>>Sox Double Up Royals
Scoring runs hasn't come easy for the Kansas City Royals recently. Jeff Samardzija didn't make it any easier Tuesday night.
Eric Hosmer and Kendrys Morales hit back-to-back homers and Johnny Cueto threw six quality innings, but the Royals lost to Samardzija and the Chicago White Sox 4-2.
The Royals, who have lost four of their last five, fell behind 3-0 after Adam Eaton drove a two-run homer into the bullpen in right field off Cueto (10-13) in the fifth inning.
Cueto lost for the third time in his four September outings and gave up three runs and eight hits over six innings. He struck out two and walked two.
Kansas City got within 3-2 in the sixth when Hosmer and Morales homered off Samardzija (11-13), who won for the second straight time after losing nine of his 10 previous outings.
Coming off a complete-game one hitter against Detroit on Sept. 21, Samardzija scattered eight hits over seven innings to pick up the win, striking out two. The consecutive homers - Kansas City's first since July 25, 2014 - snapped Samardzija's string of 14 scoreless innings.
David Robertson pitched the ninth inning for Chicago, which added a run in the eighth on Alexei Ramirez's RBI double, to earn his 33rd save in 40 opportunities.
The Royals put a runner in scoring position in the eighth, but Chicago third baseman Mike Olt snagged a line drive by Mike Moustakes that appeared headed for left field.
The White Sox took a 1-0 lead in the third inning. Jose Abreu laced a two-out RBI single, scoring Carlos Sanchez, who led off the inning with a walk.
Samardzija took care of the rest in picking up his first career win against the Royals.
Edinson Volquez (13-9, 3.65 ERA) will be looking for his first win since Sept. 8 after losing two of his last three starts. He will face White Sox LHP Jose Quintana (9-10, 3.38 ERA) who has taken no-decisions in his last two starts and who has only surrendered three earned runs in September.
>>Cubs Get By Reds After Long Rain Delay
Dan Haren pitched into the eighth inning on Tuesday night, and Miguel Montero doubled home two runs during Chicago's four-run first inning, leading the Cubs to a 4-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds following a long rain delay.
The Cubs already have clinched a spot in the NL wild-card game for their first playoff berth since 2008. They trail Pittsburgh by three games for home-field advantage. The Pirates' game against first-place St. Louis was rained out on Tuesday.
Haren (10-9) made his 10th start for the Cubs, who acquired him in a trade with Miami on July 31. The right-hander allowed three hits in 7 1-3 scoreless innings, struck out six and didn't walk a batter. Travis Wood got a game-ending double play for his third save in as many chances.
Rain held up the first pitch for 2 hours, 31 minutes.
Chicago sent eight batters to the plate in the first inning for four runs on the wet field. Montero's double highlighted the 17-minute rally, which included two errors by the Reds.
Kris Bryant extended his hitting streak to five games (8 for 20). Dexter Fowler scored his 100th run, the first Cubs player to cross the plate so many times since Mark DeRosa in 2008.
Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs was hit by a pitch for the 30th time. He joined Don Baylor (1986) as the only major league players to be hit by pitches 30 times and hit 30 homers in a season.
Cubs catcher Kyle Schwarber singled twice and walked twice.
Jon Lester (10-12) has struck out 198 batters, four shy of Ken Holtzman's club record from 1970 for strikeouts by a Cubs left-hander. He is 0-0 with a 4.74 ERA in three starts against the Reds this season, although the Cubs have won all three games.
Anthony DeSclafani (9-12) has lost his last two starts, giving up 12 runs in 11 innings. He allowed a season-high seven runs in a 12-9 loss to the Mets in his last outing.
