Red-hot Cubs seek sweep in St. Louis

The Cardinals will look to cool off a sizzling Cubs squad as the rivals meet in the finale of a three-game series Wednesday at 12:45 p.m. CT. The Cubs are the first team to 11 wins this season and are off to their best start since going 11-3 in 1970.

Kyle Hendricks will start for the Cubs. Hendricks took the loss in last start but pitched well, going six innings. The Cubs made four errors in the game, a 6-1 loss to the Rockies.

The Cardinals counter with Carlos Martinez, who went seven strong innings in his last start with his only mistake being a three-run homer by Joey Votto in a 14-3 win over the Reds. Martinez was 2-0 with a 5.24 ERA in five appearances against the Cubs in 2015.

Things to know about this game

• Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter has reached base safely in the past 11 games and in all eight home games this season. He is 6-for-10 in his career against Hendricks.

• The Cubs are expected to start left-handed hitter Tommy La Stella at either second or third base. La Stella is hitting .308 but was hitless in his last five at-bats.

• Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday is 6-for-12 in his career against Hendricks with two home runs and four RBIs.

Hammel nails Cards with hand from Heyward

Once again, Jason Hammel helped himself, hitting a two-run single as well as striking out six over six innings to lift the Cubs to a 2-1 victory over the Cardinals on Tuesday night. Chicago is the first team to 11 wins this season, and is off to its best start since going 11-3 in 1970.

Hammel, who hit an RBI double in his last start, delivered the key hit in the fourth, and now has more RBIs (three) than runs allowed (two) for the season. The right-hander got a big assist from Jason Heyward in the bottom of the fourth. The Cardinals had runners at second and third with one out, and Yadier Molina flied out to right. Matt Holliday tried to score, but Heyward threw a perfect strike home to get him and end the inning.

"He's got to make a great throw, it doesn't matter who's running there and he made it," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "That's a play we need to try and push to make them make the play every time."

"A lot of momentum came back to us in that moment," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said of Heyward's throw. "He constantly makes great plays."

St. Louis starter Jaime Garcia, making his first start since throwing a one-hit shutout against the Brewers, struck out seven over five innings. The Cardinals' only run came on a rare Molina RBI triple in the second.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Pitchers can hit, too: Last season, Maddon often batted the pitcher eighth. He may want to consider moving the pitcher up. The Cubs loaded the bases with one out in the fourth afterJorge Soler walked and Ben Zobrist and Miguel Montero singled. Garcia struck outAddison Russell, but Hammel delivered a two-run single to left. Hammel had four RBIs total in 32 games last season; he already has three in three outings this year, and Chicago pitchers have driven in a Major League-high seven runs. More >

"We hit every day, but I'm not trying anything different," Hammel said. "I'm trying to get the barrel out. I had a pitch down and in that I could handle. As long as I can put good wood on it, maybe I can squeak it through a hole."

Missed opportunities: A baserunning mistake cost the Cardinals at least one run in the second inning, when Matt Adams was caught stealing ahead of Molina's triple. The Cardinals also were unable to score with runners on second and third and no outs in the fourth and stranded two runners in the seventh and eighth innings. They also left the potential tying run on second base in the ninth, when Cubs closer Hector Rondon struck out pinch-hitter Jedd Gyorko to end the game.

"Against a club like that we've got to get the runs across," Adams said. "Everybody was going up there having good at-bats, and their pitchers just made good pitches." More >

Gilded glove: Maddon has called Heyward the perfect example of a five-tool player, and the right fielder showed one of his skills in the fourth with his perfect throw home. A three-time Gold Glove winner, Heyward was hitless in the first two games of the series, but made three nice catches Monday night and then his throw on Tuesday. More >

"It's a huge momentum swing there," Heyward said of throwing out Holliday at home to end the fourth. "Even if you're down, you feel like you stopped them from scoring the extra run in a one-run ballgame -- that's huge. Games like that are ones you'll have to win against great teams like the ones we're playing and against playoff teams."

Garcia not sharp: Garcia couldn't come up with a quality start on the heels of his one-hitter. Command was an issue as he walked four, and 59 of his 98 pitches were strikes. Garcia's 15 2/3 scoreless-innings streak was snapped by Hammel's two-run single in the fourth.

"The movement's a blessing and curse," Matheny said. "When he can control it and control it in the bottom of the zone, good things are going to happen. Then there's days when it's just going to run too much, and it's going to sail."

