Cardinals Drop Seventh Straight, Cubs Win, ML Roundup

Pirates Rally For Win Over Cardinals

(Pittsburgh, PA) -- Russell Martin connected for a RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the Pirates to a 5-4 win over the Cardinals at PNC Park.  Pittsburgh rallied from two-run deficits on two-separate occasions. Neil Walker hit a solo homer and Pedro Alvarez plated his 70th run of the season. Walker says they never stop battling at the plate.

Reliever Tony Watson picked up the victory and Mark Melancon locked up his fifth save.  The Pirates have taken the first four games of the five-game set to move two-and-a-half games ahead of St. Louis for first place in the NL Central. Adam Wainwright allowed four of the five runs for the Cards across seven innings, but reliever Trevor Rosenthal took the loss. Matt Holliday drove in two runs as St. Louis dropped its seven straight.

Cubs Dump Brewers

(Chicago, IL) -- Edwin Jackson tossed eight strong innings as the Cubs locked up the Brewers, 6-1, at Wrigley Field. Jackson allowed eight hits and one run, while striking out four to grab his seventh win of the season. Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro each had two hits and a homer. David DeJesus drove in three as Chicago avoided being swept in the finale of the four-game set. Jonathan Lucroy had two hits and one RBI for Milwaukee, which had won four of its previous five games. Wily Peralta took his second straight loss after a stretch of three straight solid performances.  

Indians Edge White Sox In 10th

(Cleveland, OH) -- Carlos Santana smacked a walk-off solo homer in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift the Indians to a 6-5 win over the White Sox in the third installment of a four-game series at Progressive Field. Both teams scored two runs in the ninth inning to force extras. Santana and Jason Kipnis drove in two runs each, while Michael Brantley went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored for the Tribe, which won its seventh straight game. Chris Perez picked up the win in relief and improved to 4-1. Jeff Keppinger had a pinch-hit two-run single in the ninth for the Sox, who have dropped six in-a-row and nine of their last 10.  Alexei Ramirez and Alex Rios both plated a run and scored a run in defeat. Dylan Axelrod fell to 3-7.

Rangers Walk-Off On Angels Again

(Arlington, TX) -- Adrian Beltre lifted a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the ninth to give the Rangers a 2-1 victory over the Angels in Arlington. The Rangers swept the three-game series all by late inning heroics. Nelson Cruz hit a solo shot in the second for Texas, which had lost four straight prior to the start of this series.  Joe Nathan picked up the win in relief. Josh Hamilton tied the game with a homer in the seventh for Los Angeles, which has lost six straight. Michael Kohn suffered the loss out of the bullpen.

Tigers Trounce Nationals

(Detroit, MI) -- Torii Hunter went 4-for-5 with a home run and three RBI to lead the Tigers to an 11-1 win over the Nationals at Comerica Park. Victor Martinez added three hits and an RBI and Alex Avila also homered for Detroit, which swept the two-game Interleague series. Justin Verlander pitched six innings of four-hit, one-run ball to improve to 11-8. Gio Gonzalez was ripped for 11 hits and 10 runs in less than four innings to take the loss.  Jayson Werth plated Washington's lone run with a sac-fly in the first inning. Denard Span went 2-for-3 and scored for the Nats in defeat.

Royals Edge Twins For Eighth Straight Win

(Minneapolis, MN) -- Billy Butler drove in two runs to lead the Royals to their eighth straight win, 4-3 over the Twins at the Metrodome. Miguel Tejada also plated a run for KC, which is 10-and-2 since the All-Star break. Jeremy Guthrie tossed six innings of two-run ball as he improved to 11-7. Greg Holland closed it out for his 28th save.  Pedro Florimon homered and Trevor Plouffe doubled in a run for the Twins, who will try to avoid the three-game sweep on Thursday. Caleb Thielbar suffered his first career loss.

Red Sox Outlast Mariners In 15

(Boston, MA) -- Stephen Drew's one-out, bases-loaded single drove in Dustin Pedroia with the winning run in the bottom of the 15th inning and the Red Sox defeated the Mariners 5-4. Pedroia drove in three runs and Drew had two RBI for the Red Sox, who have won four of their last five games and regained first place in the A-L East.   Drake Britton pitched two scoreless innings for his first major-league win. Lucas Luetge gave up the winning run and fell to 0-2 for Seattle. Kyle Seager had three hits and drove in two runs for the Mariners. Seattle has lost four-of-five.  

