MLB capsules: Pirates score 10 in 1st, beat Cubs 14-3
Francisco Cervelli and Andrew McCutchen capped a 10-run first inning with consecutive homers off Jon Lester, helping visiting Pittsburgh pound Chicago 14-3 on Sunday.
Cervelli drove in five runs and Jordy Mercer had two hits and three RBIs as the Pirates closed out a 5-2 road trip with their fifth win in six games. All-Star Josh Harrison homered in the ninth and Chad Kuhl pitched three innings of one-run ball in an emergency start after Jameson Taillon was scratched due to flu-like symptoms.
Pittsburgh sent 15 batters to the plate in its highest-scoring inning since it got 10 in the seventh against Colorado on May 17, 2009. It was the first time it scored at least 10 in the first inning since June 8, 1989, against Philadelphia.
Cervelli hit his third career grand slam into the basket in left with two out. McCutchen followed with a drive to left-center for his 17th homer, chasing Lester and drawing a smattering of boos from a frustrated crowd of 41,604 at Wrigley Field.
Rockies 10, White Sox 0: Hometown rookie Kyle Freeland came within two outs of the first no-hitter by a Rockies pitcher at Coors Field before surrendering a sharp single to Melky Cabrera as Colorado beat the White Sox in Denver.
Freeland, who’s from Denver and grew up going to games at the hitter-friendly park, struck out the first batter of the ninth inning and then allowed Cabrera’s hit to left field on a 2-2 count.
The 24-year-old Freeland (9-7) threw 126 pitches. He was pulled immediately after the hit and left to a standing ovation.
The lefty struck out a career-high nine, walked three and hit a batter.
Freeland was trying to throw the second no-hitter in Coors Field history. Hideo Nomo accomplished the feat in 1996 when he was with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The only no-hitter in Rockies history was thrown by Ubaldo Jimenez in 2010 at Atlanta.
Brewers 5, Yankees 3: Travis Shaw and Stephen Vogt both homered and Milwaukee lengthened their surprising lead in the NL Central, topping host New York.
The Brewers have won nine of 11. At 50-41, they go into the All-Star break in first place for the fifth time in franchise history, 5 1/2 games ahead of the reigning World Series champion Chicago Cubs and St. Louis.
The Yankees (45-41) have not won a series since June 9-11 and are 3 1/2 games behind first-place Boston in the AL East.
Shaw hit a three-run homer in the first off Masahiro Tanaka (7-8). Vogt added a solo shot in the second, his fourth since being plucked off waivers from Oakland two weeks ago.
Jimmy Nelson (8-4) pitched five-plus innings of three-run ball. Corey Knebel notched a four-out save, his 14th in 18 opportunities.
Clint Frazier homered for the Yankees, the rookie’s second shot in as many days and his third in just seven games since his debut.
Astros 19, Blue Jays 1: Carlos Correa homered twice and drove in a career-high five runs as Houston romped into the All-Star break, battering host Toronto.
The runaway leaders in the AL West became just the fifth team in the last 40 years to reach 60 wins before the All-Star Game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. They joined the 1998 Yankees, 2001 Mariners, 2003 Braves and this year’s Los Angeles Dodgers, who got there Saturday.
At 60-29, Houston heads into the break with a whopping lead in a division where no one else is over .500.
Nationals 10, Braves 5: Anthony Rendon reached base four times, the Washington bullpen allowed two runs over 5 2/3 innings, and the Nationals beat visiting Atlanta.
Rendon scored twice and drove in a pair as the Nationals salvaged a split of the four-game series with the Braves to enter the All-Star break with a 9 1/2-game lead over Atlanta in the National League East.
Washington starter Joe Ross left the game with an apparent injury with one out in the fourth.
Reliever Matt Grace (1-0) allowed two runs, one earned, over 2 2/3 innings. Joe Blanton, Enny Romero and Matt Albers each threw a scoreless inning.
With Washington leading by one, Rendon provided an insurance run in the seventh. He walked, stole second and went to third on a throwing error by catcher Tyler Flowers, and scored on a Matt Wieters’ sacrifice fly.
Phillies 7, Padres 1: Freddy Galvis hit two of his team’s six home runs, Jerad Eickhoff threw five shutout innings, and Philadelphia topped visiting San Diego.
Rookie outfielder Nick Williams began the run of homers with his first in the majors during the second inning.
Cameron Rupp followed two batters later with another solo homer and Galvis hit a two-run shot in the third inning.
Odubel Herrera and Aaron Altherr added solo home runs in sixth and seventh innings respectively and Galvis went back-to-back after Altherr’s for his second of the game.
Eickhoff (1-7) returned from the disabled list with a strong start for the Phillies. He tied a season high with eight strikeouts and held the Padres to just five hits and a walk. He threw 71 pitches in his first start since June 17.
Cardinals 6, Mets 0: Tommy Pham, Paul DeJong and Luke Voit homered and Lance Lynn pitched seven innings of three-hit ball as St. Louis beat visiting New York.
