."

The Cardinals' leadoff hitters reached and scored in four of the first five innings. Three of those runs scored with two outs.

Second baseman Kolten Wong, batting in the leadoff spot with Matt Carpenter unavailable, sparked the St. Louis offense with three hits, three runs scored and two stolen bases.

The Cardinals opened the first inning with back-to-back doubles, with Tommy Pham driving in Wong, and Pham scoring on Dexter Fowler's sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.

Wong led off the third with a single and scored on Jedd Gyorko's two-out infield single. Greg Garcia scored on Chacin's two-out throwing error on an errant pickoff in the fourth, making it 4-0. Fowler scored on Chacin's bases-loaded wild pitch in the fifth.

Manuel Margot's triple off reliever Seung Hwan Oh in the eighth plated the Padres' first run, making it 5-1. Cory Spangenberg hit a solo home run, his 13th, off John Brebbia in the ninth.

Cubs 9, Reds 3

The wins are adding up, the lead over the rest of the division is growing. And the defending World Series champions are feeling a little stronger every day.

Kyle Schwarber hit a three-run homer in the ballpark near his home, Tommy La Stella added a two-run shot while subbing for Kris Bryant, and the Chicago Cubs kept their second-half surge going with a 9-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday night.

The Cubs opened the season still celebrating their long-awaited championship and floundered for most of the first half, with injuries playing a role. They're much healthier now and starting to get their groove back.

Their eighth victory in 10 games moved them 11 games over .500 for the first time this season. They've also opened their biggest lead in the NL Central, 3 1/2 games ahead of Milwaukee.

Chicago trailed the Brewers by 5 1/2 games at the All-Star break.

"The first half of the year, maybe we had some of that residual effect," left-hander Mike Montgomery said. "Now it's about getting to the playoffs. I think we're completely over last year. Now we're in a good place. We're having fun."

Montgomery (4-6) allowed four hits in six shutout innings, filling in for Jon Lester in the rotation. Joey Votto, Eugenio Suarez and Scott Schebler homered in the ninth for the Reds.

Chicago got a little bit of everything -- solid pitching, another big offensive showing, and some spectacular defense -- while putting it away early.

"We played more of a formulaic kind of game," manager Joe Maddon said. "That's what we're trying to do."

The Cubs didn't need a homer during their 13-9 victory in the series opener on Tuesday. Schwarber provided an opposite-field shot in the fourth inning off Asher Wojciechowski (3-3), his ninth since he returned from a stint in the minors to get his swing straightened out.

"That first half is a complete wash for me," said Schwarber, who grew up in nearby Middletown and attended Reds games as a youth. "I've felt a lot better at the plate recently, hitting the ball hard the last couple of days. Got to take those."

Bryant, the National League's MVP, sat out a day after getting hit on the side of the left hand by a pitch. He was much better and isn't expected to miss much time. La Stella took his place at third base and had a two-run homer.

Anthony Rizzo was back at his usual spot -- first base instead of third, where he spent an uneventful inning on Tuesday night. He doubled and scored twice as the Cubs quickly got ahead 9-0.

White Sox 4, Twins 3

Even though his turn was two batters away, Tim Anderson realized from the dugout that he'd have a chance to play the hero on Wednesday night.

A sacrifice bunt and intentional walk later, the 24-year-old stepped to the plate determined to deliver.

"I kind of knew I wanted that moment," he said. "I put the three at-bats behind me and came up big."

Anderson singled with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to score Avisail Garcia from second base and give the Chicago White Sox a 4-3 comeback victory over the Minnesota Twins.

Chicago tied the game at 3 in the eighth inning on back-to-back one-out doubles by Leury Garcia and Yoan Moncada.

Avisail Garcia led off the ninth with a single and was sacrificed to second. Following an intentional walk to Yolmer Sanchez, Anderson -- who was 0 for 3 before the ninth -- produced the first walk-off hit of his career.

"We're in last place right now, but we're still grinding this thing out," said White Sox starter James Shields, who allowed three runs and three hits in six innings. "We're still having fun on the field, and the sky's the limit for these guys."

Jorge Polanco homered for the fourth straight game and drove in two runs for the Twins.

Danny Farquhar (3-2) pitched a scoreless ninth for the win. Trevor Hildenberger (2-2) took the loss.

