LOS ANGELES — Yasiel Puig capped his sensational first month in the major leagues with his first four-hit game, Stephen Fife scattered four hits over seven scoreless innings, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-1 Sunday. LOS
LOS ANGELES — Yasiel Puig capped his sensational first month in the major leagues with his first four-hit game, Stephen Fife scattered four hits over seven scoreless innings, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-1 Sunday.
Puig finished June with 44 hits, surpassing the 42 by Pittsburgh’s Bob Elliott in September 1939 for the second-most in a player’s first full calendar month in the major leagues. Joe DiMaggio had 48 in May 1936.
Puig also eclipsed the Los Angeles Dodgers’ record for most hits in a month by a rookie, set by Steve Sax in August 1982. The Cuban-born right fielder got his first major league triple in the fifth inning and scored on Adrian Gonzalez’s double for a 4-0 lead.
A.J. Ellis had three hits, including an RBI double, and threw out two baserunners to help the Dodgers to their eighth victory in nine games.
Fife (3-2) had five strikeouts in his second straight win.
Kyle Kendrick (7-5) gave up four runs and 10 hits in six innings for the Phillies.
PIRATES 2, BREWERS 1 (14)
PITTSBURGH — Pinch-hitter Russell Martin singled home the winning run in the 14th inning, lifting Pittsburgh to its ninth straight victory.
The Pirates extended their longest winning streak since 2004, when they took 10 in a row. Pittsburgh reached the midpoint of its season with the best record in the majors at 51-30.
Gaby Sanchez led off the 14th with an infield single. With one out, he stole second for his first steal in more than a year. After a walk, Martin hit a soft liner to center off Francisco Rodriguez (1-1).
Sanchez chugged around third and slid home ahead of the throw by Carlos Gomez.
Tony Watson (2-1) struck out four in three hitless innings as six Pirates relievers held Milwaukee scoreless over the final 11 innings.
GIANTS 5, ROCKIES 2
DENVER — Madison Bumgarner scattered four hits over seven innings, and Hunter Pence hit a two-run homer to help San Francisco end its longest losing streak in three years.
The Giants had lost six straight, their longest skid since dropping seven in a row from June 26-July 1, 2010.
Bumgarner (8-5) struck out five and walked three, improving to 4-1 with a 2.18 ERA in his last five starts. Sergio Romo pitched a one-hit ninth for his 19th save in 21 chances.
Buster Posey put the Giants ahead with a solo homer in the third.
BRAVES 6, D’BACKS 2
ATLANTA — Freddie Freeman, Dan Uggla and Brian McCann homered, powering Atlanta past Arizona for a three-game sweep in the matchup of division leaders.
Paul Maholm (9-6) gave up two runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings for the Braves, who improved to a big league-best 28-11 at home.
Trevor Cahill (3-10) allowed six runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings as the NL West-leading Diamondbacks lost for the fifth time in six games. Cahill is 0-6 with a 7.91 ERA in eight starts since a May 17 win at Miami.
Arizona has gone 22 straight games without a win from its rotation, the longest streak in the majors since San Diego went 25 in row from April 17-May 14, 2009, according to STATS.
NATIONALS 13, METS 2
NEW YORK — Gio Gonzalez pitched seven shutout innings, Ian Desmond homered off a backup catcher, and Washington roughed up rookie Zack Wheeler and the Mets.
Adam LaRoche homered, and Desmond and Denard Span had RBI doubles in a four-run second to spoil Wheeler’s home debut, which became such a laugher that catcher Anthony Recker pitched the ninth inning.
Jayson Werth also homered against the Mets’ touted rookie as Washington finally gave Gonzalez (5-3) some run support — and then some.
MARLINS 6, PADRES 2
MIAMI — Jeff Mathis hit a grand slam with one out in the ninth inning, lifting Miami past San Diego.
The Padres deployed a five-infielder, two-outfielder defense for Mathis, and he hit a 1-0 pitch past everyone and into the Padres bullpen.
Logan Morrison walked against Tyson Ross (0-4) to start the ninth, took second on a single by Marcell Ozuna, then advanced to third on a flyout. Pinch-hitter Greg Dobbs was intentionally walked to load the bases, and Mathis followed with his second home run.
Steve Cishek (2-4) pitched a hitless ninth for the win.
Orioles 4, Yankees 2
BALTIMORE — Chris Davis set a franchise record by hitting his 31st home run before the All-Star break, and the Baltimore Orioles beat the skidding New York Yankees for a three-game sweep.
Manny Machado and Nate McLouth also homered for the Orioles, who increased their major-league leading total to 115. Davis’ second-inning drive against Hiroki Kuroda (7-6) broke Brady Anderson’s franchise record for home runs before the All-Star Game. Anderson had 30 in 1996 en route to finishing with a team-record 50.
