Dodgers blank Cards in Puig’s return
LOS ANGELES — Clayton Kershaw allowed one hit and struck out 11 in eight innings against his October nemesis, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0 Saturday night with a big swing from Yasiel Puig in his return from the disabled list.
Puig snapped a scoreless tie in the seventh with an RBI double after missing the previous 39 games because of a strained left hamstring.
Kershaw (5-3) outpitched Jaime Garcia and lowered his ERA to 3.36. The left-hander led the majors in that category each of the past four seasons.
Kershaw lost to St. Louis in the finale of the 2013 NL Championship Series and the final game of the 2014 Division Series, making him 0-4 with a 7.15 ERA in his last four playoff starts against the Cardinals.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Cubs 4, Nationals 2 at Washington: Jason Hammel extended his mastery over Washington to an 11th impressive start, and Dexter Fowler had two hits and scored twice, leading the Cubs to a victory over the Nationals. Hammel (5-2) improved to 9-0 with a 3.01 ERA in 11 starts against the Nationals. Anthony Rizzo and Jonathan Herrera each had two hits and drove in a run for Chicago.
Giants 7, Phillies 5 at Philadelphia: Madison Bumgarner struck out 11, overcoming a grand slam by Jeff Francoeur to pitch San Francisco past Philadelphia. Bumgarner (7-2) gave up the slam and a solo homer by Andres Blanco. The reigning World Series MVP gave up six hits and walked none in eight innings. Bumgarner hit two singles and drove in a run as the Giants posted their fifth straight road win.
Rockies 10, Marlins 5 at Denver: Wilin Rosario homered twice, Carlos Gonzalez hit a three-run shot to back the solid pitching of Chris Rusin, and Colorado shrugged off another rain delay at Coors Field to beat Miami. The Rockies came out swinging, putting together a four-run inning in the first and a five-run inning in the fourth, when Rosario and Gonzalez teamed up to hit the first backto-back home runs by the Rockies this season.
Padres 9, Reds 7 at Cincinnati: Yonder Alonso’s second career grand slam pulled the Padres even in the seventh inning, and Matt Kemp singled with the bases loaded in the eighth, completing San Diego’s biggest comeback of the season for a win over Cincinnati. Alonso’s homer off Tony Cingrani tied it 7-7 and completed a comeback from a 6-1 deficit.
Braves 5, Pirates 4 at Atlanta: Christian Bethancourt lined Vance Worley’s first pitch in the ninth inning over the right-field wall for his first career homer, lifting Atlanta to a victory over Pittsburgh. Bethancourt had three hits, including the drive off Worley (2-4). Jason Grilli (12) pitched a perfect inning and the Braves ended Pittsburgh’s four-game winning streak.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Rangers 4, Royals 2 at Kansas City, Mo.: Wandy Rodriguez pitched seven strong innings and the Rangers defeated Kansas City for their seventh win in eight games.
Texas has won six straight series for the first time since 2012. The AL champion Royals have lost nine of 11.
Rodriguez (3-2), a 36-year-old lefty who signed with the Rangers in early April after Atlanta released him in spring training, gave up one run and six hits. He walked none and struck out four.
Shawn Tolleson gave up a home run to Salvador Perez in the ninth, but picked up his seven seventh save in as many opportunities.
Yordano Ventura (3-5) continued to struggle early, allowing four runs in the first two innings. He threw 78 pitches and was pulled after the third in his shortest outing of the season.
Red Sox 4, Athletics 2 at Boston: Joe Kelly pitched six solid innings to earn his first win since his initial start of the season, Hanley Ramirez hit a two-run homer and Boston beat Oakland. Ramirez also singled twice, David Ortiz hit an RBI double and Mike Napoli had a run-scoring single for the Red Sox, who won for the fourth time in six games.
Indians 2, Orioles 1 at Cleveland: Danny Salazar pitched impressively into the eighth inning to reach a career high in wins and Carlos Santana had a tiebreaking double as Cleveland beat Baltimore. Salazar (6-1) struck out 10 and allowed six hits and a run in seven-plus innings. Rangers shortstop Hanser Alberto turns a double play over the Royals’ Salvador Perez in Kansas City, Mo., as Texas beat Kansas City 4-2 Saturday. Baltimore’s only run came on Manny Machado’s third-inning homer.
Tigers 7, White Sox 1 at Chicago: David Price struck out 11 in a five-hitter and Miguel Cabrera homered as Detroit ended an eight-game losing streak, beating the White Sox. The four-time AL Central champion Tigers stopped their worst skid since 2005 and avoided falling below .500 for the first time this year. Detroit finished with 18 hits after averaging 2.75 runs per game during the slide.
Yankees 8, Angels 2 at New York: Brian McCann hit a tworun homer that helped chase Garrett Richards in a six-run first inning, and the Yankees didn’t have to fret in a win over the Angels on Saturday night that stretched their winning streak to five. The AL East-leading Yankees have scored six or more runs in the first inning four times, which they had not done since 1948, according to STATS.
INTERLEAGUE
Brewers 4, Twins 2 at Minneapolis: Carlos Gomez went 4 for 4 with a walk, tormenting his former team again with three RBIs over the last three innings to lift Milwaukee to a victory over Minnesota. Gomez hit a two-run tiebreaking single in the seventh and an RBI double in the ninth.