Braves’ power surge is too much for Cubs
Nobody expected 5foot-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 the Cubs in Chicago 6-5 on Monday.
Julio Teheran 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 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 leaders off 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,” Flow- 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.”
Rays 2, Royals 1: Tampa Bay’s Adeiny Hechavarria danced around catcher Salvador Perez with an inventive slide at home plate to score the go-ahead run in Kansas City. Hechavarria dashed home on Matt Duffy’s single in the sixth, 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 touch the plate.
Angels 2, Astros 1: Andrew Heaney struck out 10 during a career-high eight innings of four-hit ball, and host Los Angeles pulled virtually even with Houston atop the AL West. Justin Upton singled home the tiebreaking run in the sixth inning for the Angels (25-16), who beat the defending World Series champions (26-17) for the third time in four meetings this season.
Brewers 7, D’backs 2: Pinchhitter Tyler Saladino dashed around the bases for an insidethe-park home run after Arizona center fielder A.J. Pollock was injured diving for the ball, and Milwaukee beat the slumping Diamondbacks in Phoenix. Pollock dived for Saladino’s line drive in the ninth inning, missed and rolled over his glove hand. He sat in center favoring his left arm while Saladino slid head-first for the 28th inside-the-park homer in club history.
Tigers 6, Indians 3: Niko Goodrum homered twice and drove in five runs as injuryplagued Detroit beat Carlos Carrasco and visiting Cleveland. Jose Ramirez hit his 13th homer for the Indians, but the AL Central leaders fell back to .500 and are only two games ahead of Detroit.
Mariners 1, Twins 0: First baseman Logan Morrison’s throwing error in the eighth inning accounted for the game’s only run as Seattle defeated host Minnesota after a long rain delay.
Rockies 6, Padres 4: Gerardo Parra hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the sixth inning and rookie Noel Cuevas went deep for the first time as Colorado beat host San Diego.