Minnesota starter Ervin Santana allowed two runs (one earned) and three hits in seven strong innings and appeared headed for his 14th win before Chicago rallied.

Santana, who has five complete games, threw just 91 pitches, but was pulled by manager Paul Molitor.

"We could have sent him back out for the eighth," Molitor said. "I just thought that the seventh, that was a good job getting out of that (and) I wanted to turn it over."

The first 17 batters were retired before Alen Hanson hit a hard grounder down the right-field line with two outs in the bottom of the third. Hanson slid in safely with a triple and then raced home as Polanco's relay throw couldn't be handled by third baseman Eduardo Escobar.

Polanco, who was charged with a throwing error for allowing Hanson to score, atoned in the fourth with a solo homer to tie the score. Polanco has seven homers this season.

Polanco gave Minnesota a 2-1 lead in the sixth with a single to drive in Brian Dozier from third base. One out later, Joe Mauer scored from third on a wild pitch to make it 3-1.

Chicago got a run back in the sixth on a solo homer by Leury Garcia and then tied it in the eighth off reliever Taylor Rogers.

Wednesday, August 23 Scoreboard

Baltimore 8, Oakland 7 (F/12)

San Francisco 4, Milwaukee 2

Philadelphia 8, Miami 0

Pittsburgh 1, Los Angeles Dodgers 0 (F/10)

Boston 6, Cleveland 1

New York Yankees 10, Detroit 2

Chicago Cubs 9, Cincinnati 3

New York Mets 4, Arizona 2

Toronto 7, Tampa Bay 6

Seattle 9, Atlanta 6

Chicago  White Sox 4, Minnesota 3

Houston 6, Washington 1

Kansas City 6, Colorado 4

St. Louis 6, San Diego 2

Texas 7, Los Angeles Angels 5 (F/10)

Thursday, August 24 Schedule (All Times Central)

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

Miami at Philadelphia, 12:05 p.m.

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

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

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

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

Boston at Cleveland, 6:10 p.m.

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

San Diego at St. Louis, 6:15 p.m.

Washington at Houston, 7:10 p.m.

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

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

Friday, August 25 Schedule (All Times Central)

Seattle at New York Yankees, 6:05 p.m.

New York Mets at Washington, 6:05 p.m.

Minnesota at Toronto, 6:07 p.m.

Baltimore at Boston, 6;10 p.m.

Kansas City at Cleveland, 6:10 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, 6:10 p.m.

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

Colorado at Atlanta, 6:35 p.m.

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

Tampa Bay at St. Louis, 7:15 p.m.

San Francisco at Arizona, 8:40 p.m.

Texas at Oakland, 9:05 p.m.

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

Milwaukee at Los Angeles Dodgers, 9:10 p.m.

Saturday, August 26 Schedule (All Times Central)

Seattle at New York Yankees, 12:05 p.m.

Minnesota at Toronto, 12:07 p.m.

Baltimore at Boston, 3:05 p.m.

Texas at Oakland, 3:05 p.m.

New York Mets at Washington, 3:05 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, 5:40 p.m.

Chicago Cubs at Philadelphia, 6:05 p.m.

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

Colorado at Atlanta, 6:10 p.m.

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

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

Tampa Bay at St. Louis, 6:15 p.m.

San Francisco at Arizona, 7:10 p.m.

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

Milwaukee at Los Angeles Dodgers, 8:10 p.m.

Sunday, August 27 Schedule (All Times Central)

Seattle at New York Yankees, 12:05 p.m.

Minnesota at Toronto, 12:07 p.m.

Kansas City at Cleveland, 12:10 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, 12:10 p.m.

San Diego at Miami, 12:10 p.m.

Baltimore at Boston, 12:35 p.m.

Colorado at Atlanta, 12:35 p.m.

Chicago Cubs at Philadelphia, 12:35 p.m.

New York Mets at Washington, 12:35 p.m.

Detroit at Chicago White Sox, 1:10 p.m.

Tampa Bay at  St. Louis, 1:15 p.m.

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

Texas at Oakland, 3:05 p.m.

Milwaukee at Los Angeles Dodgers, 3:10 p.m.

San Francisco at Arizona, 3:10 p.m.

New York Mets at Washington, 7 p.m.