Anleitungen » Cardinals: RHP Miles Mikolas

Nelson Cruz was suffering from migraines when the Seattle Mariners were in Tampa Bay last weekend. He certainly has been causing headaches for opposing pitchers recently.

Cruz Trevon Wesco Jersey , the Mariners’ designated hitter, has eight home runs in his past 16 games, during which he has raised his average from .220 to .251. He hit three home runs in a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels this week and will set his sights on Boston Red Sox right-hander Rick Porcello when the teams meet Friday night at Safeco Field.

“He’s certainly in a really good groove right now,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “So hopefully we can ride it for as long as we can.”

Cruz, who missed most of spring training with a quadriceps strain, hit home runs in each of the first two games of the season. But when he returned to the dugout after that second homer, he sprained his right ankle on the bottom step as he was about to put his helmet and gear away and was placed on the 10-day disabled list.

He had seven homers in his first 37 games this season before more than doubling that since May 28.

“I think we’ll look up at the end of the year and we’ll get a typical Nelson Cruz year here. He was off to a slow start early, everybody was all, ‘Where is this going?’ But he’s righted the ship,” Servais said.

Cruz downplayed his part in leading the surprising Mariners to near the top of the American League West.

“The pitching is the one that got us here,” Cruz said. “I think we score enough to be able to win most of the games. We just find a way to scratch runs.”

Servais said the key to Cruz’s recent play has been his health. The 37-year-old also was hobbled after being hit by a pitch on the foot May 15.

“He is feeling healthier Shareef Miller Jersey ,” Servais said. “He’s such a big part of our lineup, driving guys in, getting the ball out of the ballpark. We saw it coming at the end of the last homestand. He started coming out of it, hitting those balls hard, hitting balls better.

“He’s getting the ball in the air. His timing is much better, he’s staying behind the ball and he isn’t chasing. He is swinging at strikes. That’s the key for any batter, not just Nelson.”

Porcello (8-3, 3.54 ERA) is 6-5 with a 3.62 ERA in 12 career starts against the Mariners. He has looked much more like the 2016 American League Cy Young Award winner (when he went 22-4) than the pitcher who lost a league-high 17 games last season.

“Two years ago is a long time ago now, it feels like, so it’s hard to compare,” Porcello told MLB.com. “I think we’re doing some things differently than we even did two years ago. So I haven’t really thought about what I was doing then. I know what I’m doing now Zach Brown Jersey , and I want to keep that going.”

The Mariners will send left-hander James Paxton (6-1, 3.02) to the mound. Paxton, who hasn’t lost since his first start of the season, is 2-0 with a 0.39 ERA in three career starts against the Red Sox.

John Brebbia pitched in 70 major league games before earning his first career win. When the wait was over, the individual accomplishment was an afterthought compared to the exhilaration of stopping his team’s archrival from earning its first sweep in nearly eight years at Busch Stadium.

Jack Flaherty and four relievers combined on a four-hitter, Matt Carpenter homered and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 5-0 on Sunday night.

Brebbia (1-1) worked around two hits in a scoreless sixth inning to earn his first major league win. Austin Gomber, Jordan Hicks and Bud Norris each pitched a hitless inning to finish the shutout. It ended the Cardinals’ season-high four-game losing streak and prevented the Cubs from getting their first series sweep in St. Louis since Sept. 13-15, 2010.

”It’s definitely nice to get a win for sure,” Brebbia said. ”What’s really nice is we got a win against the Cubs in the division, in what I think is a tight division right now so that’s probably the best part.”

Flaherty allowed just two hits while striking out seven in five innings, but he walked three and hit two batters and was pulled after throwing 97 pitches. He escaped a jam in the third inning when he struck out Kris Bryant with the bases loaded to keep the game scoreless.

”I was able to battle and execute when I needed to Devin Bush Jersey ,” Flaherty said. ”I threw a lot of pitches in a short amount of time. I was hoping to go deeper, but that’s how it goes sometimes.”

Harrison Bader, Tommy Pham, and Marcell Ozuna each singled to open the sixth inning and load the bases. Pham’s single extended his hitting streak to a National League-best 11 games to chase Jose Quintana (6-5) from the game.

Bader scored the game’s first run when Yadier Molina grounded into a double play and Jedd Gyorko’s RBI single drove in Pham to make it 2-0.

Quintana was charged with the two runs and four hits in five-plus innings in his 200th career major league game.

”I felt pretty good,” Quintana said. ”I had all my stuff.”

Carpenter hit his 10th home run of the season and second of this series in the seventh inning off Brian Duensing to push the lead to 3-0.

Molina had an RBI double in the eighth, moved to third on Yairo Munoz’s infield single and scored on shortstop Addison Russell’s throwing error on the play.

Cubs shortstop Javier Baez left the game with a left elbow contusion after being hit by a pitch from Flaherty in the top of the third inning. Baez, who leads the team with 14 home runs, was replaced by Russell.

”I’m fine. Just really sore,” Baez said. ”He got me really good. Right on the elbow.”

Chicago manager Joe Maddon was content with taking two of three in St. Louis.

He had reporters listen to a minute of the Meat Loaf song, ”Two out of Three Ain’t Bad,” before starting his press conference.

”We’ll take two out of three any day of the week Diontae Johnson Jersey , especially in this ball park,” Maddon said. ”We played well. We just didn’t get any hits tonight.”

BABY CUBS

The Cubs announced the signing of draft picks OF Brennen Davis (62nd overall) and RHP Paul Richan (78th overall) prior to Sunday’s game.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cubs: RHP Yu Darvish (right triceps tendinitis) will throw a simulated game on Tuesday at Wrigley Field.

Cardinals: RHP Greg Holland will travel with the team to Philadelphia after tossing a scoreless inning Saturday night on a rehabilitation assignment with Double-A Springfield.

UP NEXT

Cubs: RHP Tyler Chatwood (3-5, 4.12) opposes Dodgers RHP Kenta Maeda (4-4, 3.61) as Chicago opens a a three-game series against Los Angeles on Monday. Chatwood has issued a major league-leading 58 walks.

Cardinals: RHP Miles Mikolas (7-2, 2.43) starts the opener of a three-game series in Philadelphia as St. Louis starts a seven-game trip. He will be opposed by Phillies RHP Nick Pivetta (4-6, 4.25).

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