Cardinals win as rule goes against Cubs
ST. LOUIS — Starter Carlos Martinez has been filling a variety of roles for the St. Louis Cardinals.
For Joe Maddon and the Chicago Cubs, the focus Saturday was more on the rules.
Martinez had his second straight two-hit game and started a disputed double play to help the Cardinals beat the Cubs 5-3.
In the fifth inning, Chicago's Ian Happ was charged with interference on a hard slide into second base. On a grounder by Anthony Rizzo, Happ slid past the bag while shortstop Aledmys Diaz fielded a flip from Martinez, and Rizzo was ruled out when umpires made the interference call. Kyle Schwarber had scored from third base, but that run was nullified by the double play, keeping the Cardinals ahead 3-1.
"I have no idea why these rules are a part of our game. Outs are rewarded based on a fabricated rule," Maddon said. "I'm not blaming the umpire. Umpires do what they have to do. I think we have a tendency to micromanage stuff that we have no business to do. Don't give me all protectionism stuff because I'm not buying into it. It's wrong."
Cubs starter Jon Lester is not a fan of the slide rule either.
"We're out there playing with a bunch of pansies right now," Lester said. "I'm over this damn slide rule. We're all grown men out there. I told Happ in the dugout to do the exact same thing the next time. It's baseball man."
In a rematch of the season opener, Martinez (3-3) again topped Lester (1-2). Martinez allowed three runs, five hits and four walks over 6 2/3 innings, striking out seven.
Martinez also scored Tommy Pham on a squeeze bunt in the third inning. Lester tried to field the ball and flip it home, but the attempt came up short while Martinez took second with nobody covering.
Martinez doubled leading off the fifth inning. In his previous start May 8, he doubled and drove in four runs.
Happ, a top Cubs prospect, homered off Martinez in the seventh for his first hit in his major league debut.
Pham had two hits, two RBIs, a walk and a stolen base. The outfielder is batting .387 with seven extra-base hits in eight games since being recalled from Triple-A this month.
Seung Hwan Oh pitched the ninth, giving up a two-out single before picking up his 10th save in 11 opportunities.
Lester labored, throwing 112 pitches in 5 2/3 innings. He allowed six hits and four runs, three earned, walked four and struck out nine.
St. Louis went ahead 3-1 in a two-run fourth inning. Jedd Gyorko led off with a home run, and Yadier Molina followed with a single and then stole his 50th career base. Pham singled Molina home after Greg Garcia's sacrifice bunt.
Braves 3, Marlins 1
MIAMI — Julio Teheran allowed three hits over six scoreless innings and the Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins.
Nick Markakis had three hits and drove in a run, Darby Swanson also drove in a run, and Matt Kemp extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a single in the eighth for the Braves.
Teheran (3-3) beat the Marlins for the first time in seven starts. He struck out four and walked two while throwing 94 pitches.
Jim Johnson pitched a perfect ninth for his sixth save in eight chances.
Justin Bour homered for the Marlins have lost five straight and 14 of their last 17 dropping to last place in the NL East behind the Braves.
The retractable roof and operable walls were open for the fifth straight game, which is the most consecutive in a row since Marlins Park debuted in 2012. The Marlins are 0-6 with the roof open this season.
Miami's Edinson Volquez (0-5) made his first start since May 2 after being reinstated from the disabled list due to a blister on his thumb and allowed two runs and four hits in six innings.
Volquez did not allow a hit until the fourth inning when Freddie Freeman's fly ball dropped in for a double as left fielder Marcell Ozuna lost the ball in the lights.
Freeman scored on a base hit by Markakis, who scored on a base hit by Swanson later in the inning for a 2-0 lead.
Bour hit a home run off Eric O'Flaherty to lead off the seventh cutting the deficit to 2-1. It was Bour's first career home run off a left-handed pitcher in 135 plate appearances.
Kemp's infield hit in the eighth to charging third baseman Derek Dietrich led to a run when Dietrich's throw went past Bour at first base.
Marlins' right-hander Brian Ellington was optioned to Triple-A New Orleans to make room for Volquez.
Nationals 6, Phillies 4
WASHINGTON — Fresh from getting a big deal, Bryce Harper hit a game-ending home run with two outs in the ninth inning that sent the Washington Nationals over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Hours before the game, the Nationals announced they had reached agreement with Harper on a $21,625,000 contract for the 2018 season, covering the slugging outfielder through his last year before he can become a free agent.
Then in the ninth, the 24-year-old star provided an immediate payoff. Pinch hitter Adam Lind led off with a single against Edubray Ramos (0-3) and two outs later, Harper lined an 0-1 pitch over the wall in center for his 11th homer of the season.
Trailing 4-0 in the fifth, Washington tied it on a two-run homer by Trea Turner and a two-run double by Ryan Zimmerman.
Brewers 11, Mets 4
MILWAUKEE — Travis Shaw capped Milwaukee's eight-run fifth inning with a three-run homer, helping the Brewers beat the New York Mets.
Milwaukee sent 11 batters to the plate in its highest scoring inning of the season. Orlando Arcia had a two-run single and Jesus Aguilar drove in two runs with a double before Shaw connected for his eighth homer.
Neil Walker homered for New York, which has dropped three in a row. Robert Gsellman (2-3) was charged with six runs, five earned, and nine hits in four-plus innings.