>>Cardinals Edge Cubs
(St. Louis, MO) — Adam Wainwright struck out eight over eight scoreless innings as the Cardinals edged the Cubs 2-1 in St. Louis. Kolten Wong and Matt Carpenter each had an RBI. John Gant picked up the save for the Cardinals, who swept the three-game series and have won four straight overall. Cole Hamels pitched seven innings and only gave up an unearned run for the Cubs, but took the tough-luck loss. Addison Russell drove in the lone run for Chicago, which has lost eight of its last 10.
>>Rangers Turn Back Royals
(Arlington, TX) — Adrian Sampson struck out a career-high 11 and yielded one run over seven innings to help the Rangers top the Royals 5-1 at Texas. Ronald Guzmán and Nomar Mazara each had two hits and an RBI for the Rangers, who have won three in a row. Brad Keller took the loss, allowing three runs on nine hits over seven innings. Jorge Soler blasted his 15th homer in defeat. The Royals finished this trip with a 1-and-6 record and have the worst road record in the majors at 8-and-23.
>>Davies Dazzles, Brewers Beat Pirates
(Pittsburgh, PA) — Zack Davies twirled a gem to move to 6-and-0 as the Brewers beat the Pirates 4-2 in Pittsburgh. Davies gave up two runs on eight hits over eight innings. Eric Thames was 2-for-3 with a walk, a homer and three RBI for the Brewers, who took three-of-four in the series. A sac fly by Kevin Newman and an RBI ground out by Josh Bell was all the offense the Bucs would get. Jordan Lyles dropped to 5-and-3, giving up four runs on eight hits in six innings. The Pirates have lost eight of 11.
>>Twins Outslug Rays
(St. Petersburg, FL) — Jonathan Schoop smacked a two-run homer and C.J. Cron had a three-run double as the Twins outslugged the Rays 9-7 in St. Pete. Miguel Sano went 3-for-3 with a walk, an RBI and two runs scored for Minnesota, which won three-of-four in the series. Jake Odorizzi struck out nine over six shutout innings for the win against his former team. He improved to 8-and-2 on the season and lowered his ERA to 1.96. Christian Arroyo belted a two-run homer and Austin Meadows drove in a pair of runs for the Rays, who have lost three in-a-row since a six-game winning streak. Ryan Yarbrough was tagged for seven runs in as many innings for the loss.
>>Scherzer Strikes Out 15 In Nats’ Victory
(Cincinnati, OH) — Max Scherzer struck out 15 and allowed one run on three hits over eight innings in the Nationals’ 4-1 win over the Reds in Cincinnati. Brian Dozier had two hits and two RBIs for Washington. Sean Doolittle worked a spotless ninth for his 12th save as the Nationals won for the fourth time in five games. Sonny Gray took the loss, allowing two runs over five innings. Derek Dietrich doubled home Gerardo Parra in the fourth for the Cincy run. The Reds are 1-and-3 in their last four.