Hamels goes distance, Cubs shut down Reds
CHICAGO » Cole Hamels tossed a complete game to continue his dramatic turnaround with the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs, who got home runs from Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez in a 7-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday night.
Hamels (4-0) allowed eight hits, struck out seven and walked two in his 17th career complete game and the first by a Cubs pitcher this season. His ERA in five starts with Chicago is 0.72.
Before being traded to the Cubs, the veteran left-hander was 5-9 with a 4.72 ERA in
20 starts for the Texas Rangers.
Rizzo went 2 for 2 with a walk and three RBIs. Baez was 3 for 5, reached on an error and scored three runs. The homer, his
27th, was a mammoth 481-foot solo shot that cleared the bleachers just left of straightaway center and landed on Waveland Avenue.
Hamels had allowed just two earned runs in his first four starts with Chicago, but the Reds jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first as Phillip Ervin beat out an infield single with two outs, scoring Billy Hamilton from third base.
Cincinnati loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, but Hamels got Tucker Barnhart to ground into a game-ending double play on his 114th pitch.
BRAVES 5, MARLINS 0 » Rookie Ronald Acuna Jr. hit his 21st home run and got hit by another Miami pitch, though tempers stayed in check this time and Atlanta went on to win.
It was the first meeting between the teams since the Aug. 15 game in which Miami starter Jose Urena earned a six-game suspension by plunking Acuna on his first and only pitch. This time, no hysterics broke out.
And in the end, it was more of the same for Sean Newcomb and the Braves when they face the Marlins. Newcomb (11-7) allowed two hits and struck out eight in six shutout innings, improving to 4-0 with a 0.75 ERA in four starts against Miami this season.
Charlie Culberson and Ender Inciarte also homered for Atlanta, which remained three games ahead of the second-place Phillies in the NL East.
ROCKIES 4, PADRES 3 » Ian Desmond hit a two-run, two-out homer in the ninth inning, and Colorado beat San Diego.
Desmond lined an 88-mph splitter from reliever Kirby Yates (4-3) over the fence in left after Trevor Story singled earlier in the ninth and stole second. It was Desmond’s second career walk-off homer. His other was May 2, 2012, against Arizona.
Matt Holliday was in Colorado’s starting lineup for the first time in a decade after having his contract selected from Triple-A Albuquerque. He went 0 for 3.
RED SOX 7, INDIANS 0» David Price pitched eight shutout innings for his fifth straight win, backed by three bases-loaded doubles in a six-run fifth inning, and Boston beat Cleveland to split their four-game series.
After losing the first two games, Boston won twice in 20 hours to open a 9½-game lead over the idle Yankees in the AL East. The Red Sox, who have the best record in baseball at 90-39, have not lost four games in a row all season, and they are the only team in the majors that has not been swept.
Price (14-6) gave up three hits against the Cubs pitcher Cole Hamels, right, and catcher Victor Caratini celebrate a 7-1 win over the Reds on Thursday in Chicago.
AL Central leaders and no walks, hitting a batter and striking out seven before leaving to a standing ovation after the top of the eighth. TWINS 6, ATHLETICS 4 » With a two-run double by pinch-hitter Mitch Garver, Minnesota overtook Oakland starter Trevor Cahill in the fourth inning on the way to victory.
The A’s lost consecutive games for the second time in more than two months and dropped 1½ games behind AL West-leading Houston.
GIANTS 3, METS 1 » San Francisco’s Madison Bumgarner hit an RBI double for the only earned run off New York ace Jacob deGrom and topped him on the mound, too.
In his first appearance in New York since tossing a four-hit shutout in the 2016 NL wild-card game, Bumgarner (5-5) allowed one run on five hits in eight innings. He struck out eight and walked none.
Bumgarner extended his scoreless streak at Citi Field to 33 innings before Todd Frazier homered to begin the seventh. The big lefty is 7-0 with a 1.42 ERA in eight starts against the Mets.
RAYS 4, ROYALS 3 » A throwing error on Kevin Kiermaier’s bases-loaded grounder in the ninth inning helped Tampa Bay complete a four-game sweep of Kansas City.
Sergio Romo (3-3) worked a perfect ninth as Tampa Bay improved to a season-high six games over .500 (67-61) with its fifth consecutive victory.
TIGERS 7, WHITE SOX 2 » Matthew Boyd pitched six scoreless innings and Ronny Rodriguez hit his first career home run to lift Detroit over Chicago.
Rodriguez also hit an RBI double, and Nicholas Castellanos and Mikie Mahtook homered off James Shields (5-15).