It was Lynn’s longest outing since May 23, when he threw 123 pitches in eight scoreless innings in a 2-1 loss to Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers. Lynn’s two strikeouts is a season low, but he needed just 93 pitches while facing two batters over the minimum.
Lynn (7-6) did not allow a runner past first and lowered his ERA to 3.61.
Trevor Rosenthal struck out the side in the eighth and John Brebbia pitched a scoreless ninth as the Cardinals finished a 6-4 home stand and moved into a tie with the Chicago Cubs for second place in the National League Central.
Steven Matz (2-2) gave up five runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings, his shortest outing since June 3.
Marlins 10, Giants 8 (11): Giancarlo Stanton homered twice, the second coming after A.J. Ellis’ tiebreaking two-run home run in the 11th inning, and visiting Miami held on to beat San Francisco.
Miami blew a 7-4 lead when the Giants scored three runs off Kyle Barraclough in the eighth before Ellis and Stanton lifted the Marlins in extra innings.
J.T. Realmuto reached on shortstop Brandon Crawford’s throwing error leading off the 11th. After JT Riddle flew out, Ellis hit a tiebreaking two-run home run. It was Ellis’ first career pinch hit home run.
Stanton, who homered in the fifth off starter Johnny Cueto, then tacked on No. 26 against George Kontos (0-3).
The Marlins head into the All-Star break having won five of six.
Nick Wittgren (2-1) retired six batters for the win and A.J. Ramos pitched the ninth for his 17th save.
Reds 2, Diamondbacks 1: Homer Bailey went 6 2-3 strong innings, Scott Schebler doubled in the go-ahead run and Cincinnati beat Arizona in Phoenix, sending the Diamondbacks to their fifth loss in six games heading into the All-Star break.
Bailey (2-2) gave up a run on seven hits in his fourth start since returning from February surgery to remove small bone spurs from his elbow. He struck out five and walked four.
A.J. Pollock homered for Arizona, his first since a six-week stint on the disabled list with a groin injury. Patrick Corbin (6-9) allowed two runs in six innings but took the loss. The left-hander scattered seven hits and matched his season-high with nine strikeouts.
Raisel Iglesias pitched a perfect ninth for his 16th save in 17 tries.
Dodgers 5, Royals 2: Clayton Kershaw tossed a six-hitter to become the majors’ first 14-game winner, Justin Turner homered twice, and NL West-leading Los Angeles defeated visiting Kansas City to complete their major league-best 10th sweep and sixth straight victory.
The streaking Dodgers head into the All-Star break owning baseball’s best record of 61-29. They’ve won 18 of their last 19 at home, where they lead the majors with a 39-11 mark.
Kershaw (14-2) allowed two runs and six hits on 99 pitches, struck out 13 and walked none to set the Dodgers’ record for most wins at the break.
The All-Star left-hander, who won’t pitch in Tuesday’s showcase in Miami, is 10-0 over his last 13 starts, all Los Angeles victories. He allowed a run for the first time in four outings.
Danny Duffy (5-5) gave up five runs and six hits in seven innings. He struck out nine and didn’t walk anyone.
Rays 5, Red Sox 3: Brad Miller hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the eighth inning and the Rays took three of the four from AL East-leading Boston, beating the Red Sox in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Miller connected with two outs off Joe Kelly (3-1), sending a drive over the center field wall. Kelly had made a career-best 23 straight scoreless appearances.
Brad Boxberger (1-0) worked out of a two-on, two-out jam in the eighth before Alex Colome got three outs for his 25th save.
Tampa Bay, at 47-43, has 13 more wins than last year at the All-Star break and trails the Red Sox by 3 1/2 games.
Orioles 11, Twins 5: Adam Jones homered twice and drove in five runs to lead a 15-hit attack and Baltimore defeated Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Ruben Tejada and Seth Smith each had three hits for the Orioles, who won their second straight and earned a split of the weekend series.
Max Kepler had a double and a triple and Robbie Grossman drove in two runs for Minnesota, which reached the All-Star break at 45-43. It’s only the second time in the past seven seasons the Twins have been above .500 at the break.
Ubaldo Jimenez (4-4) worked five innings for his third win in his past five starts. He allowed four runs in the second inning, but otherwise held off the Twins.
Angels 3, Rangers 0: J.C. Ramirez outpitched All-Star Yu Darvish and Albert Pujols hit his 604th career home run as four Los Angeles pitchers combined to beat the Rangers in Arlington, Texas.
Ramirez (8-7) allowed two hits in six innings. Angels relievers allowed only one walk with Bud Norris earning his 13th save with a perfect ninth inning.
Ramirez made his 16th straight start since mid-April after his previous 108 career appearances in the major leagues were in relief. The 28-year-old was moved into the starting rotation after Los Angeles lost multiple starters to injury.
Darvish (6-8) gave up two runs while pitching 7 1/3 innings. He allowed three hits, fanning six and walking four in a start that cost him a potential appearance in Tuesday night’s All-Star Game.