Eighth-inning rally pushes Cubs past the Cardinals

CHICAGO — Kris Bryant galloped home from first base on Anthony Rizzo’s bloop double, capping a three-run rally in the eighth inning that sent the Chicago Cubs over the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 Saturday in the evertightening NL Central race.

A classic pitchers’ duel between Jon Lester and Adam Wainwright kept it scoreless into the eighth at Wrigley Field.

After Paul DeJong and Randal Grichuk hit two-out homers off Lester for a 2-0 lead, the Cubs came back.

Ben Zobrist’s RBI double with two outs made it 2-1 and chased Wainwright. Bryant greeted reliever Matt Bowman (2-4) with a broken-bat single that tied it.

Brett Cecil then relieved and on a 3-2 pitch, Rizzo hit a looper to shallow left-center.

ROCKIES 7, PIRATES 3: In Denver, German Marquez matched a career best with nine strikeouts in seven solid innings, and Mark Reynolds added a pair of run-scoring singles for Colorado.

There was a near brawl in this game. Marquez (8-4) hit Andrew McCutchen with a pitch in the sixth inning, and the Pirates outfielder strode toward the mound before being headed off by home plate umpire Chad Fairchild. Going into the game, the Pirates had a major league-high 55 batters hit by pitches, including four by Rockies pitchers on Friday night.

In apparent retaliation, Chad Kuhl threw an inside pitch leading off the bottom of the sixth that narrowly missed Carlos Gonzalez. Players and coaches from both teams streamed onto the field and though there were some heated exchanges, no punches were thrown.

DODGERS 6, BRAVES 2: In Los Angeles, Chris Taylor drove in three runs with a home run and a triple, and Corey Seager and Chase Utley hit solo home runs for the Dodgers.

Los Angeles’ 67-31 mark is its best through 98 games since the Brooklyn Dodgers were 69-29 in 1942.

ASTROS 8, ORIOLES 4: In Baltimore, Marwin Gonzalez stepped in for injured Colin Moran and delivered a pinch-hit, three-run homer in the sixth inning to propel Houston.

Moran fouled a ball off his left eye and had difficulty standing before being carted from the field. Gonzalez subsequently ended a ninepitch at-bat by driving a 2-2 offering from Darren O’Day (1-3) over the right-field wall. It was Houston’s first pinch-hit homer of the season, and it capped a five-run uprising that wiped out Baltimore’s 4-1 lead.

Alex Bregman and Yuli Gurriel also homered for the Astros.

BREWERS 9, PHILLIES 8: In Philadelphia, Domingo Santana singled home the winning run in the ninth inning after Milwaukee blew a big lead, and the Brewers snapped a seasonworst six-game losing streak.

NATIONALS 4, DIAMONDBACKS 3: In Phoenix, Bryce Harper homered, Tanner Roark struck out a season-high 11 and Sean Doolittle stranded the potential tying run to preserve Washington’s victory over Arizona.

RANGERS 4, RAYS 3: In St. Petersburg, Fla., Texas turned three Tampa Bay miscues — an error and two wild pitches — into a three-run sixth inning beat the Rays.

METS 6, ATHLETICS 5: In New York, Wilmer Flores hit a solo home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, and New York rallied from an early five-run deficit and won its fourth consecutive game. It was Flores’ second career walkoff homer.

TWINS 6, TIGERS 5: In Minneapolis, Kyle Gibson took a shutout into the eighth inning in his longest start of the season, Zack Granite had three of the Twins’ 14 hits, and Minnesota held off a late Detroit rally.

ROYALS 7, WHITE SOX 2: In Kansas City, Mo., Mike Moustakas homered twice, and Salvador Perez, Brandon Moss and Jorge Bonifacio also went deep to lead the Royals, who extended Chicago’s longest losing streak in two years to eight games.

The game began with a 99-degree temperature and a heat index of 112 degrees.

INDIANS 2, BLUE JAYS 1 (10): In Cleveland, Francisco Lindor hit a leadoff home run in the bottom of the 10th inning for the Indians. Lindor hit a 2-2 pitch from Danny Barnes (2-3) to right field for his 15th homer of the season.

GIANTS 5, PADRES 4 (12): In San Francisco, Nick Hundley singled in Kelby Tomlinson with two outs in the 12th inning, lifting the Giants over San Diego.

MARLINS 5, REDS 4: In Cincinnati, J.T. Realmuto hit a pair of two-run homers and a double, powering Miami over the Reds, who are 1-8 on their current homestand.