Padres Edge Cardinals, Reds Beat Cubs

By ESPN

If Jose Pirela got a boost of confidence from facing a struggling St. Louis bullpen, he wouldn't admit it.

Carlos Asuaje's RBI single in the ninth inning gave San Diego the lead and Pirela's sacrifice fly proved to be the game-winner as the Padres rallied to beat the Cardinals 4-3 on Thursday night.

Asuaje's hit, his third of the game, off Zach Duke scored Jabari Blash. Neither Duke nor Sam Tuivailala (3-2) recorded an out in relief in the ninth for a Cardinals bullpen that surrendered 12 runs in seven innings during the series.

"They have a good `pen; they have some good arms out there," Pirela said through an interpreter. "I think it's really about us going out there and doing our job and staying focused and when there are men on base bringing them in and luckily we were able to do that throughout the series."

Luis Perdomo gave up two runs in six innings, tying Jhoulys Chacin for the Padres team lead with 13 quality starts. Perdomo, who was claimed off the Cardinals farm system by Colorado in the 2015 Rule 5 draft, was lifted for pinch-hitter Allen Cordoba, whom the Padres plucked from the Cardinals' system in the 2016 Rule 5 draft.

"Outside of two hanging sliders that they did damage on, it was as good as he's thrown," Padres manager Andy Green said. "I thought his fastball location was good on both sides of the plate. I'm really pleased with his effort."

Kirby Yates (3-4) pitched the Padres out of an eighth-inning jam and Brad Hand earned his 12th save in 16 attempts as the Padres won their first series at St. Louis since April 2011.

"Stay focused, take every pitch, take every at-bat, take every game like it matters and let the rest take care of itself," Pirela said. "We've been doing that and you're seeing the results."

Matt Szczur's infield single scored Asuaje to give the Padres a 2-1 lead in the sixth. Cardinals starter Carlos Martinez appeared to pitch out of a bases loaded, no-out jam one batter before by enticing Cory Spangenberg to ground back to him, but Martinez's throw home sailed over Yadier Molina's head allowing Manuel Margot to score.

"Unfortunately those are the errors that will cost you a win and I take that fully," Martinez said through an interpreter. "That's on me."

Margot, Asuaje and Pirela combined for seven hits and three walks.

"The top three guys in our order pretty much drove us today," Green said.

Just one of the two runs Martinez gave up through seven was earned. Martinez struck out six, including the side in the fifth on 10 pitches.

"Just one of those games were you make a play or two it looks completely different, but he did a great job of holding it together keeping it there and gave us a chance," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "We just couldn't put more on."

Jedd Gyorko's RBI single gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead in the fourth. It was Gyorko's 16th RBI in 10 career games against his former team and the ninth consecutive game with an RBI against the Padres.

Randal Grichuk homered in the ninth off Hand.

Reds 4, Cubs 2

Center fielder Ian Happ ran a long way and thought he had a chance to catch Jose Peraza's fly ball. He stretched his glove and just missed.

"Close," Happ said. "Centimeters."

Peraza's long fly ball landed for a bases-loaded double in the eighth inning on Thursday night and rallied the Cincinnati Reds to a 4-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs that avoided a series sweep.

Despite the loss, the defending World Series champions headed for Philadelphia optimistic about how the second half of the season is turning out so far. They're 25-13 since the All-Star break -- second only to the Dodgers -- and lead Milwaukee by three games in the NL Central.

"Lost a tough one tonight, but we go into Philly still feeling pretty good about the way we're throwing the ball, the way we're swinging the bats, the way we're catching the ball," Jake Arrieta said.

They were on target for a sixth straight win Thursday, up 2-1 with two Reds out and nobody on in the eighth. The Reds then loaded the bases on a pair of hits and an intentional walk from Pedro Strop (3-4). Peraza was 0 for 4 off the bench this season when he pinch-hit and made solid contact on the first pitch, sending it high and deep to center.

