Red-hot Dickerson keys 9th in row
CINCINNATI — Corey Dickerson homered for the fifth time in four games and the Pirates beat the Reds 9-2 on Sunday for their ninth straight victory.
Dickerson and Starling Marte hit consecutive homers off Matt Harvey in a four-run second.
Dickerson went 4-for-5 and finished the series with 21 total bases, helping the Pirates outscore the Reds 27-5. Gregory Polanco and Sean Rodriguez also homered as the Pirates swept the Reds for the first time since 2013.
“The bats showed up,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “Really,
Dodgers: Matt Kemp homered twice and Manny Machado drove in his first run as a Dodger in an 11-2 win over the Brewers. Machado went 2-for-5 and scored a run. Chris Taylor had three RBIs for the NL West leaders, who amassed 15 hits. The Brewers have lost eight of nine.
Diamondbacks: Zack Greinke allowed two hits and struck out a season-high 13 in eight innings as the Diamondbacks snapped the Rockies’ seven-game winning streak 6-1. Greinke walked one and improved to 5-0 with a 1.14 ERA in his last five starts. Nick Ahmed drove in three runs for the D’backs. Paul Goldschmidt struck out three times, giving him nine in the three-game series. everything did, but the offense was out in front of things.”
Harvey was tagged for eight runs on eight hits in 32⁄ innings. The right-hander is expected to be traded ahead of the July 31 deadline. Harvey hadn’t allowed a home run in six starts before surrendering four Sunday.
“When you don’t execute pitches and leave stuff over the middle of the plate, a hot team is going to make you pay,” he said. “I went back and looked at the tape. The slider wasn’t doing a whole lot, and the fastball was coming back over the plate.”
The Pirates had 15 hits as they won for the 11th time in 12 games
A’s: Marcus Semien scored from second on Matt Chapman’s infield chopper in the 10th and Jeurys Familia got the win in his A’s debut, a 6-5 victory over the Giants. Khris Davis and Matt Olson each homered twice.
Red Sox: Chris Sale struck out nine in six scoreless innings and Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a three-run homer to lift the Red Sox over the Tigers 9-1. Sale allowed two hits, lowered his ERA to an AL-best 2.13 and won his sixth straight decision. The Red Sox are 19-4 in their last 23 games.
Nationals: Bryce Harper homered, Max Scherzer struck out seven in six innings and the Nationals beat the Braves 6-2. Anthony Rendon had two RBIs. and moved two games above .500. The nine-game streak is their longest since June 2013.
Ivan Nova allowed two runs on five hits in 62⁄ innings. The right-hander also singled off the wall in right-center in the sixth, ending his hitless slide at 63 at-bats.
“Finally,” he said. “That’s one of the cooler moments I’ve had in baseball. Some of the guys asked me why I didn’t have a double, but I was OK with a base hit.”
Marte extended his hitting streak to a career-high 15 games, the majors’ longest active streak.
The last-place Reds have lost four in a row.
Angels: Mike Trout drove in a teammate for the first time since June 19, homering in a 14-5 rout of the Astros. Trout’s only RBIs in that stretch had come on solo home runs. The Angels set a season high for runs and stopped a three-game losing streak.
Rays: Daniel Robertson hit a walk-off pinch grand slam for a 6-4 win over the Marlins. Chris Archer stuck out 13 in six innings.
Mets: RHP Noah Syndergaard is headed back to the DL after contracting hand, foot and mouth disease. The team thinks he caught the virus at a baseball camp for kids during the All-Star break. Manager Mickey Callaway said the Mets think Syndergaard will miss only one start.