Willson Contreras’ grand slam highlighted an eight-run first, and Wade Miley yielded just one hit over seven strong innings, as the Chicago Cubs snapped a five-game home skid with Monday night’s 9-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Chicago led 4-0 when Contreras hit the 100th home run of his career, well into the left-center field bleachers off Bryse Wilson to clear the bases and essentially secure his team’s season-high third consecutive victory. Ian Happ and Yan Gomes each had three hits with an RBI for the Cubs.
A day after being no-hit but still winning 1-0 over Cincinnati, the Pirates’ offensive struggles continued while recording just three hits. Yoshi Tsutsugo and Rodolfo Castro each singled in the eighth for Pittsburgh, which has totaled six runs and been shut out twice while losing three of its last five.
Pirates starter Dillon Peters (3-1) faced just seven batters in the first. He was charged with five runs while giving up four hits and a walk over two-thirds of an inning. Wilson, meanwhile, lasted 5 1/3 innings, giving up four runs — three earned — with eight hits and two walks.
White Sox 5, Royals 3 (10 innings)
Luis Robert hit a two-out, two-run home run in the 10th inning to lead Chicago to a win at Kansas City.
Ryan Burr (1-1) pitched the ninth for the victory. Liam Hendriks picked up his 10th save by striking out all three batters in the bottom of the 10th.
Johnny Cueto made a spectacular White Sox debut, pitching six scoreless innings and allowing just two hits. Royals starter Brad Keller yielded three runs on eight hits in seven innings.
Tigers 3, Rays 2
Harold Castro hit a tiebreaking, two-out homer in the ninth inning as Detroit stunned Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg, Fla.
With the game tied at 2, Castro lifted an 0-1 fastball from Andrew Kittredge (3-1) deep to right-center for his first homer, making a winner of reliever Michael Fulmer (2-2). Closer Gregory Soto allowed a single but retired Mike Zunino with a flyout to center field to shut down the Rays in the ninth for his sixth save.
Jonathan Schoop hit a two-run homer, and Willi Castro went 2-for-4 for the Tigers, who won their fourth straight.
Brewers 1, Braves 0
Freddy Peralta racked up a season-high 10 strikeouts through seven shutout innings as Milwaukee opened a six-game homestand with a win over Atlanta.
Peralta (3-1) surrendered just two hits and walked one to lead the Brewers to their third win in four games. The right-hander is 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA over his past five starts.
On a night when both pitching staffs were in control, Milwaukee scored the lone run on a sixth-inning wild pitch by Ian Anderson (3-2). Anderson allowed the one earned run in six innings and gave up just four hits, walked two and struck out three.
Red Sox 6, Astros 3
Xander Bogaerts homered during Boston’s three-run eighth inning and Enrique Hernandez and J.D. Martinez both went 2-for-4 as the Red Sox defeated visiting Houston.
The hosts broke open the see-saw game against Houston reliever Hector Neris (1-2), ultimately earning their third win in four games. Matt Strahm (2-1) won in relief, working 1 2/3 scoreless innings of one-hit ball. He struck out three and walked none.
Michael Brantley (2-for-4) and Chas McCormick (2-for-3, home run) had multiple hits for Hosuton. Astros starter Jake Odorizzi collapsed as he came off the mound to cover first base on the grounder that ended the fifth inning, and he was stretchered off the field. The team later announced that he was dealing with lower left leg discomfort.
Dodgers 5, Diamondbacks 4
Chris Taylor hit a two-run home run and right-hander Tony Gonsolin pitched six strong innings as Los Angeles rallied past visiting Arizona to open a four-game series.
Gonsolin (4-0) gave up two runs on three hits for the Dodgers, who have won consecutive games after a season-high, four-game losing streak. Craig Kimbrel pitched the ninth inning for his sixth save, but not before giving up a two-run home run to David Peralta.
Christian Walker also homered for the Diamondbacks, while Ketel Marte had two hits. Arizona lost its third consecutive game and has dropped four of five.
Marlins 8, Nationals 2
Sandy Alcantara retired the final 20 batters he faced, leading host Miami to a win over Washington.
With his start moved up due to Jesus Luzardo being placed on the injured list on Sunday, Alcantara (3-2) allowed just three hits, one walk and one run in eight innings, striking out four. Miami finished with a season-high 16 hits, including three each by Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Bryan De La Cruz.
Washington starter Aaron Sanchez (2-3) took the loss, allowing eight hits, three walks and four runs.
Blue Jays 6, Mariners 2
Yusei Kikuchi pitched six scoreless innings, Bo Bichette and Matt Chapman hit solo home runs and Toronto defeated visiting Seattle.
Kikuchi (2-1), making his first start against his former team, allowed one hit and three walks while striking out six in the opener of a three-game series. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went 1-for-3 with a walk to extend his hitting streak to 13 games.
Seattle’s Chris Flexen (1-6) allowed three runs, six hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out seven. Eugenio Suarez hit a solo homer for the Mariners.
Yankees 6, Orioles 2
Jose Trevino blasted a three-run homer and Luis Severino allowed one run on one hit over six innings to lead New York past host Baltimore.
The Orioles pulled to within 4-1 on the first of Anthony Santander’s two solo home runs, as he hit one to right field as a left-handed hitter in the fourth before clearing the left-field fence as a right-handed hitter in the ninth, but it wasn’t enough to catch the Yankees.
Right-hander Jonathan Loaisiga held the Orioles scoreless in the seventh and Chad Green took care of the eighth before turning it over to Aroldis Chapman, who closed it out in the ninth.
Giants 7, Rockies 6
Mike Yastrzemski hit a go-ahead home run in the ninth inning, Curt Casali went deep twice and San Francisco beat Colorado in Denver.
Casali finished 3-for-4 with three runs and four RBIs. San Francisco’s Thairo Estrada and Darin Ruf had two hits each, John Brebbia (1-0) pitched a shutout inning for the win, and Camilo Doval earned his sixth save with a scoreless ninth. The Giants have won 11 straight against the Rockies dating back to last August.
Ryan McMahon homered among his two hits while C.J. Cron, Yonathan Daza and Randal Grichuk had two hits each for Colorado.
Twins 3, Athletics 1
Gary Sanchez doubled and homered as Minnesota opened a six-game road trip with a win over Oakland.
Reliever Yennier Cano (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings for his first career victory. Griffin Jax followed with two scoreless frames before Tyler Duffey retired the Athletics in order in the ninth for his first save of the season. Minnesota won for the third time in its past four games despite going 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
Elvis Andrus had two of Oakland’s four hits. The Athletics lost their third game in a row and fell to 5-14 over the past 19 games.
Rangers 7, Angels 4
Eli White singled twice in a six-run first inning, Jonah Heim homered and Texas earned a win over Los Angeles in Arlington, Texas.
After a slow start, Rangers starter Jon Gray (1-1) rebounded, and he gave his club a 5 2/3-inning outing. The right-hander was charged with four runs on eight hits and a walk while striking out eight. He picked up his first win as a Ranger.
Most of the action came in the first inning, as the teams combined for nine runs, with the Rangers scoring six times. Los Angeles starter Noah Syndergaard (3-2) didn’t make it through the first inning. He was charged with six runs (four earned) in two-thirds of an inning.
–Field Level Media
