Cozart leads power surge with 2 homers, Reds beat Pirates

CINCINNATI — Zack Cozart hit two of Cincinnati’s four solo home runs and the Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-2, Friday.

Joey Votto and Scott Schebler both homered, sending the Pirates to their third straight loss and eighth in the past nine games.

Chad Kuhl gave up all four home runs, a single-game career high for the second-year right-hander. He previously hadn’t allowed more than two in any game and yielded only four over a combined 12 starts in July and August.

The Reds reached Kuhl (7-11) for eight hits with three walks and six strikeouts in 4 innings.

Homer Bailey allowed one run in 5 innings for his first win in six starts since Aug. 11. Bailey (5-8) gave up five hits and two walks with seven strikeouts. He also hit a batter.

Michael Lorenzen came in to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth and allowed a hit and a walk with two strikeouts in 1 innings. Raisel Iglesias allowed a run in 1 innings on Adam Frazier’s ninthinning, two-out triple, before getting Jordan Luplow to line out to left field for his 27th save.

Cozart went into the game with a careerhigh 20 home runs and added two in consecutive at-bats in the third, snapping a 1-1 tie, and fifth innings.

Votto gave the Reds a 1-0 lead in the first inning with his 35th of the season. Schebler added his 27th with two outs in the fifth.

Kris Bryant had three hits, including his 27th homer, and the Chicago Cubs overcame the ejections of John Lackey and Willson Contreras on their way to an 8-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Didi Gregorius hit a tiebreaking two-run homer and drove in four runs, leading the New York Yankees over the reeling Baltimore Orioles 8-2 Friday night for their fifth win in six games. Alex Wood threw six shutout innings, Corey Seager hit a three-run homer during a five-run second and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ rebound continued with a 7-0 win over the Washington Nationals.

The Boston Red Sox have been fined by Major League Baseball for using electronic equipment to steal signs given by a Yankees catcher this season, and New York has been fined a lesser amount for improper use of a dugout telephone in an earlier year. The discipline was announced Friday by baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred. The New York Times reported this month video clips sent to the commissioner’s office by the Yankees showed Boston assistant athletic trainer Jon Jochim looking at an Apple Watch during an August series. Jochim then relayed information to outfielder Brock Holt and second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who was seen passing information to Chris Young.

Major League Baseball has ruled that the Detroit Tigers did not intend to throw a pitch that struck the plate umpire in the shoulder and knocked him to the ground. MLB said Friday that Chief Baseball Officer Joe Torre reviewed the play and found no wrongdoing and no cause for disciplinary action. Umpire Quinn Wolcott was hit by a fastball from Detroit’s Buck Farmer during a game Wednesday at Cleveland. Rookie backup catcher John Hicks never touched the ball as it sailed past his mitt. The incident came two batters after Wolcott ejected Tigers catcher James McCann and manager Brad Ausmus over a close pitch to Cleveland’s Jay Bruce that was called ball four.