Albies, Bautista homer as Braves outslug Cubs
CHICAGO » Nobody expected 5-foot-9 Ozzie Albies to be among the major league home run leaders. Same with the Atlanta Braves’ rise to the top of the NL East.
They’ve made a believer of Cubs manager Joe Maddon.
Albies hit a leadoff drive for his 13th homer, Jose Bautista connected for a three-run shot and the Braves held off Chicago 6-5 on Monday.
Julio Teheran (4-1) pitched six innings and Tyler Flowers hit his first homer this season as NLleading Atlanta (25-15) won for the sixth time in seven games. The Braves moved 10 games over .500 for the first time since July 28, 2014.
“It’s one of those things because the names aren’t big — they’re going to be big names in a couple years,” Maddon said. “They’ll be more easily identifiable. They have some really great talent there. I’m a big fan.”
A.J. Minter worked a shaky ninth inning for his second save in the makeup of an April 15 rainout. Minter hit Ian Happ to force in a run with two out, but Kris Bryant lined out to left to end the game.
Chicago closed out a 5-2 homestand with its second straight loss. Bryant and Albert Almora Jr. each hit a two-run homer, but Jose Quintana (4-3) allowed all three Atlanta homers after pitching six sparkling innings against Miami in his previous start.
The 21-year-old Albies drove Quintana’s second pitch the opposite way into the bleachers in right for his fourth career leadoff homer. The rookie second baseman tied Manny Machado, Mookie Betts and Bryce Harper for the major league lead in homers. He also doubled and singled.
“A lot of quality at-bats throughout the whole ballgame, especially against Quintana,” Flowers said. “Right out of the gate, too. It’s always nice to get him on the ropes a little bit, get a couple runs across and give Julio something to work with.”
Almora went deep in the second, and Bryant connected in the third, but the Cubs were unable to keep up with the slugging Braves.
Flowers, Quintana’s former batterymate with the Chicago White Sox, hit a two-run shot in the third, a towering drive over the wall in left-center. Bautista lifted Atlanta to a 6-4 lead in the fifth, belting a drive to left for his second homer since joining the club on May 4.
Teheran allowed four runs and four hits, struck out one and walked three. The 27-year-old righthander had a scoreless streak of 16 2/3 innings before Almora’s second homer of the season.
Sam Freeman replaced Teheran and got one out before departing with runners on first and second. Shane Carle then came in and retired each of his five batters while extending his scoreless streak to 13 innings.
Quintana was tagged for six runs and nine hits in 4 2/3 innings against a Braves team that has been feasting on left-handed pitching. Atlanta is 8-3 against lefty starters. TIGERS 6, INDIANS 3 » Niko Goodrum homered twice and drove in five runs, and the injury-plagued Detroit Tigers beat Carlos Carrasco and the Cleveland Indians 6-3 on Monday night.
Goodrum hit a two-run shot in the fourth inning and a three-run homer in the eighth, and for the second straight day, the Tigers won despite fielding a patchwork lineup against a tough opposing pitcher. Miguel Cabrera is on the disabled list, and Detroit has also been without Nicholas Castellanos Jeimer Candelario.
The Tigers faced James Paxton and Seattle on Sunday and won that game in the bottom of the ninth. Then they made Carrasco’s outing difficult.
Jose Ramirez hit his 13th homer of the season for Cleveland, but the AL Central-leading Indians fell back to .500 and are only two games ahead of Detroit. The Tigers had lost 11 straight against Cleveland, including a four-game sweep in Ohio last month.
Carrasco (5-2) had won his previous 12 decisions against the AL Central, but he allowed three runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings Monday and received little run support.
Mike Fiers (4-2) allowed a run and three hits for Detroit in six innings. He walked one and struck out five. The Indians scored an unearned run in the eighth, but with the tying run on second, left-hander Daniel Stumpf came on and retired Yonder Alonso on a first-pitch popup for the third out. and
Then Goodrum gave Detroit a 6-2 lead with his homer in the bottom of the inning.
Cleveland’s Francisco Lindor hit an RBI single in the ninth, extending his hitting streak to 15 games. The Indians brought the tying run to the plate against Shane Greene, but Michael Brantley grounded out to end it.
Ramirez opened the scoring with a homer to right in the first, but Detroit tied it in the third on an RBI groundout by Pete Kozma. In the fourth, Carrasco allowed a leadoff double by John Hicks. One out later, Goodrum connected to put the Tigers up 3-1. A’S 6, RED SOX 5 » Sean Manaea beat the Boston Red Sox again in his first outing against them since pitching a no-hitter, and Khris Davis hit one of three solo homers by the Oakland Athletics in a 6-5 victory Monday night.
Matt Joyce and Matt Olson also went deep for the A’s, who had lost five of six to the Astros and Yankees. Davis connected for his team-leading 12th home run as Oakland handed Rick Porcello his first loss of the season.
J.D. Martinez and Rafael Devers each hit a solo shot for the Red Sox. Boston opened a seven-game homestand after a 6-4 trip.
Manaea (5-4) allowed four runs — three earned — and eight hits in sixplus innings, snapping his two-game skid. He threw the seventh no-hitter in Oakland history at home against the Red Sox on April 21.
Blake Treinen got three outs for his seventh save.
Porcello (5-1) gave up five runs and nine hits over six innings, striking out five without issuing a walk.
Trailing 2-1 in the fourth, the Athletics grabbed the lead with three runs. Jonathan Lucroy had a two-run double into the left-field corner before Dustin Fowler tripled off the Green Monster.
The Red Sox sliced it to 4-3 in the fifth on Hanley Ramirez’s run-scoring grounder before Olson restored the two-run lead with a homer over Boston’s bullpen in the sixth.
Martinez led off eighth with his drive Boston’s bullpen.
Joyce homered deep into the right-field seats before Boston moved ahead on consecutive RBI singles by Andrew Benintendi and Ramirez. RAYS 2, ROYALS 1 » Adeiny Hechavarria danced around catcher Salvador Perez with an inventive slide at home plate to score the go-ahead run, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Kansas City Royals 2-1 on Monday night.
Hechavarria dashed home on Matt Duffy’s single to right field in the sixth inning, sidestepped Perez to the right, then dove back toward the plate. Hechavarria faked toward the dish with his right hand, then jabbed his left hand just past Perez’s outstretched glove to tag the plate. Umpire Rob Drake immediately signaled him safe.
Ryan Yarbrough (3-2) allowed one run over five innings for Tampa Bay, and Duffy had three hits and drove in both runs.
Eric Skoglund (1-3) permitted two runs on seven hits, walked none and struck out four in 7 2/3 innings, his longest career outing. He tied a Royals’ record with six assists by a pitcher. the into