Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Time to move on
Cards put loss behind them as Dodgers loom
ST. LOUIS — A small bump in the road.
That’s how St. Louis Cardinals infielder Paul DeJong described Wednesday’s 4-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
“At this point, we’re flushing this one,” DeJong said. “And getting ready for L.A.”
The Cardinals begin a key four-game series against the Dodgers today. St. Louis leads Los Angeles by two games for the second National League wild card. The Dodgers beat the Reds 8-1 on Wednesday.
The Cardinals (81-65) are 34-19 under new Manager Mike Shildt. They have the most victories in the NL after the All-Star break with 33.
Outfielder Harrison Bader said he is confident St. Louis can break its two-year postseason drought.
“The best time to play our best baseball is towards the end of the season,” Bader said. “And I think we’re right there. Pitching, defense, offense, I couldn’t be more excited for these last few games.”
Outfielder Tyler O’Neill agreed: “We’ve been playing great in the late innings and had a lot of walk-offs this year. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get it done tonight. But we’ll be ready for what lies ahead.”
Jameson Taillon (13-9) allowed 2 runs and 4 hits in 7 innings Wednesday, leaving with a 4-1 lead after the first
two Cardinals reached in the eighth. He has held opponents to three earned runs or less in his past 19 starts, the second-longest streak in the NL behind New York Mets righthander Jacob deGrom with 26.
“His command and his control were at a premium,” Pittsburgh Manager Clint Hurdle said. “All of his pitches were in good sequence. It was all part of the package.”
Taillon has gone seven innings or more seven times this season and has limited opponents to two runs or fewer in all of those outings.
“Having a slider helps. It’s something else I can throw,” Taillon said.
Jose Martinez hit into a run-scoring force out in the eighth inning against Felipe Vazquez, who allowed Patrick Wisdom’s run-scoring single in the ninth. Vazquez rebounded to strike out DeJong and Matt Carpenter with two on to end the game for his 22nd consecutive save and 32nd in 36 chances this year.
Pittsburgh has won six of eight. The Pirates won 11 in a row from July 11-24.
Daniel Poncedeleon (0-2), making his fourth start for St. Louis, allowed 2 runs and 5 hits in 5 innings.
BREWERS 5, CUBS 1 Curtis Granderson homered, tripled and scored three runs, Lorenzo Cain added three hits and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs 5-1 on Wednesday night to move within a game of the NL Central lead. Granderson also got three hits and Mike Moustakas had a two-run single for Milwaukee, which took two of three from the first-place Cubs. Josh Hader (6-1) struck out three in a scoreless eighth to get the win. Six Brewers pitchers combined to hold Chicago to six hits. Kris Bryant had two hits and drove in the Cubs’ lone run.
BRAVES 2, GIANTS 1 Pinch-hitter Tyler Flowers drove in the go-ahead run in the ninth inning, and the Atlanta Braves moved closer to clinching the NL East with a 2-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday. The Giants lost their 11th straight, the worst skid since the team moved to San Francisco and the longest for the franchise since 1951. The Braves reduced their magic number for winning the division to 11 with their fifth straight win, matching their best streak of the season, and clinched their first winning record since their last division crown in 2013. Going into Wednesday, Atlanta led second-place Philadelphia by 6½ games.
DODGERS 8, REDS 1 Yasmani Grandal and Justin Turner drove in three runs each, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat Cincinnati 8-1 Wednesday to avoid a season sweep by the last-place Reds. Joc Pederson homered for the Dodgers, and Grandal had three hits. Los Angeles began the day 1½ games behind NL West-leading Colorado and three games back of St. Louis for the second NL wild card. The Dodgers had been 0-6 against the Reds and were on the verge of being swept by Cincinnati in a season for the first time. Cincinnati’s Scooter Gennett went 1 for 4, keeping his league-leading batting average at .321. NATIONALS 5, PHILLIES 1 Stephen Strasburg threw seven impressive innings, Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman and Juan Soto homered and the Washington Nationals beat the freefalling Philadelphia Phillies 5-1 on Wednesday night to complete a three-game sweep. Even Cy Young Award contender Aaron Nola (16-5) couldn’t end Philadelphia’s skid. The Phillies have lost five in a row to drop 7½ games behind first-place Atlanta in the NL East with 17 to play. They’re 11-23 since Aug. 5, when they had the NL’s second-best record. Strasburg (8-7) allowed one run and struck out nine in his best start since April. ROCKIES 5, DIAMONDBACKS 4 DJ LeMahieu hit a two-run homer off Yoshihisa Hirano in the ninth inning, and the NL West-leading Colorado Rockies rallied to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-4 on Wednesday night. LeMahieu hit a fastball over the fence in right as the Rockies kept their 1½-game advantage over Los Angeles intact after the Dodgers beat Cincinnati earlier in the day. The Diamondbacks fell 3½ games behind in the division race. This is the latest in the season the Rockies have been alone in first place since 1995. Since 2015, the Diamondbacks are now 17-6 against Colorado during games played in September or later — including their win in the NL wild-card contest last October.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
RAYS 3, INDIANS 1 Blake Snell took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and got his major league-leading 19th win, leading the Tampa Bay Rays over the Cleveland Indians 3-1 on Wednesday. Snell (19-5) lost his bid when Jose Ramirez led off the seventh with his 38th homer. Snell won his team-record seventh straight start, striking out nine and walking two in seven innings. He has allowed two earned runs or fewer in 16 consecutive home starts. Cleveland’s magic number to clinch a third consecutive AL Central title remained at three. ASTROS 5, TIGERS 4 George Springer made a diving catch in the eighth inning to help preserve Houston’s lead, and the Astros swept a series at Comerica Park for the first time, wrapping up a three-game set with a 5-4 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday. The Tigers had a man on first with two outs in the eighth when Dawel Lugo hit a line drive down the line in right field. Springer made a diving catch. If he had missed and the ball had skipped past, the tying run would have scored. It was the 13th series sweep of the season for the Astros, who have won 10 of their last 11 games. Houston entered with a three-game lead over Oakland atop the AL West. Gerrit Cole (14-5) allowed two runs and three hits in five innings. He walked four and struck out nine.
