>>Shields Picks Up First Win With White Sox
James Shields broke out of a slump with 6 2/3 innings against one of baseball's worst lineups, helping the Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins 9-6 Wednesday night.
Shields (3-9) allowed one run and eight hits in his first win since he tossed seven scoreless innings for San Diego at Milwaukee on May 12th. The right-hander got hit hard after he was acquired by Chicago in a trade June 4, going 0-2 with a 15.80 ERA in his first four starts.
Todd Frazier, Brett Lawrie and Tyler Saladino homered for the White Sox, who improved to 7-1 against the Twins after losing 4-0 in the series opener on Tuesday. Saladino and Tim Anderson each had two hits and two RBIs.
Ricky Nolasco (3-6) was charged with seven runs and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings in his second straight loss.
Nate Jones got one out for his second save.
Tommy Milone of the Twins and Carlos Rodon of the White Sox face off in the series finale on Thursday. Milone (0-2, 5.33 ERA) is 4-1 with a 2.02 ERA in his career against the White Sox. Rodon (2-6, 4.09 ERA) is winless in his last five starts despite a 3.41 ERA for that stretch.
>>Cubs Sweep Reds
Anthony Rizzo legged out his first inside-the-park homer on Wednesday -and the Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 9-2 for a three-game sweep that got them back on solid footing after a rough week.
Rizzo drove in three runs in the first inning off left-hander Cody Reed (0-2) with the Cubs' first inside-the-park homer since 2011, when Tony Campana circled the bases against Cincinnati. Left fielder Adam Duvall cut in front of center fielder Billy Hamilton but couldn't get to the ball, which deflected off Hamilton's cheek.
Hendricks (6-6) gave up Duvall's 22nd homer and went 6 2/3 innings, throwing 117 pitches to rest a bullpen worn out from pitching and playing the outfield. He also drove in a run with a squeeze bunt.
John Lackey (7-4, 3.29 ERA) opens a four-game series at New York against the Mets.
>>Royals Outlast Cardinals
Alcides Escobar hit a go-ahead RBI double just inside the right-field line in the 12th inning and the Kansas City Royals outlasted the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 Wednesday night.
Escobar drove in the first run of the game with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the eighth. His fly to shallow right off Seth Maness (0-2) fell just in front of Stephen Piscotty, whose homer leading off the 10th tied it at 2.
Chien-Ming Wang (5-0) worked two scoreless innings for Kansas City, which survived blown saves by Wade Davis and Joakim Soria, stranded 19 runners and used all of its bench players.
The Royals are 39-50 in the I-70 interleague series but 14-12 at 11-year-old Busch Stadium.
Whit Merrifield put Kansas City ahead in the 10th when a potential double-play grounder was booted by second baseman Matt Carpenter and Merrifield got an RBI. He also doubled with one out in the 12th.
Mike Leake (5-5, 4.25) lasted just 3 1-3 innings his last start, allowing five runs at Seattle.
>>Sox Melky Cabrera Dealing With Wrist Injury
White Sox outfielder Melky Cabrera has a mild right wrist sprain that will keep him out of the lineup for a couple of days.
Cabrera originally hurt his wrist when he tried for a diving catch during a 13-2 loss at Cleveland on June 18. He aggravated the injury during Tuesday night's series opener against Minnesota and had an MRI on Wednesday.
The switch hitter is batting .294 with eight homers and 39 RBIs in 74 games. He signed a $42 million, three-year contract with Chicago in December 2014.
Avisail Garcia got the start in left against the Twins on Wednesday night.