• Cards honor Brock with #STLisLou campaign

QUOTABLE
"It doesn't matter who we're playing against, but if we don't execute in those situations, we don't get the job done, get the little things right, it doesn't matter who we're playing. We just got to control what we can control." -- Matheny, on the Cardinals being 0-5 against the Cubs and Pirates this season

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
With Hammel's outing, the Cubs starters now have gone at least six innings in each of the first 14 games. It's the first time the franchise has done that since 1910. All but one this year has been a quality start, and 13 quality starts leads the Major Leagues.

REPLAY REVIEW
Cubs pinch-hitter Javier Baez appeared to be hit by a pitch on the left wrist leading off the seventh inning. The Cardinals challenged the call, and after a review, it was overturned.Kevin Siegrist struck out Baez swinging a few pitches later.

"Yadi probably heard it and then the guys upstairs saw something, it looked like it deflected the ball a little bit," Matheny said. "Just try to take a chance to keep the leadoff guy off base."

WHAT'S NEXT
Cubs: Kyle Hendricks will look to deliver a series sweep on Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 12:45 p.m. CT. Hendricks is coming off a loss to the Rockies, although he did pitch six innings and two of the four runs off him were unearned. Expect to see Tommy La Stella in the lineup.

Cardinals: Carlos Martinez will look to build on a strong last outing, when he gave up three runs over seven innings in a 14-3 win against the Reds. Martinez was 2-0 with a 5.24 ERA in five appearances against the Cubs last season; the Cardinals won all five of those games.

Bettis, Iglesias to face off in Rockies-Reds rubber match

About the middle of last season, Rockies right-hander Chad Bettis went from finding his way to making his way through lineups. Bettis, who will start Wednesday's midday special in the finale of a three-game set against the Reds at Great American Ball Park, is 6-2 with a 3.23 ERA in 12 starts since last July 12. He was in his hot streak before he realized it.

"I started to realize that toward the end of the year, not back near the All-Star break," Bettis said after holding the Cubs scoreless for six innings in his last start. "It was just a feeling that I know exactly what I want to do after every pitch I throw, and something I'd like to get back to. This [game against the Cubs] was definitely a step in the right direction."

Righty Raisel Iglesias (1-1, 3.24 ERA), the Reds' Opening Day starter, has stayed solidly in the strike zone, with 14 strikeouts against four walks in his three starts.

Three things to know:

• Reds leadoff hitter Zack Cozart's RBI single off Jorge De La Rosa in the second inning Tuesday night extended his hit streak to 10 games.

• The Reds stole five bases in the second inning Tuesday -- the most the Rockies have ever yielded in one inning. It was clear the Reds were running on De La Rosa, and Rockies catcher Tony Wolters threw out 40 percent of attempted basestealers in the Minors, and he had erased two of the first three this year before Tuesday.

• Rockies first baseman-left fielder Ben Paulsen has hit safely in five of his last six games.

Reds run rampant in win vs. Rockies

In a game where Brandon Phillips was a homer shy of hitting for the cycle, they stole five bases in one inning and Robert Stephenson cruised in his second big league start, the Reds held on to a 4-3 victory from the Rockies on Tuesday at Great American Ball Park.

All of the damage against Colorado starter Jorge De La Rosa came during a four-run bottom of the second inning when the Reds sent nine men to the plate and collected five hits with five steals. Down by a run entering the frame, Phillips led off with a single and later scored from third base on Jay Bruce's fielder's choice. Billy Hamilton chopped a two-out, two-run double into short left field, and Zack Cozart added an RBI single.

De La Rosa was lifted after his first two batters reached in the third inning.

"My command wasn't there," De La Rosa said. "The first inning was a good inning, but after that I don't know what happened. I lost my concentration and they hit the ball pretty good."

Lefty reliever Chris Rusin kept the game in reach, allowing two hits over four scoreless innings. Stephenson, who was called up from Triple-A Louisville when Alfredo Simon was scratched with biceps tendinitis, became the first Reds starter to complete seven innings this season. Stephenson allowed one earned run on three hits and two walks and struck out three.

"I was definitely happy to be able to help the team as much as I could," said Stephenson, the Reds' No. 2 prospect. "The defense played awesome behind me. We had that big inning in the second inning to jump ahead and get that lead."

• Stephenson returning to Minors after strong start

Caleb Cotham followed Stephenson with a perfect eighth inning. Tony Cingrani opened the ninth by striking out the first batter before J.J. Hoover gave up an infield hit and Mark Reynolds' two-out, two-run homer on a full count. Ben Paulsen drove Hoover's final pitch deep, but not deep enough to tie the score.

"The fact that we were still within striking distance after the way that game started, I was very happy with that," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "Going into the eighth and ninth, we thought we had a chance to win that game."

