Lester wins 5th straight, Cubs beat Dodgers 4-0
CHICAGO — Jon Lester won his fifth straight start, Javier Baez backed him with three hits and two runs, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-0 on Wednesday.
CHICAGO — Jon Lester won his fifth straight start, Javier Baez backed him with three hits and two runs, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-0 on Wednesday.
Lester (9-2) gave up five hits over seven innings. Baez had two doubles, a triple and a steal. He also made some solid plays at shortstop and second base.
Kyle Schwarber hit his 14th homer, and Kris Bryant added two hits and an RBI. And the Cubs handed Ross Stripling his first loss since April 30, taking two of three in a rematch of the past two NL Championship Series.
Lester walked three and struck out one batter. Anthony Bass worked the final two innings to finish the six-hitter.
Stripling (6-2) had won six straight starts. The right-hander went six innings, allowing three runs and eight hits while striking out seven without a walk.
YANKEES 7, MARINERS 5
NEW YORK — Giancarlo Stanton lined a two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, and New York erased a five-run deficit to beat Seattle.
Gary Sanchez tied the score with a two-run homer against Alex Colome in the eighth, and the Yankees went on to complete their largest comeback victory of the season.
Didi Gregorius singled with two outs in the ninth and Stanton hammered an 0-2 breaking ball from reliever Ryan Cook (1-1). The drive traveled a projected 453 feet to left-center for Stanton’s first walk-off homer with the Yankees — his previous one came in April 2014 for the Marlins (also vs. Seattle).
New York is a season-high 27 games above .500 with the majors’ best record at 49-22.
Aroldis Chapman (3-0) pitched a perfect inning for the win.
The Mariners have lost three straight for the first time since April 17-19 against the World Series champion Astros.
ASTROS 5, RAYS 1
HOUSTON — Jose Altuve homered twice, including the last of three straight by the Astros in the sixth inning, to lift Houston over Tampa Bay.
The game was tied in the bottom of the sixth when George Springer’s 15th homer made it 2-1. Two pitches later Alex Bregman sent an 87 mph slider from Rays starter Nathan Eovaldi (1-3) into the seats in left field for his 11th home run.
But the Astros weren’t done yet, as Altuve put one on the train tracks atop left field for the second time on Wednesday night to push the lead to 4-1. It was the first time the Astros hit three home runs in a row since May 2, 2008, when Miguel Tejada, Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee did it against Milwaukee.
It was a welcome display of power for a team that managed just five singles in a 2-1 loss to the Rays on Tuesday night that snapped Houston’s 12-game winning streak. The win made the Astros the first team to reach 50 victories this season.
Houston starter Charlie Morton (9-1) allowed just two hits and one unearned run in six innings.
TWINS 4, RED SOX 1
MINNEAPOLIS — Robbie Grossman and Max Kepler homered to back an effective start by Lance Lynn as Minnesota beat Boston.
Grossman led off the bottom of the first with a home run and Kepler added a two-run shot off David Price (8-5). Brian Dozier added a pair of doubles to help the Twins win for the fourth time in five games.
Lynn (5-5) again struggled with command, issuing five walks, but he gave up just one unearned run and three hits in five innings.
Four relievers combined for four scoreless innings, with Fernando Rodney securing his 16th save in 19 chances.
PHILLIES 4, CARDINALS 3
PHILADELPHIA — Odubel Herrera hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the seventh inning, Cesar Hernandez had a two-run shot and Philadelphia beat St. Louis.
Herrera ripped a 91 mph slider from Sam Tuivailala (1-3) off the scoreboard on the facing of the second deck in right field to give the Phillies a 4-3 lead. Herrera has a homer in four straight games.
Yadier Molina hit a pair of homers for the Cardinals off Phillies starter Jake Arrieta.
Edubray Ramos (2-0) got five outs and Adam Morgan retired the last two batters with the tying run on second for his first career save. The Phillies took two of three to win a series against the Cardinals for the first time since August 2014.
Cardinals starter Michael Wacha left in the fourth with a left oblique strain.
INDIANS 12, WHITE SOX 0
CLEVELAND — Corey Kluber became the first pitcher with 11 wins this season and Jose Ramirez and Jason Kipnis hit three-run homers in Cleveland’s victory over Chicago.
Reigning AL Cy Young winner Kluber (11-3) allowed only a second-inning single past third base by Omar Narvaez and a third-inning walk to Charlie Tilson in seven dominant innings. The right-hander struck out seven and retired the last 14 batters before giving way to George Kontos to begin the eighth. Josh Tomlin surrendered a double to Jose Abreu in the ninth before completing the combined two-hitter.
Kluber now has one more victory than Washington’s Max Scherzer and the Yankees’ Luis Severino.
Ramirez put the Indians ahead 3-0 in the first with his team-high 22nd home run off starter Reynaldo Lopez (2-5). He also extended his on-base streak to a career-high 28 games, scored three times and stole a base.
Kipnis’ three-run shot and Edwin Encarnacion’s two-run double were part of a six-run sixth against Bruce Rondon that pushed the lead to 11-0.
ATHLETICS 12, PADRES 4
SAN DIEGO — Light-hitting Franklin Barreto connected for a 424-foot, three-run home run, one of five long balls Oakland hit in routing San Diego.
Josh Phegley, Mark Canha, Matt Olson and Jed Lowrie also went deep for Oakland.
The A’s hit seven homers in sweeping the two-game series. Stephen Piscotty tied Tuesday night’s game with a homer with two outs in the ninth off Brad Hand and Lowie hit a two-run shot with two outs in the 10th for a 4-2 victory.
