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Cubs Sweep Defending Champs; Sox Swept; Cardinals Lose

 width=>>Arrieta, Cubs Blank Giants, Sweep 4-Game Set

Jake Arrieta has been pitching well for a while now. This time, he also contributed with his bat.

Arrieta tripled and scored in the second, and then pitched four-hit ball into the eighth inning as the Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants 2-0 on Sunday for a four-game sweep of the defending world champions.

Rookies Kris Bryant and Addison Russell each drove in a run, helping the Cubs to their 10th win in 11 games. Chicago's first four-game sweep of San Francisco since June 1977 increased its lead for the second NL wild card to 3 1/2 games over the reeling Giants.

Arrieta (13-6) struck out six and walked two in 7 2-3 innings. The right-hander is 7-1 with a 1.23 ERA in his last 10 starts dating to a four-hit shutout at Minnesota on June 21.
"Win the first three with a chance to sweep, I was in the mindset of coming out to dominate today and put us in the situation where we only needed one or two (runs)," Arrieta said.

Right after Chicago's fourth straight win, a bomb threat prompted police to evacuate Wrigley Field. It was reopened about an hour later.

Justin Grimm got the final out of the eighth, and Hector Rondon worked out of a jam in the ninth while recording his 19th save in 22 chances.

San Francisco loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth on two hits and a hit batter. But Rondon responded with three straight strikeouts, including Gregor Blanco on a called third strike to end the game.

While the crowd of 39,939 cheered wildly - the Cubs (62-48) moved a season-high 14 games over .500 - Blanco had a few words with home plate umpire Jim Reynolds about the final pitch.

Giants right-hander Jake Peavy (2-5) allowed four hits, struck out six and walked two in five innings. He was the only San Francisco starter to record an out in the fifth in the series.

The Giants concluded a 10-game road trip with a 3-7 record.

Kyle Schwarber walked and scored on Bryant's two-out single in the first. Arrieta's second career triple set up Russell's sacrifice fly.

 width=>>Cardinals Drop Series Finale To Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers kept waiting, patiently hoping Khris Davis would get in the swing.

No more wondering when that'll happen.

Davis hit two more homers, including a two-run shot in the eighth inning off recent teammate Jonathan Broxton, and the Brewers beat St. Louis 5-4 Sunday and ended the Cardinals' four-game winning streak.

It was his Davis' fourth home run in four games.

Broxton (1-3), traded from Milwaukee to the NL Central leaders on July 31, relieved Kevin Siegrist with a runner on second and one out with a 4-3 lead. Davis hit the first pitch into the Cardinals' bullpen for his 11th homer.

Davis earlier hit a two-run homer off Cardinals starter John Lackey.

Elian Herrera's home run in the third ended the Cardinals' streak of not allowing a run at 38 innings. It also was the first home run allowed by St. Louis pitchers in 62 innings.

Matt Carpenter hit a three-run homer off Brewers starter Jimmy Nelson with two outs in the seventh for a 4-3 lead.

Pinch-hitter Jason Rogers opened the Milwaukee eighth with a single off Siegrist. Shane Peterson's sacrifice bunt moved him to second, and Broxton took over.

Lackey gave up six hits, including a solo homer by Herrera and the drive by Davis, in six innings.

Herrera's home run with one out in the third came one pitch after Jean Segura was caught stealing second base, a play that was confirmed after a challenge by the Brewers.

Jason Heyward hit an RBI single in the sixth for the Cardinals. Nelson allowed four runs on eight hits while striking out eight in seven innings.

Brandon Moss and Stephen Piscotty opened the St. Louis seventh with singles, and Tony Cruz's sacrificed. Pinch-hitter Mark Reynolds grounded out but, after a brief conference at the mound, Nelson stayed in the game and Carpenter hit his 16th home run.

 width=>>Royals Sweep Sox With Sunday Victory

With All-Star reliever Wade Davis nursing a bad back and closer Greg Holland earning saves the past two days and unavailable, Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost turned to Ryan Madson to protect a one-run lead in the ninth.

Madson struck out two in a spotless inning as the Royals edged the Chicago White Sox 5-4 Sunday for a three-game sweep.

Madson saved 32 games in 2011 with Philadelphia, but had been out of the majors until this year because of injuries.

The Royals have won three straight games by one run for the first time since August 2012. Kansas City widened its lead to 11 1-2 games in the AL Central and improved to 10-3 against the White Sox this season.

Kendrys Morales hit a two-run homer that put Kansas City ahead 3-0 in the first.

It was 4-all in the eighth when Alex Rios singled with one out off Jake Petricka (3-3) and Paulo Orlando followed with a ground-rule double. Omar Infante hit a grounder to first baseman Jose Abreu, and Rios slid home ahead of the tag.

Kelvin Herrera (3-2) picked up the victory despite blowing a save and giving up the tying run in the eighth on Melky Cabrera's RBI single with two outs.

Eric Hosmer doubled home a run in the first and Morales hit his 13th homer. It was Morales' major league-leading 24th multi-RBI game.

Royals starter Danny Duffy was pulled after 3 1-3 innings and 73 pitches. He gave up three runs in the third on a walk, hit batter, wild pitch and two hits. Kris Medlen replaced him and threw 3 2-3 hitless innings.

Gordon Beckham singled home the first run, his first RBI since June 21, and Alexei Ramirez had a two-out, two-run single.

Ben Zobrist put the Royals ahead in the fifth when he singled home Jarrod Dyson.

MLB Scoreboard

Interleague

NY Mets 3
Tampa Bay 4

American League

Toronto 2
NY Yankees 0

Boston 7
Detroit 2

Minnesota1
Cleveland 8

Baltimore 4 Final/11
LA Angels 5

Houston 4
Oakland 5

Texas 2
Seattle 4

National League

Colorado 6
Washington 4

Philadelphia 5
San Diego 3

Cincinnati 3 Final/10
Arizona 4

Miami 4
Atlanta 1

LA Dodgers 6
Pittsburgh 13

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