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Cards Avoid Sweep To Cubs But Yadi Hurt; Sox Fall To Indians

 width=>>Cardinals Beat Cubs But Molina Hurt

Addison Russell's fly ball in the eighth inning Sunday might be the most important play in baseball so far this year.

St. Louis star catcher Yadier Molina suffered a sprained left thumb on the play as the Cubs ran themselves out of late scoring chances and the Cardinals ended Chicago's five-game winning streak and avoided a sweep with a 4-3 win Sunday.

The Cardinals moved six games ahead of Chicago in the NL Central. The Pirates beat the Dodgers on Sunday to remain four games behind St. Louis.

Molina was injured tagging out Anthony Rizzo on Russell's sacrifice-fly attempt in the eighth. Right fielder Jason Heyward had the assist, throwing out Rizzo on the no-out, bases-loaded fly for a double play.

Molina said he'll have an MRI on the thumb Monday.

The Cubs ran into another out in the ninth. Starlin Castro led off with a single, but pinch-runner Quintin Berry was thrown out trying to steal second by Molina's replacement, Tony Cruz.

 width=Trevor Rosenthal then struck out Jorge Soler and got Kyle Schwarber to ground out for his 46th save in 48 chances.

Despite falling short in this one, the Cubs won four of their final six regular-season games against the Cardinals.

St. Louis became the first team to clinch a postseason berth - its fifth straight - on Saturday when San Francisco lost.

In the eighth, the Cubs loaded the bases on a single and two walks, then Cardinals reliever Jonathan Broxton walked in a run. Rosenthal entered and struck out Miguel Montero to end the threat.

Martinez retired 11 straight at one point and finished with six strikeouts. His only trouble came in the third, when he walked two then allowed a two-run single to Rizzo.

Lester (10-11) labored despite entering the game with a string of three solid starts in which he allowed four runs in 21 innings. He allowed four runs in six innings while striking out seven.

LHP Jaime Garcia (9-5, 2.52) faces Cincinnati LHP John Lamb as St. Louis opens a three-game series and its final homestand against the Reds. Garcia is 6-1 with a 3.02 ERA since Aug. 1.

RHP Jason Hammel (8-6, 3.73) takes the mound against Milwaukee RHP Wily Peralta (5-9, 4.41) as the Cubs continue their 10-game homestand. Although Hammel is 2-1 in his last five starts, he's allowed 16 runs in 26 innings for a 5.54 ERA during the span.

 width=>>Tribe Doubles Up White Sox

With two weeks left in the regular season, the Cleveland Indians still have a chance to make the playoffs. Just not a good chance.

The Indians (74-74) trail Houston by four games with 14 to play for the AL's second wild card following Sunday's 6-3 win over the Chicago White Sox.

Josh Tomlin pitched 5 2-3 scoreless innings, and Lonnie Chisenhall had a two-run homer and three RBIs.

While Cleveland (74-74) remained four games behind the Astros (79-71), they also trail the Los Angeles Angels and Minnesota, who are both 76-73. The Indians have alternated wins and losses over their past eight games.

Cleveland completed a 6-4 homestand and opens a three-game series in Minnesota after a day off.

Tomlin (6-2) allowed four hits and matched a season high with eight strikeouts. He won a career-high five straight starts before allowing two runs in a complete-game loss to Kansas City on Tuesday.

Zach McAllister relieved after Alexei Ramirez's two-out double in the sixth and struck out Mike Olt. Cody Allen, the Indians' fifth pitcher, worked the ninth for his 31st save in 35 chances.

Chisenhall's homer highlighted a three-run second inning against John Danks (7-13), and he added an RBI single in the sixth. Rookie Francisco Lindor had an RBI single in the second and a sacrifice fly in the sixth.

Danks gave up three runs and seven hits in five innings, falling to 5-14 against Cleveland. He is 1-5 in eight starts since beating the New York Yankees on Aug. 1.

Jose Abreu's two-run single in the seventh gave him 95 RBIs.

Yan Gomes singled with one out in the second and Chisenhall hit a 1-0 pitch to right, his first homer off a left-hander in 52 at-bats this season.

Chicago plays a day-night doubleheader in Detroit on Monday. RHP Jeff Samardzjia, who has one win since July 28, starts the opener. RHP Erik Johnson is scheduled to start the night game.

>>Brewers To Hire 30-Year Old GM

The Milwaukee Brewers are going to name 30-year-old David Stearns their new general manager, CBS Sports MLB insider Jon Heyman confirmed Sunday afternoon. Stearns, who had been the top assistant to Astros GM Jeff Luhnow, replaces Doug Melvin, who announced in August that he was stepping down after 13 seasons.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports and Brian McTaggart of MLB.com had the story first.

Stearns is a 2007 Harvard graduate who appears to have an analytics background, but also gained hands-on experience in every aspect of helping to run a front office over the past three seasons as Luhnow's top aide.

He's going to be the youngest GM in the majors, but he's not the youngest in history. Jon Daniels was 28 when the Rangers named him GM in 2005. Theo Epstein also was 28 when he took over the Red Sox in 2002, but was several months older than Daniels when he became GM.

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