Nieuwenhuis hits two home runs, Brewers beat Cubs 6-1

By the Associated Press.

MILWAUKEE (AP) – Kirk Nieuwenhuis hit two home runs, Zach Davies took a shutout into the seventh inning and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs 6-1 on Saturday night.

Jonathan Lucroy also homered, giving Milwaukee the lead with a two-run shot in the first off John Lackey (7-7). Nieuwenhuis led off the fourth with a homer to center field, extending Milwaukee's lead to 3-0. Niewenhuis' added a three-run homer to left in the eighth, marking his third career multi-homer game.

Davies (7-4) gave up one run and three hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out four and walked two.

Lackey, who has surrendered at least one home run in seven straight starts, gave up three runs and five hits in six innings.

Davies, who pitched seven scoreless innings in his last start, retired 10 consecutive batters before yielding a single to Ben Zobrist leading off the seventh. Zobrist scored on Addison Russell's single off Will Smith, who relieved Davies with one out in the inning.

The Brewers loaded the bases with two outs in the third but Lackey escaped by striking out Chris Carter.

Milwaukee threatened again in the seventh, putting runners on second and third with one out. Cubs reliever Adam Warren then fired a pitch over catcher Willson Contreras' glove. With Hernan Perez racing down the third-base line attempting to score, Contreras retrieved the ball off of a carom and fired to Warren covering the plate, who tagged out a sliding Perez. The call was upheld after a review.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Cubs: Reliever Joe Nathan, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, will join the club Sunday, manager Joe Maddon said. The 41-year-old Nathan has been on a 30-day rehab assignment in the Cubs minor-league system but hasn't appear in a major league game since April 6, 2015, with Detroit.

Brewers: OF Domingo Santana, on the DL since June 10 with right elbow soreness, started a rehab assignment Saturday with Class-A Wisconsin.

UP NEXT

Cubs: Jon Lester (10-4, 2.89) will start against the Brewers for the first time this season and first time ever at Miller Park. In five career starts versus Milwaukee he is 2-2 with a 2.22 ERA.

Brewers: Junior Guerra (6-2, 3.06) will make his second start of the season against the Cubs. Guerra earned the victory in a May 15 start at Miller Park, giving up five hits and three runs over seven innings. He struck out a career-high 11 against Chicago.

White Sox ace Chris Sale scratched for 'clubhouse incident'

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago White Sox ace Chris Sale was scratched from his start against the Detroit Tigers on Saturday night after he was involved in what the team said was a "non-physical clubhouse incident."

Sale, who was to attempt to become the majors' first 15-game winner, was sent home from the park.

FanRag Sports first reported the incident involved Sale's protest of the throwback jerseys the team was scheduled to wear. Fox Sports reported Sale cut up the throwback jerseys during batting practice.

"The incident, which was non-physical in nature, currently is under further investigation by the club," general manager Rick Hahn said in a statement. "The White Sox will have no additional comment until the investigation is completed."

The White Sox marketing department described the night as the "Throwback Game." It announced the team would wear collared, blue and white V-neck jerseys first worn during the 1976 season.

The players instead wore more conventional, throwback white jerseys with no collar and no navy.

Right-hander Matt Albers started in Sale's place and the White Sox planned to use multiple relievers. The crowd booed when Albers was announced as the starter as the teams warmed up.

With the White Sox fading from playoff contention, Sale's name has been mentioned as a possible trade target for contending teams.

The left-hander, 14-3 with a 3.18 ERA, has been outspoken in the past.

Sale was openly critical of team president Ken Williams during spring training when he said the son of teammate Adam LaRoche would no longer be allowed in the clubhouse. LaRoche retired as a result, and Sale hung LaRoche's jersey in his locker.

The 27-year-old Sale has said he'd like to stay in Chicago. He was the 13th overall pick out of Florida Gulf Coast in 2010 and has been selected as an All-Star five times. He started for the American League in this month's All-Star Game.

