Braves drop 3rd straight against Cubs
CHICAGO — Rene Rivera hit a grand slam, Anthony Rizzo added a three-run triple and the Chicago Cubs held off the Atlanta Braves for a 14-12 victory on Saturday in Jon Lester’s return from the disabled list.
Javier Baez and Jason Heyward also homered for the NL Centralleading Cubs, who have won six straight and 12 of 15 overall. Rivera, Rizzo, Baez and Heyward finished with two hits apiece.
Lester (9-7) allowed four runs and eight hits in five innings in his first start since Aug. 16. He had been sidelined by tightness in his left lat and general shoulder fatigue.
Freddie Freeman, Matt Kemp and Rio Ruiz homered for Atlanta, which has dropped six of eight. Rookies Ozzie Albies and Dansby Swanson had three hits apiece, and Nick Markakis had two hits and drove in two runs.
The Braves scored three times in the ninth, putting some pressure on the Cubs. Pinch hitter Matt Adams drove in a run with a fielder’s choice and scored on Jace Peterson’s two-out double. Albies singled in Peterson before Wade Davis struck out Freeman to end the game. Rivera’s first career grand slam on an 0-2 curveball from Lucas Sims (2-5) made it 4-0 in the second. The Braves responded with three in the third on consecutive homers by Freeman and Kemp.
The Cubs appeared to break it open with five runs in the fourth, highlighted by Rizzo’s bases-clearing triple. The clutch swing gave Rizzo three straight seasons with at least 30 homers and 100 RBIs.
Atlanta scored eight runs in the final three innings, but couldn’t catch sweet-swinging Chicago. The World Series champions led the majors with 191 runs in August.
The Braves finished with 17 hits, compared to 12 for the Cubs.
Sims was charged with six hits
and seven runs in three-plus innings. The rookie right-hander struck out four and walked four.
No worse for the wear
Cubs center fielder Jon Jay had two memorable moments in third inning, the first of which he would just as soon forget.
Three batters after crashing into the wall while tracking Kemp’s home run, Jay saved the Cubs a run with a diving catch of Swanson’s blooper.
Martin activated
The Cubs activated outfielder Leonys Martin, who was acquired in a trade with Seattle on Thursday night. To make room for Martin on the 40-man roster, the Cubs designated left-hander Jack Leathersich for assignment.