"I was in and over a little bit," Happ said. "He put it right in no-man's land. I ran a pretty long way for it. I just couldn't haul it in."

The Cubs intentionally walked Eugenio Suarez to load the bases and bring up Peraza.

"As soon as I saw that, I said, `I've got to make good contact," Peraza said through a translator. "I got a good pitch to hit in the middle of the plate."

Strop let in another run with a wild pitch.

Michael Lorenzen (8-2) fanned three of the four batters he faced. Raisel Iglesias picked up his 24th save in 25 chances.

Happ -- a star at the University of Cincinnati -- hit a solo homer, and Arrieta gave another solid performance , allowing only one unearned run in 5 2/3 innings. Arrieta is 5-1 in eight starts since the All-Star break.

Kris Bryant was back at third base after missing one game. He was hit on the side of the left hand by a pitch on Tuesday night and got one day off. The National League's MVP set up Cincinnati's first run with a fielding error, and had a hand in the Cubs' go-ahead run. Bryant doubled in the sixth and came around on Javier Baez's single for a 2-1 lead.

White Sox 5, Twins 1

Derek Holland and pitching coach Don Cooper stayed with their routine while the left-hander piled up losses with a string of poor outings. They felt he was close to finding his form.

Looked pretty good Thursday night.

Holland pitched six effective innings and Yolmer Sanchez homered, leading the Chicago White Sox to a 5-1 victory over the sloppy Minnesota Twins.

Locating effectively on each side of the plate, Holland (7-13) yielded one run and three hits in just his second win in two months. He had allowed 20 runs and 20 hits in 11 innings over his previous five appearances.

"As Coop would say, `You're not off by much, so you just got to continue to keep fighting through it,' which I did," Holland said. "Coop and I did a great job of continuing to work every single time out there in the bullpen and today was one of those days that you've got to reward yourself with that."

Chicago had dropped six of eight before welcoming Minnesota to town for a five-game series. It was a prime opportunity for the contending Twins (65-62) to strengthen their playoff positioning, but the last-place White Sox (50-76) won three times.

Minnesota, which began the day with a half-game lead in the race for the second AL wild card, lost 4-3 on Wednesday night on Tim Anderson's game-ending RBI single. Pitcher Jose Berrios (11-6) and first baseman Mitch Garver each committed a costly error in the series finale, and the Twins' lineup was shut down by Holland and three relievers.

"Just not enough offense the last couple nights," manager Paul Molitor said. "They outplayed us. We made mistakes and they took advantage. We just couldn't get back in the game."

The White Sox broke it open with three runs in the fourth. Yoan Moncada walked, swiped second for his first career steal and scored when Garver flubbed Nicky Delmonico's one-out grounder.

With two out, two runs home and runners on the corners, Berrios made an errant throw while trying to pick off Kevan Smith at third. The ball went into foul territory and Smith scored easily for a 4-0 lead.

"I just held the ball too tight and threw it on the ground," Berrios said through a translator.

Byron Buxton hit his 10th homer for Minnesota, which dropped to 9-7 against Chicago this season. Berrios, who tossed seven scoreless innings in his previous start against Arizona, struck out nine in 5 1/3 innings, but was charged with five runs, three earned, and four hits.

The White Sox finished the game with no position players on their bench after Moncada and outfielder Leury Garcia left with injuries.

Moncada, widely regarded as one of baseball's top prospects, is scheduled for an MRI on Friday after departing with shin splints in his right leg. He also missed a couple games last weekend with shin splints.

"I think at this time, more than soreness, I felt pain," Moncada said through a translator. "But I don't think that it's going to be something worse. It's just like a pain."

Garcia was pulled after three innings with back spasms. He is also considered day to day.

Tigers 10, Yankees 6 in Brawl

The Motor City Baseball Brawl will probably end up a more entertaining main event than Mayweather-McGregor. For four hours, it was fastballs and right hooks. There was an actual fight, but no knockouts.

