LOS ANGELES (AP) — Matt Adams could see something special going on with the St. Louis Cardinals from the opposing side of the field with the Washington Nationals.He recognized the solid pitching and timely hitting that have made the Cardinals baseball’s hottest team in the dog days of August. So Adams couldn’t believe his luck when he found out St. Louis had claimed him off waivers earlier this week.The move brings Adams back to the organization that drafted him in 2009. More importantly http://www.denverbroncosteamonline.com/bradley-chubb-jersey , he’s on a team that has gone from wild-card hopeful to threatening the NL Central-leading Cubs.“They’re playing with a fire and taking every pitch like it’s the last pitch they’ll ever play,” Adams said. “How they go about their daily business is something special to watch.”St. Louis has undergone quite a transformation since firing manager Mike Matheny on July 14.At that time, the Cardinals were 47-46 and trailed the Cubs by 7 ½ games. After sweeping the Dodgers on Wednesday to win their eighth consecutive series, the Cardinals have won 24 of 35 and are 17-4 this month to pull within 2 ½ games of Chicago.They’re tied for the NL’s top wild-card spot, too.Riding an eight-game road winning streak, St. Louis visits Colorado on Friday. The Cardinals are 37-29 away from home this season.“Everyone’s kind of getting amped up,” second baseman Kolten Wong said.The turnaround is happening under bench coach Mike Shildt, who replaced Matheny when he was fired after seven years in a dramatic move by a club that hasn’t changed managers often. Matheny was just the second since 1996.Shildt began as a scout with the Cardinals organization and eventually combined those duties with being a part-time minor league coach. Elevating the 50-year-old veteran to interim status has gone over well in the clubhouse.“Shildt’s been really good at letting us play our own game and letting us play the way we want to play. That’s the biggest thing,” Wong said. “We have so many different personalities and different guys in this clubhouse. You just have to allow people to be themselves and eventually people are going to mesh together.”Adams is eager to contribute, although there is no defined role for him. He could see time at first base against right-handed pitching or in left field with Marcell Ozuna on the disabled list or in right field.The Cardinals could use his left-handed bat off the bench. He hit 56 homers in his six previous seasons with the team.“I just kind of want to stay out of everybody’s way and do my part and mesh with them Womens Bradley Chubb Jersey ,” Adams said. “I don’t want to be that guy who comes in here and tries to do too much and messes up something special.”The Cardinals outscored Los Angeles 13-6 over three games in their first sweep at Dodger Stadium since 2006, putting the five-time defending NL West champions into a tailspin.St. Louis is succeeding with a mix of youngsters and veterans that have embraced each other.Rookies Jack Flaherty, Dakota Hudson and Jordan Hicks combined to hold the Dodgers to two hits Wednesday, when rookie Tyler O’Neill tied the game with a homer and Paul DeJong won it with a two-run shot.Yadier Molina has found his stride, too, hitting a go-ahead two-run homer Tuesday. Wong made what Shildt called a “Gold Glove-caliber” defensive play the same night. The defense is holding the opposition to an average of 3.44 runs, best in the NL since the All-Star break.“These guys have ability and they have aggression. They believe in themselves and they’re in attack mode,” Shildt said. “It’s about not giving in, regardless of the situation.”In just over a month, the Cardinals have gone from a team in line to miss the playoffs for a third straight year — something they haven’t done since 1997-99 — to contending for a division title.Adams has fond memories of his previous playoff runs with the Cardinals.“I want to get back there this year Authentic Phillip Lindsay Jersey ,” he said. BOSTON (AP) — The Red Sox fan who brought a broom to Fenway Park to cheer Boston on to a sweep of the rival Yankees will have to wait one more day.Still, he was lucky to have it on Saturday, using it to retrieve J.D. Martinez’s home run ball from the light stanchion above the Green Monster.