The Rockies scored their first run in the top of the second inning when Paulsen singled home Reynolds who had doubled and advanced to third on a balk.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Hot-hitting Cozart: Cincinnati already had three runs in the bottom of the second when Cozart prolonged the rally with a 10-pitch at-bat vs. De La Rosa. Cozart fouled off four straight full-count pitches before ripping an RBI single to left field that scored Hamilton. The single extended Cozart's hitting streak to begin the season to 10 games. Cozart also entered the night 6-for-12 (.500) this season when batting with two strikes.

Give the man a chance: Rockies catcher Tony Wolters threw out 40 percent (88-for-220) of those attempting to steal against him in his Minor League career. But he had no chance in the second inning on Tuesday, as the Reds' five steals -- the most ever against the Rockies in an inning and tied for third-most in a game -- were exclusively the product of De La Rosa's deliberateness. Just once, on Bruce's swipe of third in a double-steal, did Wolters even make a throw.

"I wasn't paying attention to the runner," De La Rosa said. "I have to do a better job than that."

Bruce stole his first two bases of the season in the inning, and Tyler Holt, Hamilton andEugenio Suarez each swiped one. According to Retrosheet, it was Cincinnati's first five stolen base inning since July 8, 1922, vs. the Phillies.

Nearly a natural cycle: Phillips went 4-for-4 in the game, lacking the home run that would've given him a natural cycle. After he singled in the second inning, Phillips hit a leadoff double in the third inning and got his triple in the fifth when Carlos Gonzalez fell down while fielding a drive to the right-field wall. Batting against David Hale in the eighth with a 1-1 count, Phillips shot a sharp single up the middle for his fourth hit. How sharp? According to Statcast™, the ball had an exit velocity off the bat at 109 mph. The last Red to hit for the cycle was Eric Davis on June 2, 1989.

"I was telling [Davis] I'm going to get a cycle before I leave. I talked to him maybe two or three days ago," Phillips said. "It's funny I came close for doing it today. When I hit that triple, I was like 'Oh snap, here we go. I'm about to get E.D.' I really tried. It was a good miss. I ended up getting a hit but I swung out of my [shoes], I really did."

Room enough for both:The right-handed-hitting Reynolds and the left-swinging Paulsen have been sharing first base. But the absence of regular center fielder Charlie Blackmonallowed an outfield shuffle that opened left field for Paulsen on Tuesday. They combined for a run in the second when Reynolds doubled and Paulsen singled him home for a brief 1-0 lead.

Paulsen had a breath-holding moment in the fifth, when three-time Gold Glove Award-winning third baseman Nolan Arenado picked up Devin Mesoraco's bouncer with a man at third and took Reynolds into foul ground for the throw. Reynolds seemed to surprise himself by doing nearly a full split.

"He's made a couple plays where everybody kind of dropped their jaw, but that one was special," Paulsen said. "Mark's a machine out there."

QUOTABLE
"I knew that would be a question today after tonight's game. It's just kind of a tenuous situation at this point in time. I want him to be able to handle that situation, and we need performance as well. I'm going to sleep on it, and I will probably have a better answer moving ahead tomorrow." -- Reds manager Bryan Price, on Hoover, who has a 15.19 ERA with three homers allowed in seven appearances

"I'm not going to jump to that conclusion yet, but the last time out he used his fastball much better. It complements his changeup. That's a big part of his recipe for success -- that fastball-changeup. He's got to use the fastball more." -- Weiss, when asked if abandoning the fastball is a red flag for De La Rosa, whose average velocity coming into Tuesday was down more than 1 mph from last year

THERE WHEN YOU NEED HIM
Tuesday was the second time in a week that Rusin has been solid after replacing a struggling starter. In his previous outing on April 13, Rusin replaced Jordan Lyles with two out in the fifth, struck out the Giants' Brandon Belt and went 2 1/3 scoreless inning to earn credit for the team's 10-6 victory.

"Just be ready in my name was called, and I was fortunate to throw four scoreless innings and save the bullpen for tomorrow or whenever," Rusin said. More >

WHAT'S NEXT
Rockies: Right-hander Chad Bettis (2-0, 2.95 ERA), who held the Cubs scoreless on three hits in six innings in his last start, will face the Reds in the finale of the three-game set at Great American Ball Park on Wednesday at 10:35 a.m. MT on MLB Network.

Reds: The 12:35 p.m. ET series finale between Cincinnati and Colorado will be televised by MLB Network. The Reds will have Raisel Iglesias make his fourth start. Iglesias has yet to give up more than three earned runs this season, but he also has yet to complete seven innings.

