Chicago – Chicago Cubs ace Yu Darvish is rolling.
Not even the slugging White Sox could take him down.
Darvish struck out 10 in his career-high fifth consecutive victory, and the Cubs beat the White Sox 2-1 on Sunday to stop the South Siders’ seven-game win streak.
“Seeing what he did out there was spectacular,” teammate Kyle Schwarber said.
Schwarber hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning as the Cubs won for just the fourth time in their last 11 games. The NL Central leaders were outscored 17-5 in the first two games of the series.
“What I was trying to do, when I tried to throw a chase pitch — slider, cutter mixed in — that works,” Darvish said. “But when I tried to go fastball in or sinker in, they hit real well.”
Jose Abreu went deep for the White Sox in the second, matching a major league record with a home run in four consecutive at-bats. Abreu connected five times in the first two games against the Cubs, including three homers and four RBIs in Saturday night’s 7-4 win.
“I’m never satisfied with what I do,” Abreu said through a translator. “I always think I can do better, I can do more. That’s why I work so hard.”
The White Sox have hit 28 homers over their last eight games. They blasted 12 in the weekend set at Wrigley Field.
Darvish (5-1) allowed one run and six hits in seven innings. He is 5-0 with a 1.09 ERA since he struggled in his first start of the year against Milwaukee on July 25.
“I don’t want to think about that. I don’t care, just focusing next pitch,” Darvish said about potentially being in the NL Cy Young Award discussion.
Relying on his slider more than usual, Darvish notched double-digit strikeouts for the second time this season against a lineup that had scored 17 runs against Cubs’ pitchers over the first two games in the series.
“The secondary stuff is just so, so good,” Cubs manager David Ross said according to MLB.com. “And the way he commands it, it’s fun to watch. I tell him that all the time. It’s a credit to him and knowing himself and continuing to work the lineup, work his strengths off that.”
Jeremy Jeffress got four outs for his third save, escaping jams in each of the last two innings.
Jeffress replaced Craig Kimbrel with runners on first and second in the eighth and retired Eloy Jimenez on a liner to center. He got Yoán Moncada to ground out with the bases loaded in the ninth.
Schwarber had two of the Cubs’ five hits. Javier Baez doubled and scored on Schwarber’s fifth homer.
The Cubs improved to 17-10 and remain atop the National League Central standings.
Athletics 5, Angels 4 (10)
In Oakland, Shohei Ohtani snapped an 0-for-19 hitless streak with a towering three-run homer but Los Angeles fell against the Athletics in extra innings.
“I had a chance, so I’m just glad I connected,” Ohtani said. “I didn’t intend to swing so hard, but it had some good range. It was an at-bat that will lead to more from now on.”
Ohtani struck out in the first before ending the worst hitless skid of his career in the third by hammering a 2-1 sinker from Oakland starter Frankie Montas to left center field to overturn the A’s lead.
Oakland tied the game in the sixth before winning on a walk-off sacrifice fly from Mark Canha in the 10th.
Dodgers 11, Rockies 3
In Los Angeles, Kike Hernandez hit a three-run drive and Mookie Betts went deep twice in the Dodgers’ seven-homer attack.
Cody Bellinger, Corey Seager, Will Smith and Max Muncy also homered for Los Angeles. Victor Gonzalez (1-0) earned his first major league victory.
Padres 5, Astros 3
Cardinals 6, Reds 2
Rays 5, Blue Jays 4
Twins 5, Royals 4
Giants 6, Diamondbacks 1
Mariners 4, Rangers 1
Pirates 5, Brewers 4
Orioles 5, Red Sox 4
Tigers 7, Indians 4
Nationals 9, Marlins 3
Phillies 5, Braves 4
Source : Baseball – The Japan Times
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