And there was one loser on the afternoon. It was by decision. New York Yankees All-Star Gary Sanchez's decision.

After Detroit Tigers star Miguel Cabrera instigated the brawl with Yankees backup catcher Austin Romine, both benches cleared in the sixth inning. The smart move, particularly for someone of Sanchez’s growing stature, is to be involved, but not too involved. At the least, don’t throw fists.

But there was Sanchez, as the pile moved onto the infield, throwing punches at a defenseless Cabrera and Nicholas Castellanos. It is going to cost Sanchez games. Maybe five. Maybe 10. You can give or take on those numbers, but Sanchez will be suspended. Sanchez made a bad decision.

The excuses that Sanchez and his manager, Joe Girardi, made for him are valid. It is easy from a press box to tell someone how to react when he is in the middle of a fight.

“It is hard, because everything is happening very fast,” Sanchez said.

No doubt that is the case. A lot had to be swirling inside his head. Sanchez had taken a fastball in the hip in the fifth inning from Michael Fulmer. An inning earlier, he had taken Fulmer deep. It was Sanchez’s 11th homer this month and fourth in these three games at Comerica Park.

The fact that Fulmer was not even warned was a mistake by the umpiring crew, led by crew chief Dana DeMuth, and it was the opening bell for the fight. When Yankees reliever Tommy Kahnle decided to throw behind Cabrera, he was thrown out. Girardi -- mad that Fulmer wasn’t warned and his pitcher was tossed -- was irate and kicked dirt like a 2-year-old, as managers are wont to do. He was sent packing, too.

That should have been it, really. Both sides had their say, but Cabrera wanted the final word in the way of some punches. Cabrera asked Romine if the Yankees' backup catcher had a problem with him, Romine said. Romine responded that it wasn’t about Cabrera. That was unsatisfactory to Cabrera, whose version of the events was different, as he said Romine swore at him.

Cabrera pushed Romine and threw a punch. They wrestled to the ground and, as far as baseball fights go, the entertainment was turned up high. Then Sanchez stepped in from the side.

“It got to the heat of the moment, and boys are going to be boys in the heat of the moment,” Girardi said.

This admittedly was not a grab a partner and do-si-do event. But Sanchez decided to go all-in. When Cabrera and Castellanos were on the ground, smothered, Sanchez took shots. It was uncalled-for and cheap. It will be costly.

The Yankees are fighting to stay in contention in the American League East. On top of that, they are attempting to maintain their lead in the AL wild-card race. While catching the Boston Red Sox will take quite a run, blowing a wild-card spot would be an epic failure. It seems unlikely the Yankees will do that.

However, the way you can crack that door open for the middling AL teams trying to crawl into the one-game shootout is by losing your best hitter, particularly when he is crushing the ball. Sanchez is hitting nearly a home run every other day. His 11 homers this month matches his number for August 2016, when he had his epic run as a rookie. The 24-year-old is carrying the Yankees. He is the guy the Yankees can’t afford to lose right now.

But Sanchez is going to be given a timeout. The whole day was a loss for the Yankees, who went down 10-6. But when you think about Girardi’s pet phrase -- “It’s not what you want” -- it most applies to Sanchez’s punches. He lost his cool, and now he is going to lose games.

Thursday, August 24 Scoreboard

Arizona 3, New York Mets 2

Miami 9, Philadelphia 8

Detroit 10, New York Yankees 6

Tampa Bay 2, Toronto 0

Colorado 3, Kansas City 2

Los Angeles Dodgers 5, Pittsburgh 2

Cleveland 13, Boston 6

Cincinnati 4, Chicago Cubs 2

San Diego 4, St. Louis 3

Washington 5, Houston 4 (F/11)

Chicago White Sox 5, Minnesota 1

Texas 3, Los Angeles Angels 0

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.