Sale, who is 71-43 in his career, entered the day leading the majors with 133 innings pitched and three complete games.

In his last outing Monday, Sale allowed one hit over eight shutout innings before closer David Robertson gave up four runs in the ninth in Chicago's loss to Seattle.

The White Sox, who started 23-10, had dropped eight of nine games before Saturday and sat in fourth place in the AL Central, creating speculation that Sale and fellow lefty Jose Quintana could be dealt.

Tigers GM Al Avila said before the game that many teams are looking for starting pitching.

"Yet there are not as many good starting pitchers available," Avila said. "And the guys that may come available are going to come at a steep price."

Hahn said Thursday the White Sox were "mired in mediocrity" and hinted at possible big roster changes.

Cubs defeat Brewers 5-2

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Dexter Fowler led off the first with a homer and drove in three runs in his first game back from the disabled list, powering Chicago past Milwaukee.

Fowler went 3 for 4 with a walk and scored twice after being sidelined more than a month with a strained right hamstring. His two-run double to left with the bases loaded in the second drew rousing cheers from the bevy of Cubs fans visiting Milwaukee.

Jason Hammel (9-5) allowed four hits and two runs over five-plus innings for his second victory since the All-Star break for NL Central-leading Chicago. He never trailed after Fowler slugged a 3-1 pitch from Jimmy Nelson (6-8) over the center-field wall to lead off the game.

Hector Rondon pitched a scoreless ninth for his 17th save.

Hernan Perez had a run-scoring double for the Brewers, and Ryan Braun hit a solo homer.

Tigers defeat White Sox 7-5

CHICAGO (AP) — Miguel Cabrera tied a season high with four hits, including a go-ahead two-run single in the seventh, to lead Detroit past Chicago.

Cabrera's two-run single against Nate Jones put Detroit back on top after the Tigers blew a three-run lead in the fifth and sent Chicago to its eighth loss in nine games.

Ian Kinsler scored three runs, and Kyle Ryan (4-2) pitched a scoreless inning in relief after a rare shaky start by Michael Fulmer. Francisco Rodriguez worked the ninth for his 27th save in 29 chances.

Chicago's Justin Morneau hit his first home run in more than 14 months. Carson Fulmer (0-1) struggled in relief.

Anderson makes big league impact

Tim Anderson's winding road to the Big Leagues: An inside look at Tim Anderson's unconventional road to the big leagues, and the impact he's had on the White Sox as a rookie.

Pujols' 2 HRs power Angels past White Sox 8-1 for sweep

BY GREG BEACHAM (AP)

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – Although Jered Weaver is pitching with a fraction of his early-career velocity, the veteran right-hander still gets victories with craft and guile.

And he never lost his curious mastery over the Chicago White Sox.

Albert Pujols hit a pair of two-run homers, Weaver pitched seven strong innings and the Los Angeles Angels completed an emphatic three-game sweep of the White Sox with an 8-1 victory Sunday.

After their worst first half since 1992, the injury-plagued Halos (40-52) returned from the All-Star break by outscoring Chicago 16-1. Los Angeles also escaped sole possession of last place in the AL West, pulling even with Oakland.

"Our motto is just to go out there and have some fun," Weaver said. "Obviously we're not in the position we'd like to be, but that's not going to deter from going out there and competing. A sweep against a team like this is a step in the right direction."

During the Angels' first series sweep since mid-May, Hector Santiago, Matt Shoemaker and Weaver (8-7) became the first consecutive Los Angeles starters to go seven innings since July 2015.

With his fastball showing a bit more speed than usual after 10 days off, Weaver beat the White Sox for the eighth time in his last eight starts against them since 2011, giving up just six hits.

"I'm still trying to get stronger, but my body is feeling a lot better," Weaver said. "It's not fun going out there and having to trick people and throw pitches that you wouldn't necessarily (want to) throw in certain counts. To have a little more of a fastball and being able to locate it keeps guys off your secondary pitches a little bit more."

