>>Weaver Sharp As Cardinals Rout Brewers
Matt Carpenter homered and Luke Weaver was shapr in five-plus innings as the St. Louis Cardinals routed the Milwaukee Brewers 10-2 Tuesday night.
Luke Weaver (3-1) gave up a solo homer to Eric Thames in the bottom of the third. The 24 year-old right-hander otherwise had another solid outing against the Brewers, striking out 10 while allowing two runs over 5 2/3 innings. Weaver has a 3.00 ERA in four career starts versus Milwaukee, with 36 strikeouts in 24 innings.
St. Louis chased Matt Garza (6-8) with one out in the fourth. The right-hander walked five and allowed six runs, though only three were earned after the Brewers committed two errors in the third.
The loss dropped the second-place Brewers to 3 1/2 games back of the NL Central-leading Cubs, who won on Tuesday. The Cardinals remained in third, five games back of Chicago.
Yadier Molina was a late scratch because of right lower abdominal soreness.
Carlos Martinez (10-9) takes the mound needing nine strikeouts to match his career-high 184 from 2015.
Chase Anderson (7-3) looks for his first win in seven career starts against St. Louis. He is 0-2 with a 2.70 ERA versus the Cardinals, including no-decisions in two starts this season.
>>Arrieta, Cubs Cruise Past Pirates
Jake Arrieta continued his dominant second half with six innings of two-hit ball, Ben Zobrist homered and the Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-1.
Arrieta (14-8) struck out four and retired the last seven batters he faced, leaving after 97 pitches with a 3-0 lead. He hasn't allowed more than two earned runs in any of his nine starts since the All-Star break, going 6-1 with a 1.59 ERA during that span.
Anthony Rizzo went 3 for 4 with an RBI, Alex Avila had an RBI single and Jason Heyward added a sacrifice fly for NL Central-leading Chicago, which stretched its lead over second-place Milwaukee to 3 1/2 games.
John Jaso went 2 for 2 with a homer and reached in all four plate appearances for Pittsburgh.
Chad Kuhl (6-10) matched Arrieta through five innings but ran into trouble immediately in the sixth. His first pitch was a 95 mph fastball down the middle that Zobrist hit into the bleachers in right center.
Kyle Schwarber followed with a walk and Rizzo doubled one out later. After Tommy LaStella was intentionally walked to load the bases, Avila singled to score Schwarber.
Heyward stretched the lead to 3-0 with a sacrifice fly against reliever A.J. Schugel.
Jaso's solo homer in the seventh off Koji Uehara made it 3-1.
Rizzo gave the Cubs an insurance run in the eighth with his 200th career double.
That was enough support for Arrieta, who has turned around his season following a slow start.
Wade Davis got the final three outs for his 27th save in 27 chances to establish a new Cubs record for consecutive saves opportunities converted. Ryan Dempster saved 26 in a row from 2005-06.
Jose Quintana (4-3, 4.50 ERA) and Pirates righty Ivan Nova (11-11, 3.97) will be looking to bounce back from rough outings in the series finale Wednesday night. Quintana allowed six runs in five innings Sunday against Philadelphia, while Nova allowed seven runs (five earned) in five innings Sunday against Cincinnati.
>>Twins Power Past White Sox
Jorge Polanco homered twice, Ervin Santana struck out seven while pitching into the seventh inning and the Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 6-4 on Tuesday.
Eduardo Escobar also drove in two runs for the Twins, who took a one-game lead over the Los Angeles Angels into the night in the crowded race for the second AL wild card. Santana (14-7) matched his highest victory total since he was a 17-game winner 2010 with the Angels.
Only six games are left on Minnesota's schedule against teams on pace for the playoffs. Including the White Sox this week, the Twins are facing six opponents in the other 26 games with losing records and a combined 70 games under .500 entering play on Tuesday.
Jose Abreu went 4 for 4 with a walk and two RBIs for the White Sox, who fell to 4-17 in their last 21 road games. Abreu's single in the ninth put the tying run at the plate, but Matt Belisle escaped for his fifth save.
James Shields (2-5) has not won for the White Sox in 10 starts. He's been better this month, thanks in part to an alteration of his arm angle, but this was a mediocre output with five hits and five walks allowed in five innings. He left with a 4-0 deficit.
Derek Holland (7-13, 6.05 ERA) takes the mound Wednesday. He beat Minnesota in Chicago last week with six innings and one run allowed.
Jose Berrios (11-6, 4.04 ERA) pitches the middle game of the series. He's won each of his last six home starts, with a 2.88 ERA over 40 1/3 innings.
