Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Cubs lose seventh straight, fall to brink of elimination
PITTSBURGH >> The freefalling Chicago Cubs committed five errors, including two in a seven-run seventh inning, and moved to the brink of elimination with a 9-2 defeat to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night that extended their losing streak to seven.
Chicago dropped to 82-75 and would be eliminated with one more loss or Milwaukee win. The Cubs have not missed the playoffs since 2014.
Aided by a fielding error by second baseman Ben Zobrist and errant throw by reliever Danny Hultzen, the Pirates sent 13 batters to the plate in the seventh as they chased starter Kyle Hendricks and erased a 1-0 deficit. Pittsburgh stopped a nine-game losing streak in which it had been outscored 87-26.
Hendricks didn’t allow any hits until the sixth and any runs until the seventh.
The first five batters had hits in the big inning and the sixth reached on Zobrist’s error. Colin Moran’s RBI single tied the score, Kevin Kramer hit a two-run double for a 3-1 lead and two runs scored when Zobrist couldn’t handle Erik Gonzalez’s grounder for an error.
Hultzen threw wide of second base in attempting to get a forceout, and Adam Frazier capped the outburst with a run-scoring double. BREWERS 4, REDS 2 >> Ryan Braun added to his record total of homers at Great American Ball Park, and Milwaukee moved a step closer to a wild-card berth, beating Cincinnati for its fifth win in a row.
Just like last season, when Milwaukee put on a late rush to take the NL Central title, the Brewers have closed in on a playoff spot with a September flourish. They’ve won 16 of 18, positioning themselves for one of the NL wild cards along with Washington. Their clinching number was down to two after the latest win.
With 2018 National League MVP Christian Yelich sidelined by a broken right kneecap, the Brewers have turned to their deep bullpen and different combinations of hitting stars each night. Milwaukee has the best record in the majors in September at 18-4.
Braun connected for his 21st homer off Sonny Gray (11-8), making the final start of his All-Star season. Braun’s 27 homers at Great American are the most by a visiting player. TWINS 4, TIGERS 2 >> Willians Astudillo and Eddie Rosario fueled a fourrun seventh inning, and Minnesota overcame an injury to starter Jake Odorizzi to beat Detroit and move closer to an AL Central title.
Odorizzi (15-7) pitched two-hit ball through six innings but was pulled with a tight left hamstring after warming up for the seventh. The right-hander hadn’t allowed a hit since Harold Castro’s bunt single in the first and left having struck out six and allowed one run.
The Twins improved to 97-60, their most victories since going 98-64 in 1970. Minnesota’s magic number to clinch the division is two over Cleveland. The Indians played later Tuesday against the White Sox and built a big lead early. ORIOLES 11, BLUE JAYS 4>> Trey Mancini had a career-high five hits, DJ Stewart hit a two-run homer and Baltimore beat Toronto.
Dwight Smith Jr. and Austin Wynns each hit solo home runs for the Orioles. Baltimore batters have gone deep at least once in 18 straight games, two shy of the 1998 club record.
With one more victory or a loss by Detroit, the Orioles (51-106) can avoid having baseball’s worst record for the second straight season.
MLB sets strikeout record for 12th straight season
Major League Baseball has set its season strikeout record for the 12th straight season.
Batters struck out 41,098 times through Monday, closing in on the 41,207 of last season. The Phillies and Washington combined for 19 strikeouts in the first game of their day-night doubleheader, and there were more than 100 strikeouts in the night games by around 9 p.m.
Strikeouts broke 40,000 for the first time in 2017, when there were 40,104.
Before the record run started in 2008, the mark had been 32,404 in 2001. Strikeouts totaled 29,937 in 1996 before reaching the 30,000 for the first time the following year.
MLB also set a record for home runs this season.