Robinson Cano homered for the Yankees, who have lost five straight — matching their longest skid of the year — and 13 of 18.
Chris Tillman (10-2) gave up two runs on five hits over six innings to win his sixth straight start and reach a career high for wins in a season.
Jim Johnson worked the ninth to earn his 28th save.
INDIANS 4, WHITE SOX 0
CHICAGO — Justin Masterson pitched his major league-leading third shutout of the season, and Cleveland completed its first four-game sweep in Chicago since 1948.
Masterson (10-6) gave up six hits, struck out eight and walked one. He blanked the White Sox for the second time this year.
The Indians turned four double plays. The win moved Cleveland into a virtual tie with Detroit atop the AL Central.
The White Sox have lost 23 of 31 and fallen a season-high 15 games under .500.
Chris Sale (5-7) struck out 10 while allowing three runs in eight innings.
RAYS 3, TIGERS 1
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Jeremy Hellickson earned his fifth June win, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat Detroit in a game that included an early warning by the umpires.
Hellickson (7-3) allowed one run over six-plus innings. He tied the team record for victories in one month held by Matt Moore, David Price and Scott Kazmir.
Fernando Rodney pitched the ninth for his 17th save.
Miguel Cabrera hit his 25th homer this season for the Tigers, sending a shot into a fish tank beyond the wall.
Both benches were warned by plate umpire Vic Carapazza after Rick Porcello (4-6) hit Ben Zobrist with a pitch in the first. Both dugouts stayed calm, and nothing further developed.
A day earlier, Cabrera yelled at the Tampa Bay dugout after he struck out in the 10th inning. Rodney had thrown a high-and-tight fastball before fanning the Tigers star.
ROYALS 9, TWINS 8
MINNEAPOLIS — David Lough hit three doubles, then launched a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning that led the Kansas City Royals over Minnesota.
Lough hit his second homer of the season, sending a solo drive off Jared Burton (1-5) into the right-field seats for an 8-7 lead.
Eric Hosmer added a solo homer in the ninth for the Royals. Johnny Giavotella had three hits.
Aaron Crow (5-3) pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Greg Holland got his 17th save in 19 chances despite giving up a home run to Trevor Plouffe in the ninth.
RED SOX 5, BLUE JAYS 4
BOSTON — Shane Victorino’s hard grounder eluded first baseman Josh Thole for an error as pinch-runner Jonathan Diaz raced home with the winning run in the ninth inning, and the Boston Red Sox beat Toronto.
Jose Bautista tied it in the ninth against Koji Uehara (1-0) with a solo homer, his 19th of the season and third in two games.
Brandon Snyder singled with one out in the bottom half against Juan Perez (1-1), Jacoby Ellsbury walked, and Casey Janssen relieved. Diaz ran for Snyder and Thole, who had entered in the third when Adam Lind left with back tightness, couldn’t handle Victorino’s shot.
Boston won for the fifth time in six games and improved to an AL-best 50-34. Toronto has lost five of seven. Jose Reyes homered for the Blue Jays.
ANGELS 3, ASTROS 1
HOUSTON — Josh Hamilton doubled home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and scored on shortstop Jake Elmore’s overthrow, helping the Los Angeles Angels beat Houston and extend their winning streak to six.
C.J. Wilson (8-5) won his fourth straight start, and Mark Trumbo hit his 18th homer for the Angels, who swept three-game series at Detroit and Houston for their first undefeated road trip of at least six games since 2002.
Wilson allowed an unearned run and three hits and struck out 10 in seven innings. Ernesto Frieri got his 21st save.
Jose Cisnero (2-1) took the loss.
RANGERS 3, REDS 2
ARLINGTON, Texas — Yu Darvish struck out eight in 6 2/3 scoreless innings for his first victory in eight starts and the Texas Rangers scored twice on a squeeze bunt to beat Cincinnati.
Darvish (8-3) won for the first time since May 16, ending his longest professional winless drought — in his two years with the Rangers or seven in Japan before that. The right-hander was 0-2 with a 2.93 ERA in those seven games, when Texas scored only 12 runs while he was on the mound.
ATHLETICS 7, CARDINALS 5
OAKLAND, Calif. — Jed Lowrie and Josh Donaldson homered, and Tommy Milone overcame a rocky start to win for the first time in nearly four weeks as the Oakland Athletics held off St. Louis.
Donaldson reached base four times for the A’s, who padded their AL-best home record by taking two of three in this interleague series. Oakland has won 16 of its last 19 games at the Coliseum.
CUBS 7, MARINERS 6
SEATTLE — Alfonso Soriano and Darwin Barney each doubled twice, and the Chicago Cubs built a six-run lead before topping Seattle.
Anthony Rizzo drove in two runs and the Cubs tied a season high by hitting six doubles.
