Reds, Gray cool off Cubs; Brewers pull into a tie
The Chicago Cubs were shut down by Sonny Gray and two relievers Tuesday night, falling 4-2 to the Cincinnati Reds in a loss that hurt their playoff positioning.
Chicago had won five in a row, outscoring its opponents 59-18 during the stretch. But it managed just two runs against Gray (117) before Michael Lorenzen and Raisel Iglesias closed out the five-hitter for Cincinnati.
The Cubs dropped into a tie for the second NL wild card with Milwaukee, which held off San Diego for a 3-1 victory. They also missed out on an opportunity to gain ground on NL Central-leading St. Louis, which lost 6-2 to Washington.
NATIONALS 6, CARDINALS 2 >> Howie Kendrick finished a triple shy of hitting for a cycle, Patrick Corbin pitched six strong innings, and Washington beat St. Louis.
St. Louis maintained its two-game lead in the NL Central over the secondplace Chicago Cubs, who lost to Cincinnati. The Nationals increased their lead for the NL’s top wild card to 1 ½ games over the Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers.
Corbin (13-7) struck out 11 while giving up two unearned runs and five hits in six innings. He walked four in his second win in two starts at Busch Stadium. The last one came May 20, 2016, when he pitched for the Diamondbacks.
Daniel Hudson got the last six outs for his fourth save.
Miles Mikolas (9-14) pitched six innings before he was lifted for a pinchhitter. He allowed three runs on eight hits and became the first Cardinals pitcher to lose 14 games in a season since Braden Looper went 12-14 in 2008. BREWERS 3, PADRES 1 >> Mike Moustakas hit his 35th homer, and Milwaukee earned its 11th win in 12 games. Lorenzo Cain also went deep as the Brewers moved into a tie with the Chicago Cubs for the NL’s second wild card. They also pulled within two games of NL Central-leading St. Louis.
Moustakas connected against Matt Strahm (5-9) in the seventh, giving Milwaukee a 2-1 lead. Trent Grisham added a sacrifice fly in the eighth.
Matt Albers (8-5) got the win, and Drew Pomeranz worked two innings for his second save.
Hunter Renfroe hit his 32nd homer in the seventh for San Diego, which matched a season high with its sixth straight loss. ROOKIE HITS FOR CYCLE >> Rookie Cavan Biggio hit for the cycle, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the host Baltimore Orioles 8-5. Biggio homered in the third inning, singled in the sixth, doubled in the eighth and tripled in the ninth. He drove in four runs and scored three times.
Biggio and his father, Craig, a Hall of Famer with the Houston Astros, are the second father-son duo in major league history to hit for the cycle, joining Daryle and Gary Ward.
It was also the first time an opponent hit for the cycle in the 27-year history of Camden Yards.
YANKEES 8, ANGELS 0 >> Luis Severino pitched four dominant innings in his injurydelayed season debut for the Yankees. A two-time All-Star and the ace of the Yankees staff, Severino got hurt while warming up before his first scheduled spring training appearance on March 5.
While Severino was back on the mound, the Yankees announced reliever Dellin Betances partially tore the Achilles tendon in his left foot in his season debut Sunday at Toronto. INDIANS 7, TIGERS 2 >> Adam Plutko pitched six effective innings, rookie Oscar Mercado homered and Cleveland beat Detroit for the 15th straight time.
Cleveland has won 16 of 17 in the season series, with Detroit’s only win coming on April 10 at Comerica Park. Plutko (7-4) allowed two runs and four hits in his first win since he beat Detroit on Aug. 27.
Mercado hit a solo drive off Zac Reininger (0-3) in the second for his 12th homer.
Dawel Lugo homered in the fifth for Detroit. Víctor Reyes singled in a run in the third.
ASTROS 4, RANGERS 1 >> Justin Verlander (19-6) picked up his major league-leading 19th win and Yuli Gurriel, Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez all homered to help Houston beat Texas. The Astros are a win away from their third straight 100-win season and have a magic number of one to clinch a playoff berth and three to capture their third straight American League West title.
Verlander added to his case for the AL Cy Young Award by striking out eight and scattering four singles over six scoreless innings. PHILLIES 5, BRAVES 4 >> Rhys Hoskins and Jose Pirela hit two-run homers off Dallas Keuchel in Philadelphia’s five-run fourth inning and the Phillies escaped in the ninth to beat Atlanta 5-4 on Tuesday night and prevent the Braves from moving closer to clinching the NL East.
Vince Velasquez (7-7) gave up two runs in the first before recovering with four straight scoreless innings. The right-hander allowed five hits in five innings. METS 6, ROCKIES 1>> Rookie Pete Alonso hit one of three New York home runs in the sixth inning, and the Mets gained ground in the National League wild-card race.
Amed Rosario and Brandon Nimmo also went deep to help New York end a twogame skid. Marcus Stroman (9-13) tossed seven shutout innings, allowing just four hits and a walk while fanning seven.
New York is now four games behind the Chicago Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers for the second NL wild card with 11 games remaining. Rosario and Alonso had two hits and two RBIs apiece, and Wilson Ramos and Todd Frazier also had two hits each for the Mets.
Charlie Blackmon homered and had two hits, and Sam Hilliard also had two hits for Colorado, which had won four straight before Stroman shut the door in his second start at Coors Field this season.
His first appearance in Denver occurred June 1, when he was with the Toronto Blue Jays. Stroman took the loss in that game after allowing four runs (three earned) in seven innings. On Tuesday night, he allowed just Hilliard’s two hits through the first five innings and allowed harmless singles in the sixth and seventh.
RIVER CATS WIN (ANOTHER) TITLE >> The Sacramento River Cats clinched the Triple-A title on Tuesday with a 4-0 victory in a one-game championship over the Columbus Clippers.
Left-handed starter Caleb Baragar, a Double-A AllStar this season, tossed five innings of two-hit ball to lead the River Cats pitching staff while infielders Abiatal Avelino and Levi Michael each recorded three hits.
After sweeping Triple-A Round Rock in the Pacific Coast League championship series, the River Cats emerged as the top team in all of Triple-A with a victory over the International League champions on Tuesday at AutoZone Park in Memphis.