Rockies hold off Cubs’ late rally
CHICAGO — Rockies closer Greg Holland walked the bases loaded in the ninth inning before escaping, and Colorado held off the Chicago Cubs 5-3 Friday for their season-high sixth win in a row.
After three straight oneout walks, Holland retired Ben Zobrist on a short flyball and struck out Jason Heyward for his major leaguebest 23rd save. The Rockies posted their NL-leading 40th win this season and have their longest winning streak since 2014.
Chris Rusin (3-0) won in relief. Seth Frankoff (0-1) lost in his major league debut.
• Braves 3, Mets 2 — At Atlanta: Dansby Swanson turned a normal grounder up the middle into a hustle double, then dashed home on a single by pinch-hitter Rio Ruiz in the ninth inning to lift Atlanta over New York.
With one out in the ninth, Swanson hit a bouncer through the infield and ran hard out of the batter’s box. As center fielder Curtis Granderson took a casual approach to the ball, Swanson never let up as he rounded first base and slid head-first into second.
• Marlins 12, Pirates 7 — Giancarlo Stanton smashed a home run over the batter’s eye at PNC Park, Tyler Moore went deep twice as Miami pounded reeling Pittsburgh.
Stanton’s shot cleared the massive green wall beyond center field and was estimated at 449 feet by Statcast.
• Rangers 5, Nationals 2 — At Washington: Andrew Cashner quieted the National League’s top-hitting lineup, Jonathan Lucroy and Rougned Odor homered, and Texas topped Washington.
The Rangers advantage of three errors and won for just the fourth time in 15 games.
• Cardinals 3, Phillies 2 — At St. Louis: Aledmys Diaz hit a solo home run and Michael Wacha pitched six strong innings as St. Louis snapped a seven-game losing streak.
Earlier in the day, the Cardinals reassigned some members of the coaching staff and released veteran infielder Jhonny Peralta.
• Yankess 8, Orioles 2 — At New York: Aaron Hicks homered twice and rookie Jordan Montgomery pitched seven stellar innings to lead New York over Baltimore.
Starlin Castro also connected for the AL East leaders, who won their third straight. The Yankees have outscored rivals Boston and Baltimore 25-3 over the last three nights.
• Red Sox 5, Tigers 3 — At Boston: Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning to lift Boston over Detroit.
The Red Sox rallied for three runs in the inning, capped by Bradley’s two-out shot off Alex Wilson (1-3).
• Angels 9, Astros 4 — At Houston: Cameron Maybin starred in his return from the disabled list, finishing with three hits and a careerhigh four steals to help Los Angeles beat Houston.
Maybin missed nine games with an oblique injury. He doubled, had two infield singles and scored four times while moving into first place in the American League with 17 steals.
• Indians 7, White Sox 3 — At Cleveland: Edwin Encarnacion hit a go-ahead, two-run homer and Corey Kluber won his second straight start since coming off the disabled list as Cleveland beat Chicago.
Encarnacion had three hits.
• Brewers 8, Diamdbacks 6 — At Phoenix: Manny Pina had three hits — two doubles — and two RBIs and the Milwaukee Brewers ended Arizona’s nine-game home win streak with a victory over the Diamondbacks.
Jake Lamb hit a three-run homer for the Diamondbacks, losers at home for only the ninth time in 33 games this season. David Peralta added three hits and an RBI.
• Dodgers 7, Reds 2 — At Los Angeles: Justin Turner hit a two-run homer in his first at-bat off the disabled list, Enrique Hernandez added a solo shot and Rich Hill and Kenta Maeda combined on a five-hitter to lead the Dodgers to a victory over the Reds.
Reds starting pitcher Amir Garrett (3-5) left the game in the second inning after taking a hot comebacker off his bare left hand.
• Mariners 4, Blue Jays 2 — At Seattle: Danny Valencia and Jarrod Dyson had RBI singles as part of Seattle’s seventh-inning rally, and the Mariners beat the Blue Jays for their 10th win in 12 games.
Struggling to get anything started all night against Toronto starter Joe Biagini (1-5), the Mariners rallied with two runs in the seventh and managed to silence the thousands of Blue Jays fans who made the trip south from the provinces of western Canada for the weekend series.
• Padres 6, Royals 3 — At San Diego: Pinch-hitter Matt Szczur hit a go-ahead home run in the seventh inning and the Padres beat the Royals to snap a five-game losing streak.
Szczur was pinch-hitting for starter Jhoulys Chacin (55), who had given up a tying two-run homer to Salvador Perez in the fifth.