Murphy, Schwarber, Baez power Cubs over Reds

NATIONAL LEAGUE CUBS 10, REDS 6

CHICAGO — Daniel Murphy can’t fully explain his success at Wrigley Field. He’s just happy he now calls the storied old ballpark home.

Murphy and Kyle Schwarber each hit a two-run homer, Javier Baez added a solo shot and the Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 10-6 on Saturday for their fourth straight win.

Murphy homered for a second straight day and is batting .407 (48 for 118) with nine homers in 31 career regular-season games at Wrigley — all but three of them before he joined the Cubs in a trade this week.

His batting average is the highest among active players with a minimum of 100 at-bats at the ballpark.

“I don’t know,” Murphy said when asked to explain his success. “I just know, day games, if I’m able to get this old body going, I feel like I see the ball better during the day.”

Baez was 2 for 4 with a walk and three RBIs. The homer was his 28th and he leads the NL with 97 RBIs.

NL-Central leading Chicago has gone deep in 10 consecutive games, amassing a total of 17 homers during that stretch.

Curt Casali homered and had four RBIs, and Preston Tucker added a pinch-hit homer for Cincinnati, which has dropped four straight.

Jose Quintana (11-9) allowed two runs on six hits in five-plus innings — walking three and striking out two — to get his first win since Aug. 3. METS 3, NATIONALS 0 Bryce Harper and the Washington Nationals were shut out for the third game in a row, something that had never happened since the team moved from Montreal, as Zack Wheeler and the New York Mets posted a victory. Amed Rosario and Todd Frazier hit solo home runs to back Wheeler, who pitched seven innings and won his seventh straight decision. The Nationals fell to 64-66 — they’ve already lost more games than they dropped last year in going 97-65 to take their second consecutive NL East title. AMERICAN LEAGUE

WHITE SOX 6, TIGERS 1 Lucas Giolito pitched seven sharp innings in his third straight quality start, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers. Giolito (10-9) allowed a run and three hits, lowering his ERA to 5.85. It’s still the worst mark in the major leagues of anyone who qualifies for the ERA title, but the 23-year-old right-hander has been a bit better since the All-Star break. He walked one and struck out six against Detroit. Kevan Smith hit a two-run homer for the White Sox, and Mikie Mahtook went deep for the Tigers.

RAYS 5, RED SOX 1 Kevin Kiermaier tripled to key a two-run sixth inning, Tommy Pham homered and the Tampa Bay Rays won their seventh straight game by beating the major league-leading Boston Red Sox. The surprising Rays will try to become the first team to sweep Boston in a series this season in Sunday’s finale of the three-game set. Tampa Bay is a season-high eight games over .500 (69-61). The Rays have allowed three or fewer runs in seven consecutive games. YANKEES 10, ORIOLES 3, GAME 1 Miguel Andujar homered and had four RBIs, J.A. Happ pitched six sharp innings to win his fifth Saturday’s games NATIONAL LEAGUE Chicago Cubs 10, Cincinnati 6 N.Y. Mets 3, Washington 0 Miami 3, Atlanta 1 Pittsburgh 9, Milwaukee 1 Colorado 9, St. Louis 1 San Diego at L.A. Dodgers (n) AMERICAN LEAGUE N.Y. Yankees 10, Baltimore 3, 1st game Tampa Bay 5, Boston 1 Chicago White Sox 6, Detroit 1

N.Y. Yankees 5, Baltimore 1, 2nd game Oakland 6, Minnesota 2

Kansas City 7, Cleveland 1 Houston at L.A. Angels (n) INTERLEAGUE San Francisco 5, Texas 3 Toronto 8, Philadelphia 6 Seattle at Arizona (n)

straight start with the Yankees and New York beat the Baltimore Orioles in the opener of a split doubleheader. After Andujar drove in a first-inning run with a groundout, the 23-yearold rookie put the Yankees up 5-2 in the third with a three-run shot off Jimmy Yacabonis (02). Brett Gardner, Gleyber Torres and Aaron Hicks added solo shots for the Yankees, who have won six of seven to move a season-high 34 games over .500 (81-47). INTERLEAGUE

BLUE JAYS 8, PHILLIES 6 Aledmys Diaz hit a go-ahead three-run double in the eighth inning and the Toronto Blue Jays rallied to beat Philadelphia, handing the slumping Phillies their sixth loss in seven games. Philadelphia led 6-5 to begin the inning but Seranthony Dominguez (1-5) loaded the bases by giving up a hit, a walk, and hitting a batter. Victor Arano came on and struck out Teoscar Hernandez for the second out before Diaz cleared the bases with a double over the head of center fielder Odubel Herrera. Toronto won its fifth straight, its longest streak since May 21 to 27, 2017.

GIANTS 5 RANGERS 3 Andrew Suarez pitched seven scoreless innings of three-hit ball and the San Francisco Giants beat the Texas Rangers. Brandon Crawford and Hunter Pence homered. Nick Hundley added two walks and scored for San Francisco. Hours after manager Bruce Bochy confirmed that sixtime All-Star catcher Buster Posey is headed for season-ending hip surgery, San Francisco did the bulk of its scoring in the first inning then held on behind Suarez and three relievers for a rare win at AT&T Park.