CHICAGO (AP) The Chicago Cubs saved their scoring and drama until the later innings. Aroldis Chapman then capped it in his Cubs debut, even in a non-save situation.
Javier Baez hit a tiebreaking two-run homer deep into Wrigley Field’s left bleachers in the seventh and Addison Russell added a grand slam in a five-run eighth as the Cubs beat the White Sox 8-1 on Wednesday night in the crosstown series.
Jason Hammel (10-5) allowed one run and five hits while striking out seven in seven innings. Hector Rondon pitched a perfect eighth, and Chapman pitched a 1-2-3 ninth – striking out Jose Abreu and Avisail Garcia.
The sellout crowd of 41,116 buzzed when the hard-throwing lefty entered the game. Afterward, Chapman’s teammates were talking as much about him as the late homers.
”I thought we were getting a guy who threw 105 (mph). We only got 103,” Hammel joked. ”That’s impressive, jaw-dropping to see.”
Chapman had 20 saves in 21 chances this season with the Yankees before the Cubs acquired the hard-throwing lefty on Monday for a package of prospects.
Baez went deep on a full-count pitch against Anthony Ranaudo (1-1) to chase the right-hander in his White Sox debut.
After Ben Zobrist’s RBI double in the eighth, Russell followed two hitters later with his 12th homer to help the Cubs end the White Sox’s four-game winning streak.
The NL West-leading San Francisco Giants got just four hits and went down 2-1 to the Cincinnati Reds for their ninth time in 11 games since the All-Star break. The last-place Reds are 8-4 over that stretch.
Jay Bruce homered in his career-high fifth straight game, connecting off Madison Bumgarner to break a 1-1 tie in the seventh inning.
The St. Louis Cardinals rallied to edge the Mets 5-4 in New York to end Jeurys Familia’s saves streak at 52 games. Yadier Molina and pinch-hitter Kolten Wong each had an RBI double in the ninth inning.
Yoenis Cespedes hit a go-ahead homer off Adam Wainwright to cap a three-run comeback in the seventh that gave the Mets a 4-3 lead. But then Familia, who hadn’t blown a regular-season save opportunity since July 30 last year, finally faltered.
Miami routed Philadelphia 11-1 and Arizona beat Milwaukee 8-1.
At Cleveland, Stephen Strasburg shut down the Indians for seven innings and bounced back from his only loss this season, leading Washington to a 4-1 win.
Strasburg (14-1) began the season with 13 straight wins before he was beaten by the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 21. The powerful right-hander shook off that blemish, holding the Indians to three hits. Strasburg walked one and struck out seven.
Matt Moore pitched four-hit ball into the seventh inning and Evan Longoria hit a two-run homer as the Tampa Bay Rays won 3-1 to claim their first win at Dodger Stadium.
Luke Maile had an RBI double in a three-run fourth inning to help Tampa Bay wrap up a nine-game West Coast road swing by ending a four-game skid.
The Detroit Tigers completed a three-game sweep against the Red Sox with a 4-3 win, with Miguel Cabrera hitting a tiebreaking home run in the ninth inning that bounced off the top of the wall and into Boston’s bullpen.
Boston is the last major league team to be swept in a series of any length this season.
The Colorado Rockies beat Baltimore 3-1 to take two of three from the AL East-leading Orioles.
At Arlington, Khris Davis homered twice and Coco Crisp also went deep as Oakland beat the AL West-leading Texas Rangers 6-4.
Crisp’s two-run homer in the eighth put the A’s up 4-3 amd Davis added another two-run shot, his 25th homer of the season, in the inning.
Rangers starter Yu Darvish, winless in his last nine starts against Oakland, stuck out six without a walk and departed with a 3-2 lead after six innings.
At Toronto, Adam Rosales hit a two-run home run to help San Diego beat the Blue Jays 8-4 to avoid a three-game sweep.
The Pittsburgh Pirates thrashed the Mariners 10-1, the Houston Astros beat the Yankees 4-1 and the Kansas City Royals had a 7-5 win over the Angels.
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