Garza's strong outing helps Cubs down A's
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Trade rumors don't seem be bothering Cubs starter Matt Garza, as the righty spun eight strong innings of one-run ball to lead Chicago past the Oakland Athletics, 3-1, on Wednesday.
It was the fourth consecutive excellent outing from Garza (4-1), who may be the top available arm come the trade deadline. He allowed just four hits and three walks while striking out five.
"Its as good as I've seen him I think in two years really," said Cubs manager Dale Sveum.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Garza has been charged with only three runs over his last 30 innings of work. Kevin Gregg finished off his outing with a scoreless ninth for his 14th save.
Luis Valbuena hit a solo homer, Alfonso Soriano knocked in a run and Brian Bogusevic contributed an RBI double among his two hits to help Chicago bounce back from a tough 8-7 loss in this series opener.
Bartolo Colon (11-3) was an unlucky loser as he saw his eight-game winning streak come to an end. He yielded just two runs, but served up nine hits over seven full frames.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Brandon Moss provided the only offense with a solo homer for Oakland, which had won five its last six games coming in.
A two-out wild pitch in the first came back to bite Colon, with Soriano plating Starlin Castro from second with an RBI single to center to open up a 1-0 lead for Chicago.
Valbuena doubled the Cubs' edge in the third with a solo blast in the third.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Garza hung a breaking ball on Moss's two-out homer in the fourth, but scattered just a pair of singles and two walks over the remainder of his start to keep the advantage.
"We just had a tough time figuring out Garza," said Oakland manger Bob Melvin.
Back-to-back doubles from Dioner Navarro and Bogusevic in the eighth off reliever Sean Doolittle provided the Cubs with an insurance run and a 3-1 lead.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
John Jaso worked a two-out walk in the ninth and then swiped second, but Gregg stranded him by striking out Josh Reddick to end the game.
Game Notes
Valbuena, Castro and Navarro each scored a run and had two hits for the Cubs, who totaled 12 hits for the game ... Oakland was 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position ... Prior to the contest, the Cubs added recent acquisition pitchers Matt Guerrier and Pedro Strop to the 25-man roster, designated pitcher Shawn Camp for assignment and optioned Tuesday's spot starter Chris Rusin to Triple-A Iowa.