ST. LOUIS -- Jake Arrieta got some help from the Chicago Cubs' offense to stay perfect.
Arrieta remained unbeaten on the season despite allowing as many as four runs for the first time in nearly a year and the Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 9-8 on Wednesday.
"I picked a good day to be [bad]," Arrieta said.
"I was aggressive but they had a good game plan coming in, and it was a good thing our offense was able to be extremely productive today."
Arrieta (9-0) joined the Chicago White Sox's Chris Sale as the only nine-game winners in the majors.
Arrieta allowed four runs in a regular-season game for the first time since June 16, 2015.
"We grind whoever it is," Cardinals Manager Mike Matheny said. "We acknowledge the fact that he's a good pitcher and has had a good start, but I think for us to give him too much credit and go up defeated, that's a bad route."
Arrieta became the first Cub to win his first nine decisions since Kenny Holtzman in 1967, and it is the best start to a season for the franchise since Jim McCormick went 16-0 in 1886.
The Cubs have won Arrieta's past 23 starts, a franchise record.
"There was not any good flow to his pitching today," Cubs Manager Joe Maddon said. "You look at the [radar] gun, everything's normal. The guy competes."
Kris Bryant hit a three-run home run and Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist each drove in two runs for the Cubs.
METS 2, NATIONALS 0 Steven Matz pitched a career-high eight innings to win his seventh consecutive start and help host New York defeat Washington.
GIANTS 4, PADRES 3 (10) Brandon Crawford singled in Matt Duffy with two outs in the 10th inning, and host San Francisco beat San Diego for their 13th victory in 14 games.
PIRATES 5, DIAMONDBACKS 4 David Freese hit a long two-run home run to cap a four-run fifth inning, Sean Rodriguez also homered and host Pittsburgh rallied for a victory over Arizona.
BREWERS 3, BRAVES 2 (13) Jonathan Villar's run-scoring single in the 13th inning gave Milwaukee a victory over the Braves, sending Atlanta to another home loss.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
TWINS 7, ROYALS 5 Miguel Sano hit the go-ahead two-run home run in the fifth inning after host Minnesota lost an early lead, and the Twins staved off another series sweep by beating Kansas City.
RANGERS 15, ANGELS 9 Rangers rookie Nomar Mazara hit the longest home run in the major leagues this season, Rougned Odor drove in three runs in likely his last game before a suspension and host Texas beat Los Angeles
INDIANS 4, WHITE SOX 3 Corey Kluber allowed two runs over 71/3 innings and visiting Cleveland roughed up a top White Sox pitcher for the second consecutive day in a victory over Chicago.
BLUE JAYS 8, YANKEES 4 Russell Martin hit his first two home runs of the season, Michael Saunders also went deep and visiting Toronto broke out its big bats again, halting New York's six-game winning streak.
ASTROS 4, ORIOLES 3 Evan Gattis hit a two-run home run and Luis Valbuena had a tiebreaking solo shot in the sixth inning that gave host Houston a victory over Baltimore.
INTERLEAGUE
PHILLIES 8, TIGERS 5 Odubel Herrera and Peter Bourjos homered off Anibal Sanchez, and visiting Philadelphia salvaged the finale of its three-game series by beating Detroit.
RED SOX 10, ROCKIES 3 Jackie Bradley Jr. extended his major league-best hitting streak to 29 games, Xander Bogaerts homered to extend his hitting streak to 18 games and host Boston beat Colorado for its fourth consecutive victory.
MARLINS 4, RAYS 3 Cole Gillespie had a late tiebreaking RBI single, Marcell Ozuna drove in two runs and visiting Miami beat Tampa Bay.
Sports on 05/26/2016