Cubs win in Maddon’s return to Trop, extend streak to seven
ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. » Mike Montgomery took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning, Kyle Schwarber hit his 28th home run and the Chicago Cubs extended their winning streak to a season-high seven by beating the the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 Tuesday night in manager Joe Maddon’s return to Tropicana Field.
Maddon managed the Rays from 2006-14, then left to manage Chicago and last year led the Cubs to their first World Series title since 1908. Chicago holds a 3½-game lead over second-place Milwaukee in the NL Central.
A crowd of 25,046, the largest at the Trop since opening day, gave Maddon a standing ovation in the middle of the first inning.
“I thought it was a quick nine years,” he said of his time with the Rays. “I try to stay in the present tense, but that was a fast nine years and I have nothing but warm and fuzzies about it.”
Montgomery (7-8) allowed one hit in six innings, a one-out homer in the sixth by Brad Miller. Montgomery struck out six, walked one and hit his first batter, Kevin Kiermaier. CARDINALS 8, REDS 7 » Dexter Fowler hit a tying homer in the eighth inning and a go-ahead double in the 10th, helping knock off Cincinnati.
Yadier Molina and Paul DeJong also connected for St. Louis, which was swept by NL Central-leading Chicago over the weekend and had dropped four of five overall. MARLINS 5, METS 4 » J.T. Realmuto homered in the 10th inning and Miami beat New York after rallying for three runs in the ninth against former teammate A.J. Ramos.
With one out, Realmuto hit a 1-1 pitch from Paul Sewald (0-6) into the Mets’ bullpen for his 17th homer. NATIONALS 4, BRAVES 2 » Max Scherzer allowed five hits in seven innings, and Washington tuned up for the playoffs with a victory over Atlanta.
Scherzer (15-6) bounced back from his worst start of the season, also against the Braves last week, when he walked six and was roughed up for seven runs in an 8-2 loss. This time, Scherzer struck out seven and walked only one while throwing 83 of 112 pitches for strikes. BREWERS 1, PIRATES 0 » Chase Anderson had eight strikeouts in six innings, Domingo Santana homered and Milwaukee shut out Pittsburgh for the second straight day.
The Brewers won for the ninth time in 11 games, keeping pace in the NL Central and wild-card races. St. Louis They won for the fourth time in the past seven days against reeling Pittsburgh, which has lost a seasonhigh seven consecutive games and 12 of 13.
It was the 12th shutout of the season for the Brewers, tied for the second-most in the NL. RED SOX 1, ORIOLES 0 » Jackie Bradley Jr. scored the game’s lone run on a wild pitch by Brad Brach in the 11th inning, and Boston used six pitchers to silence Baltimore.
Boston has won 10 of 13 to move a season-high 23 games over .500 (87-64) and draw closer to clinching a postseason berth. The Red Sox started the day with a threegame lead over the second-place New York Yankees in the AL East.
It was the second straight tight, lengthy game between these AL East rivals. Boston won in 11 innings on Monday night and is 15-3 in extra-inning games. ASTROS 3, WHITE SOX 1 » Jose Altuve homered, Alex Bregman hit an RBI double and AL West champion Houston extended its winning streak to five games with a victory over Chicago.
Collin McHugh (3-2) allowed one run and five hits with five strikeouts in five innings for Houston. It was the right-hander’s first outing since detaching a fingernail on his pitching hand Sept. 8.