Padres Blank Cardinals, Cubs Defeat Pirates

By ESPN

Clayton Richard got the better of Lance Lynn in a rematch of an Indiana high school playoff game from 14 years ago, and Brad Hand just narrowly made sure the result held.

Dexter Fowler struck out against Hand with the bases loaded in the ninth inning, capping the San Diego Padres' 3-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night.

Hand allowed singles by Stephen Piscotty, Randal Grichuk and Carson Kelly to load the bases in the ninth inning before getting Fowler to whiff on a slider in the dirt. Hand got his 16th save.

It gave Richard (7-13) a victory over an old rival. Richard's McCutcheon High School was the king of Indiana in 2003 after edging Lynn's Brownsburg High for the prep title.

"We go way back to the glory days," Richard said.

Jose Pirela had a run-scoring infield single in the first inning, and that was all the cushion Richard and relievers Craig Stammen, Kirby Yates and Hand needed. Richard got 11 groundball outs while allowing five hits and striking out five in six innings.

"I wanted to stay down," Richard said. "That is my strength to start with and I needed to kind of get back to that. My command wasn't as good as it's always been, but I felt like I was down consistently and over the plate enough to make it work."

Wil Myers added his 25th homer of the season, a two-run shot in the seventh.

After Stammen struck out two in the seventh, Greg Garcia and pinch-hitter Breyvic Valera singled, with Valera's being his first in the majors. Manuel Margot then made a running catch on pinch-hitter Tommy Pham's sinking line drive in center.

Lynn (10-7) tiptoed around trouble in the first, allowing a run on three infield hits, an error by Alex Mejia and a walk. Pirela's slow roller to third scored Margot after he opened the inning with a hit.

"Give up three hits that didn't get to the infield dirt," Lynn said. "That's just baseball sometimes, and I gave up one. But I would like to have that one back."

Lynn lasted through the sixth, giving up six hits and three walks, with three strikeouts on 118 pitches.

It was the second straight start the Cardinals failed to support Lynn. He pitched eight scoreless innings for the first time in three years but didn't prevail against the San Francisco Giants last week.

The Cardinals got a rare runner in scoring position when Paul DeJong doubled in the first. He didn't advance, though, and Richard induced double plays in the second and fourth innings. That gave Richard 27 groundball double plays, tying teammate Luis Perdomo for the most in the NL.

"He's just funky," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of Richard. "Guys had trouble picking him up. He had good movement. He had that cutter working the inside part really well."

Cubs 8, Pirates 2

Ian Happ grew up in Pittsburgh's suburbs and had a big night in his hometown Thursday.

Happ had three hits, including two doubles, and threw out a runner at the plate from center field to help the Chicago Cubs to an 8-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

It was a big turnaround from Wednesday's performance, when the Mt. Lebanon native went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts and tripped over his own bat coming out of the batter's box.

"It's always great for me to come home and play at PNC," Happ said. "I had a lot of family and friends out there."

In the second inning, he threw out Jordy Mercer as the Pirates baserunner was trying to score from second on a single by pitcher Jameson Taillon.

"The Mt. Lebanon boy had three knocks tonight and how about the throw to the plate?" manager Joe Maddon said. "He had himself a pretty nice evening."

The Cubs had 13 hits, including eight for extra bases, as the offense broke out after totaling four runs in the first three games of the series.

Happ singled and scored to lead off the game and doubled in the third and eighth innings.

Javier Baez doubled and scored in the second. Jason Heyward singled and was driven in by pitcher Jon Lester's double in the fourth. Baez and Heyward then drove in Anthony Rizzo and Ben Zobrist with back-to-back singles in the fifth as the Cubs piled on against Taillon.

Albert Almora Jr. later added on with a two-run shot in the seventh off receiver Angel Sanchez.

Lester (10-7) worked around traffic in his first four innings but settled down to go six innings with one run and five hits allowed. He struck out five and walked four.

It was Lester's second start since coming off the disabled list Sept. 2, and he felt he made progress after a four-run, eight-hit outing over five innings his first time out.

"(I was) able to get ahead of guys, just wasn't really able to get them out as quick as we would have liked to," Lester said. "Whether that's a little bit of rust or being too fine, I don't know, but we got through it and a couple good defensive plays helped."

Taillon (7-6) lasted just 4 2/3 innings while giving up six runs and 11 hits. He struck out three and walked just one. While he was far from wild, Taillon felt that his pitches were just missing their spots and the Cubs were taking advantage.

"Frustrating, I guess is probably the best word," Taillon said. "I felt strong. I felt great. But no one cares how you feel. You've got to go out, get results and get guys out. I feel great, but they were just hitting every single mistake I made."

