Morning Box Score: Cubs Split Double Header, Royals Take Another From White Sox
By Tim Bearden in News on Aug 19, 2012 2:30PM
The Cubs don't seem to have an answer for the Reds' pitching ace, Johnny Cueto. Cueto earned his second win in six days off the Cubbies and his 16th overall this season. Alfonso Soriano led off the scoring effort with a two-run homer in the first against the division leaders. But the Reds tied the game in the second and the Cubs never led after the first. Their last run came in the ninth on a Wellington Castillo single to drive in Soriano for his second run of the game, but Joe Mather struck out, ending any chance of a ninth inning rally.
Brooks Raley earned his first major league win in the second game of the Cubs' double-header Saturday. Raley (1-2) pitched for 5 1/3 innings and gave up three earned runs, five hits and struck out four. It was also a big game for rookie Brett Jackson, who hit his first major league home run in the second to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead. Starlin Castro had two RBIs in the game—he drove in Joe Mather in the fourth and Anthony Rizzo in the sixth. Rizzo had an RBI single in fourth to drive in Luis Valbuena. Bryan LaHair also had two RBIs in the game and David DeJesus hit an insurance home run in the top of the ninth to propel the Cubs to a 9-7 victory.
Royals 9, White Sox 4
Adam Dunn hit his 400th career home run against the Royals on Saturday, but the White Sox couldn't get much going beyond that. The Sox had four errors on the game—and three in the third inning alone—which contributed to the loss. Lorenzo Cain and Alex Gordon reached base off of errors by Tyler Flowers and Gordon Beckham in the thrid and an Alex Rios error helped the Royals put a second run on the board that inning and give them a lead. Paul Konerko, the first White Sox player to reach 400 homers this season, hit a two-run shot in the sixth to drive in Adam Dunn. Dunn then hit his career marker in the eighth to drive in Kevin Youkilis, but swinging for the fences just wasn't enough Saturday. Dunn and Konerko are the first teammates to reach 400 home runs in a single season.