Leake pitches the Cardinals to 6-4 victory
MILWAUKEE — Mike Leake overcame some uncharacteristic wildness on the mound and helped himself at the plate.
Leake allowed two runs over six innings and drove in two runs to lead St. Louis to a 6-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, the Cardinals’ sixth win in seven games.
Leake (3-1) gave up three hits and three walks while striking out six. He scored a run in the third inning and his two-run single capped a three-run fourth when St. Louis took a 4-2 lead.
In his first three starts, Leake had walked just one in 21 1/3 innings. Two of his walks Sunday resulted in runs.
The Cardinals took advantage of six walks by Jimmy Nelson (1-1) and an error by the Brewers for their first four runs.
Reds 7, Cubs 5
CINCINNATI — With his high leg kick and belowthe-radar breaking balls, Bronson Arroyo showed the Cubs a little old-style pitching. Who needs to throw 90 miles per hour to beat the World Series champions?
The 40-year-old righty gave his best performance yet in his long comeback from elbow problems, pitching threehit ball over six innings, and the Cincinnati Reds salvaged a victory . Arroyo worked fast, varied the angles of his deliveries, and kept ‘em guessing with his minimalist pitches.
Arroyo (2-2) needed more than two years to recover from Tommy John surgery. The Reds gave him what amounted to a final chance this spring, and he’s back to fooling ‘em with his unusual repertoire. Jon Jay saw pitches of 67, 74, 83, 75 and 70 mph during one at-bat.
Arroyo allowed Anthony Rizzo’s two-run homer — his third of the series — and struck out seven batters for the first time since May 13, 2014.
Phillies 5, Braves 2
PHILADELPHIA — Cesar Hernandez has become an unlikely power hitter.
Hernandez, Aaron Altherr and Odubel Herrera hit consecutive homers in the eighth, Zach Eflin threw seven sharp innings and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves to complete a three-game sweep.
Matt Kemp went deep for the Braves, who have lost six in a row after winning five straight.
Pinch-hitter Michael Saunders lined a double to right leading off the bottom of the eighth off reliever Arodys Vizcaino (1-1). Hernandez followed with a drive to right for his fourth homer and a 3-1 lead.
Marlins 7, Padres 3
SAN DIEGO — Justin Bour capped Miami’s six-run sixth inning with a three-run homer.
The first six Marlins batters reached and scored in the sixth, helping Tom Koehler (1-1) to his first win of the season.
San Diego’s Luis Perdomo came off the disabled list and shut down the Marlins through five before hitting the wall in the sixth. Martin Prado hit a leadoff single, Christian Yelich walked and Giancarlo Stanton hit an RBI single to chase Perdomo.
Craig Stammen (0-1) came on and allowed Marcell Ozuna’s RBI double just past the glove of first baseman Wil Myers and J.T. Realmuto’s RBI single to left before Bour hit a no-doubter to right.
Rockies 8, Giants 0
DENVER — Kyle Freeland scattered six hits over seven sharp innings, Gerardo Parra hit a two-run homer and the Rockies finished off their first three-game sweep of the Giants at Coors Field since 2002.
Freeland (2-1) mixed a wicked sinker with a two-seam fastball to get 12 groundouts and three strikeouts. The Denver native also shattered three bats on a day when the Giants changed their lineup to try to break out of a hitting funk. It didn’t work as they lost for the sixth time in seven games. At 6-13, they’re off to their worst start since 1983.
Jeff Samardzija (0-4) remains winless after going 5 1/3 innings and surrendering seven runs.
Colorado leads the NL West with a 13-6 mark. It’s tied for the second-best start in franchise history.
Dodgers 6, Diamondbacks 2
PHOENIX — Brandon McCarthy gave Los Angeles a much-needed strong start, Yasmani Grandal homered in a six-run fifth inning and the Dodgers averted a sweep.
After scoring 24 runs in the first two games of the series, the Diamondbacks managed only a two-run homer for Paul Goldschmidt in the first. McCarthy (3-0) allowed five hits in seven innings.
Interleague Pirates 2, Yankees 1
PITTSBURGH — Ivan Nova spent more than six years with the New York Yankees, fluctuating between good and not-so good as they waited for him to develop consistency to go with his occasionally top-end-of-therotation stuff.
It never happened and the Yankees moved on last summer, sending Nova to the Pittsburgh Pirates at the trade deadline.
Nine months after leaving New York, Nova looks like the guy the Yankees wanted all along. Nova provided his old team with a close-up look at what it’s missing on Sunday, pitching four-hit ball over seven innings as the Pirates held on for a victory.