Hamels solid in debut as Cubs throttle Pirates

PITTSBURGH — Cole Hamels’ stuff was just as filthy as Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon remembered. The changeup. The breaking ball. All of it.

If the newly acquired veteran pitcher can figure out his fastball too, the NL Central leaders will be that much tougher to hang with heading down the stretch. Hamels shut down the Pittsburgh Pirates over five effective innings in his return to the National League on Wednesday night as the Cubs jumped out early and cruised to a 9-2 victory.

Hamels (6-9), brought over in a trade with Texas last week, gave up one unearned run on three hits. The four-time All-Star struck out nine and walked two to pick up his first win for a National League team in more than three years.

“You want to be able to win a game for a new team and the guys here,” Hamels said. “They’ve been playing outstanding baseball all season and you just kind of want to get in the mix. For them to be able to put up the runs early, kind of made my job a little bit easier.”

Chicago brought in the 34-yearold Hamels to give its patchwork starting rotation a boost. The lefthander struggled at times for the Rangers this season and came in having won just twice since Memorial Day. His new teammates did their best to put him at ease, staking him to a four-run lead before he even took the mound.

The Cubs batted around in the first against Nick Kingham (5-6) despite having the ball leave the infield just once. A pair of Pittsburgh errors helped, so did a wild pitch and a hit by pitch by Kingham, who is a leading candidate to lose his spot in the starting rotation after the Pirates traded for Chris Archer on Tuesday.

“It was a rough first inning all the way around,” Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. “There were some balls not hit hard that were well placed. We didn’t handle the ball well and (Kingham) had a guy caught and didn’t execute a play. His overall execution wasn’t what we’ve seen in the past.”

Willson Contreras went 3 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs for the Cubs. Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist had three hits apiece while Kyle Schwarber and Javy Baez each added two hits and an RBI for Chicago. Reliever Brandon Kintzler worked 11/3 innings of scoreless relief on his 34th birthday a day after arriving in a trade from Washington.

The centerpiece of Chicago’s deadline moves, however, was Hamels.

Though he never retired Pittsburgh in order and needed 95 pitches to record 15 outs, he had little trouble earning his 153rd career win and first for a National League team since pitching a complete-game shutout against the Cubs on July 25, 2015 while playing for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Hamels hit 96 mph on the radar gun and reminded his manager of the player who helped the Phillies to a World Series title in 2008 against Maddon and the Tampa Bay Rays. A decade later, Maddon finds himself sharing a dugout with Hamels instead.

“I’m really looking forward to

this,” Maddon said. “He’s very capable of getting on a nice role with high-end stuff because his stuff is still (good).”

NATIONALS 5, METS 3 As he slogged through a season at Triple-A Syracuse that didn’t appear to be leading anywhere, Tommy Milone started rediscovering the control that made him a reliable starter in the majors. Now, the 31-yearold left-hander is pitching meaningful games for a team trying to get back into playoff contention, and he’s making the most of the opportunity. Milone worked seven strong innings to get his first win in more than a year, Anthony Rendon homered and the Washington Nationals moved back above .500 with a 5-3 victory over the New York Mets on Wednesday. The Nationals followed their 25-4 blowout of the Mets on Tuesday night by jumping on Noah Syndergaard early. Bryce Harper hit an RBI single in the first and Rendon hit his 16th homer in the third. Rendon has six RBIs in two games since returning to the team after the birth of his first child.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

ASTROS 8, MARINERS 3 When the Seattle Mariners were rolling in the middle of June, it appeared unlikely anyone in their own division would be contending with them for one of the wild card spots in the American League. On Wednesday, the Mariners were knocked from the lead for the second wild-card in the AL, caught by division rival Oakland. Marwin Gonzalez hit two of Houston’s four home runs, and the Astros beat the Mariners 8-3, dropping Seattle into a tie with the Athletics in the wild-card race. Seattle led the A’s by 11 games in the middle of June, but has seen the entire lead disappear over the past six weeks. The Mariners were 21 games over .500 at 46-25 after a 1-0 win on June 16, while Oakland was just below .500 at 35-36. Seattle hasn’t played terribly in the following six weeks, but its 17-20 record is pedestrian compared to Oakland’s 29-10 mark and why the A’s have caught up so quickly. Both the Mariners and A’s are still looking up at Houston in the AL West.

