PHILADELPHIA (AP) — One of the hottest pitchers in baseball was at his best early on
Kris Bryant Jersey , yet the Cubs‘ high-powered hitters didn’t get discouraged.Javier Baez hit one of three solo home runs off Cy Young contender
Aaron Nola to reach 30 home runs and 100 RBIs, and Jon Lester pitched six
shutout innings to continue his mastery of the Phillies in NL Central-leading
Chicago’s 8-1 victory over Philadelphia on Sunday.Daniel Murphy and Anthony
Rizzo also went deep off Nola (15-4), who gave up three home runs in a game for
the second time over 88 starts in his four-year career.Murphy’s homer was a game
changer. Nola fanned seven of the first nine hitters before Murphy’s two-out
shot to right field in the third inning gave Chicago a 1-0 lead.“It can really
lead to a frustrating dugout,” Lester said of the early struggles, “but you
didn’t hear it or see it.”Murphy looked bad while weakly fouling off the
previous two pitches before launching a 1-2, 94-mph fastball into the seats“We
just grind out at-bats,” Murphy said. “We really made Aaron work today.”Chicago,
which has won 10 of 12, leads the Cardinals by 5 ½ games.“We’ve been playing as
well as we’ve played all year the last two weeks,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said.
“The guys have been doing wonderfully and it’s impressive.”Lester (15-5)
surrendered eight hits, struck out seven and walked none while improving to 8-0
with a 1.49 ERA in 10 career regular-season starts against the Phillies.The
Phillies began the day three games back of Atlanta, which hosted Pittsburgh on
Sunday night. Jorge Alfaro had two hits, including an RBI double in the ninth,
for Philadelphia.“That’s just an incredible offense, and today they just won,”
Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said. “I think that’s the long and short of
it.”Kapler moved Nola up a day to give him another start at home
http://www.chicagocubsteamshop.com/authentic-addison-russell-jersey , where the star right-hander has been dominant. It backfired. Nola gave up four
runs on five hits in 5 2/3 innings with 11 strikeouts and two walks.“Every loss
right now hurts as a team, but I’m going to put this one behind me,” Nola
said.Rizzo led off the fourth by hitting an 0-1, 85 mph changeup over the wall
in left, and Baez, the league leader in RBIs entering Sunday, hit a 1-2 fastball
out to left in the sixth.Nola also gave up an RBI triple to Kyle Schwarber in
the sixth to snap a string of 17 straight home starts allowing three runs or
less. He dropped to 9-1 at home, where his ERA rose from 1.94 to 2.21. Nola’s
overall ERA increased from 2.10 to 2.23.The other top contenders for the NL Cy
Young, Washington’s Max Scherzer and the Mets’ Jacob deGrom, will pitch on
Monday.NOT HIS DAYNola continued to struggle on Sept. 2. The right-hander has
allowed multiple homers in a game 10 times, including all three starts he has
made on Sept. 2 (2018, 2017 and 2015). Overall, Nola has a 9.82 ERA on Sept. 2
while allowing 24 hits, including seven homers, over 14 2/3 innings.NOLA’S
NEMESISMurphy is batting .345 (10 for 29) with two homers and six RBIs against
Nola.CARDS ALLOWEDMajor League Baseball has told teams that it’s OK for pitchers
to use the kind of scouting cards that umpire Joe West confiscated from
Philadelphia reliever Austin Davis on the mound Saturday.Kapler said Sunday that
he’d been informed the cards were legal. They are, provided they don’t delay
games
http://www.chicagocubsteamshop.com/authentic-sammy-sosa-jersey , MLB told clubs in clarifying the policy.GREAT COMPANYThe 25-year-old Baez became
the fifth Cubs player to reach 30 homers and 100 RBIs in a season before age 25
or during the year reaching that age, joining Ernie Banks, Kris Bryant, Rizzo
and Ron Santo.TRAINER’S ROOMPhillies: 1B Justin Bour, out since Aug. 23 with a
left oblique strain, was activated from the DL.UP NEXTCubs: LHP Cole Hamels
(9-9, 3.70) looks to remain perfect with the Cubs on Monday afternoon in
Milwaukee, where he faces RHP Zach Davies (2-5, 5.23). Hamels is 4-0 with a 0.69
ERA in six starts since being traded to Chicago from Texas.Phillies: Begin
six-game road trip with a three-game set at Miami on Monday afternoon, with RHP
Vince Velasquez (9-9, 4.05) opposing Marlins RHP Jose Urena (4-12, 4.56). SAN
DIEGO — Four weeks ago, it appeared this would be the weekend that the Arizona
Diamondbacks would be locking up a playoff berth — and possibly the National
League West title — at Petco Park in San Diego.Well, a strange thing happened en
route to the postseason.Since being 74-60 and in first place in the National
League West at the end of August, the Diamondbacks have gone 7-18 over the last
25 games. Division title — gone. Playoffs — gone.Article continues below ...The
only thing the Diamondbacks are playing out now as they come to San Diego is the
string. Meanwhile, the Padres have gone 11-12 since Arizona last led the
West
Joe Maddon Jersey , including a two-game split with Arizona.The clubs’ final three-game series of the season begins Friday night with a match of left-handed
starters — Arizona’s Patrick Corbin (11-7, 3.23 ERA) facing Padres rookie Eric
Lauer (6-7, 4.60).Corbin has been a model of consistency over his first 32
starts this season for the Diamondbacks. His ERA in 20 starts before the
All-Star break was 3.24. His ERA in 12 second-half starts is 3.22. His highest
ERA for a single month was 3.82 in May.Corbin has 242 strikeouts in 195 innings
with a 1.06 WHIP. Opposing hitters are batting .219 against Corbin this season
with a .271 on-base percentage and a .339 slugging percentage.The 29-year-old
has faced the Padres twice this season and 18 times in his career (13 starts).He
is 6-7 during his career against the Padres with a 4.48 ERA, a .272 opponents’
batting average and a 1.38 WHIP. He has 95 strikeouts with 29 walks in 88 1/3
innings. Corbin is 2-4 with a 4.46 ERA, 1.314 WHIP and a .247 opponents’ batting
average in nine appearances (six starts) at Petco Park, where he has struck out
40 in 40 1/3 innings.This season, Corbin is 1-0 against the Padres with a 4.50
ERA, a 0.92 WHIP and a .178 opponents’ batting average in two starts. He has
allowed six runs on eight hits and three walks with 19 strikeouts in 12 innings.
He has made one start at Petco Park this season and allowed four runs on six
hits in six innings.Lauer, the 25th overall pick in the first round of the 2016
draft out of Kent State, has made 22 starts during his rookie campaign. But only
one of them came against Arizona. On July 5 at Chase Field in Phoenix, Lauer
held the Diamondbacks to one run on seven hits and two walks with two strikeouts
in five innings to pick up his fourth major league win.In four starts since
returning from the disabled list on Aug. 30 — he missed a month with a forearm
strain — Lauer is 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA. He has allowed four runs (three earned)
on nine hits and seven walks with 19 walks in 19 innings.The Padres have won
three of those four starts and are 8-14 in his 22 starts.On the season, Lauer
has allowed 60 runs (54 earned) on 120 hits and 45 walks with 94 strikeouts in
105 2/3 innings for a 1.56 WHIP and a .285 opponents’ batting average. He is 2-4
at Petco Park with a 5.05 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and a .273 opponents’ batting average
in 10 starts.