Barreto and Phegley went back-to-back with their first homers of the season in the second inning off left-hander Joey Lucchesi (3-3), who had been on the disabled list for more than a month.
Frankie Montas (4-1) benefited from the long balls as he threw 6 2-3 strong innings. He held the Padres to one run and five hits, struck out six and walked three.
San Diego’s Christian Villanueva homered in the ninth, his 16th.
REDS 5, TIGERS 3
CINCINNATI — Scooter Gennett hit a tying two-run homer, and Eugenio Suarez also connected on the next pitch — a hit originally ruled a double but changed to a homer on review — and Cincinnati swept the two-game sweep against Detroit.
Tyler Mahle (6-6) overcame a pair of solo homers to remain unbeaten in four June starts. The rookie has allowed four earned runs while going 3-0 in the month. He struck out eight in six innings.
Raisel Iglesias gave up a hit in the ninth while earning his 11th save in 13 chances.
The Reds managed only a pair of singles through the first five innings before getting to Michael Fulmer (3-6). Gennett connected with two outs for his 13th homer, tying it 2-2. Suarez hit Fulmer’s next pitch to left field, with the ball landing on the top of the wall and bouncing back into play.
The Reds sounded their home run siren and shot off fireworks, but the umpires ruled the ball was in play and stopped Suarez at second base. After a review of 1 minute, 12 seconds, the hit was ruled a homer — replays indicated the ball skipped off the top of the wall and deflected off a railing behind it.
Adam Duvall added a homer in the eighth.
BLUE JAYS 5, BRAVES 4
TORONTO — J.A. Happ pitched a season-high 8 1/3 innings to win his fifth straight decision, Kendrys Morales hit a two-run home run and Toronto beat Atlanta for its seventh win in eight home games.
Happ (9-3) allowed four runs and six hits, walked none and struck out eight. He’s 4-0 with a 2.72 ERA in nine career starts against the Braves.
Happ retired 18 of 19 before Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis hit back-to-back singles with one out in the ninth.
Ryan Tepera came on and gave up an RBI single to Kurt Suzuki, struck out Charlie Culberson, then allowed an RBI single to Ender Inciarte, putting the tying run at second. Tepera finished it by getting Johan Camargo to fly out, earning his fifth save in eight opportunities
Morales, who turned 35 Wednesday, went 2 for 3 and scored twice. He homered in the first, walked and scored in the fourth, singled in the fifth, and flied out in the eighth.
Anibal Sanchez (3-1) was the loser.
GIANTS 6, MARLINS 5
SAN FRANCISCO — Brandon Belt had three hits, Gorkys Hernandez added a two-run single during a five-run sixth inning and San Francisco beat Miami.
Derek Holland (5-7) had seven strikeouts and allowed three runs over six innings in his first start against the Marlins since 2011. Hunter Pence had a pair of RBI singles to snap a 1-for-18 slump.
Unlike the first two games of this series that were marked by flaring tempers and alleged beanballs, the finale was tame. What fireworks there were came primarily in the sixth when San Francisco chased Miami starter Jose Urena (2-9).
The Marlins scored twice in the ninth off Sam Dyson. Reyes Moronta struck out JB Shuck for his first career save. Castro drove in a pair of runs and Brian Anderson had three hits for Miami, extending his on-base streak to a career-high 18 games.
RANGERS 3, ROYALS 2
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Austin Bibens-Dirkx pitched effectively into the seventh inning, Rougned Odor homered and Texas extended its winning streak to a season-high five games with a victory over struggling Kansas City.
Bibens-Dirkx (1-1) allowed one run and five hits in 6 2/3 innings for his first victory since last Sept. 6 in a relief appearance at Atlanta — and sent the Royals to their ninth straight loss. Jake Diekman worked the ninth for his second save, but not before yielding a leadoff homer to Mike Moustakas.
Kansas City’s slump is its longest this season, and the Royals have dropped 15 of 16 overall and been outscored 102-38 while losing 16 of 18 in June. Their worst June in franchise history was 7-19 in 1970, the team’s second year in existence.
Jakob Junis (5-8) has lost his last five starts. He allowed three runs and five hits with four walks and a hit batter.
ROCKIES 10, METS 8
DENVER — Nolan Arenado and Charlie Blackmon homered, pinch-hitter Ryan McMahon put Colorado ahead with a three-run shot and the Rockies rallied past the New York Mets on Wednesday night.
Colorado trailed 8-6 when McMahon connected off reliever Robert Gsellman (5-2) in the fifth inning. Blackmon made it 10-8 with his 14th home run leading off the sixth.
Bryan Shaw (3-5) got one out to earn the win. Wade Davis pitched the ninth for his 21st save this season — and the 100th of his career.
ORIOLES 3, NATIONALS 0
WASHINGTON — Mark Trumbo homered, Andrew Cashner and four relievers combined on a five-hitter and the Baltimore Orioles shook off a long rain delay to beat the Washington Nationals Wednesday night.
The Orioles led 2-0 after four innings when play was stopped. After a wait of 2 hours, 43 minutes, the game resumed with a few hundred fans from the announced crowd of 32,153 sprinkled around the lower seating bowl.
Baltimore got the final out well after midnight to end a six-game losing streak to Washington that began last May.
Miguel Castro (2-2) threw two hitless innings for the win.
Trumbo hit a two-run homer in the second inning off Gio Gonzalez (6-4).
