Cubs win, but Braves’ Kazmar get top headline

Kris Bryant and Willson Contreras each homered twice at Wrigley Field as the Chicago Cubs beat Atlanta 134 in a game which featured the Braves’ Sean Kazmar Jr.’s return to the majors for the first time in 13 years.

Atlanta selected the contract of Kazmar, a 36yearold infielder, from its alternate training site before the game. He pinch hit in the fifth, grounding into a 463 double play. Kazmar had not played in the major leagues since Sept. 23, 2008, with the San Diego Padres.

“Definitely everything and then some,” Kazmar said. “What an amazing feeling.”

The gap between bigleague appearances was the greatest since that of righthander Ralph Winegarner, who played on June 23, 1936, for the Cleveland Indians and did not return to the majors until July 7, 1949, with the St. Louis Browns.

Dodgers 2, Padres 0: Mookie Betts made a diving catch with two men on for the final out and Clayton Kershaw (3-1) struck out eight in six innings of threehit ball — and he drew a basesloaded walk against Yu Darvish in the fifth, leading visiting Los Angeles to its eighth straight win.

Mets, Rockies split: New York’s Jacob deGrom struck out nine straight batters at Colorado, falling one shy of matching Tom Seaver’s major- league record, and finished with 14 strikeouts to win the doubleheader opener 4-3. In the nightcap, German Marquez pitched a two-hitter as the Rockies won 7-2 to stop a seven-game losing streak.

Astros 1, Mariners 0: Zack Greinke pitched eight sharp innings, Taylor Jones drove in the only run and visiting Houston ended a six-game skid.

Reds 3, Indians 2: Cleveland’s Josh Naylor lined into a triple play in the eighth inning, then let a routine grounder roll through his legs at first base with two outs in the ninth that led to host Cincinnati’s tying run. Pinch-hitter Tyler Stephenson’s single in the 10th won it.

Rays 6, Yankees 3: Manuel Margot hit a tie-breaking homer and Tampa Bay beat host New York, which is an AL-worst 5-9.

Nationals 6, Diamondbacks 2: Yan Gomes homered for host Washington and became the first catcher to throw out Tim Locastro on a steal attempt after 29 swipes to start his career.

Brewers 7, Pirates 1: Former A’s starter Brett Anderson pitched seven effective innings and host Milwaukee scored five times in the first, with every run coming with two outs.

Royals, Blue Jays split: Steven Matz (3-0) held host Kansas City without a hit into the sixth and Jonathan Davis and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered as Toronto took the opener 5-1. In the nightcap, Salvador Perez’s two-out, walk-off homer won it for Kansas City 3-2.

Cardinals 9, Phillies 4: Yadier Molina hit two home runs, doubled and drove in four runs for visiting St. Louis.

Red Sox 7, White Sox 4: Host Boston beat Chicago when Marwin Gonzalez homered to key a four-run rally in the eighth.

Orioles 6, Rangers 1: Trey Mancini had a tie-breaking RBI double in the eighth inning for visiting Baltimore.