Slumping Cubs rally to beat Rays, 7-3
CHICAGO — Jon Jay connected for his third career pinch-hit homer and Ian Happ hit a tiebreaking, two-run single an inning later, helping the Chicago Cubs rally for a 7-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday.
The Cubs appeared to be headed for their sixth loss in eight games before Jay drove a 1-2 pitch from Erasmo Ramirez (4-3) over the wall in left-center for a tying three-run shot with two outs in the sixth.
Jay then popped out of the dugout for a curtain call, obliging the crowd of 39,855 on a picturesque day at Wrigley Field.
Happ got his big hit in the seventh, driving in Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo with a bouncer up the middle against Tampa Bay’s drawn-in infield.
Pedro Strop (3-2) pitched a scoreless seventh for the win. Carl Edwards Jr. and Koji Uehara worked the eighth, and All-Star Wade Davis got three outs.
In New York, Dellin Betances forced in the goahead run with four walks in the eighth inning, and Toronto beat the Yankees after wasting a five-run lead.
Justin Smoak and Kendrys Morales hit backto-back home runs in the third off Michael Pineda, who also allowed Kevin Pillar’s leadoff homer in the fourth.
Russell Martin tied the score at 6 with a seventh-inning homer against Chad Green, then walked to drive in the go-ahead run in the eighth against Betances (3-4).
Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 29th home run, tying Joe DiMaggio’s Yankees rookie record set in 1936, and Ji-Man Choi homered in his Yankees debut.
In Milwaukee, Matt Garza pitched into the seventh inning and Keon Broxton hit a tworun homer to lift the Brewers to a three-game sweep of Baltimore.
Garza allowed five hits and two walks with four strikeouts over 6⅓ innings for his first scoreless outing of the season.
In Atlanta, George Springer drove in the goahead run in the seventh inning, Josh Reddick and Marwin Gonzalez each had three RBIs and streaking Houston beat the Braves.
Houston has won four straight and 12 of 15 to improve to 58-27 overall, best in the majors. The first three batters — Springer, Jose Altuve and Reddick — went 8 for 15 with six RBIs in this one and hit a combined .581 in the twogame series with 15 RBIs in 31 at-bats.
In Philadelphia, Gerrit Cole pitched six strong innings and drove in his first runs of the season with a tiebreaking two-run single to lead the Phillies over Philadelphia.
Cole (7-7) rebounded from a poor outing Friday against San Francisco and a shaky first inning against the Phillies, allowing two runs and seven hits with eight strikeouts and one walk. The right-hander struck out the side in his final inning.
In Oakland, Calif., Sonny Gray pitched six mostly sharp innings for the Athletics to beat Chicago for the second time in two weeks.
Jed Lowrie had three hits and two RBIs, Bruce Maxwell doubled in two runs and Jaycob Brugman homered to help the A’s to their second straight home win following eight consecutive losses at the Coliseum.
Gray (4-4) allowed a two-run homer to Matt Davidson, the only blemish during an otherwise strong outing. Todd Frazier also homered for the White Sox, a two-run shot in the ninth.
In Cleveland, Cory Spangenberg hit a tworun homer, Luis Perdomo won his third straight start and San Diego got another rare road win, beating the Indians as the Indians played again without manager Terry Francona.
Perdomo (4-4) allowed one earned run in five innings and continued his turnaround after a rough start this season. The right-hander didn’t get his first win until his 11th start and is 4-1 since June 12.
In Detroit, Ty Blach took a shutout into the seventh inning, and San Francisco held off a late Tigers rally.
The Giants led 5-0 before the Tigers scored four times in the seventh. Blach (6-5) was pulled after allowing a two-run single to Victor Martinez, and San Francisco needed three relievers to get through the inning.
In Minneapolis, Parker Bridwell tossed six scoreless innings, Kole Calhoun hit his 12th home run and Los Angeles edged the Twins to avoid a road sweep.
Bridwell (3-1) outpitched All-Star Ervin Santana while scattering four hits and stranding seven runners. Cameron Maybin stole home on a double steal in the sixth, giving the Angels a two-run cushion that helped end their threegame losing streak.
In St. Louis, Giancarlo Stanton homered twice, his 22nd career multihomer game, and Marcell Ozuna and Justin Bour also went deep as Miami beat the Cardinals. Stanton went 3 for 4 with a walk while driving in four runs.