LOS ANGELES — The Chicago Cubs haven’t had many highlights to savor this season. Winning a series against the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers has to be right up there.
LOS ANGELES — The Chicago Cubs haven’t had many highlights to savor this season. Winning a series against the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers has to be right up there.
Edwin Jackson pitched six innings for his first win in six weeks and Chris Coghlan hit a tiebreaking two-run homer, leading the Cubs to a 7-3 victory on Sunday.
The Dodgers dropped two of three to the team with the third-worst record in the majors. Los Angeles’ NL West lead was trimmed to 2 1/2 games over San Francisco, which won 9-0 at the New York Mets.
“For us to come in and take two out of three to win the series was great,” Jackson said. “We came in here against a tough team that had a six-game win streak. It’s a hostile environment, playing at Dodger Stadium, because the fans are really into the game.”
Especially after the Dodgers’ 12-inning, 5-2 win on Saturday night, which ended with Hanley Ramirez’s three-run homer against Blake Parker. Ramirez was 0 for 4 Sunday with a pair of double-play grounders and didn’t hit a ball out of the infield.
“After last night, you think that you’re going to have a little energy today. That’s the only disappointing part about today,” manager Don Mattingly said. “It didn’t feel like we had a ton of energy.”
Jackson (6-11) allowed two runs and seven hits, struck out six and walked none. The right-hander was 0-4 with a 7.39 ERA in his previous seven starts since beating Pittsburgh 6-3 on June 20 at Wrigley Field.
Matt Kemp trimmed Chicago’s lead to 3-2 in the sixth with his fifth homer in six games and No. 13 on the year. But Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo helped preserve the lead in the seventh, making a leaping grab of Carl Crawford’s line drive and turning it into an inning-ending double play by trapping Drew Butera off second.
The Dodgers got a run in the eighth off Pedro Strop, but Luis Valbuena responded in the ninth against Chris Perez with his 10th homer.
Josh Beckett (6-6) gave up three runs and six hits in four-plus innings in his fifth straight start when he failed to get past the fifth. The three-time All-Star is 3-5 with a 3.30 ERA in 10 starts since his no-hitter on May 25 at Philadelphia.
Beckett, facing the Cubs for the first time since Aug. 28, 2005, struck out Ryan Sweeney with the bases loaded in the third. But he surrendered a leadoff double by Jackson in the fifth, and Coghlan followed with his sixth homer.
The Cubs made it 6-2 in the eighth with John Baker’s RBI groundout and a two-run single by pinch-hitter Starlin Castro, who was rested after starting each of the team’s first 109 games.
CARDS 3, BREWERS 2
ST. LOUIS — John Lackey won his St. Louis debut when the Cardinals rallied for three runs in the seventh inning, capped by a go-ahead from rookie Oscar Taveras to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 3-2 on Sunday.
The Cardinals took two of three from NL Central-leading Milwaukee and pulled within one game of the division lead.
Lackey (1-0) was the Cardinals’ big catch at the trade deadline that capitalized on Boston’s sell-off. The right-hander who won the clinching Game 6 of the World Series against St. Louis last fall held Milwaukee to two runs in seven innings and is 12-7 overall.
Trevor Rosenthal struck out Carlos Gomez with two on for his major league-leading 34th save in 38 chances.
NATIONALS 4, PHILS 0
WASHINGTON — Stephen Strasburg struck out 10 while pitching three-hit ball for seven innings, earning his first win in a month as the Washington Nationals beat Philadelphia.
Strasburg (8-9) had been 0-3 in his previous five starts, losing his last three outings. He walked one and didn’t permit a runner past second base.
GIANTS 9, METS 0
NEW YORK — Madison Bumgarner pitched a two-hitter and Hunter Pence homered twice to lead the San Francisco Giants past the New York Mets.
Bumgarner (13-8) beat the Mets again, running his record to 3-0 in five games against them and giving the Giants their third win in 10 games. Brandon Belt and Buster Posey also went deep for the Giants.
