Morning Marquee: Castro lifts Cubs to victory

Keeping pace with the white-hot St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League Central, the Chicago Cubs picked up a walk-off win at home Saturday night, thanks to an RBI single by Starlin Castro.

Kris Bryant scored a career-high three runs, backing a strong start from righty Kyle Hendricks, who was pulled after five – thanks to a nearly-three-hour rain delay.

Seven Tennessee Smokies players were named to the Southern League All-Star Team, including top Chicago Cubs prospects such as Kyle Schwarber.

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• Cubs starting pitching has been thriving on the North Side
• Make no mistake: the Cubs are very much about power hitters
• Cubs are giving pitcher Javier Assad a deserved shot
• Cubs: It’s time to start thinking about potential September call-ups

Speaking of standout young talent, the Cleveland Indians promoted top prospect Francisco Lindor, who will make his big league debut on Sunday.

Lindor, who is a consensus Top 10 prospect, is batting .279/.346/.398 with the Indians’ Triple-A club this season. He’s known more for his prowess with the glove and for his speed than his bat, but he still has a very high upside.

Meanwhile, the Minnesota Twins called up Byron Buxton, who will also make his Major League debut on Sunday – meaning all of MLB.com’s Top 5 preseason prospects are now with their prospective big league clubs.

Here are the latest stories from around the world of Major League Baseball:

“Castro lifts Cubs to walk-off victory” – Cubbies Crib

“Twins promote Byron Buxton to bigs” – Puckett’s Pond

“Tribe beats Tigers in return of Verlander” – Wahoo’s on First

“Seven Smokies named to the All-Star team” – Cubbies Crib

“Reynolds’ homer lifts Cards to win” – Redbird Rants

Next: VIDEO: Castro wins it in the ninth