RED SOX 1, BLUE JAYS 0 The Boston Red Sox reached 100 wins for the first time since Ted Williams returned from World War II in the 1946 season, beating the Toronto Blue Jays 1-0 Wednesday night as David Price won his sixth straight decision. Price (15-6) allowed three hits and struck out seven. Unbeaten in 11 starts since July 1, Price left after 92 pitches with a lead earned when Rafael Devers scampered home on a wild pitch by Aaron Sanchez (4-6) in the fifth inning. Craig Kimbrel got three outs for his 39th save in 44 chances, and the scoreboards all flashed “100 WINS.” A night after becoming the first major league team this year to clinch a playoff spot, Boston won for the 10th time in 14 games and moved a season-high 54 games above .500. The Red Sox lowered their magic number to secure their third straight AL East title to eight, pending the New York Yankees’ game against Minnesota later Wednesday. Boston’s previous 100-win team featured Williams, Johnny Pesky, Bobby Doerr and Dom DiMaggio. This year’s Red Sox need only to go 6-10 the rest of the way to break the franchise record of 105 wins, set in 1912. ATHLETICS 10, ORIOLES Matt Olson homered during a 10-run third inning in which the first 11 batters reached base, and the Oakland Athletics beat the Baltimore Orioles 10-0 Wednesday night for their sixth straight victory. Oakland totaled 10 hits and two walks in its biggest inning of the year. Olson provided the big blow — a three-run shot off Andrew Cashner (4-15) — and three different players had two hits. That was more than enough offense to enable the A’s to match their longest winning streak of the season. Oakland trails first-place Houston by three games in the AL West and owns a comfortable lead for the second AL wild card. Daniel Mengden (7-6) pitched five innings of no-hit relief after entering in the second for starter Liam Hendriks, who went one inning by design. Baltimore’s lone hit was a clean single to left field in the first by Trey Mancini. The A’s have already clinched their 10th series win in the last 13 (10-1-2) and will go for a three-game sweep of the woeful Orioles tonight. After going a major league-best 34-15 since the All-Star break, Oakland is 32 games over .500 (89-57) for the first time since September 2003. Baltimore has lost six in a row to fall to 41-104, the worst record in the majors. It’s the eighth time this season the Orioles have been mired in a skid of at least six games. TWINS 3, YANKEES 1 Jake Odorizzi’s nohit bid was broken up when Greg Bird hit a run-scoring double with one out in the eighth inning, and the Minnesota Twins beat the Yankees 3-1 Wednesday night to take two of three from New York. The Yankees’ lead over Oakland for the AL’s top wild card was cut to one game as they completed a 4-5 trip. Odorizzi, his arm slot fluctuating, walked Like Voit before Bird lined the next pitch deep into the left-center gap. Odorizzi was immediately removed from the game by Twins manager Paul Molitor and tipped his cap to the crowd as he walked off the field to a standing ovation. Odorizzi (6-10) struck out five and walked three, matching his big league high of 120 pitches set while pitching for Tampa Bay against the Twins on June 3, 2016.
INTERLEAGUE
PADRES 5, MARINERS 4 Austin Hedges and Hunter Renfroe hit long home runs, and the San Diego Padres held on to beat the fast-sinking Seattle Mariners 5-4 on Wednesday and finish off a two-game sweep. The Padres swept the interleague season series against the Mariners after taking two games in San Diego on Aug. 28-29. It was the first time since the two teams started meeting annually in 1997 that either club won every game in a season. The Mariners have lost 10 of 15 since Aug. 26 to fall out of contention for the AL wild card. Nelson Cruz homered for the Mariners, his 35th of the season, and drove in his 1000th career run. He’s one of 11 active players to reach that total.