Coming up Saturday afternoon from Wrigley Field, the Major League Baseball is rolling out game three of a long weekend set between the Washington Nationals and the Chicago Cubs. So when the Cubs made the right offer – four years, $56 million – he jumped at the chance to join his former manager. “They’re ready to play every day, they’re playing loosely and they’re playing focused and there’s a lot of confidence”.
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After Friday’s home run derby, the Cubs don’t seem as if they’ll be intimidated by any pitcher this time around. “It just happened so quick”. “It’s nearly like they had a better understanding of me than me”. The Nationals (19-9) lost for the second time in seven games. They’re just doing damage on pitches that they want to hit. Pearce followed with a three-run home run to knock Dodgers starter Alex Wood (1-3) out of the game. Hector Rondon worked a ideal ninth for his sixth save.
The Cubs added another run in the eighth as Ben Zobrist’s one-out single scored Fowler from third after they loaded the bases on Nationals reliever Felipe Rivero.
Heyward, who signed a $184 million, eight-year contract with Chicago during free agency, went 0 for 2 with a strikeout.
Garcia (2-2) gave up two hits, didn’t walk a batter and struck out five.
Astros 6, Mariners 3 • Carlos Correa homered and finished with three hits and two RBIs to lead host Houston over Seattle.
Angels: Ace Garrett Richards is expected to need surgery to fix a torn ligament in his right elbow, sidelining him into next season. Walking the first two hitters in a game didn’t faze him one bit.
Alex Presley’s two-run homer with two outs in the eighth inning ended Simon’s night. Rizzo’s 10th home run, hit toward a flag atop the foul pole in right field, was reviewed and upheld.
Elsewhere, South Korea’s Jung Ho Kang homered twice as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2, while Madison Bumgarner and the San Francisco Giants survived a shaky second inning to beat the Colorado Rockies 6-4 to take the division lead.
Tampa Bay hit four home runs – including a three-run, go-ahead blast from Steve Pearce in the sixth inning – and the Rays split a two-game series with Los Angeles.
Sabathia (2-2) came into the game with a 5.06 ERA, but he allowed just six hits and got out of a couple of early jams. But he struck out out Michael Taylor and got Anthony Rendon to ground into an inning-ending double play to work out of the jam. They look like a team that will be immune to prolonged slumps, because even when two or three regulars are struggling, there are plenty of options to pick up the slack.
Steven Matz allowed two hits in 7 2/3 shutout innings and Lucas Duda hit two of New York’s four homers as the Mets blanked Atlanta.
Treinen walked pinch hitter Tommy La Stella to load the bases. Transitioning to the Chicago defense and pitching staff, teams routinely struggle to score runs against the Cubs, who allow an NL-low 0.0 runs per game. He took Max Scherzer out to right field in the third and again in the fifth. “That’s a big positive”.
When manager Dusty Baker’s challenge failed, Rizzo became the quickest Cub to 10 home runs since Alfonso Soriano in 2011. He pinch-hit in the ninth with a fly out…. Washington Senators’ teams in 1925, 1930 and 1932 started 20-9….
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MIAMI – Adam Conley pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings and the Miami bullpen kept up its brilliant work of late to defeat Arizona, sweeping the three-game series at Marlins Park.
