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Peralta's Homer Sends Cards Past Cubs, Sox Walk Off On Jays; Sox, Cardinals Notes

 width=>>Peralta's Late Homerun Difference As Cards Down Cubs

Jhonny Peralta's two-run home run in the ninth inning led the St. Louis Cardinals to a 6-5 win over the Chicago Cubs in the finale of a four-game set on Wednesday.

Dan Johnson drove in two while Randal Grichuk drove in one and scored twice for the Cardinals, who earned a split of the series with the win.

Michael Wacha allowed five runs on seven hits over six innings and was also 2- for-3 at the plate with an RBI. Miguel Socolovich (3-1) got the final two outs of the eighth for the win.

Miguel Montero hit a three-run double while Kris Bryant and Starlin Castro each drove in a run for the Cubs, who had won four of five coming in.

Chicago starter Jason Hammel left after one inning with a tight left hamstring. Pedro Strop (1-4) was handed the loss for allowing Peralta's homer.

With two outs in the ninth, Matt Carpenter kept the inning alive with a walk, and Peralta crushed a high fastball over the fence in left for a 6-5 lead.

Trevor Rosenthal pitched a scoreless ninth for his 25th save of the season.

The Cardinals got on the board in the second on RBI singles from Johnson and Wacha for a 2-0 lead.

St. Louis added to its advantage in the fourth as Grichuk tripled home Mark Reynolds, who led off with a triple, and scored when Johnson followed with a base hit for a 4-0 lead.

The Cubs got two back in the fourth to make it a 4-2 game. Anthony Rizzo led off with a single and scored on Bryant's triple. Castro singled home Bryant two batters later.

Trailing by two runs in the sixth, the Cubs were able to load the bases with one out before Castro struck out. Montero, though, punched a double to right that cleared the bags and left the Cubs with a 5-4 lead.

National League Scoreboard
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Milwaukee 6, Atlanta 5
New York 4, San Francisco 1
Pittsburgh 5, San Diego 2
Boston 6, Miami 3
Arizona 7, Texas 4
LA Angels of Anaheim 3, Colorado 2
Cincinnati at Washington, postponed

 width=>>Eaton Homer Sends Sox Past Blue Jays

Adam Eaton's solo homer in the bottom of the 11th gave the Chicago White Sox a 7-6 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night.

The White Sox improved to 8-2 in extra innings this season thanks to Eaton's blast off Roberto Osuna (1-3).

Eaton finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored for Chicago, which pounded out 16 hits. Adam LaRoche also had two hits to go along with two RBI and a run scored.

White Sox starter John Danks allowed six runs on eight hits over 4 1/3 innings. Zach Putnam (3-3) tossed a scoreless 11th to pick up the win.

Josh Donaldson and Jose Reyes each had two RBI and a run scored for the Blue Jays. Drew Hutchison gave up four runs on seven hits with six strikeouts over five innings.

The White Sox jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first. Eaton walked, moved to third on Jose Abreu's single and scored on Melky Cabrera's sacrifice fly. Avisail Garcia followed with an infield single to put men on first and second for LaRoche, who hit a two-run double to right.

Toronto went ahead with a four-run third. Dioner Navarro, Kevin Pillar and Devon Travis hit three straight singles to load the bases with no outs. Reyes hit a two-run single to left-center field and Donaldson added an RBI double. After Jose Bautista struck out swinging, Reyes raced home on Edwin Encarnacion's sacrifice fly.

Chicago quickly tied things up in the bottom half on Garcia's RBI single.

The Blue Jays took the lead back with a two-run fifth. Travis hit a ground- rule-double and crossed the plate on Donaldson's double to right-center field. Bautista followed with an RBI single to left-center field.

But the White Sox scored two runs of their own in the sixth. Liam Hendriks gave up consecutive singles before recording two outs. Carlos Sanchez then hit an RBI single to left. Aaron Loup entered and Eaton greeted him with a run- scoring infield single.

American League Scoreboard
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Minnesota 5, Baltimore 3
Detroit 5, Seattle 4
New York 5, Oakland 4
Cleveland 4, Houston 2
Kansas City 9, Tampa Bay 7

>>Pirates, Cards Open Crucial Weekend Series

The Pittsburgh Pirates go after a sixth straight win on Thursday when they open a four-game series with the National League Central- leading St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park.

Pittsburgh enters the series as one of the hottest teams in baseball and is now just 4 1/2-games back of the Cardinals for the division lead.

Pittsburgh continued to roll on Wednesday, as Gregory Polanco hit a go-ahead RBI single during a three-run eighth inning that lifted the Pirates to a 5-2 win and three-game sweep of the San Diego Padres.

The Pirates rallied for their major league-leading 10th sweep of the season.

Getting the call for the Bucs on Thursday will be lefty Jeff Locke, who was brilliant on Saturday against Cleveland. Locke scattered two hits over eight scoreless innings in that one to improve to 5-4, while lowering his ERA to 4.15.

Locke is 2-2 in six starts versus the Cards.

St. Louis, meanwhile, managed not to lose any more ground to the Pirates on Wednesday, as Jhonny Peralta's two-run home run in the ninth inning led the Cardinals to a 6-5 win over the Chicago Cubs.

Heading to the hill for Cards on Thursday will be righty Carlos Martinez, who has won six of his last seven decisions and is 9-3 with a 2.70 ERA. Martinez did not get a decision on Saturday against San Diego, despite surrendering just a run in 6 2/3 innings of his team's 2-1 win.

St. Louis has won all but one of his last nine starts.

Martinez, though, is 0-2 in 11 games (2 starts) against the Pirates and has pitched to a 6.23 ERA.

St. Louis is 4-2 against the Pirates this season.

>>Sox, Blue Jays Close 4-Game Set

R.A. Dickey tries to put the brakes on a personal three- game losing streak on Thursday when the Toronto Blue Jays wrap up a four-game set with the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field.

Dickey lost for the fourth time in five decisions on Saturday in Detroit, as the Tigers tagged him for five runs and 11 hits in 5 2/3 innings. He has just one win since May 21 and is 3-9 on the year with a 5.02 ERA.

It may not get any better for him this afternoon, as he is 2-4 with an 8.21 ERA in 10 games (6 starts) against the Pale Hose.

Chicago, meanwhile, will turn to righty Jeff Samardzija, who is 5-4 with a 4.33 ERA. Samardzija did not get a decision on Saturday against Baltimore, despite giving up just a run in 7 2/3 innings of his team's 3-2 triumph.

Samardzija has only faced the Jays twice, but is 1-0 against them and has allowed just one earned run in 14 innings to them.

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