Cardinals beat Cubs, take lead in NL Central
ST. LOUIS >> Jack Flaherty struck out nine in seven strong innings and Matt Wieters hit a three-run homer as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 8-0 Thursday in a matchup of NL Central leaders.
The Cardinals won two games in the three-game set and claimed first in the division, a game ahead of Chicago. The Cubs have lost four of six overall and 11 of their last 16 on the road.
Flaherty (5-6) allowed just one hit and walked two in recording his first win since May 14, a span of 79 days and 12 starts. The right-hander held the Cubs without a hit until newcomer Nicholas Castellanos singled to right with two out in the sixth. Flaherty retired 13 straight batters from the first to fifth innings.
Wieters capped off a four-run, sixth-inning outburst with a threerun homer off Derek Holland to give the Cardinals a 6-0 lead.
Jose Martinez, Kolten Wong and Yairo Muniz had RBI singles for the Cardinals, who are coming off a 16-9 record in July. MARLINS 5, TWINS 4 >> Newly acquired Minnesota reliever Sam Dyson blew a three-run lead in the ninth inning, then Harold Ramirez hit a leadoff homer in the 12th to make Miami a winner.
Dyson, acquired from San Francisco on Wednesday, faced four batters and didn’t retire any of them, allowing two walks and two hits before being pulled.
METS 4, WHITE SOX 0 >> Zack Wheeler tossed seven innings of four-hit ball, Robinson Canó drove in two runs with a homer and double and New York beat Chicago for its seventh straight win.
Wilson Ramos also drove in a run as the Mets completed a threegame sweep of the White Sox and won their 13th of 17 overall. ATHLETICS 5, BREWERS 3 >> Matt Chapman hit a two-run home run off struggling closer Josh Hader (15) in the eighth and Oakland beat Milwaukee.
Christian Yelich doubled to extend his hitting streak to a careerhigh 19 games for Milwaukee. Mike Moustakas added two hits, and Trent Grisham had a sacrifice fly in his major league debut with the Brewers.
White Sox put Moncada on injured list
CHICAGO >> The Chicago White Sox have put third baseman Yoán Moncada on the 10-day injured list with a strained right hamstring.
The White Sox made the move before Thursday’s game with the Mets. Outfielder Ryan Cordell was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte.
Moncada left Tuesday night’s game after fielding Wilson Ramos’ grounder in the top of the first. On Wednesday, Moncada said through a translator that he first sensed discomfort while taking groundballs before that game, but then “felt” the injury on his first play in the 5-2 11-inning loss to the Mets.
Moncada is hitting .301 with 20 homers and 59 RBIs in 97 games.
Farquhar rejoins White Sox as pitching instructor
CHICAGO >> Danny Farquhar, who suffered a brain hemorrhage in the Chicago White Sox dugout last season, has rejoined the team as its new minor league pitching instructor.
The 32-year-old former reliever will start on Aug. 7 at the club’s Double-A affiliate in Birmingham, Alabama.
Farquhar had the hemorrhage from a ruptured aneurysm in the dugout on April 20, 2018, after facing four batters during a home game against Houston. He attempted a comeback this season when the Yankees signed him to a minor league contract, but was released on June 19.