Polanco lifts Pirates past Brewers

PITTSBURGH — Gregory Polanco doubled twice, drove in two runs and threw out a potential go-ahead run at the plate to lead the surging Pittsburgh Pirates to a 4-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night.

Brewers catcher Stephen Vogt left the game in the fifth inning after a collision with Pirates pitcher Chad Kuhl at the plate. Vogt caught an incidental elbow to the head from Kuhl, and both players were down for several minutes. Kuhl remained in the game, but Vogt had to be helped to his feet and left to be evaluated for a neck strain and left knee strain. Vogt held onto the ball and Kuhl was called out.

Polanco finished 4 for 4 and is hitting .446 this month. Francisco Cervelli added two hits for the Pirates, who pulled within six games of the first-place Brewers.

Daniel Hudson (2-4) picked up the win in relief of Kuhl when Polanco nailed Manny Pina at the plate in the sixth to preserve a tie. Polanco drove in Josh Bell in the bottom of the inning off Josh Hader (1-1) to put the Pirates in front. Felipe Rivero retired the last four batters for his seventh save. Steve Pearce hit a solo homer, then added the goahead single in the eighth inning in Toronto’s victory over the Boston Red Sox. The Blue Jays led 3-0 after two innings but AL Eastleading Boston scored three in the seventh, tying it when Dustin Pedroia hit Dominic Leone’s only pitch off the Green Monster to tie it. One run scored on the double, and Mookie Betts was thrown out at the plate. Seth Smith hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning and the Baltimore Orioles used a strong performance by its struggling pitching staff to beat the Texas Rangers. Smith connected off Andrew Cashner (4-8) to make it 2-1, Baltimore’s first lead since the All-Star break following a three-game sweep by the Chicago Cubs. Baltimore yielded 27 runs in that series, including 21 by the starters over 11 1/3 innings.