Chicago extended its lead in the NL Central to 16 games over St. Louis. The Astros (75-68) fell 3 1/2 games behind the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays, who are tied for the two AL wild-card slots.
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The Cubs scored nine runs in the first four innings, providing plenty of cushion for Jake Arrieta, who was pulled in the sixth after allowing two hits, a walk, a hit batsman and two wild pitches.
Third baseman Yulieski Gurriel and Gattis clubbed back-to-back home runs to open the bottom of the ninth off Cubs right-hander Trevor Cahill, one last-ditch effort to rally by an Astros offense that faced a deficit before it could get going. Astros right-hander Collin McHugh (10-10) departed with a lead after five innings of one-run ball, leaving four Astros relievers to hold the line.After rookie right-hander Chris Devenski worked a flawless sixth inning, veteran right-handers Will Harris and Luke Gregerson each worked around a walk in their respective innings of work.
Russell appears to have benefited as much as any player from manager Joe Maddon’s decision to provide rest. Contreras followed with a sacrifice fly to right field, with Astros right fielder George Springer delivering an errant throw up the third-base line that allowed Soler to score.Springer and Contreras crossed paths again in the seventh inning when Springer attempted to score from first base on a Bregman single to right-center field with two outs.
“I’m just trying to square the ball up”, Bregman said. “Made some good pitches, made some bad pitches”. The 30-year-old has just two quality starts in his last five outings and has issued 17 walks in 31 2/3 innings over that span. Arrieta has never faced the Astros.
“He’s been remarkable”, Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. Chicago is an MLB-best 91-51 on the season.
Chicago Cubs Anthony Rizzo (44) high-fives Addison Russell after hitting a two run home-run in the fourth inning of a baseball game between the Houston Astros and the Chicago Cubs, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016, in Houston. Astros SS Carlos Correa missed a fourth consecutive game with left shoulder inflammation.
Russell joined Ernie Banks (29 homers in 1961) and Alex Gonzalez (20 in 2003) as the only Cubs shortstops to hit 20 homers in a season. His 90 RBIs are the most by a Cubs shortstop since Banks’ 117 RBIs in 1960. Hendricks leads the majors with a 2.07 ERA. Russell finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored plus his 20th home run, while Baez went 2-for-4 with an RBI in support of right-hander Jake Arrieta (17-6).
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The Astros snapped a three-game skid and evened the series with a 2-1 win Saturday, keeping pace in the murky American League wild-card race. Fister will look to bounce back after allowing six runs in 4 1/3 innings in his last start at Cleveland on Wednesday.
