Cubs spot Pirates 4-run lead then power way to victory
Cardinals bash Brewers; Kershaw gets back on track, beats Mets
CHICAGO — Anthony Rizzo hit a grand slam and Willson Contreras launched two long solo homers as the Chicago Cubs kept pace in the NL wildcard race with a 17-8 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday.
Rookie Nico Hoerner hit a two-run shot for his first major league homer and had four RBIs for the Cubs, who entered tied with Milwaukee for the second NL wild card and four games behind NL Central-leading St. Louis.
Contreras, Hoerner and Nicholas Castellanos each homered in the first with the wind blowing out as Chicago scored five times — and then kept on rolling — after Pittsburgh jumped on Jon Lester for a 4-0 lead.
Hoerner elevated a low pitch to the center-field batter’s eye in his first plate appearance at Wrigley Field. He drove in two more runs with a single in Chicago’s seven-run fifth.
Lester (13-10) got the win despite allowing seven runs (four earned) on 11 hits in five innings. Alec Mills pitched the final three innings for his first save.
Pirates starter Steven Brault (4-5) was tagged for 10 runs on Chicago’s five homers in 2⅔ innings. CARDINALS 10, BREWERS 0: In St. Louis, Paul Goldschmidt hit a grand slam and a three-run homer to back Adam Wainwright, who pitched six innings of two-hit ball as St. Louis beat Milwaukee.
The win gives the Cardinals a five-game lead over the third-place Brewers in the NL Central. St. Louis remains four games ahead of the Cubs.
Wainwright (12-9) struck out seven and walked three.
In his past three games, he’s allowed one earned run in 20 innings.
DODGERS 9, METS 2: In New York, Noah Syndergaard again wobbled with Wilson Ramos as his catcher while Clayton Kershaw was right in the pocket, sending Los Angeles past New York.
Kershaw (14-5) stopped a rare three-start skid and improved to 10-0 in regularseason play against the Mets. Rookies Gavin Lux and Edwin Ríos homered to help the NL West champion Dodgers win their ninth in a row at Citi Field dating to 2016.
Coming off a four-game sweep of Arizona, Syndergaard (10-8) and the Mets fell flat. They dropped three games behind Chicago for the second NL wild-card spot.
ATHLETICS 14, RANGERS 9 : In Arlington, Texas, Khris Davis homered twice and Ramon Laureano connected on the game’s fourth three-run shot to break a tie in the sixth inning as Oakland stayed in front in the AL wild-card race with a victory over Texas.
Oakland remains half a game ahead of Tampa Bay. Cleveland, rained out at home against Minnesota, is 1½ games behind the A’s.
RAYS 11, ANGELS 4: In Anaheim, Calif., Charlie Morton improved to 15-6 as Tampa Bay beat LA.
Morton was supported by four Rays home runs.
BRAVES 5, NATIONALS 0: In Washington, Mike Soroka (12-4) allowed one hit over six innings, Ozzie Albies homered in Atlanta’s victory over Washington.
Atlanta moved 9½ games in front of Washington in the NL East and reduced its magic number to six. Washington leads the NL wild-card race.
Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman was lifted for precautionary reasons in the fourth inning with right elbow soreness. Atlanta’s Nick Markakis, back after missing 43 games with a fractured left wrist, had a single, a double and a sacrifice fly.
ORIOLES 6, TIGERS 2: In Detroit, in the first meeting in 50 years of major league teams both 50 or more games under .500, DJ Stewart and Trey Mancini homered to lead Baltimore past Detroit.
This was just the fourth time teams 50 or more games under .500 met, according to STATS, the first since Montreal played at San Diego on Aug. 29, 1969.
Detroit dropped to a big league-worst 43-103, its most losses since setting a team mark at 43-119 in 2003. Baltimore is 48-99.
ASTROS 4, ROYALS 1: In Kansas City, Mo., George Springer hit a tie-breaking, three-run homer in the ninth inning and Gerrit Cole win his 13th straight decision as Houston beat Kansas City to stop a threegame losing streak.
Kyle Tucker singled with one out in the ninth of Heath Fillmyer (0-2) and pinch-hitter Michael Brantley walked. Josh Reddick struck out and Springer followed with his 35th homer.
Cole (17-5) struck out 11 in eight innings. BLUE JAYS 6, YANKEES 5
(12): In Toronto, Bo Bichette hit his first game-ending home run, a 12th-inning drive that gave Toronto a win over New York.
Toronto at 58-90 is trying to avoid losing 100 games for the first time since 1977-79, its first three seasons. REDS 4, DIAMONDBACKS 3: In Phoenix, Joey Votto got the scoring started in the third inning with a two-run homer as Cincinnati beat Arizona.
The Diamondbacks have lost five in a row coming off a four-game sweep by the Mets in New York. ROCKIES 10, PADRES 8: In Denver, Nolan Arenado hit his 40th home run and Trevor Story connected twice to lead Colorado past San Diego Padres.
Jeff Hoffman (2-6) got his first victory since May 29 against Arizona, allowing four runs on four hits in 5⅓ innings. GIANTS 1, MARLINS 0: In San Francisco, Tyler Beede allowed three hits in 6⅓ innings and Buster Posey drove in the game’s run as San Francisco beat Miami. TWINS-INDIANS, PPD.: In Cleveland, the opener of a three-game series between Minnesota and Cleveland has been postponed because of rain.
It will be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader on Saturday.