Brewers shut out Chicago again
MILWAUKEE—Lorenzo Cain homered and Jhoulys Chacin combined with three relievers on a six-hitter to give Milwaukee its second straight shutout of Chicago.
Chacin (6-1) allowed four hits in six innings, striking out seven and walking four to win his sixth consecutive decision. Jeremy Jeffress pitched the seventh, Josh Hader struck out the side in the eighth and Cory Knebel finished with a perfect ninth for his sixth save.
Mike Montgomery (2-2) allowed only two hits in six innings, both by Cain. He struck out four and walked one in his fourth start since replacing injured Yu Darvish in the rotation.
Cain drove a 3-1 pitch over the wall in left with one out in the third for his eighth homer. He also opened the first inning with a single. The Brewers improved to 3-8 this season against the Cubs and moved 1 1/2 games ahead of second-place Chicago in the NL Central.
PIRATES 5, DIAMONDBACKS 4
PHOENIX—Jordy Mercer homered and had three RBIs, Jameson Taillon pitched seven effective innings and Pittsburgh beat Arizona to avoid a sweep.
The Pirates blew a five-run lead in the opener and were knocked for 13 runs in the second game. Pittsburgh ended Arizona’s sweep bid with a four-run second inning against Zack Greinke (5-5) and a sterling performance by Taillon (4-5).
Taillon gave up a two-run homer to David Peralta in the first inning when the ball popped out of left fielder Austin Meadows’ glove and over the wall. Taillon worked out of a jam in the second inning and allowed two runs on six hits to help end Arizona’s five-game winning streak.
Felipe Vazquez gave up a tworun single to pinch-hitter Jon Jay in the ninth before striking out Jake Lamb with the bases loaded for his 12th save.
MARINERS 8, ANGELS 6
SEATTLE—Mitch Haniger hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning to give Seattle a sweep of the three-game series with Los Angeles.
After Jean Segura singled to center off reliever Oliver Drake (0-1), Haniger launched his 16th homer of the season over the leftfield wall. Nelson Cruz and Ryon Healy also homered for Seattle, and Healy’s upper-deck shot in the eighth inning tied it at 6-6.
The Mariners have won six of their last seven games and 11 of their last 13. Roenis Elias (2-0) worked two scoreless innings of relief, and Seattle starter Marco Gonzales allowed seven hits and three runs in five innings. Angels starting pitcher Garrett Richards left the game after two innings because of tightness in his left hamstring.
RAYS 1, BLUE JAYS 0
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.—Matt Duffy’s RBI single with two outs in the ninth drove only run in Tampa Bay’s victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday.
Duffy drove in Mallex Smith, who doubled with one out and moved to third base on a ground ball. Diego Castillo (1-0) got his first major league win after pitching two innings of relief.
Ryan Tepera (3-2) pitched the final 1 2/3 innings for the Jays, who were swept in the three-game series and have lost five of six to the Rays this season.