Pujols connected in the first and fourth innings of his 53rd multi-homer game. He has 577 career homers as he pursues Mark McGwire (583) for 10th place on baseball's career list.

"Obviously we didn't have a great first half, but that's the way you want to start the second half," Pujols said.

Five Angels drove in a run while lighting up Jacob Turner (0-1) over the first five innings. He yielded seven hits and eight runs in his debut for the White Sox, who have lost four straight.

Chicago never threatened to do much against Weaver, who repeatedly tricked overeager hitters into harmless popups.

"You sit there and you marvel at the fact that it's not going very hard," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "Speed isn't anything to alarm you about, but he almost throws it under that, anything that's a comfortable hitting speed. He takes a little off. Big curveball. Nothing seems to be in the middle of the plate."

Omar Narvaez got his first big-league hit in his first at-bat, and he scored Chicago's first run since July 9 on Adam Eaton's double moments later in the third inning. The run ended a 34-inning scoreless streak for the White Sox, who have lost six of eight.

"We need to score runs," Ventura said. "Scoring one in a series is not going to do it for us."

GOT HIS NUMBER

Pujols improved to 4 for 4 with three homers and six RBIs in his career against Turner, who hadn't pitched in the big leagues since 2014. He got promoted from Triple-A Charlotte for a spot start because Ventura decided to give an extra day of rest to All-Star Game starter Chris Sale.

BIG BLASTS

Pujols opened the scoring with a 431-foot homer, his first since July 2. His second homer drove in Mike Trout, who snapped his longest hitless streak of the season (0 for 10) with a double off the wall moments earlier.

FIRST TASTE

Along with Narvaez, White Sox right-hander Carson Fulmer also made his big-league debut, tossing two innings of one-hit relief. The 22-year-old Fulmer, the eighth overall pick in the 2015 draft, was called up from Double-A Birmingham before the series. "It was impressive," Ventura said.

TRAINER'S ROOM

White Sox: 3B Matt Davidson (broken foot) was transferred to the 60-day disabled list to make room for Turner on the roster.

Angels: Geovany Soto was scratched before the game with discomfort in his left knee.

UP NEXT

White Sox: Sale (14-3, 3.38 ERA) goes after his sixth victory in seven starts when Chicago begins a three-game series in Seattle.

Angels: Nick Tropeano (3-2, 3.12 ERA) will make his third start since returning to the rotation in early July when Los Angeles hosts Texas.

Chicago Sports Weekly Report: Cubs and White Sox both pick up wins on July 4th

CUBS 10, REDS 4

The Cubs had quite a rebound from a series where they were swept by the Mets.

Kris Bryant belted his National League-leading 24th home run, Addison Russell drove in three runs, including two on his ninth homer, and rookie Willson Contreras added a solo home run to lead the Cubs to a 10-4 victory on Monday over the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field.

There was a scary moment in the fifth inning, when Bryant and center fielder Albert Almora Jr.collided in left-center. Both stayed in the game to finish the inning, but Bryant was lifted because of a bruise on his left leg.

Bryant hit a two-run homer in the second to give him eight homers and 20 RBIs against the Reds this season.

Bryant walked twice and scored three runs in the game.

Kyle Hendricks picked up the win, while Cody Reed took the loss.

WHITE SOX 8, YANKEES 2

James Shields won his second straight start, an 8-2 victory over the Yankees at U.S. Cellular Field on Monday.

CC Sabathia, who was credited with the loss, yielded home runs toTim Anderson in the third and Dioner Navarroin the fifth. Todd Frazier added three hits, including two doubles, drove in one, scored twice and reached base five times.

Carlos Rodon makes what could be his last start before the All-Star break on Tuesday at 7:10 pm CT against the Yankees. Rodon has gone 1-2 with a 3.59 ERA, 40 hits allowed, 13 walks and 45 strikeouts in 42 2/3 innings over his last seven starts at home (five quality).