CHICAGO - Travis Wood (Bryant) pitched seven scoreless innings and the Chicago Cubs came within two outs of their first shutout since last August in a 9-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Monday night.
Alfonso Soriano homered for Chicago, which has won three consecutive for the second time this season. The Cubs’ 14 hits were one short of a season high.
Josh Rutledge hit a home run off Carlos Marmol with one out in the ninth, ruining the Cubs’ bid for their first shutout victory since they beat Colorado on Aug. 26. The Cubs have gone 74 games between shutouts, their longest streak since going 75 in a row from May 15 until Aug. 6, 1999, according to STATS.
Wood (4-2) allowed two hits while striking out two for his major league-leading eighth quality start. He’s the first Cubs pitcher since Hippo Vaughn in 1919 to start with eight quality starts. Wood also had two hits and an RBI.
Juan Nicasio (3-1) recovered from a shaky first two innings to last six for Colorado, allowing five runs and eight hits in his first loss of the season. Nicasio, who hasn’t won since beating Arizona on April 26, allowed all five runs over the first two innings but finished with four scoreless.
The Rockies have lost five of six and have scored 12 runs over those games. They were shut out twice over the weekend by St. Louis before scoring eight runs Sunday.
The Cubs, who were coming off two consecutive victories at Washington, scored early.
With two outs in the first, Soriano gave the Cubs a 2-0 lead with his fourth home run. It was Soriano’s 376th of his career, tying him for69th all-time with former Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox catcher Carlton Fisk.
The home run, during which left fielder Carlos Gonzalez didn’t move, continued Nicasio’s first-inning problems. Heading into Monday, Nicasio had a 9.00 ERA and was allowing opponents to hit .333 against him during seven first innings. Soriano’s home run was thefourth Nicasio has allowed in the opening frame.
Chicago added to its lead with three in the third on two-out RBI doubles from Wood and Starlin Castro. Wood’s double brought in Welington Castillo, who also doubled, while Castro drove in Wood and David DeJesus.
CARDINALS 6, METS 3 Lance Lynn overcame early control woes and host St. Louis used a three-run seventh inning to beat the Mets. Lynn (6-1) allowed 3 runs on 3 hits and 4 walks the first 2 innings. He only gave up 1 hit and 1 walk in his last 5 innings. He is 4-0 at home this season.
BREWERS 5, PIRATES 1 Marco Estrada allowed three hits over seven innings and visiting Milwaukee beat Pittsburgh to snap a four-game losing streak. Norichika Aoki went 3 for 5 with 3 RBI and 2 stolen bases for the Brewers. Former Arkansas Traveler Jean Segura added three hits and three stolen bases. A.J. Burnett (Central Arkansas Christian, North Little Rock) allowed four runs in seven innings.
AMERICAN LEAGUE INDIANS 1-0, YANKEES 0-7 Vidal Nunopitched five innings of three-hit ball to win his first major league start, Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay each had 2 RBI and the visiting New York Yankees beat Cleveland 7-0 for a doubleheader split. Cleveland’s Justin Masterson pitched a four-hitter for his third career shutout as the Indians won the opener 1-0 and stopped the Yankees’ five-game winning streak.
TIGERS 7, ASTROS 2 Andy Dirks hit his first career grand slam, part of a six-run fourth inning for host Detroit. Victor Martinez also homered for the Tigers, who swept four consecutive in Houston earlier this month and opened this three-game series at Comerica Park with another convincing victory. Anibal Sanchez (4-3) allowed 2 runs and 6 hits in 7 innings for the Tigers. He struck out eight with one walk.
TWINS 10, WHITE SOX 3 Rookie Aaron Hicks hit two home runs and made a leaping catch in center field to take a tying home run away from Adam Dunn in host Minnesota’s victory over Chicago. Justin Morneau extended his hitting streak to nine games with three hits and four RBI, including a three-run double that capped the scoring in the eighth inning. Trevor Plouffe had a two-run double in the third. Twins starter Pedro Hernandez (2-0) allowed 3 runs and 6 hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Monday’s games NATIONAL LEAGUE Milwaukee 5, Pittsburgh 1 St. Louis 6, NY Mets 3 Chicago Cubs 9, Colorado 1 Atlanta 10, Arizona 1 Washington at LA Dodgers, (n) AMERICAN LEAGUE Cleveland 1-0, NY Yankees 0-7 Detroit 7, Houston 2 Minnesota 10, Chicago White Sox 3 Oakland 5, Texas 1 Kansas City at LA Angels, (n)
Sports, Pages 20 on 05/14/2013