Resilient Crew shrugs off Twins' late rally

After seeing the Twins pull even with three-run eighth, the Brewers regrouped in the ninth inning on Tuesday afternoon at Target Field, jumping ahead for good on Scooter Gennett's RBI single en route to a 6-5 win.

Yadiel Rivera sparked the rally against closer Kevin Jepsen with a one-out double to right-center field. Center fielder Byron Buxton bobbled the ball off the wall, allowing Rivera to reach third. With the infield in, Gennett roped a grounder to left to score Rivera.

"That hit that 'Yadi' got was huge," Gennett said, referring to Rivera. "It's not easy coming off the bench and being able to drive a ball like that into the wind."

"We had a lot of good things happen today," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "A lot of guys helped out. That's a good win."

The Twins struggled offensively until breaking out for three runs in the eighth to tie the game.Byung Ho Park crushed a solo homer to left -- his second deep fly in as many days and his team-leading fourth of the year -- before Eddie Rosario connected on a pinch-hit two-run homer to tie it at 5.

"We try to look for positives, and we stayed with the game," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "We were able to bounce back and get it even heading into the ninth. So it was a nice rebound after the White Sox series to finish with a decent homestand [and win four of five.]"

Brewers right-hander Wily Peralta, who entered 0-3 with a 10.13 ERA, showed some improvement, allowing two runs on five hits and four walks over five-plus innings and retiring 10 batters in a row at one point. He loaded the bases with no outs in the first two innings but escaped relatively unscathed both times, allowing one run in each frame.

Twins right-hander Ervin Santana went five innings, surrendering five runs (two earned) on five hits and three walks. He gave up two runs in the first on a single by Ryan Braun and a sacrifice fly by Chris Carter. It unraveled for the Twins and Santana in the fifth, starting with an error by right fielder Miguel Sano with one out. The trouble snowballed from there, asJonathan Lucroy gave the Brewers a lead with an RBI double before Carter added another sac fly and a passed ball by John Ryan Murphy brought home another run.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Trouble for Thornburg: Park and Rosario connected against a Brewers reliever who had been untouched so far this season. Tyler Thornburg had been unscored upon in his first five appearances, surrendering only two hits. He has also stranded three inherited runners, including a pair in the seventh inning on Tuesday.

"That's what you want to do as a team, pick each other up; that's what we did today," Gennett said. "Obviously, it's a rarity for [Thornburg] to have an outing like that."  More >

Sano misplays sinking liner: The Twins know Sano is facing a steep learning curve with his move to right field, but his inexperience cost them in the Brewers' go-ahead three-run fifth. With one out, Gennett hit a sinking liner to right, but it hit off Sano's glove for an error. The Brewers went on to score three unearned runs after Sano's missed catch.

"It was a mistake on a low line drive," Sano said. "I lost it in the fans. I tried to stop it, but it was too late. But I'm not trying to make an excuse. It was a mistake. But it won't be my first one or my last one."  More >

Good and bad: Brewers Rule 5 Draft pick Colin Walsh had an eventful afternoon, beginning with a double leading off the game that set up Milwaukee's first run and marked his first Major League hit after an 0-for-10 start. But Walsh was partly responsible when a run got away an inning later, as he misfired a throw home on a potential double-play bouncer, extending the inning before the Twins tied the game at 2. Still, Walsh savored celebrating with teammates after the game.

"It's nice that it's finally done," Walsh said. "It's a little harder when you're not playing every day, because 10 at-bats is three bad games [for a starter]. On the bench, it's 2 1/2 weeks. ... Hopefully, there are a lot more hits coming."

Twins can't capitalize early: The Twins scored their first run on a double-play grounder hit by Sano in the first, then scored in the second on an RBI groundout from Eduardo Nunez, but considering the bases were loaded each time, the unfinished rallies left a sense of disappointment. The Twins have yet to record a hit with the bases loaded this year, having gone 0-for-9.

QUOTABLE
"Each start, I've been feeling better and better. I think I'm getting closer and closer. ... It's not easy when you're struggling, but you have to keep making pitches." -- Peralta, who bounced back nicely after laboring over the first two innings

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Rosario's pinch-hit homer was the first for the Twins since Sano hit one against the Royals on Sept. 9, 2015. It was the only pinch-hit homer of the year for Minnesota last season.

WHAT'S NEXT
Brewers: The teams shift their Border Battle to Miller Park for two more games beginning on Wednesday, when Jimmy Nelson will take the mound for Milwaukee beginning at 7:10 p.m. CT. Nelson is 3-for-3 this season in producing quality starts and has held opposing hitters to a .176 average.

