Braves beat Pirates to extend winning streak to 11
ATLANTA » Adam Duvall homered twice off José Quintana, William Contreras and Matt Olson also connected, and the Atlanta Braves won their 11th straight game, 5-3 over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday.
The defending World Series champion Braves began the day having trimmed five games off the New York Mets’ division lead since the winning streak started June 1. They were 5½ games back in the NL East.
This stretch is the club’s best since it won 14 in a row from July 26 to Aug. 9, 2013. During the streak, Atlanta has outscored opponents 74-30 with 22 homers. The pitching staff has a 2.32 ERA over the same span.
Pittsburgh has lost a season-high six straight games. The Pirates were swept for the fifth time this season. BREWERS 4, NATIONALS 1
WASHINGTON » Willy Adames homered and drove in three runs, and the Milwaukee Brewers snapped an eight-game losing streak with a victory over the Washington Nationals. Milwaukee’s Craig Counsell tied Phil Garner for the most managerial victories in franchise history with 563 as the Brewers snapped their longest skid since September 2015.
BLUE JAYS 6, TIGERS 0 DETROIT »
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered, Ross Stripling pitched one-hit ball for six innings and the Toronto Blue Jays went on to beat the Detroit Tigers. The Blue Jays took two of three from Detroit, giving them 13 victories in 17 games. Toronto has the third-best record in the American League, trailing the East-leading New York Yankees in its division and West-leading Houston. GUARDIANS 6, ATHLETICS 3 CLEVELAND » José Ramírez had three RBIs, including a two-run double in the first inning, to continue his torrid production and the Cleveland Guardians defeated the Oakland Athletics. Ramírez, who leads the majors with 59 RBIs, pulled a double down the left-field line that put Cleveland ahead after Oakland scored a run in the top of the inning. The threetime All-Star added an RBI groundout in the seventh and has driven in 25 runs over the last 21 games. RAYS 6, TWINS 0 MINNEAPOLIS » Jeffrey Springs threw two-hit ball into the sixth inning, Randy Arozarena stole two bases after twice getting hit by pitches and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Minnesota Twins. Springs continued his impressive transition to the starting rotation. He struck out five and walked two in 5 1/3 innings against a Twins team that had scored a combined 15 runs in winning the first two games of the series.
REDS 7, CARDINALS 6
ST. LOUIS »TJ Friedl hit a tie- breaking triple in the sev- enth inning and Tommy Pham added a solo homer
as the Cincinnati Reds beat Juan Yepez homered for the the St. Louis Cardinals to Cardinals, who have lost snap a four-game losing four of six. streak. Nolan Arenado and