Triple A call-up Rivas leads Cubs’ 21-0 rout
Alfonso Rivas had three hits and five RBIs, and the Chicago Cubs stopped a four-game slide by pounding the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates 21-0 on Saturday.
Rivas, who was recalled Friday from Triple A
Iowa, capped Chicago’s eight-run second with a three-run homer. He tacked on RBI singles in the fourth and fifth.
Rivas is 5 for 11 over his two stints with the Cubs this year.
“He’s pretty in tune to what’s going on,” manager David Ross said.
The Cubs finished with 23 hits in their most lopsided shutout win dating to at least 1901. Their 21 runs were their most since scoring 26 at Colorado on Aug. 18, 1995, and their 21-run margin was their largest since beating the Boston Braves 24-2 on July 3, 1945.
Nico Hoerner collected a career-high four hits. Each player who batted for the Cubs (7-8) collected at least one hit and scored at least one run.
The Pirates (7-8) have lost four of their last six games. It was the largest loss in Pirates history, and the 21 runs equaled the most they have allowed since May 25, 1954, at the New York Giants.
Cardinals 5, Reds 0: Dakota Hudson pitched 62⁄3 innings of one-hit ball, Paul Goldschmidt drove in two runs with a sixthinning double, and St. Louis dealt host Cincinnati its 11th straight loss.
Hudson entered the game with a 7.71 ERA but had little trouble with Cincinnati's hitters, limiting them to two hits.
The Reds have lost 11 straight.
Brewers 5, Phillies 3: Willy Adames stole home, Hunter Renfroe homered and Adrian Houser tossed six solid innings to lead visiting Milwaukee.
Trailing 3-0 in the fifth, the Brewers tied the game on RBI singles by Jace Peterson, Adames and Christian Yelich.
The steal of home came next. Yelich was on first and took off for a steal. Adames ran home and easily scored when catcher J.T. Realmuto’s throw skidded to second base and trickled into center field.
Giants 5, Nationals 2: Alex Wood pitched five effective innings and San Francisco's bullpen closed it out in Washington.
Wood (2-0) allowed two runs and four hits. The left-hander struck out five and walked one. His career ERA at Nationals Park rose slightly to 2.85 in eight starts. It is second-best among all active pitchers (minimum 40 innings pitched) behind Jacob deGrom’s 2.80.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Yankees 6, Guardians 5: The only catch Cleveland right fielder Oscar Mercado was able to make in the ninth inning was a beer can thrown at his face.
Some fans in the rowdy right-field bleachers at Yankee Stadium pelted Cleveland outfielders with bottles, cans and debris in a chaotic scene moments after New York rallied for the win.
Rather than celebrating after Isiah Kiner-Falefa and pinch-hitter Gleyber Torres got RBI hits with two outs in the ninth, stars Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and other New York players rushed toward the wall in rightcenter field, trying to calm the crowd.
Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase was one strike away from preserving a
5-4 lead when Kiner-Falefa hit a 100 mph fastball for a tying double. Before play resumed, Mercado pointed at the stands and center fielder Myles Straw climbed the chain-link fence in left to confront face-to-face at least one fan.
Torres followed by lining a single to right-center for the game-winner. As Mercado and Straw chased the ball in the gap, several fans began throwing objects at them.
“One came close to my face and I caught it. It was a beer can," Mercado said.
Twins 9, White Sox 2: Minnesota starter Dylan Bundy (3-0) permitted four hits in five scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 0.59 this season.
AThe White Sox lost their sixth straight. Outfielder Eloy Jiménez was carted off with a hamstring injury after trying to beat out a grounder in the second.
Rangers 2, Athletics 0: Brad Miller hit a key single in the eighth inning that drove in two runs after a replay review initiated by the umpires in Oakland.
With two men on, Miller lined a 1-1 pitch to left. The first runner scored easily but pinch-runner Eli White was thrown out at home.
The Rangers lost an earlier challenge, so they could not appeal. But the umpires initiated a crew chief review and overturned the initial call, rul- ing catcher Sean Murphy illegally blocked the plate.
Blue Jays 3, Astros 2: George Springer hit a lead- off homer in the first game against his former team, and Santiago Espinal hom- ered for the second straight game for visiting Toronto.
INTERLEAGUE
Tigers 13, Rockies 0: Miguel Cabrera homered for his 1,000th career hit. He homered for his 2,000th, too.
No. 3,000 didn't travel quite as far. But the grounded single elevated him even more among the greatest hitters in baseball history.
Cabrera needed only one at-bat to deliver his longawaited milestone hit, quickly reaching the mark as host Detroit routed Colorado in the opener of a day-night doubleheader.
He added a bases-loaded single in the sixth, then was pulled for a pinchrunner and drew another ovation as he trotted off.
He kept moving up the chart with a bloop single for hit No. 3,002 in the first inning of the nightcap.