Ben Joyce quiets Red Sox to notch fourth save

Gonzales’s double to right would have been a three-run homer in 23 ballparks and likely a two-run double in six of the remaining seven. In Wrigley, though, the ball got stuck in the ivy, preventing Rafael Flores Jr. from scoring the go-ahead run. Fortunately, Brandon Lowe followed with a two-run single off the bench, giving the Pirates a 4-2 lead. It was Gonzales’s 26th double of the year. He’s still in the running for a batting title. At .304, he trails only Luis Arraez (.313) and Otto Lopez (.309) in the NL.

Chandler allowed five hits, including a two-run homer, and walked four, but thanks to a couple of double plays, he was able to keep it together and improve to 5-1 since the beginning of August. He’s now 8-9 with a 4.28 ERA overall, and he’s a decent fantasy option in a home start against the Royals next weekend.

Montgomery got a flyout and two groundouts in a rare strikeout-less inning. He’s up to six saves in September and 13 overall.

Boyd gave up seven hits, walked two and struck out three in his fourth straight loss. He was 8-1 with a 3.50 ERA on this day a month ago. The Cubs have lost all six of his starts since, with Boyd giving up 22 earned runs over 35 innings. He’ll face the Reds next time out.

Palencia is potentially getting closer to returning to the mix for saves. He’s allowed only an unearned run over four innings in his last four appearances. Today’s appearance saw him strike out one and get a pair of soft groundouts.

Amaya isn’t playing as much as he’d probably prefer, but he’s hit a solid .240/.348/.380 in 236 plate appearances. Carson Kelly is at .260/.338/.387 in 396 plate appearances as the Cubs’ primary catcher, so that’s pretty much a match. The Cubs have a little bit better of an ERA with Amaya catching, but it doesn’t seem like they’re about to go away from the current arrangement.

He struck out six, matching his second highest total of the year. McGreevy has won three straight decisions, though his ERA has climbed some; he was 4-9 with a 3.57 ERA at the end of July but is 7-9 with a 3.83 ERA now. He’ll likely face the Nationals on Saturday.

Soriano gave up a single and two walks before getting Colson Montgomery to fly out to end the game. Soriano’s last five appearances have seen him earn two saves in place of Riley O’Brien but also take two losses. O’Brien, who was down today after pitching both Friday and Saturday, should be available to close on Monday.

Sandlin was perfect for 5 1/3 innings before giving up back-to-back singles. He rebounded to strike out Bryan Torres and then got a potential inning-ending grounder that was booted by Colson Montgomery. Chris Murphy replaced him and gave up a three-run double to Alec Burleson, turning Sandlin’s best outing as a major leaguer into his second loss. Sandlin struck out five and walked none. It sounded like the plan was for him to return to the minors after this, but he certainly made a case to stick around and get another start versus the Tigers next weekend.

The Cardinals had just four hits on the day, but three of them came in one inning that was extended by a Colson Montgomery error before Burleson broke the game open. The knock put Burleson back into the major league lead with 109 RBI. Sal Stewart was on top with 107.