Rookies Josh Bell and Jordan Luplow each had RBI for the Pirates, who had eight hits but left 11 men on base.

The start of the game was delayed 52 minutes by rain and was played through scattered showers throughout.

The teams split the four-game series in Pittsburgh, with NL Central-leading Chicago taking the overall season series, 10-9.

Indians 11, White Sox 2

The Cleveland Indians didn't need much help to match last season's team-record 14-game winning streak, batting .317 and pitching to a 1.86 ERA over the last two weeks.

No. 15 was over almost before it started.

Cleveland jumped all over emergency starter Mike Pelfrey for seven runs in the first three innings and Corey Kluber struck out 13 in seven innings of three-hit ball on Thursday night, helping the Indians win their franchise-record 15th consecutive game, 11-2 over the Chicago White Sox.

Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run homer in the first inning and Cleveland went deep five times in becoming the first major league team to win 15 straight since the 2002 Oakland A's.

"The winning streak is enjoyable and I think it's got people's attention, which gives me a chance to maybe brag on our guys a little, which I love," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "Other than that, we just go play tomorrow.

"The Orioles are already sitting back home waiting for us. We'll have our hands full. It just makes the games a little bit more fun because people are watching and they care."

Yolmer Sanchez and Jose Abreu homered in the first for Chicago, but Kluber allowed only one more hit -- a fifth-inning single for Omar Narvaez.

The right-hander retired 20 of his last 22 batters on his way to double-digit strikeouts for the 14th time this season and 38th of his career.

Erik Gonzalez hit two home runs and Francisco Lindor and Greg Allen hit one apiece for the Indians. It was the first homer of Allen's career.

The White Sox turned to Pelfrey (3-11), who threw 40 pitches in 2 1/3 innings of relief Tuesday, when Carlos Rodon (shoulder stiffness) was scratched about 15 minutes before game time. Pelfrey allowed seven runs and eight hits in four innings.

Rodon will have his shoulder examined Friday.

"Just a little soreness when I was trying to get it going," Rodon said. "Just precautionary stuff. We'll figure it out tomorrow with some pictures and see what happens. It just didn't feel right. I didn't want to mess anything up."

The Indians are the first team to win at least 14 in a row in consecutive seasons since the 1935-36 Chicago Cubs.

"Different years, different players," Kluber said, "but I think the one constant between both of them is good pitching, timely hitting, all that cliche stuff you say it takes to win ballgames."

Thursday, September 7 Scoreboard

New York Yankees 9, Baltimore 1

Washington 4, Philadelphia 3

Chicago Cubs 8, Pittsburgh 2

New York Mets 7, Cincinnati 2

Atlanta 6, Miami 5

Cleveland 11, Chicago White Sox 2

Minnesota 4, Kansas City 2

San Diego 3, St. Louis 0

Colorado 9, Los Angeles Dodgers 1

Friday, September 8 Schedule (All Times Central)

Philadelphia at Washington, 6:05 p.m.

Detroit at Toronto, 6:07 p.m.

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

Baltimore at Cleveland, 6:10 p.m.

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

Miami at Atlanta, 6:35 p.m.

New York Yankees at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

Milwaukee at Chicago Cubs, 7:05 p.m.

San Francisco at Chicago White Sox, 7:10 p.m.

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

Pittsburgh at St. Louis, 7:15 p.m.

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

Houston at Oakland, 9:05 p.m.

Los Angeles Angels at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.

Colorado at Los Angeles Angels, 9:10 p.m.

Saturday, September 9 Schedule (All Times Central)

Baltimore at Cleveland, 12:05 p.m.

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

Milwaukee at Chicago Cubs, 3:05 p.m.

Houston at Oakland, 3:05 p.m.

Detroit at Toronto, 3:07 p.m.

Philadelphia at Washington, 6:05 p.m.

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

San Francisco at Chicago White Sox, 6:10 p.m.

Miami at Atlanta, 6:10 p.m.

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

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

Pittsburgh at St. Louis, 6:15 p.m.

Houston at Oakland, 6:30 p.m.

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

Los Angeles Angels at Seattle, 8:10 p.m.

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

Sunday, September 10 Schedule (All Times Central)

Detroit at Toronto, 12:07 p.m.

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

Tampa Bay at  Boston, 12:35 p.m.

Miami at Atlanta, 12:35 p.m.

Philadelphia at Washington, 12:35 p.m.

San Francisco at Chicago White Sox, 1:10 p.m.

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

Pittsburgh at St. Louis, 1:15 p.m.

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

New York Yankees at Texas, 2:05 p.m.

Houston at Oakland, 3:05 p.m.

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

Los Angeles Angels at Seattle, 1:10 p.m.

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

Baltimore at Cleveland, 7 p.m.