Pirates pound Cubs heading into break
Astros crush Jays 19-1 to reach 60 wins Kershaw gem leads Dodgers Rockies' Freeland loses no-no in 9th
Francisco Cervelli hit a grand slam and Andrew McCutchen followed with a home run in a 10-run first inning in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 14-3 rout of the Chicago Cubs on Sunday to conclude the first half of the season.
McCutchen followed Cervelli’s third career grand slam with his 17th home run to stretch the lead to 10 and knock Cubs starter Jon Lester out of the game with two outs in the first. Lester (5-6) allowed four earned runs and six hits in the shortest outing of his career.
The Pirates sent 15 batters to the plate. Jose Osuna delivered a two-run double, Jordy Mercer hit a two-run single and Josh Bell added an RBI single while the Cubs committed two errors.
Chicago (43-45) heads into the break with a losing record for the first time since it was 40-54 in 2014. The reigning World Series champion Cubs were 53-35 at the break a year ago.
Astros 19, Blue Jays 1
Carlos Correa hit two home runs and had a career-best five RBIs and Brad Peacock pitched six scoreless innings as Houston defeated Toronto.
Yulieski Gurriel, Jose Altuve and Evan Gattis also homered for the Astros, who gained a split of the four-game series.
Correa had four hits, Altuve added three hits for his fifth consecutive game, and Gattis had four RBIs.
The runaway leaders in the AL West became just the fifth team in the last 40 years to reach 60 wins before the All-Star Game. They joined the 1998 Yankees, 2001 Mariners, 2003 Braves and this year’s Los Angeles Dodgers, who got there Saturday.
Dodgers 5, Royals 2
Clayton Kershaw allowed six hits and struck out 13 in a complete-game effort to win his 14th game of the season, and Justin Turner hit a pair of home runs as Los Angeles closed the first half of the season with their 26th win in their last 30 games.
Kershaw needed only 99 pitches, and he only had problems when Eric Hosmer was at-bat for the Royals. The first baseman had three of the Royals hits, a pair of singles and a two-run home run in the fourth.
Rockies 10, White Sox 0
Kyle Freeland, who was born and raised in Denver, lost a no-hitter in the ninth inning in Colorado’s rout of Chicago.
Freeland held the White Sox hitless for 81/3 innings before Melky Cabrera lined a single to left that finished Freeland’s workday. Freeland was replace by Jordan Lyles after giving up the base hit.
Freeland, a 24-year-old rookie, was bidding to become the first Rockies pitcher to throw a no-hitter at Coors Field.
Cardinals 6, Mets 0
In his longest start since May 23, Lance Lynn fired seven shutout innings to lead St. Louis over New York.
Lynn (7-6) gave up three hits and a walk, striking out a season-low two. Two of the three hits were erased on double plays as New York never got a runner to second base.
Brewers 5, Yankees 3
Travis Shaw drove in four runs, including a three-run homer with one out in the top of the first inning, and Milwaukee beat the New York Yankees.
Stephen Vogt also homered for the Brewers, who won a series against the Yankees in New York for the first time since 1995.
Rays 5, Red Sox 3
Brad Miller had hit only two home runs in 147 at-bats this season, after getting 30 last year, but he came through with a tworun shot in the eighth to give Tampa Bay a win over Boston.
What started as a duel between Tampa Bay’s Chris Archer and Boston’s David Price saw two lead changes in the final three innings.
Dustin Pedroia’s two-run shot off Archer in the seventh gave Boston a 3-2 lead, but the Rays clawed back for the win, matching a season-high at four games over .500.
Mariners 4, Athletics 0
Felix Hernandez pitched six scoreless innings and Nelson Cruz hit a home run as Seattle hut out Oakland.
Hernandez (4-3), who was making his fourth start since coming off the disabled list, lowered his ERA from 5.04 to 4.44. He was sidelined from April 26 through June 22 with inflammation in his right shoulder.
Angels 3, Rangers 0
Right-hander J.C. Ramirez pitched six shutout innings as Los Angeles salvaged the final game of the series with Texas.
Despite the win, the Angels (45-47) are below .500 at the All-Star break for the third time in the last five seasons. Texas (43-45) missed out on its chance to get to .500 for the first time since June 28 after suffering its second shutout of the season.
Marlins 10, Giants 8 (11)
Pinch-hitter A.J. Ellis and Giancarlo Stanton hit home runs in the top of the 11th inning, lifting Miami to a win and a sweep of the three-game series.
Stanton also homered in the fifth inning and scored four times for the Marlins, who have five wins in their last six games.
The Giants will enter the All-Star break on a four-game losing streak.