Hammel, Chapman pitch Cubs past Fernandez, Marlins 3-2

Matt Szczur scored the winning run on A.J. Ramos’ wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning Wednesday, capping a three-run rally that gave the Cubs a 5-4 victory and a three-game sweep.

He entered in the fourth inning to replace injured starter Colin Rea and gave up no runs on one hit while striking out four and walking two.

Combine all this with a gorgeous, sunny (although a bit hot, almost 90 degrees) afternoon at Wrigley Field, and that makes for a flawless baseball day.

Nationals 8, Diamondbacks 3 – At Phoenix: Max Scherzer struck out 11 in eight innings and delivered a two-run single to help his cause in Washington’s win over Arizona. Wednesday’s victory was just as dramatic as Sunday’s 7-6 comeback against the Mariners in 12 innings whenthey overcame a 6-0 deficit to score the tying run in the ninth on a wild pitch and then the game victor on pitcher Jon Lester’s pinch squeeze bunt. He caught it, and conceded the Cubs’ third run and Baez going to third – but he didn’t notice Szczur trying to take second. It was the Cubs’ first walk-off win on a wild pitch since June 20, 2009.

“My job was to get Zobrist out there and I just didn’t execute”, Ramos said. “Those kind of at-bats are contagious”.

Chicago chipped away in the eighth against Marlins reliever Fernando Rodney. The team-wide patience has been evident all season in ways both ephemeral and tangible. Since the All-Star break, the Cubs are 13-6, the best record over that period in baseball.

“I think we’ve got a good group”, Cubs starter John Lackey said. We did it a lot last year but not this year.

Estrada (7-4) won his second straight start, allowing one run and four hits with seven strikeouts. Dexter Fowler made it 3-2 with a sacrifice fly, and all the runners advanced.

Ben Zobrist: “What an fantastic place to play every day”.

“He’s taking some great swings”, manager Mike Matheny said.

The Cubs continue to look like the team to beat in the National League as they take down competitor after competitor on a nightly basis and find new ways to win with each passing game which is a very good sign for them as the playoffs fast approach. “And this series was huge for us to be able to believe that for ourselves and see it play out a little bit”.

The Cubs haven’t enjoyed as many dramatic walk-off wins as they did last season, largely because they tend to just devour their opponents, instead of toying with them. But the late-game offense has become a recurrent theme.

YANKEES 9, METS 5: Mark Teixeira hit a tiebreaking, three-run drive off Steven Matz in the second inning for his first home run against a left-hander in more than a year, then got hit by a pitch that sparked a bench-clearing dustup in the Yankees’ Subway Series victory over the Mets. Blash homered in the two-run seventh. The Cubs return home next Tuesday. When it was over, the Cubs noted there’s only one goal, one direction in mind. “We got a couple off Strop and just couldn’t get another”.

“May I just comment on our fans?”

Chicago manager Joe Maddon also credited those among the Wrigley Field crowd of 41,147 who stayed until the end. Contreras struck out, and Jason Heyward grounded out to end that threat.

“They had so much energy”, he said. Jackson also had an RBI double, stole the first base of his career and scored a run.

The feisty, often brusque hurler was in a chirpy mood as he recounted his day and the team’s rally.