Cubs make it four in a row
Daniel Murphy and Kyle Schwarber each hit a two-run homer, Javier Baez added a solo shot and the Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 10-6 on Saturday for their fourth straight win.
Murphy homered for a second straight day and is batting .407 (48 for 118) with nine homers in 31 career regular-season games at Wrigley Field – all but three of them before he joined the Cubs in a trade this week.
Baez was 2 for 4 with a walk and three RBIs. The homer was his 28th and he leads the NL with 97 RBIs.
NL-Central leading Chicago has gone deep in 10 consecutive games, amassing a total of 17 homers during that stretch.
Curt Casali homered and had four RBIs, and Preston Tucker added a pinch-hit homer for Cincinnati, which has dropped four straight.
Jose Quintana (11-9) allowed two runs on six hits in five-plus innings – walking three and striking out two – to get his first win since Aug. 3.
Reds starter Luis Castillo (7-11) allowed five runs on five hits in 3 1/3 innings.
Ian Happ drove in the Cubs’ first run with a two-out single in the second, and Murphy followed with a two-run shot for a 3-0 lead.
After Cincinnati got a pair of runs in the top of the fourth, Schwarber’s two-run shot in the bottom of the fourth restored the three-run advantage. Baez hit a solo blast in the fifth, and Anthony Rizzo’s run-scoring single in the sixth made it 7-2.
Chicago added three unearned runs in the seventh. The Reds scored four runs in the eighth against reliever Brandon Kintzler, who like Murphy was acquired in a midseason trade with the Washington Nationals. Casali hit a three-run homer and Tucker followed with a solo blast.
Posey out for year: San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey will undergo hip surgery Monday in Colorado, ending what has been a painful and frustrating year for the six-time All-Star.
Posey revealed the decision to have the season-ending surgery following Friday night’s loss to the Texas Rangers. Manager Bruce Bochy confirmed it prior to Saturday’s game.
N.Y. Yankees 10, Baltimore 3: Miguel Andujar homered and had four RBI, J.A. Happ pitched six sharp innings to win his fifth straight start with the Yankees and New York beat the Baltimore Orioles 10-3 in the opener of a split doubleheader.
After Andujar drove in a first-inning run with a groundout, the 23-year-old rookie put the Yankees up 5-2 in the third with a three-run shot off Jimmy Yacabonis. Happ is 5-0 since coming to New York in a July 26 trade with Toronto.
N.Y. Mets 3, Washington 0: Bryce Harper and the Washington Nationals were shut out for the third game in a row, something that had never happened since the team moved from Montreal, as Zack Wheeler and the New York Mets posted a 3-0 victory.
Amed Rosario and Todd Frazier hit solo home runs to back Wheeler, who pitched seven innings and won his seventh straight decision.
The Nationals fell to 64-66 – they’ve already lost more games than they dropped last year in going 97-65 to take their second consecutive NL East title.
Tampa Bay 5, Boston 1: Kevin Kiermaier tripled to key a two-run sixth inning, Tommy Pham homered and the Tampa Bay Rays won their seventh straight game by beating the major league-leading Boston Red Sox 5-1.
The surprising Rays will try to become the first team to sweep Boston in a series this season in Sunday’s finale of the three-game set.
Tampa Bay is a season-high eight games over .500 (69-61). The Rays have allowed three or fewer runs in seven consecutive games.
J.D. Martinez had two doubles in four at-bats for the Red Sox, who have lost five of seven.
Tampa Bay chased Rick Porcello (15-7) in the sixth after Kiermaier tripled and Willy Adames was hit by a pitch. Kiermaier scored on a wild pitch by Ryan Brasier before Joey Wendle made it 3-1 later in the inning on a sacrifice fly.
Pham hit a solo shot off Brandon Workman in the seventh, and Ji-Man Choi’s RBI triple put Tampa Bay up 5-1 in the eighth.
Porcello gave up three runs and six hits over five-plus innings.
Rays starter Ryan Yarbrough allowed one run and five hits in five-plus innings. Ryne Stanek (2-3) replaced Yarbrough and worked a scoreless inning for the win.
Chicago 6, Detroit 1: Lucas Giolito pitched seven sharp innings in his third straight quality start, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 6-1.
Giolito (10-9) allowed a run and three hits, lowering his ERA to 5.85. It’s still the worst mark in the major leagues of anyone who qualifies for the ERA title, but the 23-year-old right-hander has been a bit better since the All-Star break. He walked one and struck out six against Detroit.
Kevan Smith hit a two-run homer for the White Sox, and Mikie Mahtook went deep for the Tigers.
Ryan Carpenter (1-2) gave up six runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings.
The White Sox took an immediate 1-0 lead in the first when Tim Anderson drew a leadoff walk and scored on Jose Rondon’s double. Smith’s drive made it 3-0 an inning later.
After Mahtook homered in the bottom of the second, Chicago responded with two runs in the third on an RBI single by Yoan Moncada and a sacrifice fly by Ryan LaMarre. Matt Davidson brought home another run with a double in the fifth.
The White Sox have won eight of 11, and this was the second time this month that Giolito has gone seven innings with only one run allowed. He also did it in a no-decision Aug. 3 at Tampa Bay.
Pirates lose marathon game: Pitcher Jordan Lyles took advantage of a chance to redeem himself in the bottom of the inning Friday night.
Left in the game to bat and with his team trailing by two runs, Lyles drew a two-out walk off Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Clay Holmes to load the bases and set the stage for dramatic rally as Milwaukee eked out a 7-6 victory.
“He did a good job standing there,” Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said of Lyles. “That was his job. I just said, ‘Don’t swing.'”
Lyles said he knew Holmes was struggling to spot his pitches.
“I was going to give him the first strike and then (Counsell) was going to let me know if we were going to continue to take. A couple close pitches in there, but I had the take sign, so I wasn’t swinging.”
After the walk to Lyles, Erik Kratz tied the game with a two-run single off Holmes (1-3). Orlando Arcia followed with a walk-off single and was mobbed on the field by his teammates as he put an end to the 5-hour, 36-minute contest.