Pederson homers twice as Dodgers hold off Pirates
PITTSBURGH — Joc Pederson went deep twice, Cody Bellinger hit his third home run in as many games and the Los Angeles Dodgers used nine pitchers to defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-7 on Thursday.
Pederson led off the game with a solo blast off Jameson Taillon (3-5) and added a two-run shot in the eighth off Michael Feliz.
Bellinger finished 3-for-4, including a shot just over the wall in left field in the sixth to give the Dodgers a three-run advantage, and a stream of relievers made it stand as Los Angeles won for the 15th time in its last 20 games to move back to .500 (31-31).
REDS 7, ROCKIES 5 (13): In Cincinnati, Jesse Winker hit a two-run homer in the 13th inning, completing Cincinnati’s late rally to a victory that averted a sweep by Colorado.
One out away from getting their second series sweep at Great American Ball Park, the Rockies blew the lead in the ninth and wound up losing for the fifth time in seven games. They’ve blown leads in all of the five losses.
CARDINALS 4, MARLINS 1: In St. Louis, Miles Mikolas rebounded from his first loss of the season to pitch three-hit ball over seven innings and lead St. Louis over Miami.
Mikolas (7-1) allowed an unearned run, struck out five and walked one, lowering his ERA to 2.27 as the Cardinals salvaged the series finale after a pair of losses.
CUBS 4, PHILLIES 3: In Chicago, Anthony Rizzo hit a solo homer and added a second RBI with a sacrifice fly to lead Chicago past Philadelphia.
The Cubs won for the fifth time in six games to close to a half-game behind idle firstplace
Milwaukee in the NL Central. ASTROS 5, RANGERS 2: In Arlington, Texas, Evan Gattis hit a two-run homer and an RBI single, and Gerrit Cole allowed one run over six solid innings as Houston topped Texas.
Alex Bregman also homered for the Astros. TWINS 7, WHITE SOX 2: In Minneapolis, Jose Berrios pitched a six-hitter for his second complete game this season, and Minnesota hit three home runs against James Shields in a victory over Chicago. BLUE JAYS 5, ORIOLES 4
(10): In Toronto, Aledmys Diaz hit a game-winning single in the 10th and the Blue Jays rallied from a three-run deficit in the ninth to beat Baltimore.
Teoscar Hernandez doubled off Miguel Castro (1-2) to begin the 10th and Justin Smoak was intentionally walked before Kendrys Morales and Luke Maile struck out. Diaz won it with a single to the wall in left, giving Toronto just its second win in its past 12 home games.
TIGERS 7, RED SOX 2: In Boston, Leonys Martin had a two-run homer to cap a fiverun first inning as Detroit beat Boston.
The Tigers’ victory ended a four-game win streak for Boston, which had outscored Detroit 13-1 in the first two games of the series. MARINERS 5, RAYS 4: In St. Petersburg, Fla., Mike Leake pitched into the ninth inning and Mitch Haniger homered and drove in three as AL Westleading Seattle beat Tampa Bay.
ATHLETICS 4, ROYALS 1: In Oakland, Calif., Matt Olson homered and Stephen Piscotty had three hits and an RBI to lead Oakland to a win over Kansas City.