Crawford's key RBI hits help Giants stay hot with road victory over Pirates
Brandon Crawford tied the game with an RBI single in the sixth inning and provided some breathing room with an RBI double in the ninth as the San Francisco Giants rallied past the host Pittsburgh Pirates 7-5 on Saturday.
Wilmer Flores and Austin Slater homered for the Giants, who have won seven of eight and 13 of 19 to move to 10 games over .500 (37-27) for the first time this season.
Luis González added two hits for San Francisco, including an RBI double in the eighth as the Giants pounced on a shaky performance by Pittsburgh's bullpen, which allowed four runs after starter Jose Quintana's exit with one out in the sixth.
Alex Wood (5-5) surrendered a three-run homer to Pittsburgh's Diego Castillo in the fourth but hung around long enough to win his second straight start. He allowed four runs on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.
San Francisco reliever Jake McGee got Pittsburgh's Tyler Heineman to pop out to first with the bases loaded to end the eighth to preserve a one-run lead. ROCKIES 5, PADRES 4 >> Ryan McMahon's third hit of the game was a tiebreaking solo homer in the bottom of the eighth inning, leading Colorado over San Diego.
C.J. Cron and Charlie Blackmon also homered for the Rockies, who won their second straight after a sevengame home losing streak.
Manny Machado hit a two-run homer for the Padres, who lost their ninth in a row to the Rockies at Coors Field.
McMahon, who came into the game batting .179 this month with 21 strikeouts, capped his big game with the solo blast off Luis Garcia (44) that cleared the right-center field fence and dropped into the Rockies' bullpen. CUBS 6, BRAVES 3 >> Willson Contreras had three hits and stole a base in his first game against younger brother William, helping Chicago defeat Atlanta at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs won a day after ending their 10-game losing streak and also stopping the Braves' 14-game winning string.
The Contreras brothers both started at catcher, marking the first time they shared a field. They hugged before the 30-yearold Willson, a two-time All-Star, singled in the first inning. Contreras then stole second base against his brother, and scored on Jonathan Villar's two-run single.
Willson Contreras later doubled and drove in a run. His 24-year-old brother had two hits for the Braves.
Justin Steele (2-5) gave up two runs and five hits in five innings to earn the win.
Kyle Wright (7-4) yielded five runs and a career-high 11 hits in six innings.
Rafael Ortega homered for the Cubs.
WHITE SOX 7, ASTROS 0 >> Johnny Cueto and Reynaldo López combined for a threehitter and Luis Robert tied a career high with four RBIs as Chicago jumped on Justin Verlander early and cruised to a win at Houston.
Cueto (1-3) allowed two hits and struck out five in a season-high seven innings to get his first win since July 29 with San Francisco.
José Abreu drove in two runs as the White Sox built a 7-0 lead after four innings to get their fourth win in five games.
Cueto allowed a leadoff single to Jose Altuve and walked a batter in the fourth and sixth innings.
But Houston didn't get another hit until Alex Bregman singled with no outs in the seventh. He was erased when Yordan Alvarez grounded into a double play before Cueto retired Kyle Tucker to end his day.
López yielded one hit in two scoreless innings.
Verlander (8-3) entered the day tied for the MLB lead with eight wins, but had a rare sub-par start in what has been a splendid season in his return after missing almost two years after Tommy John surgery.
He allowed nine hits and seven runs — four earned — in a season-low 3 2/3 innings.
METS 3, MARLINS 2 >> Taijuan Walker retired 18 in a row and pitched into the seventh inning, Francisco Lindor homered and New York beat visiting Miami.
The Mets have won three straight and five of six, earning their NL-best 44th win and improving to a seasonhigh 21 games over .500.
Walker (5-2) pitched onerun ball and struck out nine over 6 2/3 innings.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. walked against Walker in the seventh, stole second and scored on Avisail Garcia's double. Walker was charged with two hits and a walk. BREWERS 7, REDS 3 >> Willy Adames and Hunter Renfroe homered for the second straight day, rookie Jason Alexander earned his first career win and Milwaukee beat visiting Cincinnati.
Jace Peterson drove in two runs with a sixth-inning double as the Brewers won consecutive games for the first time this month.
Alexander (1-0) allowed eight hits and three runs, two earned, with one walk and two strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.
Milwaukee got to Graham Ashcraft (3-1) for eight hits and six runs with two walks in five innings.
CARDINALS 11, RED SOX 2 >> Nolan Arenado hit a tworun homer over the Green Monster in the first inning and St. Louis broke it open with a six-run sixth in a win over Boston at Fenway Park.
Nolan Gorman and Tyler O'Neill had solo shots for the Cardinals. Paul Goldschmidt and Tommy Edman each had a two-run single during the big inning.
Dakota Hudson (5-3) held Boston to two runs in five innings.
ROYALS 2, ATHLETICS 0 >> Brad Keller allowed one hit in seven innings, helping Kansas City top host Oakland for its third straight win.
The A's were shut out for the eighth time this season, dropped their eighth straight at home, and fell to a majors-worst 22-45. Oakland has lost 15 of 17.
Keller (2-8) retired 17 of the first 18 batters he faced and worked around three walks for his first road victory in five starts this season.
TIGERS 14, RANGERS 7 >> Eric Haase had three hits, including one of three Detroit homers, and the Tigers snapped a six-game losing streak with a home win over Texas.
The Tigers had scored only two runs in their last four games, but set a season high for runs Saturday. Javy Baez and Robbie Grossman also homered and top prospect Riley Greene had two hits, walked twice and scored two runs in his big league debut.
Rony Garcia (1-2) picked up the win, allowing four runs on four hits in six innings.
Texas starter Taylor Hearn (4-5) allowed eight runs and 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings.