The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Dodgers blow out Brewers as Kratz pitches
MILWAUKEE » The Los Angeles Dodgers are a hit at the plate with new shortstop Manny Machado.
Matt Kemp could be the biggest beneficiary in what was already a potent lineup.
Kemp hit two solo homers and Machado drove in his first run since joining the Dodgers, who pounded out 15 hits in an 11-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday.
Chris Taylor had three RBIs for the NL West leaders, who scored five runs in the second and fifth innings. They took two of three against the Brewers in their first series since acquiring Machado in a trade with Baltimore during the All-Star break.
The Brewers trailed 11-2 going into the seventh, so Craig Counsell saved his bullpen and had position players close out the game on the mound. Utility player Hernan Perez tossed two scoreless innings before catcher Dock graduate Erik Kratz threw a scoreless ninth .
“You don’t want to be out there, but there is a benefit to it for later on down the road,” Kratz said. CUBS 7, CARDINALS 2 » Jose Quintana pitched seven effective innings, keeping Matt Carpenter in the ballpark and helping the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2 on Sunday.
Quintana (9-6) allowed two runs and six hits, struck out six and walked four in his first start since July 10. The left-hander also matched his career high with 121 pitches after he got an extended break to work with pitching coach Jim Hickey on his changeup and get over some shoulder fatigue. PIRATES 9, REDS 2 » Corey Dickerson homered for the fourth time in three days, and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds 9-2 on Sunday for their ninth straight victory.
Dickerson and Starling Marte hit consecutive homers off Matt Harvey during Pittsburgh’s fourrun second. Dickerson’s two-run shot extended his homer streak to four straight games, becoming the first Pirate to accomplish the feat since Josh Harrison in 2014. DIAMONDBACKS 6, ROCKIES 1 » Zack Greinke allowed two hits and struck out a season-high 13 in eight dominant innings, Nick Ahmed drove in three runs and the Arizona Diamondbacks snapped Colorado’s seven-game winning streak with a 6-1 victory Sunday.
The only hits off Greinke (11-5) were Ian Desmond’s solo home run in the fourth and Trevor Story’s one-out single in the seventh. The right-hander threw a season-high 111 pitches in his longest outing of the season. He walked one while improving to 5-0 with a 1.14 ERA in his last five starts. MARINERS 8, WHITE SOX 2 » Ryon Healy hit a pair of three-run homers for a career-best six RBIs, lifting the Seattle Mariners over the Chicago White Sox 8-2 Sunday.
Healy homered in a five-run first off Reynaldo Lopez (4-8) and in the eighth against Hector Santiago, giving him 20 homers and 53 RBIs this season. Healy had fiveRBI games against Colorado on July 8 and for Oakland versus Toronto on June 5 last year.
Marco Gonzales (11-5) won his fourth consecutive start, allowing two runs and four hits in 6 1/3 innings. He did not give up a hit or a walk in the first five innings.
Lopez (4-8) allowed five hits and four walks in five innings. RANGERS 5, INDIANS 0 » Rougned Odor drove in three runs, Ryan Rua hit a two-run homer and the Texas Rangers withstood the heat on a 108-degree afternoon to beat the Cleveland Indians 5-0 on Sunday, stopping a four-game losing streak.
Yovani Gallardo (4-1) and three relievers combined on a five-hitter against the AL Central leader, which had outscored Texas 25-11 in the first two games of the series.
The game time temperature was 102 degrees — 5 shy of the stadium record set Friday and matched Saturday — then rose in the afternoon sunshine.
Gallardo allowed three hits and four walks in six innings, his longest scoreless outing since Aug. 22, 2015, at Detroit. Jose Leclerc and Jake Diekman each pitched a one-hit inning, and Cory Gearrin got three straight outs on seven pitches. RED SOX 9, TIGERS 1 » Chris Sale struck out nine in six scoreless innings, and Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a three-run homer to lift the Boston Red Sox to a 9-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Sunday.
Sale (11-4) allowed two hits, lowered his ERA to an American League-best 2.13 and won his sixth straight decision. The Red Sox are 19-4 in their last 23 games, and the AL East leaders cruised through the finale of this series after scoring just one run in the previous two nights at Detroit.
Blaine Hardy (3-3) allowed four runs and five hits in three-plus innings. Jeimer Candelario homered for the Tigers in the seventh.
Sale has won each of his last five starts, allowing one run in 33 innings in that span. He had gone five straight starts with at least 11 strikeouts — and only one walk in each — but that streak came to an end when he was lifted Sunday after 99 pitches. ROYALS 5, TWINS 3 » Drew Butera hit a tiebreaking, three-run inside-the-park home run when center fielder Jake Cave failed in his attempt to make a diving catch in the seventh inning, and the Kansas City Royals beat Minnesota 5-3 on Sunday to take three in a row from the Twins and complete their first series sweep in a year.
Kansas City had not swept a series since last July 24-26 at Detroit, part of a nine-game winning streak. The Royals, who are 30-68, matched their longest winning streak of the season at three games, set May 22-23 at St. Louis and May 24 at Texas. BLUE JAYS 5, ORIOLES 4 » Yangervis Solarte hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning and the Toronto Blue Jays rallied from a three-run deficit to beat Baltimore 5-4 on Sunday and complete a three-game sweep of the struggling Orioles.
Toronto is 9-1 against the Orioles this season, including seven straight wins.
Baltimore has lost 20 of its last 25 games and is a big league-worst 28-72. The Orioles were swept in a three-game series for the eighth time this season and have been swept in three four-game series, including at Toronto in early June.