The beat goes on for Pittsburgh
CHICAGO—Kris Bryant had three hits and scored a run while batting leadoff for the first time in his career, Ian Happ made a spectacular diving catch near the left-field corner to end the game and the surging Chicago Cubs beat the slumping Pittsburgh Pirates 3-1 on Friday.
Bryant seemed comfortable at the top of the order after manager Joe Maddon decided to put his superstar in a “different seat for the day” because he hasn’t been driving the ball with his usual force. He singled in his first three at-bats and scored in a two-run first inning, helping the Cubs win for the 10th time in 12 games.
Ian Happ sprawled out to grab Josh Harrison’s drive toward the corner against Pedro Strop with a runner on third and two out in the ninth. He also possibly saved a run in the third when he made a tumbling catch on Corey Dickerson’s shallow fly with runners on first and second. Happ made another neat grab in the sixth when he raced back and lunged to snag Colin Moran’s smash.
Mike Montgomery (2-1) went six innings, giving up one run and seven hits, in his third start with Yu Darvish on the disabled list because of right triceps tendinitis.
Ben Zobrist drove in two runs. Jason Heyward had two hits and a run, and Pedro Strop got the final four outs for his first save in two chances. He gave up a leadoff single to Colin Moran and threw a wild pitch to Jordy Mercer before retiring the last three batters.
The Pirates lost for the 10th time in 13 games, with Chad Kuhl (4-4) once again coming up short. The left-hander gave up three runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings, and is 0-2 in his past six outings. Both losses were to the Cubs, making him 1-6 in nine career starts against Chicago.
Yankees 4, Mets 1
NEW YORK—Brett Gardner hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer off Jacob deGrom on an eighth-inning changeup, and the New York Yankees beat the reeling Mets 4-1 Friday night in the Subway Series opener after losing Masahiro Tanaka to hamstring problems when the pitcher sprinted home to score his first major league run.
Tanaka allowed one hit, a home run into the second deck in right by Brandon Nimmo on his second pitch. The 29-year-old right- hander scored standing up on Aaron Judge’s sacrifice fly, then was replaced before the bottom of the sixth. The Yankees said Tanaka had tightness in both hamstrings.
Gardner’s home run, his fifth this season and fourth in his last 21 games, went just over the wall in right-center and followed Gleyber Torres’ second single off deGrom (4-1).
Giancarlo Stanton added a ninth-inning homer off Paul Sewald, his 22nd at Citi Field — the most among visiting players. It was the 100th home run of the season for the Yankees, the most in the major leagues.
A big league-best 41-18, the Yankees have won 32 of their last 41 games and are 23 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2012 season.
The Mets have lost seven straight and 12 of 14, and they have dropped nine straight home games. They are 16-34 following an 11-1 start.
Tanaka, 1 for 24 with a walk and a sacrifice in his career, reached in the sixth inning when first baseman Adrian Gonzalez allowed his grounder to bounce off the heel of his glove for an error. Tanaka took second on Torres’ single and advanced to third when Gardner walked.