Hammel improves to 4- 0, Cubs rough up Pirates
PITTSBURGH — Jason Hammel raised his record to 4- 0 and Anthony Rizzo hit two doubles as the Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7- 2 on Monday night.
Hammel’s ERA rose to 1.24 after entering the game with a National League- leading 0.75 mark. He gave up 2 runs and 5 hits in 5- plus innings with 3 strikeouts and 1 walk. His streak of five consecutive starts of allowing one run or fewer ended.
Rizzo hit an RBI double and scored in the third inning as the Cubs went ahead 2- 1, then doubled again during a four- run fifth that pushed the lead to 6- 1.
The Cubs improved to 18- 6, tops in the major leagues, and avoided losing consecutive games for the first time this season while winning for the fifth time in six games.
Dexter Fowler had two hits for the Cubs, including a double, and two stolen bases and Javier Baez also had two of Chicago’s 11 hits. David Ross hit a two- run single in the fifth, Ben Zobrist had two RBI and Kris Bryant extended his hitting streak to eight games.
Gerrit Cole ( 2- 3) was roughed up for 6 runs — 5 earned — and 6 hits in 42/3 innings after winning his previous two starts. He struck out six but walked four in losing to the Cubs for just the second time in nine regular- season decisions.
Jordy Mercer went 3 for 3 with a walk for Pittsburgh and has reached base in 14 consecutive games but Josh Harrison’s 10- game hitting streak ended as he went 0 for 4. Andrew McCutchen drove in both Pirates runs with a first- inning home run, his sixth, and a ground out in the fifth.
The Pirates lost their second consecutive
game after winning six in a row.
The Cubs pulled in front 2- 1 in the third inning when Rizzo hit a two- out RBI double and scored on Zobrist’s single.
In addition to Ross’ single, Zobrist hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth and Matt Szczur scored on a throwing error by Harrison, the second baseman, on the back end of a delayed double steal attempt.
Zobrist scored on a wild pitch by Kyle Lobstein in the seventh to increase the Cubs’ lead to 7- 2.
CARDINALS 10, PHILLIES 3 Adam Wainwright pitched six innings and hit a three- run home run — the first of five for host St. Louis — as the Cardinals snapped a four- game losing streak with a victory over Philadelphia. Matt Adams, rookie Aledmys Diaz and Randal Grichuk added home runs and Kolten Wong hit a two- run home run for St. Louis.
METS 4, BRAVES 1 David Wright, Yoenis Cespedes and Lucas Duda hit home runs in the first inning as host New York teed off, sending Bartolo Colon and the Mets over Atlanta for their ninth victory in 10 games. The Mets’ home run barrage came in a span of 16 pitches.
GIANTS 9, REDS 6 Cincinnati roughed up Johnny Cueto in his return to Great American Ball Park, but visiting San Francisco rallied against the Reds bullpen, riding Brandon Crawford’s threerun home run to a victory. Joey Votto hit a threerun home run for the Reds.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
TWINS 6, ASTROS 2 Brian Dozier broke out of a slump with three hits and visiting Minnesota snapped former Arkansas Razorback Dallas Keuchel’s 17- game home winning streak with a victory over Houston. Keuchel ( 2- 4) allowed 5 runs on 5 hits with 3 strikeouts in 41/3 innings.
RANGERS 2, BLUE JAYS 1 Nomar Mazara hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning and visiting Texas beat Toronto for its fifth victory in six games. In the bottom of the eighth, Mazara preserved the one- run lead by throwing out Michael Saunders at home plate to end the inning.
INTERLEAGUE
BREWERS 8, ANGELS 5 Jimmy Nelson pitched seven innings and drove in the go- ahead run to lead host Milwaukee past Los Angeles. Nelson ( 4- 2) retired 15 of 16 batters before giving up a home run to Mike Trout in the sixth.
NATIONALS 2, ROYALS 0 Gio Gonzalez and the Washington bullpen combined on a five- hitter, Ryan Zimmerman and Daniel Murphy drove in first- inning runs and the Nationals beat host Kansas City. Gonzalez ( 2- 1) scattered 4 hits and 2 walks over 6 innings in his latest start.