Bartolo Colon (10-9) was denied his 200th career win.
PADRES 4, BRAVES 3
SAN DIEGO — Everth Cabrera singled in the winning run in the 10th inning and the San Diego Padres sent Atlanta to its sixth straight loss.
Will Venable led off the 10th with an infield single against David Hale (3-4) and Alexi Amarista walked. The Braves got a double play on Renee Rivera’s sacrifice bunt attempt with Amarista taking second.
REDS 7, MARLINS 3
MIAMI — Billy Hamilton scored three times to help the Cincinnati Reds break out of an offensive slump and beat Miami.
DIAMONDBACKS 3
PIRATES 2
PHOENIX — Arizona runner Nick Ahmed put his arms up as he slid into second base and deflected a potential double play relay in the 10th inning, and the Diamondbacks beat Pittsburgh.
Manager Clint Hurdle and the Pirates lingered on the field to argue with the umpires, to no avail. The umpires said the call couldn’t be challenged.
YANKS 8, RED SOX 7
BOSTON — Brett Gardner had a tiebreaking homer in the sixth inning for one of his three hits, helping the New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 8-7 on Sunday night.
Former Red Sox infielder Stephen Drew had a pair of hits and drove in four runs in his third game with the Yankees since he was sent there at the trading deadline. Esmil Rogers (1-0) earned the victory in his Yankees debut by throwing three hitless innings, striking out three and allowing one walk.
David Robertson pitched the ninth for his 29th save.
TIGERS 4, ROCKIES 0
DETROIT — Anibal Sanchez struck out 12, Victor Martinez hit a three-run homer and the Detroit Tigers finished off a weekend sweep of Colorado.
In the three-game sweep, Justin Verlander, Rick Porcello and Sanchez combined for a 1.57 ERA with 27 strikeouts and two walks in 23 innings.
ORIOLES 1, MARINERS 0
BALTIMORE — Chris Tillman pitched seven innings of three-hit ball to outduel Hisashi Iwakuma, Nick Markakis hit his first career leadoff homer and the Baltimore Orioles beat Seattle.
Tillman (8-5) struck out six and walked none to earn his first win since June 27. A second-round draft pick by Seattle in 2006, Tillman is 6-0 in six career starts against the Mariners.
ROYALS 4, ATHLETICS 2
OAKLAND, Calif. — James Shields pitched eight sharp innings for his first win in nearly a month, and the Kansas City Royals beat Oakland.
Shields (10-6) retired his first 15 batters before Josh Reddick hit a leadoff homer in the sixth. Reddick homered again in the eighth.
ANGELS 7, RAYS 5
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Mike Trout hit RBI double to key a five-run first inning and the Los Angeles Angels beat Tampa Bay in a game delayed by a power outage at Tropicana Field.
Trout had three hits, walked and stole a base. The Angels took two of three and handed the Rays their first series loss since early July.
TWINS 16, WHITE SOX 3
CHICAGO — Rookie Danny Santana had five hits and four RBIs, and the Minnesota Twins scored nine times in the eighth inning of a rain-delayed romp over the Chicago White Sox.
Santana had two hits and two RBIs in the Twins’ big inning.
ASTROS 6, BLUE JAYS 1
HOUSTON — Scott Feldman worked around eight hits in his first complete game in nearly a year, Chris Carter and Matt Dominguez each had two RBIs and the Houston Astros beat Toronto.
Feldman (5-8) retired 17 of the last 19 batters, including nine straight at one point, and won for the first time since June 29.
INDIANS 4, RANGERS 3
CLEVELAND — Michael Brantley homered to lead off the bottom of the 12th inning and the Cleveland Indians swept Texas.
Brantley sent a full-count pitch from Phil Klein (0-1) into Texas’ bullpen in right field. It was the Indians’ seventh win of the season on a game-ending hit.