Baseball Capsules: Aaron Hicks, Starlin Castro power Yankees past Cubs

Aaron Hicks tied a career high with four hits, Starlin Castro homered and drove in three runs against his former team, and the visiting New York Yankees pounded Brett Anderson and the Chicago Cubs 11-6 on Saturday night.

Hicks connected for a three-run homer in the eighth inning as the A.L. East leaders (19-9) earned their fourth straight win, extending their surprising start. Jordan Montgomery (2-1) pitched into the seventh for his first road win in his fifth major league start.

Castro, a three-time All-Star with the Cubs before he was traded to the Yankees in December 2015, hit an RBI double in New York’s five-run first. He drove a 3-1 pitch from reliever Felix Pena deep into the bleachers in left for a two-run shot in the fourth, giving the Yankees an 8-0 lead.

Anderson (2-2) allowed hits to six of his first seven batters before he was pulled with one out in the first with lower back tightness. He also committed a throwing error that brought in a run.

Nationals 6, Phillies 2: Ryan Zimmerman homered, drove in three runs and led Washington over host Philadelphia.

A.J. Cole (1-0) allowed a run over six innings in his first start of the season and helped the Nationals win their fourth straight game.

The Nationals lead the majors with a 21-9 record and won the last two games without 2015 N.L. MVP Bryce Harper. Harper strained his left groin on Thursday and could return to the lineup Sunday.

Zimmerman’s 13th homer of the season gave the Nationals a 2-1 lead and gave him a 13-game hitting streak. Anthony Rendon hit a three-run homer off Phillies starter Vince Velasquez (2-3) in the sixth.

Indians 3, Royals 1: Carlos Santana and Francisco Lindor hit back-to-back home runs with two outs in the ninth inning to lift Cleveland over Kansas City in Kansas City, Missouri.

Kelvin Herrera (1-1) gave up the home runs in a span of three pitches. Santana took a 2-0 pitch out to right-center. Lindor hit his eighth, which landed in the Indians’ bullpen.

Andrew Miller (2-0) picked up the victory, while Cody Allen earned his eighth save in as many opportunities.

The Royals led 1-0 going into the eighth, but the bullpen could not hold it. Joakim Soria, the third Kansas City pitcher, gave up three hits and the tying run in the eighth for his second blown save. Jason Kipnis’ two-out single scored Michael Brantley.

Pirates 2, Brewers 1 (10): Josh Harrison singled home Gift Ngoepe with one out in the 10th inning to lift host Pittsburgh over Milwaukee.

Ngoepe led off the inning with a single against Carlos Torres (1-3), advanced to second on a wild pitch and took third on pinch-hitter Jose Osuna’s fly ball. Harrison drove a ball over the head of right fielder Domingo Santana for his seventh career walk-off hit.

Tony Watson (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings for the Pirates.

Pittsburgh’s Gerrit Cole and Milwaukee’s Matt Garza each allowed a run over seven innings.

Dodgers 10, Padres 2: Clayton Kershaw pitched into the eighth inning, rookie Cody Bellinger hit a grand slam and drove in five runs and Los Angeles beat host San Diego.

Kershaw (5-2) allowed a run and five hits over 7 1/3 innings, striking out nine and walking four.

Ryan Schimpf had a pinch-homer in the eighth off Kershaw.

Clayton Richard (2-4) gave up five runs and seven hits while striking out five with a career high-tying six walks.

Mets 11, Marlins 3: Asdrubal Cabrera doubled to spark a five-run first inning against fill-in starter Odrisamer Despaigne (0-1), then joined New York’s long injury list when he hurt his left thumb and was forced to leave a rout of visiting Miami.

Jay Bruce drove in three runs with a pair of doubles, and Michael Conforto forced home runs with a pair of bases-loaded walks as the Mets won for the sixth time in eight games. Miami has lost nine of 11.

A sloppy evening included a 39-minute rain delay after Cabrera landed on his thumb diving for Marcell Ozuna’s ground single through the shortstop hole in the third inning.

Robert Gsellman (2-2) gave up three runs and eight hits in five innings for New York.

Orioles 6, White Sox 5: Dylan Bundy pitched six effective innings to earn his fourth straight victory, Trey Mancini homered and drove in three runs and host Baltimore beat Chicago.

Manny Machado hit his team-leading eighth home run for the Orioles, who will seek to complete a three-game sweep on Sunday.

Bundy (5-1) allowed three runs and six hits, walking one and striking out three.

Mychal Givens surrendered a two-run homer to Jose Abreu in the eighth before Darren O’Day worked the ninth for his second save. The Orioles are without a clear-cut closer after lefty Zach Britton was placed on the disabled list for a second time Saturday with a strained left forearm.