Houston Crushes Baltimore 11-0

(Baltimore, MD) -- Jason Castro hit a grand slam, and that was more than enough for starter Brett Oberholtzer, as the Astros crushed the Orioles 11-0 from Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Oberholtzer shut down the O's for seven innings of three-hit ball and struck out six. The righty earned his first career win in his first big league start.  Matt Dominguez added four hits, two RBI and three runs scored for the Astros, who are just 3-and-9 since the break. Miguel Gonzalez was knocked around, giving up a career-high nine runs. Steve Pierce had two hits in his return from the disabled list for the Birds, who have dropped six-of-eight.

Giants Smoke Phillies

(Philadelphia, PA) -- Chad Gaudin continued to pitch well as the Giants dominated the Phillies, 9-2, at Citizens Bank Park. Gaudin went seven innings, allowing one run and striking out five to improve to 5-2. Brett Pill was 3-for-4 with a home run, four RBI and two runs scored. San Francisco ended a five-game losing streak. Chase Utley hit his 14th long ball of the season and knocked in both Philadelphia runs. Kyle Kendrick couldn't make it out of the third inning, allowing eight hits and seven runs, six of which were earned.  Kendrick fell to 9-8. The Phillies have dropped nine of their last 10.

Braves Blast Rockies

(Atlanta, GA) -- Freddie Freeman was 4-for-4 with a pair of runs and two RBI as the Braves blanked the Rockies 9-0 at Turner Field.  Brian McCann lifted a three-run homer for Atlanta, which has won six in-a-row. Justin Upton was 3-for-5 with a run in the win.  Mike Minor struck out six and allowed only two hits in seven innings as he improved to 11-5. Dexter Fowler had two of the five hits for Colorado, which has lost the first three of this four-game series. Tyler Chatwood allowed eight runs in under three innings for the loss.

Marlins Hold Off Mets

(Miami, FL) -- The Marlins jumped out to a 3-0 lead and held on for a 3-2 win over the Mets at Marlins Park. Jake Marisnick hit his first career home run, while fellow youngster Christian Yelich compiled two hits and a run scored. Henderson Alvarez picked up the win, holding New York to two runs and six hits in 7 1/3 innings. Mike Dunn grabbed his second save. The Mets had taken the first two of the four-game set.  Ike Davis had an RBI double in the loss. Jenrry Mejia fell to 1-1, giving up all three runs across six innings. New York has lost four-of-six.  

Miley, D'backs Blank Rays

(St. Petersburg, FL) -- Wade Miley and two relievers combined on a three-hit shutout as the Diamondbacks blanked the Rays 7-0 to split the two-game series at Tropicana Field.  Miley struck out eight while giving up two hits and five walks over six-and-a-third scoreless innings as he evened his record at 8-8. Eric Chavez clubbed a two-run homer and knocked in three for the D'backs, who snapped a three-game skid. Paul Goldschmidt added his 24th homer and NL-leading 86th RBI on the year. Ben Zobrist had two of the three hits for the Rays, who are now 9-and-3 since the break. Jeremy Hellickson allowed four runs in four-and-a-third frames as he slipped to 10-4.

Yankees Down Dodgers With Three-Run Ninth

(Los Angeles, CA) -- Lyle Overbay broke a scoreless tie with an RBI-single in the top of the ninth inning as the Yankees went on to beat the Dodgers 3-0 to split the two-game series at Chavez Ravine. Ichiro Suzuki and Overbay came around to score on an error later in the ninth for the Yanks, who have won two-of-three. Boone Logan picked up the win in relief of starter Hiroki Kuroda, who tossed seven shutout innings.  Mariano Rivera pitched a perfect ninth for his 34th save. Ronald Belisario fell to 4-6 with the loss. Clayton Kershaw tossed eight scoreless frames in a no-decision. LA had won its previous four.