Twins: Left-hander Tommy Milone will get the starting nod for Minnesota, looking to shake off a slow start. He's 0-1 with a 5.06 ERA through two starts.

Bucs to begin long trip with series in San Diego

The Pirates' rotation will be back at full strength Tuesday night at Petco Park. After skipping a start due to a tight right hamstring, left-hander Francisco Liriano will get back on the mound as the Bucs open a three-game series vs. Colin Rea and the Padres.

The Pirates hope having Liriano back in the fold will help stabilize their rotation and especially their bullpen, which had to work overtime over the last week and struggled as a result.

"Having Francisco back in play is definitely an opportunity for us to leverage a strength," manager Clint Hurdle said. "I'd like to believe the continuity of the starts will give us more continuity in the back end of the bullpen and through the other guys out there, so we can settle guys down and find some routine and roles that we want to build upon."

The Padres will counter with right-hander Rea, who will be making his first career start against the Pirates. Rea breezed through seven strong innings against the Phillies on 94 pitches in his last outing, a stark contrast to when he needed 90 pitches to battle through 3 1/3 innings in his season debut.

Things to know about this game

• This game starts a 16-day stretch in which the Pirates will play 16 games before their next scheduled off-day on May 5. Including Monday, Pittsburgh had three off-days built into the first two weeks of its regular-season schedule. This 10-game road trip will take the Bucs through San Diego, Arizona and Colorado.

• Padres shortstop Alexei Ramirez and outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. have hit well against Liriano. Ramirez is hitting .419 (13-for-31) and Upton is 8-for-24 against the veteran left-hander. Liriano has dominated Matt Kemp (1-for-14, five strikeouts) and Derek Norris (1-for-13, six strikeouts), however.

• Expect to see left fielder Starling Marte back in the Pirates' lineup Tuesday. Taking a cautious approach, the Bucs held Marte out of Sunday's starting lineup due to concerns about his right hand, which was hit by a pitch Saturday night.

Garcia enters Cubs-Cards series coming off 1-hit gem

What will Jaime Garcia do for an encore? The Cardinals lefty is coming off a one-hit shutout of the Brewers in which he struck out a career-high 13 batters and walked one. Garcia will face the Cubs' Jason Hammel in Game 2 of this three-game series, the first between the two National League Central rivals.

Garcia has not faced the Cubs since 2012. Hammel, on the other hand, was 1-1 with a 5.73 ERA in three starts last season against the Cardinals, and also faced them in Game 4 of the NL Division Series at Wrigley Field. In that postseason game, he lasted three innings, giving up two runs in the first, but the Cubs rallied to win that game, 6-4, and the series.

Cubs manager Joe Maddon -- whose club won the series opener, 5-0 -- doesn't get caught up in the Chicago vs. St. Louis rivalry.

"If we're playing Milwaukee tonight, if we're playing Arizona tonight, if we're playing St. Louis -- for me, it matters the same, and I really mean that," Maddon said. "Let's win a game in April. April's almost over, let's have a good April. I don't apply any more weight. I think it's exciting to be here, absolutely. I think there will be a great response from the crowd."

St. Louis manager Mike Matheny expected the crowd to be pumped for the first of six series between the teams.

"Whatever it is that keeps people coming and sitting in these seats, that's what drives and pushes this game," Matheny said. "We know that we're going to have some Cubs fans here, but there are going to be an awful lot of people wearing red. I know they have been looking forward to this. There has been a lot of hype. Our angle on that is that it'll be fun to get out and not talk about it but actually play the game."

After ousting the Cardinals in the NLDS, Maddon said the Cubs can expect to have a target on their back this season.

"It doesn't really matter," Matheny said. "We can't control it, whether it's a lot of attention for or against or for somebody else. That's really out of our hands. I think we have some young players who might be overlooked for what they've been able to do for a short period of time. I like what our guys are doing. I focus on our team and not so much on everybody else.

"They can have all the hype they want. It can be a distraction. And I think if they focus on what another team is potentially going to do, that can be a distraction to. So there are always challenges, whether it's positive or negative."

Things to know about this game

• Jason Heyward boasts a career .296 average at Busch Stadium in 91 games prior to this series. Heyward was greeted by a mix of boos and cheers from the Busch Stadium crowd on Monday in his first game back after signing an eight-year contract with the Cubs.

• Ruben Tejada, activated from the disabled list Monday, will be used in a utility role as the Cardinals stick with Aledmys Diaz at shortstop.

• Randal Grichuk will likely be back in the Cardinals' lineup in center. St. Louis is trying to mix and match with the outfielders to keep several guys involved. Grichuk was the odd man out on Monday.