Cubs News

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Francisco Liriano was solid and Andrew McCutchen drove in three runs to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 5-4 win over the Texas Rangers Tuesday night at Rangers Ballpark.

ST. LOUIS -- Milwaukee's Wily Peralta lost his no-hitter, shutout and game with one pitch.

CINCINNATI -- Catcher Welington Castillo hit two homers and third baseman Donnie Murphy added a two-run shot to back a strong start by right-hander Edwin Jackson, lifting the Chicago Cubs to a 9-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night at Great American Ball Park.

CINCINNATI – Sean Marshall had pretty much seen it all with the Cubs, how Wrigley Field could rock when they were in first place and how it could turn into a circus or become toxic with the wrong personalities. Everything except winning the World Series.

CINCINNATI (AP) -- Reds LHP Tony Cingrani left his start against the Chicago Cubs two outs into the second inning with back spasms.

The Cubs will begin their 2014 season with a tour de force that includes series against some of this season's toughest teams. Chicago opens on the road against the Pirates, before returning to Wrigley Field for series against Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Then they'll head back on the road for trips to Busch Stadium and Yankee Stadium.

The end result of the 2013 Cubs season has been known for some time, but there are still a few interesting storylines to discuss and monitor as the season winds down.

The Cubs plan to get two more looks at right-hander Scott Baker this season, as manager Dale Sveum said on Tuesday that he will go with a six-man rotation for the next two turns. That cycle began on Monday with Travis Wood's win over the Reds, setting up Baker's next start for Saturday in Pittsburgh.

On the same Monday night Travis Wood blanked the Reds for seven innings in Cincinnati, right-hander C.J. Edwards and Class A Daytona beat Charlotte, 4-0, for the Florida State League Championship. The win capped a playoff run in which Daytona's starting pitchers did not allow a run in 33 innings.

All Nate Schierholtz wanted was somebody to believe in him.

COMMENTARY | Most of the "bold prediction" pieces you see in print or online consist of a bunch of bombastic statements that portend highly unlikely events.

CINCINNATI – Except for the atmosphere – the beer and the sunshine – Cubs fans haven’t been given many reasons to come to Wrigley Field this season and watch this team. It looks like 2014 should be a good time for a road trip. The Cubs will visit Yankee Stadium (April 15-16) and Fenway Park (June 30-July 2) next year as part of the schedule Major League Baseball unveiled Tuesday. The Yankees should also be a huge box-office attraction (May 20-21). The Cubs drew 126,283 fans for a three-game series the last time the Bronx Bombers visited Wrigley Field in June 2011. ...

For Cubs fans wondering what Wrigley Field will look like after the team's renovation plan is complete, a layout has created on a much smaller scale.

C.J. Edwards and Ryan Searle combined on a one-hitter to help Class A Daytona beat Charlotte, 4-0, and win the Florida State League championship on Monday night.

Breakups are never easy, especially when the relationship lasted for, well, quite a long time.

Sept. 9 (Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Monday's Major League Baseball games. - - - Pirates 1, Rangers 0 Back-to-back, two-out doubles from Pittsburgh's Marlon Byrd and Pedro Alvarez in the seventh inning provided the Pirates all the cushion they would need to beat the Texas Rangers and ace Yu Darvish. Pirates youngster Gerrit Cole pitched a three-hit gem that helped snap the Pirates' season-long losing skid at four games and pulled them within one game of the St Louis Cardinals for the lead in the National League Central. ...

Sept 10 (Infostrada Sports) - Standings from the MLB on Monday AMERICAN LEAGUEEASTERN DIVISION W L PCT GB 1. Boston 87 58 .600 - 2. Tampa Bay 78 64 .549 7 1/2 3. Baltimore 77 66 .538 9 4. NY Yankees 76 68 .528 10 1/2 5. Toronto 67 76 .469 19 CENTRAL DIVISION W L PCT GB 1. Detroit 82 62 .569 - 2. Cleveland 77 66 .538 4 1/2 3. Kansas City 75 69 .521 7 4. Minnesota 62 80 .437 19 5. Chicago White Sox 58 85 .406 23 1/2 WESTERN DIVISION W L PCT GB 1. Oakland 83 60 .580 - 2. Texas 81 62 .566 2 3. LA Angels 67 76 .469 16 4. Seattle 65 79 .451 18 1/2 5. Houston 48 96 . ...

Sept 10 (Infostrada Sports) - Results from the MLB games on Monday (home team in CAPS) BALTIMORE 4 NY Yankees 2 CLEVELAND 4 Kansas City 3 Chicago Cubs 2 CINCINNATI 0 Washington 9 NY METS 0 Atlanta 5 MIAMI 2 MINNESOTA 6 LA Angels 3 Pittsburgh 1 TEXAS 0 CHICAGO WHITE SOX 5 Detroit 1 Houston 6 SEATTLE 4 LA DODGERS 8 Arizona 1 SAN FRANCISCO 3 Colorado 2 (10 innings)

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Juan Uribe homered in each of his first three trips to the plate, and the Los Angeles Dodgers connected six times Monday night in an 8-1 romp over the Arizona Diamondbacks that reduced their magic number for clinching the NL West title to eight.

Travis Wood stymied the Reds, and the Cubs did just enough offensively to finally beat Bronson Arroyo, as Chicago earned a 2-0 win over Cincinnati on Monday at Great American Ball Park. The win snapped a brief two-game losing streak for the Cubs, who had lost three straight to the Reds before Monday's game.