Flaherty, Cards shut down Cubs
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.
Flaherty (5-6) allowed just one hit and walked two in recording his first win since May 14. The righthander held the Cubs without a hit until Nicholas Castellanos singled with two out in the sixth. It was the Cubs’ only hit of the game.
Wieters capped off a four-run, sixth-inning outburst with a three-run 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.
RAYS 9, RED SOX 4: Rookie Brendan McKay struck out seven, Mike Zunino and Austin Meadows homered, and Tampa Bay completed a three-game sweep at Boston. The Rays have won four straight and hold the AL’s final wild card by a half-game over Oakland.
ATHLETICS 5, BREWERS 3: Matt Chapman hit a tworun home run off closer Josh Hader in the eighth inning as host Oakland beat Milwaukee. The A’s trailed 3-2 when Robbie Grossman walked leading off the eighth against Hader, an All-Star reliever. Chapman crushed a first-pitch home run to center. Christian Yelich doubled to extend his hitting streak to a careerhigh 19 games for Milwaukee, matching the longest streak in the majors this season.
BRAVES 4, REDS 1: Freddie Freeman hit a three-run home run, and Max Fried held Cincinnati to a run on four hits in six innings as host Atlanta won a game called after six innings because of rain.
METS 4, WHITE SOX 0: Zack Wheeler tossed seven innings of four-hit ball, Robinson Cano drove in two runs with a homer and double and visiting New York beat Chicago for its seventh straight win. Wilson Ramos also drove in a run as the Mets completed a threegame sweep. New York has its longest winning streak since a nine-game run in early April 2018.
MARLINS 5, TWINS 4 (12): Newly acquired Twins reliever Sam Dyson blew a three-run lead in the ninth inning, then Harold Ramirez hit a leadoff homer in the 12th that sent host Miami over the Twins 5-4. Romo pitched a perfect eighth and turned a 4-1 lead in the ninth over to Dyson, who had a 2.47 ERA in 49 games for the Giants this season.
BLUE JAYS 11, ORIOLES 2: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit two of his team’s five home runs to back a solid performance by fellow rookie Trent Thornton and Toronto won at Baltimore. PHILLIES 10, GIANTS 2: J.T. Realmuto hit a three-run homer and fell a triple shy of the cycle, Cesar Hernandez and Roman Quinn also went deep, and host Philadelphia beat San Francisco.