ORIOLES 7, YANKEES 5 Sonny Gray was chased in the third inning by the team with worst record in the majors, big league-loss leader Alex Cobb ended a nine-start winless streak and the Baltimore Orioles beat the New York Yankees 7-5 Wednesday. Despite what appeared to be a midgame lecture in the dugout by third base coach Phil Nevin during a rain delay, New York (68-38) dropped 5½ games behind Boston (7534) heading into a four-game series at Fenway Park starting Thursday. This is the first time since the leagues split into divisions in 1969 that two teams in the same division began August with a winning percentage .640 or higher, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Gleyber Torres homered twice for the Yankees, a solo drive in the second and a three-run shot in the ninth. On an afternoon that began with a partly sunny sky, Gray left under dark clouds just before a 39-minute rain delay.

INDIANS 2, TWINS 0 The Cleveland Indians have turned this division race into a late-summer cruise, with the Minnesota Twins already in future-planning mode. Carlos Carrasco struck out 10 while taking a shutout into the eighth inning, winning his fourth straight start since returning from the disabled list to carry the Indians to a 2-0 victory over the Twins on Wednesday. Brad Hand recorded the last five outs for his second save in as many attempts with the Indians, who stretched their lead over the Twins in the AL Central to 10 games and improved to 32-15 in intra-division games this season. After the Indians acquired Hand and fellow reliever Adam Cimber from San Diego during the All-Star break, the Twins front office formally surrendered 2018

by trading five regulars in separate trades that fetched 12 players and only one current major leaguer.

ATHLETICS 8, BLUE JAYS 3 For a guy who has been a middle-of-the-order hitter most of his career, Jonathan Lucroy is quite comfortable anchoring the bottom of the Athletics lineup. Oakland’s veteran catcher proved that once again after convincing manager Bob Melvin to let him play in a day game following a night game. Lucroy drove in four runs to match his season high and the A’s completed a season sweep of Toronto, beating the Blue Jays 8-3 on Wednesday. The A’s won all seven games between the two teams this year for their first season sweep of the Blue Jays. Oakland also moved into a tie with Seattle for the second wild card. The Mariners lost to Houston 8-3. Franklin Barreto homered and had three RBIs for the Athletics.

RAYS 7, ANGELS 2 Rookie Willy Adames homered and drove in two runs on the day Tampa Bay gave him the regular shortstop job, leading the Rays to a 7-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday night. Adames drove in a run with a two-out single off Angels starter Nick Tropeano in the fourth inning, then scored on Mallex Smith’s triple, Adames led off the Rays sixth with his fourth home run to make it 4-2. Jake Bauers added a two-run homer in the ninth for the Rays, his ninth of the season and third in three games. Starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow and left fielder Tommy Pham played in their first game for the Rays a day after being acquired on the interleague trade deadline.

INTERLEAGUE

TIGERS 7, REDS 4 Mike Fiers got the Detroit Tigers off to a nice start. Too for him, it didn’t last long. Fiers exited soon after being hit in the left shin in the second inning, and the Detroit Tigers relied on their bullpen to beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-4 Wednesday for a two-game series sweep. Fiers was struck by a liner from Mason Williams, who wound up with a single when the ball caromed toward the first base line. Fiers finished the inning but didn’t come out for the third. X-rays on Fiers’ shin were negative. It was unclear whether he will make his next scheduled start. Drew VerHagen (2-2) followed as the first of six relievers and pitched three scoreless innings. Shane Greene pitched the ninth for his 23rd save in 26 chances.