ST. LOUIS — Welington Castillo hit a three-run homer in the 11th inning off closer Trevor Rosenthal, who struck out with an unusual chance to win it, and the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-3 on Friday night.
ST. LOUIS — Welington Castillo hit a three-run homer in the 11th inning off closer Trevor Rosenthal, who struck out with an unusual chance to win it, and the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-3 on Friday night.
ST. LOUIS — Welington Castillo hit a three-run homer in the 11th inning off closer Trevor Rosenthal, who struck out with an unusual chance to win it, and the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-3 on Friday night.
The Cardinals had runners on first and second with two outs in the 10th when manager Mike Matheny decided against a pinch hitter. Rosenthal (0-1) took a called third strike in his second career at-bat.
Nate Schierholtz doubled for his fourth straight hit leading off the 11th and advanced on a sacrifice. Starlin Castro was intentionally walked and Ryan Kalish popped out on a bunt attempt before Castillo lined a 1-1 fastball 426 feet to left for his second homer.
Justin Grimm (1-0) walked Matt Holliday and Matt Adams on eight pitches to start the 10th but got out of it, partly because Matheny left Pete Kozma and Tony Cruz on the bench. Hector Rondon finished for his first career save.
Cubs closer Jose Veras hit two batters and walked another in the ninth. One run scored on a passed ball by Castillo, helping the Cardinals score twice in the inning. Matt Carpenter’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly tied it at 3.
Cubs starter Jeff Samardzija worked seven economic innings for the third straight start, exiting with a 1.29 ERA. He finally got some runs to work with, but was denied a win for the ninth straight outing since Aug. 24 at San Diego.
Ryan Sweeney’s RBI single off Carlos Martinez tied it in the seventh and was the Cubs’ first run in 21 innings when Samardzija starts. Anthony Rizzo’s sacrifice fly off Kevin Siegrist snapped a tie in a two-run eighth.
Veras has blown both of his save chances and has allowed five earned runs in 3 2-3 innings with three hit batters and seven walks.
Cubs pinch hitters were 1 for 18 before the eighth inning when Justin Ruggiano, batting for Samardzija, singled off Martinez, and Mike Olt, batting for Luis Valbuena, singled off Siegrist.
Yadier Molina’s RBI single in the second was his 10th hit in 18 career at-bats against Samardzija. He had two hits and is batting .455 (25 for 55) with three homers and 17 RBIs against the Cubs the last two seasons.
BREWERS 4, PIRATES 2
MILWAUKEE — Aramis Ramirez hit a two-run homer that backed Wily Peralta, and the Milwaukee Brewers extended their winning streak to seven with a 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Francisco Liriano befuddled the Brewers with his slider over the first three innings before Ramirez sent a 1-2 fastball over the left-field wall for a 2-0 lead.
PHILLIES 6, MARLINS 3
PHILADELPHIA — Marlon Byrd drove in two runs and Philadelphia knocked around Jose Fernandez in one of his worst major league starts, beating Miami to snap a four-game skid.
Fernandez, last season’s NL Rookie of the Year, was tagged for eight hits and a career-worst six earned runs in four-plus innings. The right-hander walked four, matching a career high, and struck out six.
BRAVES 7
NATIONALS 6, 10 INN.
ATLANTA — Jordan Schafer scored from first base on Justin Upton’s bloop single to right field with two outs in the 10th inning, giving Atlanta the win.
Chris Johnson singled with two outs off left-hander Jerry Blevins (1-1), and Schafer came in to run. With a 2-2 count, Schafer ran on the pitch and Upton dropped a single in front of Bryce Harper.
Schafer already was rounding third when Harper bobbled the ball. No error was charged.
Luis Avilan (2-1) pitched around two walks, one intentional, in the 10th.
Upton also hit a solo shot in the eighth off Tyler Clippard that tied it at 6. It was his third homer in two games.
DODGERS 6
DIAMONDBACKS 0
PHOENIX — Hyun-Jin Ryu pitched seven innings of two-hit ball and Adrian Gonzalez drove in five runs for the Dodgers.
Ryu (2-1) struck out eight and walked one, retiring 18 of his last 19 batters. The only hits off the South Korean left-hander were a pair of singles by Miguel Montero.
Gonzalez hit a two-run homer off Brandon McCarthy (0-2) in the first, doubled in two more in the third and had an RBI single in the eighth. The Dodgers’ Hanley Ramirez was 3 for 4 with two doubles, drove in a run and scored three times.
It was the Dodgers’ first visit to Chase Field since clinching the NL West title there last September, when they angered the Diamondbacks by celebrating in the ballpark’s swimming pool.
INTERLEAGUE
PADRES 6, TIGERS 0
SAN DIEGO — Andrew Cashner threw his second career one-hitter and struck out a career-high 11, and Chase Headley hit a two-run homer for San Diego.
Cashner took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before Rajai Davis hit a one-out flare single into center field, just past the glove of outstretched second baseman Jedd Gyorko. Davis stole second and third, and Ian Kinsler walked before Miguel Cabrera hit into a double play.
Cashner (1-1) retired 14 in a row before allowing the single. He walked two.
The Padres hit Rick Porcello (1-1) hard, collecting 10 hits in his 6 1-3 innings. He allowed five runs and struck out five.
RAYS 2, REDS 1
CINCINNATI — David Price took a shutout into the ninth and Matt Joyce homered, helping Tampa Bay earn its first victory in Cincinnati.
The teams have a brief and lopsided interleague history. The Reds had won eight of their nine previous games, with Tampa Bay’s only win coming at Tropicana Field on June 28, 2011, on Evan Longoria’s game-ending homer.
Joyce connected against Johnny Cueto (0-2) as the Rays finally got a victory in their second visit to Great American Ball Park.
Price (2-0) allowed four hits and one walk, losing his shutout when Joey Votto homered to the opposite field with one out in the ninth. Grant Balfour walked the bases loaded in-between getting the final two outs, throwing a called third strike by pinch-hitter Brayan Pena to secure his third save.
