CUBS HOLD ON AFTER NATIONALS RALLY FOR FOUR RUNS IN NINTH
washington» Wade Davis struck out big league batting leader Ryan Zimmerman with runners on second and third to end Washington’s ninth-inning rally, and the Chicago Cubs held off the Nationals 5-4 Monday night.
In jeopardy of being shut out for the first time this season, the NL East-leading Nationals scored four times in the ninth. Their comeback began against Hector Rondon and continued when Davis entered.
With Washington down 5-3, Bryce Harper’s single loaded the bases with two outs. Davis threw a wild pitch that scored a run before striking out a swinging Zimmerman, who’s hitting .344. The final pitch bounced, and catcher Willson Contreras zipped a low throw to first baseman Anthony Rizzo to close the win.
Contreras hit a leadoff home run in his first career game-opening at-bat and Eddie Butler (4-2) worked five scoreless innings to keep the Cubs ahead.
MONDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
Ricky Nolasco struck out five over 6L innings and the Angels beat the Dodgers 4-0, snapping the Dodgers’ 10-game win streak. … Zack Greinke pitched five effective innings after a shaky start, Daniel Descalso had three RBIs and the Diamondbacks rolled to a 6-1 victory over the Phillies. The Diamondbacks were sluggish Sunday against the Phillies, scratching out a 2-1 victory in 11 innings. They took advantage of a rough outing by Nick Pivetta (1-4) in the series finale, racking up six runs in less than three innings against the rookie right-hander. Chris Herrmann led off the first inning with a homer and Greinke (9-4) allowed a run and three hits with five strikeouts. … Francisco Lindor, Lonnie Chisenhall and Carlos Santana each had three RBIs to help the Indians rally from a sevenrun deficit and beat the Rangers 15-9. The Indians came back after trailing 9-2 in the fourth inning to avoid their first four-game losing streak since 2015. The Indians scored a run in the fourth, four in the fifth, took the lead with five in the sixth and added three in the seventh. … Chris Sale pitched 6L overpowering innings with nine strikeouts, Mitch Moreland hit a solo homer for the third straight game and the Red Sox beat the Twins 4-1. Dustin Pedroia had two hits and drove in a run and Moreland added a sacrifice for Boston. Coming off a threegame sweep in Cleveland that had jumped them over the Indians into first in the Central, the Twins’ offense was stymied by Sale and three relievers. Sale (10-3) gave up one run and four hits, increasing his major-league strikeout total to 155. … Jordan Montgomery matched his season high with seven solid innings and closer Aroldis Chapman shut down a ninth-inning rally just in time, lifting the Yankees over the White Sox 6-5. New York led 6-1 entering the ninth, but Yankees reliever Chasen Shreve gave up a three-run homer to Tim Anderson and Chapman allowed an RBI double to Jose Abreu. Chapman retired Avisail Garcia and Todd Frazier to finish his eighth save and first since returning from the disabled list a week ago. Recently recalled outfielder Tyler Austin lined a solo homer and had a sacrifice fly for New York, which won for the third time in 13 games. … Randal Grichuk and Jedd Gyorko each homered and drove in three runs, leading the Cardinals over the Reds 8-2. It was a makeup for an April 29 game that was postponed because of severe weather.