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Arrieta First To 20 Wins As Cubs Down Brewers; Cards Win; Sox Lose

>>Arrieta First to 20 Wins Following Win Over Brewers

With a no-hitter already to his name, right-hander Jake Arrieta of the Cubs added another impressive accomplishment to his sparkling 2015 season: He's the first 20-game winner in the major leagues.

 width=Arrieta three-hit the Brewers and struck out 11 in a 4-0 victory at Wrigley Field on Tuesday night, continuing a dominant season that's made him a Cy Young contender and helped to make the Cubs a World Series contender. Kris Bryant set the Cubs rookie record for home runs and Chicago inched closer to a playoff berth with a 4-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Arrieta (20-6) also lowered his ERA to 1.88 -- second to Zack Greinke of the Dodgers at 1.65 -- in becoming the first Cubs pitcher since Jon Lieber in 2001 to win at least 20 games in a season. He's also made a team-record 18 consecutive quality starts, which is going at least six innings and allowing three earned runs or fewer. Only four times this season has Arrieta even allowed four earned runs in a start -- and it hasn't happened since July 16.

Arrieta reached peak dominance Aug. 30 when he no-hit the Dodgers in Los Angeles.

Bryant, whose April 17 debut was one of the most anticipated in years, hit a two-run homer in the third off Tyler Cravy (0-8) to give Chicago a 2-0 lead. It was Bryant's 26th longball, besting Billy Williams' mark in 1961. Bryant added a run-scoring double in the eighth.

He also relished a curtain-call after his third-inning drive.

Kyle Schwarber was credited with an RBI double in the fifth when shortstop Jean Segura couldn't catch his high popup to short right field, allowing Dexter Fowler to score.

Kyle Hendricks (7-6, 4.22) faces Milwaukee RHP Zach Davies (1-2, 6.00). Hendricks has gone 3-0 with a 1.07 ERA in four starts against the Brewers.

>>Cardinals Beat Reds

John Lackey (13-9) pitched seven innings and allowed only a first-inning homer by Jay Bruce during his 16th quality start in 16 outings at Busch Stadium. Tommy Pham doubled and hit a sacrifice fly to drive in St. Louis' first two runs.

 width=The Cardinals improved to a major league-best 95-56 and maintained their four-game NL Central lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-3 winners at Colorado.

Lackey struck out seven, walked none and lowered his home ERA to 1.97. Reds manager Bryan Price said the right-hander is pitching as well if not better than he has in any of his 13 seasons.

Pham hit a sacrifice fly to deep center field in the seventh that scored Tony Cruz and broke a 1-all tie. Pham drove in the Cardinals' first run with a third-inning double that brought in Matt Carpenter, who doubled with one out.

Steve Cishek worked the ninth to earn his first save for St. Louis.

Lackey induced three ground-ball double plays in the first five innings that thwarted rallies and brought his National League-leading total to 28. He also helped himself by grabbing a line drive drilled right at his glove by Todd Frazier to end the sixth.

Brayan Pena led off the seventh with a liner up the middle that hit Lackey on the backside, but he remained in the game.

The Reds had nine hits off Lackey and at least one runner in every inning except the sixth.

Bruce's 456-foot homer off a 93 mph fastball from Lackey was the longest by a left-handed hitter at 10-year-old Busch Stadium.

Kolten Wong drove in the Cardinals' third run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth.

Joey Votto walked in the top of the eighth to reach base for the 39th consecutive game.

Yadier Molina said he plans to return before the end of the regular season despite a left thumb injury. Molina was relieved to hear he would not need surgery after sustaining a slight ligament tear Sunday.

Brandon Finnegan, acquired from Kansas City in the Johnny Cueto trade, will make his second career start in the finale of the three-game series. Finnegan allowed three hits and one run in five innings and picked up a win at Milwaukee last week.

Lance Lynn will try to get on the right track after lasting 3 1-3 innings at Wrigley Field last week. Lynn (11-10, 3.28) has a 5.11 ERA over his past five starts.

>>Tigers Walk Off On Sox in 10th

Rajai Davis' two-out triple in the 10th gave Detroit a 2-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox, one inning after the Tigers lost what would have been the first combined no-hitter in franchise history.

Instead, they got their third walk-off win in five days.

Anthony Gose drew a two-out walk from Zach Duke (3-6) in the 10th. Davis sliced a 3-1 fastball into the corner in right field and Gose easily beat Trayce Thompson's throw to the plate.

Blaine Hardy (5-3) got the win with a scoreless 10th.

 width=On Aug. 26, Justin Verlander lost a no-hit bid when Chris Iannetta of the Los Angeles Angels led off the ninth with a double. On Tuesday, it was Tyler Saladino's triple with one out against Neftali Feliz - Detroit's fifth pitcher - that broke up the no-hitter.

Feliz was making his debut as the Tigers closer after Bruce Rondon was sent home earlier in the day. Starter Daniel Norris was limited to five innings by a pitch count.

Saladino tripled into the left-center field gap, and Adam Eaton, who had broken up Detroit's attempt at a perfect game by being hit with a pitch in the seventh, tied the game with a single.

The Tigers weren't able to put anything together against Jose Quintana until the bottom of the seventh. With one out, J.D. Martinez singled, took second on Nick Castellanos' hit and easily beat Eaton's throw when James McCann lined a single into center.

The teams finish the four-game series with Frankie Montas (0-0, 1.13) facing Verlander (3-8, 3.46). Montas has allowed one run in eight innings over five relief appearances since making his major league debut on Sept. 2.

>>Maddon Brings Petting Zoo To Wrigley Field

Now that's living the wild life!

With the Chicago Cubs closing in on their first playoff berth in seven years, quirky manager Joe Maddon has turned Wrigley Field into a mini-zoo.

Before the Cubs played the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night, a small petting zoo was set up in the left-field corner for players to enjoy with their children and families. There was a sloth, a penguin, a snow leopard and a flamingo on display, as well as other animals.

The flamingo, named Warren, made an appearance at Maddon's pregame media briefing and strutted in front of reporters.

The animals were brought in by the Columbus, Ohio, zoo and were the latest example of Maddon exposing his players to the wild life. When he was managing the Tampa Bay Rays, Maddon brought in cockatiels and other exotic creatures for the team.

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