CHICAGO -- Miguel Montero waited for five hours before he got a chance to play. And then he had to face a crafty left-hander with the bases loaded.One soft liner made it all worth it.Montero hit a game-ending RBI single in the 13th inning, and the Chicago Cubs rallied for a wild 8-7 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night.Its a winning team, winning attitude, Montero said. Thats (what) its all about. We never quit. We know we can come back anytime. Weve done it all season long, and we did it again today.Dexter Fowler, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo set the stage for Monteros clutch swing with consecutive singles against Jeff Locke (9-8), plating the tying run. After Ben Zobrist was walked intentionally, Montero dumped a 1-2 pitch into left for a big pinch-hit single.The major league-leading Cubs (83-47) dropped two of three in Los Angeles over the weekend, and then their flight to Chicago was delayed. They arrived early Monday morning, and still had enough in reserve to outlast the scrappy Pirates.They had to be tired today, but nevertheless played `til post-midnight with energy, manager Joe Maddon said, and I love it.Rob Zastryzny (1-0) got his first major league win despite allowing Josh Harrisons sacrifice fly in the top half of the inning. Jorge Soler and Willson Contreras homered for the Cubs, and Javier Baez collected four hits.Pittsburgh had won eight straight road games. It fell 1 1/2 games back of St. Louis for the second NL wild card.Nothing to hang our heads about, Harrison said. We went out there and gave it everything we had. We got contributions from a lot of different people. We just came up short.Gregory Polanco and Josh Bell helped the Pirates build a 6-3 lead with opposite-field homers against Jake Arrieta, but Contreras belted a two-run shot to center against Neftali Feliz in the eighth and Soler connected for a tying solo shot in the ninth against closer Tony Watson.Baez was thrown out at the plate to end the 10th and 12th innings. Catcher Francisco Cervelli made a nice lunging tag to get Baez on Rizzos inning-ending double play in the 10th, and then corralled left fielder Starling Martes outstanding throw in time to get Baez in the 12th.Youve got to do everything perfectly and in our case it was done, twice, Locke said.Rizzo, one of the leading candidates for NL MVP, also struck out with runners on the corners for the final out of the eighth. But his single in the 13th drove in Fowler with the tying run.Bells one-out shot to left in the fourth was Pittsburghs first hit of the game. With two outs and runners on first and second in the sixth, Polanco drove Arrietas first pitch over the wall in left for a 4-3 Pittsburgh lead.Polanco also hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the sixth inning of the Pirates 3-1 win at Milwaukee on Sunday. He was batting just .138 (4 for 29) against Arrieta before his team-best 21st homer.Arrieta was charged with six runs -- matching a season high, also against Pittsburgh on July 8 -- and five hits in 6 1/3 innings. The ace right-hander went 4-0 with a 1.98 ERA in his first four August starts, recalling his dominant second-half run to the NL Cy Young Award a year ago.I didnt pitch as well as I would have liked, he said. Obviously the two homers were kind of the dagger for me.ON SEPTEMBERActive major league rosters can expand to as many as 40 players on Thursday, and Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said the team isnt ready to discuss in detail what it might do.Weve been working on it and continue to work on it next few days, both our internal decisions and anything that we might consider from outside the organization, too, he said.Asked about Tommy La Stella, who is playing for Triple-A Iowa after initially refusing to report to the minors, Epstein said he thinks the infielder will rejoin the Cubs this week.TRAINERS ROOMPirates: RHP Tyler Glasnow (shoulder) was activated from the 15-day DL and optioned to Indianapolis, where he will make at least one start before the Triple-A season ends next week.Cubs: RHP Pedro Strop (left meniscus tear) is throwing again, and RHP Hector Rondon (right triceps strain) also is making great progress, according to manager Joe Maddon. ... RHP John Lackey (right shoulder strain) threw a side session.UP NEXTCubs RHP Kyle Hendricks (12-7, 2.19 ERA) and Pirates RHP Chad Kuhl (3-1, 3.50 ERA) get the ball for the second game of the series on Tuesday night. Hendricks is 3-0 with a 1.53 ERA in five August starts. Kuhl allowed two runs and five hits in 6 1/3 innings in a no-decision in his previous start Thursday at Milwaukee. Pete Maravich Jersey . Burris threw two TD passes, including a key 15-yard fourth-quarter strike to