Still seeking his first major league victory, Chicago rookie Dylan Covey (0-3) gave up six runs and 10 hits in four-plus innings.

Rockies 9, Diamondbacks 1: Tyler Anderson matched a career high with 10 strikeouts, Mark Reynolds homered for the second consecutive game and Colorado routed Arizona in Denver.

Nolan Arenado also went deep and Charlie Blackmon added three hits for the Rockies, including a double and a run-scoring triple as the surprising N.L. West leaders moved 1 1/2 games ahead of Arizona.

Anderson (2-3) pitched out of early trouble and went six innings. He punctuated his outing by striking out six of his last seven batters.

Patrick Corbin (2-4), who entered with five straight quality starts, allowed a season-high eight runs and nine hits in four-plus innings.

Reds 14, Giants 2: Adam Duvall, Patrick Kivlehan and Eugenio Suarez each hit a solo home run in the first three innings, and host Cincinnati set a season high in runs for the second straight game with a rout of San Francisco.

Nine players drove in at least one run for the Reds, who got 18 hits and have scored 27 runs over a two-game span for the first time since May 2010 against Houston. Nine of Cincinnati’s 18 hits went for extra bases.

Reds rookie left-hander Amir Garrett (3-2) turned in his fifth start of six or more innings in six appearances.

Left-hander Ty Blach (0-2) became the first Giants pitcher to allow as many as 10 runs in one game since the San Diego Padres scored 10 in 5 1/3 innings against Jamey Wright during a 10-4 win at San Francisco on May 1, 2006.

Mariners 8, Rangers 2: Danny Valencia drove in two during Seattle’s seven-run seventh inning and the Mariners beat visiting Texas.

The Mariners sent 11 batters to the plate during their biggest inning of the season, getting five hits, a walk and a hit by pitch. Valencia’s single came off reliever Dario Alvarez, who then allowed an RBI double to Taylor Motter and a two-run single to Ben Gamel. The inning started with Gamel’s single off Martin Perez (1-5).

James Pazos (1-1) worked one inning in relief following rookie starter Chase DeJong for Seattle.

Red Sox 11, Twins 1: Rick Porcello pitched seven sharp innings and got some rare run support for his first victory since opening day, and Chris Young homered twice to lead Boston over Minnesota in Minneapolis.

After equaling last season’s loss total in less than a month, the reigning A.L. Cy Young Award winner finally got to pitch with a lead again when Boston took advantage of a costly Minnesota error and scored eight two-out runs in the second. Porcello (2-4) cruised the rest of the way, allowing only Robbie Grossman’s homer in the third.

Nick Tepesch (0-1) gave up seven runs – six unearned – in his first major league appearance since last June, and his second since the 2014 season.

Athletics 6, Tigers 5: Adam Rosales hit a two-run single off closer Francisco Rodriguez with two outs in the ninth inning, lifting Oakland over Detroit in Oakland, California.

Rodriguez (1-3) retired the first two batters before walking Bruce Maxwell. After Matt Joyce doubled, Rosales lined the first pitch he saw into left field. Maxwell scored easily and Joyce slid into home plate to beat the throw from Justin Upton.

Yonder Alonso homered twice, Ryon Healy also went deep and Frankie Montas (1-0) retired three batters for his first major league win for the A’s.

Angels 2, Astros 1: Andrelton Simmons singled in a run with one out in the ninth inning, helping Los Angeles defeat Houston in Anaheim, California, to break a three-game losing streak.

Bud Norris (1-1) picked up the win in relief, while Chris Devenski (2-2) took the loss.

Kole Calhoun walked to lead off the ninth, and Albert Pujols hit a single into short left field to send Calhoun to third with no outs. After Luis Valbuena struck out, Simmons hit a chopper to shortstop Carlos Correa, and Calhoun easily crossed home plate before the throw.

Cardinals 5, Braves 3: Mike Leake won his fourth straight decision, Matt Carpenter and Matt Adams homered and visiting St. Louis beat Atlanta.

Leake (4-1) allowed three hits, three runs, two walks and struck out two in seven innings. Cardinals closer Seung Hwan Oh earned his seventh save in eighth opportunities

Braves ace Julio Teheran (2-3) gave up nine hits, four runs, two walks and struck out three in five innings.

Rays 6, Blue Jays 1: Logan Morrison and Colby Rasmus hit two-run homers and Jake Odorizzi pitched seven strong innings for Tampa Bay in a victory over Toronto in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Odorizzi (2-1) gave up a run in seven innings, the seventh straight time the right-hander has given up two runs or fewer in starts against Toronto. Marco Estrada (1-2) gave up five earned runs in six innings.