Braves 10, Cubs 7
Braves 10, Cubs 7: Chris Johnson capped a big weekend with a three-run homer among his three hits as visiting Atlanta claimed the rubber match of the three-game series.
Tommy La Stella also had three hits and three RBIs while Gerald Laird drove in a pair of runs to keep the Braves tied with Washington atop the National League East at the All-Star break. Justin Upton and Jason Heyward each had two hits and scored twice to back Julio Teheran (9-6), who gave up four runs on seven hits while striking out six in seven innings.
Johnson, who clubbed a pair of two-run homers in Saturday's 11-6 victory, provided the big blow in a four-run third inning against Travis Wood (7-8) to give the Braves a 7-0 lead. Rookie Arismendy Alcántara and Chris Coghlan swatted two-run homers for Chicago, which heads into the break having lost eight of 10 after Wood was tagged for seven runs on seven hits over six innings.
Laird delivered a two-run double and Teheran plated a run with an infield chopper for a 3-0 lead in the second before Heyward singled home a run and Johnson followed with a mammoth homer to straightaway center - his third in two days. Alcántara continued the hot start to his major-league career with his first homer, a two-run blast in the sixth.
The Braves answered in their next at-bat against reliever Zac Rosscup with La Stella's bases-loaded double that brought in three runs for a seemingly commanding 10-2 edge. Coghlan smacked a two-run shot in the seventh before the Cubs scored three times against Atlanta's bullpen in the eighth on a bases-loaded walk and John Baker's two-run double, forcing Craig Kimbrel to get the final three outs for his 29th save.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Johnson is 32-for-90 (.356) with seven homers and 19 RBIs in 24 games at Wrigley Field. ... Alcántara, promoted from the minors earlier in the week, is 9-for-19 during a four-game hitting streak. ... Heyward's third-inning RBI single ran his hitting streak to seven games while La Stella improved to 5-for-6 with the bases loaded this season.