Bakari Grant that effectively countered a Toronto comeback bid and led Hamilton to a 33-19 victory. Karl Malone Jazz Jersey . The Vancouver coach and an announced sellout crowd of 18,910 watched in dismay as the Canucks lost 7-4 to the New York Islanders on Monday night by squandering a 3-0 lead in the third period. http://www.jazzauthentic.com/kids-karl-malone-jazz-jersey/ . It might not have mattered. While the Dodgers are preparing for the playoffs, the Padres showed their future has promise behind two rookies. Custom Utah Jazz Jerseys . Instead of dwelling on the negative, Oates focused on what was good about the clubs recent play. It worked. Adrian Dantley Jazz Jersey . Rinne played two periods in his first game since left hip surgery in early May. Gabriel Bourque scored 3:07 into the second period and Austin Watson tallied 5:15 later for Nashville. BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Orioles have put the New York Yankees in a precarious situation.Kevin Gausman outpitched CC Sabathia for the second time in seven days, Adam Jones homered and the Orioles got their third straight shutout against New York, 2-0 on Saturday night.Baltimore will seek to complete a three-game sweep on Sunday. The Orioles won 8-0 on Friday night and also beat the Yankees 5-0 in Gausmans previous start.Time is running out for New York in its bid to snag an AL wild-card spot. If the Yankees dont start hitting right now, they can start thinking about 2017.You dont ever want to go through this during the course of the season, manager Joe Girardi said. So (Sundays) game is probably the most important game of the year.Gausman (7-10) allowed two hits and two walks over six innings to win his fourth straight start. He struck out eight and permitted only one runner past second base.The right-hander threw seven shutout innings in New York last Sunday and is 2-1 with an 0.80 ERA in five starts against the Yankees this season.Just trying to mix in all my pitches and keep them off balance, Gausman said. I think a lot of their guys are obviously looking for a fastball against me, so if I can throw my offspeed pitches for strikes and kind of put that thought in the back of their minds, I can have success.Zach Britton, the third Baltimore reliever, worked a perfect ninth for his 40th save in 40 opportunities.The victory moved the third-place Orioles within two games of the top spot in the AL East.Sabathia (8-12) gave up two runs, one earned, in six innings. All it got him was another loss against the Orioles, the third in a row since mid-July.I didnt have much, Sabathia acknowledged. Just trying to make pitches when I had to, and I was able to do that for the most part. But it was a struggle today.The Yankees came to town with a season-high four straight series wins, but they will leave with their ninth consecutive series loss in Baltimore.Its tough, especiially when CC goes out there and pitches his butt off, right fielder Aaron Judge said.dddddddddddd If we win tomorrow, we forget about today.Gausman struck out six of the first eight batters and experienced only one difficult inning, the fourth. New York loaded the bases with one out before Starlin Castro struck out and Brian McCann hit a fly ball to left.A double and an error by Judge provided Baltimore with an unearned run in the bottom half, and Jones hit his 25th home run in the fifth.The suddenly punchless New York offense had no answer. The Yankees totaled 27 runs against Baltimore over two games last weekend before Gausman stepped to the mound.FAREWELL TO TEXMaryland native Mark Teixeira will play his final game at Camden Yards on Sunday.Teixeira was cheered as a visiting player in Baltimore until he signed as a free agent with New York in 2009. From that point, the hometown kid heard only boos.When you play a long time, it really doesnt bother you at all, Teixeira said.Besides, its not like he spurned the Orioles in 2009. They didnt have any intention of signing me. They made an offer just to say they made an offer, he said.ROSTER MOVESOrioles: LHP Kyle Lobstein cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk.TRAINERS ROOMYankees: RHP Chad Green (2-4, 4.73) has a sprained elbow and is likely done for the season. Green will see a doctor in New York on Monday.Orioles: RHP Chris Tillman (right shoulder) will have a bullpen session Sunday after throwing three times from flat ground during the week. Tillman (15-5, 3.76) last pitched on Aug. 20.UP NEXTYankees: RHP Michael Pineda (6-11, 5.12) starts the series finale Sunday. Hes winless in his last four starts.Orioles: LHP Wade Miley (8-11, 5.43) returns to the mound coming off his longest start (seven innings, three earned runs) since joining Baltimore at the trade deadline. ' ' '