Reds Prevail Over Padres In Series Finale

(San Diego, CA) -- Homer Bailey and Aroldis Chapman combined on a six-hitter as the Reds beat the Padres 4-1 at Petco Park.  Bailey allowed six hits and an unearned run over eight and a third innings to notch his sixth win. Chapman recorded the final two outs to post his 25th save. Brandon Phillips homered and Joey Votto doubled home two as Cincinnati salvaged the finale of the three-game series. Eric Stults was charged with all four runs, but just one earned, over 6 2/3 innings to take the loss. Chase Headley broke up the shutout with an RBI double in the ninth for San Diego.

Padres Acquire Ian Kennedy From D'backs

(San Diego, CA) -- Ian Kennedy is the odd man out in a crowded Diamondbacks rotation. Arizona traded the struggling former 20-game-winner to the San Diego Padres for lefty reliever Joe Thatcher, minor league pitcher Matt Stites and a compensation-round draft pick. Kennedy was in the middle of his fourth season with Arizona. The D'backs former ace says he won't hold anything against his old club.

The 28-year-old Kennedy was 3-and-8 with a 5.23 ERA in 21 starts for Arizona this season. Thatcher was 3-1 with a 2.10 ERA in 50 games for the Padres. The Diamondbacks will look internally to fill Kennedy's spot in the rotation.

O's Get Norris From Astros

(Baltimore, MD) -- The Orioles acquired right-hander Bud Norris from the Astros prior to yesterday's trade deadline.  The O's receive outfielder L.J. Hoes, pitcher Josh Hader and the O's 2014 draft competitive balance pick. The 28-year-old Norris was 6-and-9 with a 3.93 ERA in 21 starts this season for Houston. He will make his Orioles debut tonight as he starts against his former club.

Blue Jays Escape With Victory

(Oakland, CA) -- It wasn't pretty, but the Blue Jays escaped O.co Coliseum Wednesday afternoon after taking two of three from the top team in the American League West. Toronto played one of its sloppiest games in the field this season, but the overall damage was minimized thanks to a strong outing from R.A. Dickey and the bullpen. That gave the Blue Jays a fighting chance for some late-inning heroics, and the offense eventually held up its end of the bargain. Jose Bautista hit a go-ahead RBI double and Colby Rasmus had a two-run single in the top of the 10th to overshadow a four-error afternoon as the Blue Jays secured their second consecutive series victory with a 5-2 win over the Athletics.

Wednesday, July 31 Scoreboard

MLB NL

Cincinnati Reds 4, San Diego Padres 1

San Francisco Giants 9, Philadelphia Phillies 2

Pittsburgh Pirates 5, St. Louis Cardinals 4

Miami Marlins 3, New York Mets 2

Atlanta Braves 9, Colorado Rockies 0

Chicago Cubs 6, Milwaukee Brewers 1

MLB AL

Toronto Blue Jays 5, Oakland Athletics 2 (10 inn)

Houston Astros 11, Baltimore Orioles 0

Cleveland Indians 6, Chicago White Sox 5 (10 inn)

Boston Red Sox 5, Seattle Mariners 4 (15 inn)

Texas Rangers 2, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 1

Kansas City Royals 4, Minnesota Twins 3

MLB Interleague

Detroit Tigers 11, Washington Nationals 1

Arizona Diamondbacks 7, Tampa Bay Rays 0

New York Yankees 3, Los Angeles Dodgers 0

Thursday, August 1 Scoreboard (All Times Central)

MLB NL

11:40 a.m. - New York Mets at Miami Marlins

6:05 p.m. - San Francisco Giants at Philadelphia Phillies

6:05 p.m. - St. Louis Cardinals at Pittsburgh Pirates

6:10 p.m. - Colorado Rockies at Atlanta Braves

7:05 p.m. - Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicago Cubs

MLB AL

11:05 a.m. - Chicago White Sox at Cleveland Indians

12:10 p.m. - Kansas City Royals at Minnesota Twins

6:05 p.m. - Houston Astros at Baltimore Orioles

6:10 p.m. - Seattle Mariners at Boston Red Sox

9:05 p.m. - Toronto Blue Jays at Los Angeles Angels

MLB Interleague

6:05 p.m. - Arizona Diamondbacks at Texas Rangers