Swanson, Gausman carry Braves over Pirates

BRAVES 6, PIRATES 1

PITTSBURGH — Dansby Swanson had two homers and four RBIs, Kevin Gausman breezed through eight innings and the Atlanta Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-1 on Tuesday night.

Swanson’s first homer gave the Braves a 2-0 lead in the fifth before he sent another two-run shot into nearly the same spot in the left field bleachers, extending the lead to 5-0 in the seventh. Kurt Suzuki doubled down the left-field line, scoring Ozzie Albies from first for the third run. Tyler Flowers scored on a wild pitch in the ninth to make it 6-0.

Gausman (8-9) gave up four hits with five strikeouts and two walks, helping the NL East-leading Braves take the first two legs of the threegame series.

Ivan Nova (7-8) allowed Swanson’s first home run after retiring his initial 10 batters, including the first nine on 29 pitches. Ender Inciarte singled to center for Atlanta’s first hit with one out in the fourth.

Nova got through six innings on 78 pitches (51 strikes), but was removed when Josh Harrison pinch-hit with one out and the Pirates trailing 2-0 in the sixth. He allowed two runs and four hits with four strikeouts.

Harrison singled and the Pirates eventually loaded the bases with two outs, but Gausman got out of the jam when Josh Bell grounded out to short.

Gregory Polanco led off the ninth with a home run off Chad Sobotka for Pittsburgh’s lone run.

The Pirates had allowed one run in each of their previous five games, but were 2-3 during that st

METS 6, GIANTS 3 Rookie Jeff McNeil went 4 for 4 and hit a go-ahead double with two outs in the eighth inning that sent the New York Mets over the San Francisco Giants 6-3 Tuesday night. McNeil equaled his career high by getting four hits for the second time since making his major league debut last month. Michael Conforto homered and drove in four runs. Evan Longoria hit a two-run homer for the Giants, who fell to 3-5 on an 11-game road trip — they’ve scored two runs or fewer five times. Longoria’s drive was San Francisco’s first homer since Andrew McCutchen connected last Wednesday. With the score tied at 2, Jose Reyes led off the Mets eighth with a triple off the center field fence. Tony Watson (4-5) got pinch-hitter Todd Frazier on a popout and struck out Amed Rosario before McNeil delivered. Conforto added a three-run homer after the Giants intentionally walked Wilmer Flores. Corey Oswalt (3-2) pitched three scoreless innings. Seth Lugo

worked the ninth, giving up on a run when Austin Slater hit an RBI single off right fielder Jose Bautista’s glove.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

BLUE JAYS 8, ORIOLES 2 Justin Smoak and Kendrys Morales hit back-to-back home runs, Aledmys Diaz and Billy McKinney also connected, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat Baltimore 8-2 on Tuesday night, improving to 9-0 at home against the struggling Orioles. Blue Jays righthander Sam Gaviglio (3-6) pitched seven innings to snap a 15-start winless streak, earning his first victory since May 25 at Philadelphia. Gaviglio allowed two runs and six hits. Smoak and Morales chased right-hander Dylan Bundy with solo blasts two pitches apart in the fifth. Smoak’s homer was his team-high 19th. Morales, who homered twice in Monday’s 5-3 win, has hit four home runs in his past three games, giving him 17 on the season. Morales finished 3 for 4 with two RBIs while McKinney went 2 for 3 with three RBIs. Every Blue Jays starter had at least one hit except for second baseman Devon Travis, who went 0 for 4 and reached on an error in the first.

RAYS 4, ROYALS 1 Blake Snell helped Tampa Bay match a team record with 27 consecutive shutout innings and the Rays beat the Kansas City Royals 4-1 on Tuesday night. The scoreless stretch ended when Snell (15-5) allowed a fifth-inning solo homer to Ryan O’Hearn. Snell struck out 11 and gave up four hits in six innings. The left-hander has 13 straight home starts of allowing one earned run or fewer, which is longest stretch in the majors since 1913, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Since returning from a stint on the disabled list for left shoulder fatigue Aug. 4th, Snell is 3-0 and has given up two earned runs over 20 innings in four starts. O’Hearn has five homers in 14 career games for the Royals, who dropped to 50 games (38-88) under .500. INDIANS 6, RED SOX 3 Rookie Shane Bieber took a shutout into the seventh inning, Melky Cabrera homered for the second straight game and the Cleveland Indians beat the Red Sox 6-3 Tuesday night in a matchup of AL division leaders. Yan Gomes also homered for the Indians, who have won nine of 10 and the first two of the four-game series at Fenway Park. Boston, with the best record in the majors, has lost three in a row for just the second time this season. Bieber (7-2) went 6 1-3 innings, allowing three runs on five hits. He struck out five and didn’t walk a batter. Down 5-0, Boston scored three times in the seventh. Brad Hand got his 25th save as the Indians improved to 15-4 in August. Nathan Eovaldi (5-5) had been 2-0 in four starts for the Red Sox since coming over from Tampa Bay in a trade at the deadline.

INTERLEAGUE

TIGERS 2, CUBS 1 Jordan Zimmermann pitched six effective innings, Victor Martinez had three hits and the Detroit Tigers beat the slumping Chicago Cubs 2-1 on Tuesday night. Zimmermann (6-5) allowed seven hits, struck out five and walked one, continuing Chicago’s misery. Drew VerHagen, Joe Jimenez and Shane Greene combined for three innings of one-hit relief, closing out Detroit’s second win in seven games. The NL Central-leading Cubs were held to one run via homer for the fifth straight game, dropping the last three in the offensive slide. This time, Anthony Rizzo led off the sixth with his 19th homer, falling to his knees as he drove Zimmermann’s first pitch over the wall in right. But that was it once again for Chicago. Help could be on the way after the Cubs acquired Daniel Murphy in a trade with Washington before the game. The three-time All-Star missed the start of the season because of knee surgery, but is hitting .340 (35 for 103) since the All-Star break. Detroit got both of its runs in the first inning against Kyle Hendricks.