“It’s been a lot of fun pitching with these guys behind me,” said Nathan Eovaldi, who pitched eight scoreless innings to help the Red Sox beat New York for the third game in a row and expand their lead in the AL East to season-high 8½ games with a 4-1 victory.“We’ve been able to score runs early in the ballgame, which makes it a little easier pitching,” said Eovaldi, who has pitched 15 shutout innings for Boston since he was acquired from Tampa Bay last month. “And the defense is amazing.”Mitch Moreland started in place of hot-hitting Steve Pearce and hit a homer of his own, and Martinez hit his major league-leading 33rd of the year for the Red Sox, who go for a four-game sweep on Sunday night with David Price scheduled to face Masahiro Tanaka.“This is a huge series for us Authentic Todd Gurley Jersey ,” said Eovaldi (5-4), who pitched eight innings of three-hit ball, striking out four and walking one.“We’re going to be playing these guys a couple more times down the road. For us to take the first three games in the series is big,” he said. “Price is building off his last start, so hopefully we’re going to be able to take advantage.”One night after Rick Porcello threw an 86-pitch, one-hit complete game, Eovaldi started with three no-hit innings and left after eight with a 4-0 lead. Closer Craig Kimbrel held on through a shaky ninth inning to send the Yankees to their season-high fourth straight loss.“There’s no question that they’ve established themselves right now as the best team in this league,” New York manager Aaron Boone said. “That said, if you walk through our room right now, to a man Todd Gurley Jersey Elite , we know we can absolutely play with them. We know that when we’re at our best we can beat them. We acknowledge who they are right now. There’s no denying the season that they’re having.”Down to their last strike against Kimbrel, the Yankees made it 4-1 on back-to-back doubles by Giancarlo Stanton and Didi Gregorius. A pair of walks loaded the bases before Greg Bird hit a routine fly for the final out.The Yankees are missing Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez, and they had to shuffle their rotation when J.A. Happ contracted hand, foot and mouth disease just as Sonny Gray was sent to the bullpen because of ineffectiveness.Chance Adams was called up from Triple-A for his big league debut and took the loss despite allowing just three hits — two of them homers — for three runs. He walked one and struck out two in five innings.“I was just trying to control the nerves and stuff,” he said.POWER OUTAGEBoston won the opener 15-7, a game that had 27 hits and seven homers. Porcello, Eovaldi, and Kimbrel held New York to six hits and two runs in the next 18 innings.Pearce had all four of Boston’s homers in the first two games — three of them on Thursday night — but manager Alex Cora had Moreland back in the lineup at first base and he responded.“Of course, Steve has been swinging the bat well,” Cora said. “Four home runs in two days Authentic Cooper Kupp Jersey , that’s amazing. But Mitch, he’s a good player.”ROSTER MOVESThe Yankees acquired INF Giovanny Urshela from Toronto for cash. The 26-year-old was traded from Cleveland to the Blue Jays in May. He was assigned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The Yankes also got pitcher George Kontos from Cleveland for cash, and assigned him to Triple-A. He was 2-3 with one save and a 4.68 ERA for Pittsburgh and the Indians this season. The 33-year-old made his major league debut with the Yankees in 2011.BRUSHBACKSA day after some inside pitching led to warnings and Cora’s ejection — the first of his managerial career — Eovaldi put his first pitch to Stanton in the first behind the batter’s head. There was no further hubbub.TRAINER’S ROOMYankees: Judge is expecting to start swinging a bat “soon,” with a goal of returning to the lineup in three weeks.Red Sox: Put newly acquired 2B Ian Kinsler on the 10-day disabled list with a left hamstring strain. INF Tony Renada was called up from Triple-A to replace him, and 2B Dustin Pedroia was moved to the 60-day DL to create a spot on the 40-man roster. … SS Xander Bogaerts returned to the starting lineup for the first time since he was hit on the hand with a pitch on Tuesday.UP NEXTYankees: Tanaka (9-2) will try to keep the Yankees from being swept for the second time all season.Red Sox: Price (11-6) allowed one run in eight innings against Philadelphia in his last start.