Cubs slip past Pittsburgh, 4-3
CHICAGO—Jason Heyward hit a tiebreaking RBI single with two out in the eighth inning, and the Chicago Cubs edged the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 on Friday in their first game after the All-Star break.
Kris Bryant set up Heyward’s winning hit with a one-out walk off Jason Crick (3-5). The All-Star slugger advanced on Victor Caratini’s two-out walk and then hustled home from second on Heyward’s crisp opposite-field hit to left, sliding home just ahead of the tag attempt by catcher Elias Díaz.
Randy Rosario (1-0) the fourth of five Cubs relievers, got the last out of the eighth for the win. Craig Kimbrel pitched a perfect ninth for his third save in four tries.
Chicago blew a late 3-0 lead before earning its third win in its last four games in the opener of an important nine-game homestand.
Nationals 4, Phillies 0
PHILADELPHIA— Stephen Strasburg struck out six in six innings, Victor Robles hit a two-run single and the Washington Nationals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-0 Friday night.
Strasburg (11-4) allowed seven hits and walked one, continuing his dominance over the Phillies. He’s 13-2 against them, 6-0 in Philadelphia.
The second-place Nationals have won 16 of 20 and moved 1 ½ games ahead of the struggling Phillies, who are 14-22 since leading the NL East by 3 ½ games on May 29.
Phillies starter Nick Pivetta (4-4) allowed three runs and six hits in five innings and lowered his ERA to 5.81.
The Nationals took a 2-0 lead in the second when Robles lined a single to right with the bases loaded.
Yankees 4, Blue Jays 0
NEW YORK—Domingo Germán cruised through six innings of three-hit ball, Edwin Encarnación hit a three-run double and the New York Yankees kicked off the second half with a 4-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night.
New York has won 17 of 21 and boasts the American League’s best record at 58-31.
Germán (11-2) threw just 78 pitches, 54 for strikes, and retired 15 in a row following Eric Sogard’s leadoff hit. The team leader in wins, he limited Toronto to three singles and did not walk a batter.
Pitching on eight days’ rest, the slender right-hander featured a biting curveball that led to six of his seven strikeouts, all swinging.
Playing in front of the largest crowd at Yankee Stadium this season, both starters traded zeroes until the bottom of the fifth, when Brett Gardner tripled against Aaron Sanchez (3-13) to lead off the inning. All-Star DJ LeMahieu’s groundout scored the speedy veteran to break the tie.
New York then loaded the bases on two hits and a hit batter before Encarnación lined a hard-hit double off the visiting bullpen wall, plating three for a 4-0 lead.
The former Blue Jays slugger has struggled since joining the Yankees in a mid-June trade with Seattle.
Rays 16, Orioles 4
BALTIMORE—Tampa Bay emerged from the All-Star break by scoring seven runs in the first inning, and the Rays got homers from Tommy Pham and Nate Lowe in a 16-4 rout of the error-prone Baltimore Orioles on Friday night.
Seeking to reach the postseason for the first time since 2013, second-place Tampa Bay resumed its pursuit of the Yankees in the AL East by reaching season highs in runs and hits (20).
Lowe led the charge with a career-high four hits and three RBIs, and Kevin Kiermaier had three hits, scored three runs and drove in two.
Given all that offensive support, Yonny Chirinos (8-4) had an easy time earning his first victory in six starts since June 7. The righthander gave up two runs and four hits over seven innings with eight strikeouts.