>>Cubs Blast Cardinals
Dan Haren worked seven innings in a 9-0 victory over the Cardinals on Monday. Haren (9-9) had five strikeouts and two walks. He also contributed a single and sacrifice fly.
The NL Central-leading Cardinals maintained a 5 1/2-game lead over Pittsburgh, which lost 3-1 to Cincinnati. The Cubs are 7 1/2 games back.
Dexter Fowler had a leadoff home run and two-run double in the first two innings.
Fowler matched his season best for RBIs and became the Cubs' first switch-hitter to score 90 runs since Brian McRae scored 111 in 1996.
Addison Russell's three-run homer capped a five-run third that made it 8-0. The Cubs have won four in a row and got an 11-game trip off to a rocking start.
Lance Lynn (11-9) surrendered six runs in 2 1-3 innings on nine days' rest after getting extra time to recover from a sprained ankle in his last start. The ankle wasn't the issue.
Fowler's leadoff homer was his fifth this season and the 14th of his career.
The Cubs are 36-29 on the road, second best in the NL behind the Cardinals' 38-27.
2B Kolten Wong (calf tightness) was a late lineup scratch. He struck out pinch hitting and reached first in the ninth.
Randal Grichuk (elbow) pinch ran in the ninth after being activated off the DL, but has not been cleared for hitting or throwing.
Michael Wacha (15-4, 2.69) pitches for the first time since Aug. 28. He's 4-0 with a 2.88 ERA in nine career starts with six-or-more days rest. Jason Hammel (7-6, 3.55) faces the Cardinals for the third time this season. He's 1-3 with a 6.31 ERA record for his career against St. Louis.
>>Indians Escape White Sox
Ryan Raburn hit a pair of solo home runs off Chris Sale, Trevor Bauer pitched two-hit ball for seven innings and the Cleveland Indians beat the White Sox 3-2 Monday, ending Chicago's four-game winning streak.
Raburn has eight multihomer games in his career, four of them against the White Sox. He is 10 for 33 with four home runs lifetime versus Sale (12-8).
Sale (12-8) struck out eight in seven innings. The lefty ace has fanned 247 this year, nearing the single-season team record of 269 set by Ed Walsh in 1908.
Bauer (11-11) shrugged off a lack of command early to allow two runs on two hits in seven innings. He walked five and struck out six.
Cody Allen pitched the ninth for his 29th save, completing the combined three-hitter.
The White Sox took a 2-0 lead in the second before getting a hit. Bauer started the inning by walking Avisail Garcia, J.B. Shuck and Mike Olt on 12 pitches.
Carlos Sanchez drove in the first run with a groundout and Tyler Fowlers had a sacrifice fly, but Bauer was happy to escape with just the two runs scoring.
The Indians tied it in the fourth on solo home runs by Mike Aviles and Raburn.
In the sixth inning, Raburn gave Cleveland a 3-2 lead when he hit another solo homer, a 425-foot drive over the left-field bullpen and into the bleachers.
RHP Carlos Carrasco (shoulder inflammation) will be activated from the disabled list on Tuesday and is scheduled to start the second game of the series.
LHP Carlos Rodon (6-6, 4.10) will will make his 21st start of the season. He is 2-2 with a 1.85 ERA in his last five starts.
