Rizzo rally

A day after his aggressive slide at home plate took out Pittsburgh catcher Elias Diaz, Anthony Rizzo sparked a late rally with a home run as the Chicago Cubs held off the Pirates 8-6 on Tuesday night.

PITTSBURGH — Anthony Rizzo shook off the boos and sparked a late rally with his ninth home run of the season as the Chicago Cubs held off the reeling Pittsburgh Pirates 8-6 on Tuesday night.

A day after his aggressive slide at home plate that took out Pittsburgh catcher Elias Diaz drew a rebuke from Major League Baseball, Rizzo doubled in the first inning and sent a solo shot off Edgar Santana (2-1) just over the railing of the Clemente Wall in right field to knot the game at 4-4.

The Cubs then piled on against Pittsburgh’s sagging bullpen to hand the Pirates their ninth loss in 11 games. Chicago scored five times against Pittsburgh relievers, including Ian Happ’s go-ahead double two batters after Rizzo tied it and Kyle Schwarber’s two-run homer off the right-field foul pole in the eighth.

Jon Lester (5-2) lacked his usual crispness, allowing four runs in six innings, but picked up the second multihit game of his 13-year career by going 2 for 3, including an RBI single in the sixth that drew the Cubs within a run. Jason Heyward went 3 for 5 with an RBI for Chicago.

Brandon Morrow gave up a tworun single to Starling Marte in the ninth but got two outs for his 12th save.

Marte finished 3 for 5 with 3 RBI, Austin Meadows hit his fourth home run since being called up on May 18 and Diaz exacted a measure of revenge by taking Lester deep in the third, but Pittsburgh’s bullpen couldn’t keep the Cubs in check after rookie Nick Kingham worked 52/3 effective innings while making a spot start for injured Ivan Nova.

The Cubs spotted the Pirates

Tuesday’s games NATIONAL LEAGUE

Chicago Cubs 8, Pittsburgh 6 St. Louis 6, Milwaukee 1 Atlanta 7, NY Mets 6 Colorado 11, San Francisco 4 Arizona 5, Cincinnati 2 Miami at San Diego, (n) Philadelphia at LA Dodgers, (n)

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Cleveland 7, Chicago White Sox 3 LA Angels 9, Detroit 2 Boston 8, Toronto 3

NY Yankees 6, Houston 5 (10) Kansas City 2, Minnesota 1 (14) Tampa Bay at Oakland, (n) Texas at Seattle, (n)

INTERLEAGUE Washington 3, Baltimore 2

leads of 3-0 and 4-2 but kept coming. Rizzo led the way following an unusual 24 hours in which he found himself at the center of a debate on what is — and what isn’t — a legal slide.

Rizzo clipped Diaz’s right leg at home plate while breaking up a double play Monday, and Diaz’s throw to first sailed into right field, allowing two runs to score as the Cubs cruised to a 7-0 victory. The play was upheld on replay review Monday but MLB Director of Baseball Operations Joe Torre informed both teams Tuesday that Rizzo should have been called out due to interference.

CARDINALS 6, BREWERS 1 Michael Wacha pitched two-hit ball for 62/3 innings and St. Louis, boosted by three home runs, beat host Milwaukee.

BRAVES 7, METS 6 Johan Camargo homered with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning after host Atlanta rallied from two four-run deficits and capping a miserable day for injury-plagued New York.

DIAMONDBACKS 5, REDS 2 Daniel Descalso hit a two-run home run, Zack Godley pitched six effective innings and host Arizona beat Cincinnati.

ROCKIES 11, GIANTS 4 Kyle Freeland pitched effectively into the sixth inning and doubled in host Colorado’s three-run fourth, leading the Rockies over San Francisco.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

RED SOX 8, BLUE JAYS 3 Sandy Leon hit a home run and two doubles, Xander Bogaerts also homered and Rick Porcello took a three-hitter into the seventh inning, helping Boston beat visiting Toronto.

YANKEES 6, ASTROS 5 (10) Brett Gardner tied the game with his second homer of the game, a one-out, two-run drive in the ninth inning, Gleyber Torres hit a winning single in the 10th and New York rallied to beat visiting Houston. INDIANS 7, WHITE SOX 3 Michael Brantley, Jose Ramirez and Jason Kipnis each hit a solo home run, and host Cleveland beat Chicago. ANGELS 9, TIGERS 2 Ian Kinsler hit a threerun homer, Luis Valbuena went deep twice and visiting Los Angeles beat Detroit.

INTERLEAGUE

NATIONALS 3, ORIOLES 2 Bryce Harper hit his 17th home run, Mark Reynolds added a solo shot and visiting Washington beat Baltimore.