News » The plan is to get him up to 45 or 50 pitches in a bullpen

CHICAGO — Just when it appeared the Chicago Cubs‘ offense had run out of bats with the two-time defending National League Central Division champions on the verge of falling out of first place http://www.twinsfanproshop.com/authentic-erick-aybar-jersey , the Cubs showed their sticks still have some life.A 7-6, extra-inning victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday capped by Albert Almora, Jr.’s two-out single in the 10th inning allowed the Cubs to preserve their half-game margin for the divisional lead. The Cubs will attempt to move closer to their third straight Central crown when they wrap up their four-game series against the Pirates on Thursday.The Cubs also clinched a playoff berth Wednesday.Article continues below ...The seven-run explosion arrived after the Cubs had struggled to score runs against the Pirates. After dropping the first two games of the series when the Cubs managed only two runs, Chicago gave its pitching staff some run support and pulled out the win after the bullpen blew a 6-1 lead.“There’s no pressure, no panic,” Almora said in a postgame televised interview.Now, they’ll look to continue the trend Thursday.“If we could just get on the board early, that would be very helpful,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon told reporters Wednesday.“If we get a chance to get on (Pirates) starters early, we need to do that because they seem to get better games in progress.”With a win Thursday, the Cubs will earn a series split and create a bit more distance between themselves and the idle second-place Milwaukee Brewers, who clinched their first playoff berth since 2011 on Wednesday. Milwaukee finished off a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals with a 2-1 victory Wednesday.The Cubs hope to get third baseman Kris Bryant back in the lineup after Bryant missed Wednesday’s game with a sore wrist. Bryant left Tuesday night’s game after being hit by a pitch and sustaining a wrist contusion. Maddon told reporters that the swelling wasn’t as bad as expected, but that it was enough to keep Bryant from playing.Jon Lester (17-6 Anibal Sanchez Jersey , 3.43 ERA) takes the mound hoping to give the Cubs some momentum heading into another tough test this weekend against the Cardinals. Lester has won three of his four September starts and has allowed five earned runs in the four outings. Lester is 8-6 with 3.38 ERA in 17 career starts against the Pirates, including 3-1, 3.72 in five outings this season.Trevor Williams (14-9, 3.04) will take the mound for the Pirates. Williams has also been impressive throughout September and has won three of his four starts with a no-decision. Williams has not allowed an earned run in three of his four starts and has struck out seven in each of his past two outings. Williams is 2-3 with a 3.41 ERA in seven career outings (five starts) against the Cubs, including 1-1, 1.38 in two turns this season.Williams has been among the Pirates’ most effective performers in the second half but has done so while not gaining much notoriety for his efforts. While he isn’t flashy or doesn’t overpower hitters with his approach, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said Williams is one to simply get the job done.“It’s pitchability, it’s pitch execution,” Hurdle told reporters earlier this month, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “He’s hitting spots. He’s throwing his fastball where he wants. He’s changing speeds. And it’s really hard to hit. He’s getting it done the old-fashioned way. He’s flat-out pitching.” PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks played small ball looking for the winning run in the ninth inning, and the Los Angeles Angels couldn’t defend it.Angels pitcher Cam Bedrosian threw wildly after fielding a sacrifice bunt attempt in the bottom of the ninth, allowing Jon Jay to score and the Diamondbacks to beat Los Angeles 5-4 on Tuesday night.Jay was hit by a pitch to start the inning, then moved to second on John Ryan Murphy’s sacrifice attempt that turned into a hit. A.J. Pollock then laid down another sacrifice try Eduardo Escobar Jersey , and Bedrosian (5-3) attempted to force out Jay at third.The ball soared past third baseman Taylor Ward, and Jay got up and sprinted home.“Whatever way. Whatever way you can win the game,” Pollock said. “Put some pressure on them and make them make a play. It wasn’t the best bunt, but we won the game.”Bedrosian sighed as a he described the moment.“Just rushed it. I heard ‘third, third, third!’ and just turned around and spun and just didn’t get my body set,” Bedrosian said. “Really frustrating.”Diamondbacks closer Brad Boxberger (2-4) pitched a scoreless ninth.David Peralta drove in three runs and came a triple short of the cycle for Arizona, which has won five of six in taking over first place in the NL West.“In my opinion, every game is the biggest game of the year from here on out,” Jay said. “These are the fun times. These are when you wake up and are excited to go to the ballpark and every game is something big and this is what baseball is all about.”The Angels rallied from a pair of two-run deficits to tie it, scoring twice in the seventh inning on pinch-hitter Jefry Marte’s home run and David Fletcher’s two-out triple. Fletcher had three hits and two RBIs.Both teams’ starting pitchers lasted six innings but got no-decisions. Felix Pena struck out a career-high 12 but allowed four runs and seven hits for Los Angeles, while Arizona’s Patrick Corbin gave up two runs and five hits and struck out eight.“I felt good. Wish I would have kept it 0-0, but overall I felt fine and everything was working http://www.twinsfanproshop.com/authentic-jake-odorizzi-jersey ,” Pena said in Spanish.Peralta hit his seventh home run in 12 games, a two-run shot into the Diamondbacks’ bullpen in left field with one out in the first inning. The Diamondbacks lead the majors with 109 first-inning runs.The Angels tied it in the third on run-scoring singles for Fletcher and Andrelton Simmons after Kole Calhoun led off with a double.But the Diamondbacks got to Pena again in the third, stringing together four consecutive singles for two runs to take a 4-2 lead. Peralta and Steven Souza Jr. had the RBI hits in the inning, though Arizona left the bases loaded.Marte homered into the second deck in left field with two out in the seventh off reliever Yoshihisa Hirano, making it 4-3. Fletcher tripled off Archie Bradley to drive in Calhoun and tie it.“We scored four and we hit the ball hard with runners in scoring position,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “Those guys made some pitches to get out of trouble.”WILD BATPena swung and missed at a 3-1 pitch in the fourth, and his bat flew into the Diamondbacks dugout and almost struck manager Torey Lovullo.WEEKEND ROTATIONLovullo set his starting rotation for the upcoming series against the Seattle Mariners. Right-hander Zack Godley pitches Friday in the opener, followed by left-hander Robbie Ray and righty Zack Greinke. Ray gets an extra day to do some side work with pitching coach Mike Butcher.TRAINER’S ROOMAngels: OF Justin Upton went on the 10-day disabled list with a cut on his left index finger he suffered Sunday night. … OF Mike Trout (wrist) is expected to rejoin the team at the end of the week, Scioscia said. … P-DH Shohei Ohtani (elbow) pitched a simulated game Monday at the Angels’ spring training facility in nearby Tempe. The plan is to get him up to 45 or 50 pitches in a bullpen session early next week and eventually be re-evaluated to return to pitching as a starter. … RHP Matt Shoemaker will throw a bullpen session on Wednesday, trying to come back from a forearm injury that has forced him out of almost the entire season.Diamondbacks: RHP Shelby Miller (elbow) threw from 75 feet on Tuesday. … OF Jarrod Dyson is fielding, hitting and sprinting as he comes back from a groin injury.UP NEXTAngels: RHP Odrisamer Despaigne (2-1) is set for his second appearance with the Angels. He hasn’t faced Arizona since September 2015 while with the San Diego Padres.Diamondbacks: RHP Clay Buchholz (6-2) faces the Angels in the series finale on Wednesday. He’s made 13 starts against the Angels in his career.