Cubs top Padres, lead NL Central
SAN DIEGO — Jon Lester and the Chicago Cubs are on top of the National League at the All-Star break.
Lester won for the eighth time in nine starts, Jason Heyward drove in two runs and the Cubs beat the sloppy San Diego Padres 7-4 on Sunday for a three-game series sweep.
Chicago closed out a 4-2 West Coast trip. With All-Star second baseman Javier Baez putting together a big first half, the Cubs (55-38) lead the Milwaukee Brewers by 21/2 games in the NL Central.
“I feel like we’ve been playing really good baseball for a while and the Brewers have kind of matched us,” Lester said. “We’re able to kind of gain some ground this weekend on our end. I think the biggest thing is just keeping your head down and keep plodding ahead. You can’t worry about other teams and what they’re doing right now.”
The Cubs won the World Series in 2016, stopping their 108-year title drought. They made it back to the NLCS last year before losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers, so they know how to approach the second half.
“We’ve got still a month
and a half of baseball to kind of battle our way through and then obviously September is kind of the game-changer,” Lester said. “We get through this next month and a half and get into September and put ourselves in a good position, I feel pretty confident about it.”
The Cubs jumped to a 5-0 lead after two innings against rookie lefthander Eric Lauer, who came within one out of his first complete game in a 4-1 victory over the Dodgers in his previous start.
It was more than enough for Lester (12-2), who struck out seven in 51/3 innings. The All-Star lefty allowed 3 runs and 6 hits while improving to 10-1 in his last 12 starts.
Lester was selected for Tuesday’s showcase in Washington by the players’ vote, but he won’t be on the active roster because of Sunday’s outing.
Lester, 34, carried a 7-1 lead into
the sixth inning before getting into a jam. He hit Freddy Galvis with the bases loaded, forcing in a run. James Norwood then came in and got Austin Hedges to pop out before walking pinch-hitter Carlos Asuaje, bringing home another run. Manuel Margot then flied out to right, ending the inning.
“There was a time that I thought he might go through seven but all of a sudden things began to unravel in the sixth and I had to get to it pretty quickly,” Manager Joe Maddon said. “But overall Jon had a nice day.”
Lester said he’s been fortunate in the first half.
“I’ve been on the good side of the baseball gods in the first half. I will definitely take that,” he said. “I feel there’s been some games I’ve thrown the ball really well and some games where I haven’t and I still kind of had some good fortune along the way.”
Pedro Strop surrendered Hunter Renfroe’s seventh home run in the seventh, but Justin Wilson got three outs before Brandon Morrow
pitched the ninth for his 22nd save.
Christian Villanueva homered for San Diego, hitting his 19th of the season in the fourth. Villanueva had two hits and scored twice.
The Padres have the worst record in the NL at 40-59.
“Frustrating,” Manager Andy Green said. “Not where I thought we’d be. Not where I want to be. I take ownership of that. It’s my team. It’s our team. We expect to play better than we’ve played. I think everyone in the clubhouse expects to play better from a win-loss perspective.”
MARLINS 10, PHILLIES 5 Brian Anderson hit a three-run home run in host Miami’s eightrun fifth inning to help beat Philadelphia.
NATIONALS 6, METS 1 Daniel Murphy and Trea Turner each hit a two-run single in visiting Washington’s five-run seventh inning to help top New York.
BRAVES 5, DIAMONDBACKS 1 Julio Teheran pitched 61/3 scoreless innings, and host Atlanta used a four-run third inning to beat Arizona.
PIRATES 7, BREWERS 6 (10) Josh Bell hit a two-run double in the 10th inning, giving Pittsburgh a five-game sweep of visiting Milwaukee and its sixth consecutive victory overall.
CARDINALS 6, REDS 4 Matt Carpenter and Dexter Fowler homered for host St. Louis, making interim manager Mike Shildt a winner in his first game by beating Cincinnati.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
ORIOLES 6, RANGERS 5 Manny Machado homered before making an early exit, Adam Jones hit a three-run double and Baltimore rallied past visiting Texas.
RED SOX 5, BLUE JAYS 2 Xander Bogaerts homered in his first at-bat a day after hitting a game-ending grand slam, and host Boston beat Toronto. INDIANS 5, YANKEES 2 Michael Brantley homered leading off the eighth inning, and Cleveland beat visiting New York for a split of their four-game series.
TIGERS 6, ASTROS 3 John Hicks hit one of Detroit’s four home runs off Justin Verlander, and the team snapped a six-game losing streak by beating host Houston. WHITE SOX 10, ROYALS 1 Daniel Palka and Yoan Moncada homered, Lucas Giolito tossed two-hit ball into the seventh inning and Chicago beat visiting Kansas City. TWINS 11, RAYS 7 (10) Brian Dozier hit a grand slam for host Minnesota in the 10th inning, capping a testy, back-and-forth finish in a victory over Tampa Bay.
INTERLEAGUE
ROCKIES 4, MARINERS 3 All-Star Trevor Story led off the ninth inning with his 20th home run, closing out Colorado’s three-game series sweep of visiting Seattle. ATHLETICS 6, GIANTS 2 Stephen Piscotty homered for the fifth time in nine games, leading Oakland to a victory over host San Francisco. DODGERS 5, ANGELS 3 Yasmani Grandal and Enrique Hernandez homered, leading the Dodgers to a split with the Angels in the Freeway Series.