NATIONAL LEAGUE

Arenado makes return to lineup to pound Padres

DENVER -- To fire up Nolan Arenado, just give him a day off.

His manager mandated he sit a game, and Arenado stewed over it for a night before taking it out on the baseball.

Arenado lined three home runs as part of his five-hit afternoon and tied a career-high with seven RBI, helping the Colorado Rockies complete a three-game sweep of the San Diego Padres with an 18-4 victory Wednesday.

"I don't like days off," Arenado said. "I know they're important and, obviously, I'm playing well after them."

That's an understatement. In games after not being in the lineup this season, the All-Star third baseman is hitting .583 with 4 home runs and 13 RBI.

"We'll have to look at that a little closer," joked manager Bud Black, whose team has scored 49 runs during its four-game win streak. "We don't want to give him every other day off."

Trevor Story and Charlie Blackmon also hit home runs on a day when the Rockies had a season-high 21 hits. Gerardo Parra ran his streak of reaching base to 10 consecutive plate appearances over three games before flying out in the fifth. He finished with four singles.

Arenado had two RBI singles to start the game, followed by solo shots in the fourth and fifth innings, and a three-run home run in the sixth. He had a chance at a fourth home run in the eighth and lined out to left.

CUBS 8, BRAVES 2 Mike Montgomery hit his first home run and allowed 2 hits and 1 run in 6 innings to lead streaking Chicago over host Atlanta. Javier Baez hit a three-run home run in the eighth for Chicago, which stretched its season-best winning streak to six games since the All-Star break. The Cubs completed a three-game sweep of the Braves.

PIRATES 3, BREWERS 2 (10) Max Moroff got his first career game-ending hit with a single in the 10th inning, lifting host Pittsburgh over Milwaukee.

PHILLIES 10, MARLINS 3 Daniel Nava tied a career high with four hits and Philadelphia had a season-best 20 hits to beat Miami and win a road series for only the third time this season.

METS 7, CARDINALS 3 Jacob deGrom pitched into the seventh inning and won his career-best seventh consecutive start and host New York beat St. Louis. New York jumped on Mike Leake (6-8) for seven runs in the first two innings.

REDS 4, DIAMONDBACKS 3 (11) Host Cincinnati ended its five-game losing streak with a victory capped by Adam Duvall's bases-loaded single in the 11th inning. The Reds had lost all five games since the All-Star break, including Arizona's 11-2 victory on Tuesday night that featured nine extra-base hits by the Diamondbacks.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

RED SOX 5, BLUE JAYS 1 Dustin Pedroia drove in three, Drew Pomeranz pitched three-hit ball into the seventh inning and host Boston beat Toronto. Pomeranz (10-4) allowed an unearned run over 6 2/3 innings to win his fourth consecutive decision.

TWINS 6, YANKEES 1 Miguel Sano hit a three-run home run, Jose Berrios went strong into the seventh inning and host Minnesota beat New York to win its first home series against the Yankees in nine years. Berrios (9-3) allowed only one run, his fewest in 11 starts, on a two-out single by Brett Gardner in the seventh before being removed.

MARINERS 4, ASTROS 1 James Paxton had another strong start against Houston and rookie Ben Gamel powered the offense with a two-run home run to give visiting Seattle a victory over the Astros. Paxton (9-3) allowed 6 hits and 1 run in 7 innings.

ORIOLES 10, RANGERS 2 Kevin Gausman pitched six innings of four-hit ball, Adam Jones hit a home run and scored three runs and host Baltimore beat faltering Texas. Trey Mancini contributed two hits in a seven-run seventh inning, including a bases-loaded triple, and Jonathan Schoop finished with three hits and three RBI.

ATHLETICS 7, RAYS 2 Sonny Gray struck out six pitching into the seventh in what might have been his final home start in Oakland if the club tries to deal him before the trade deadline, and the Athletics rallied in the fifth inning to beat Tampa Bay. Matt Joyce hit a towering home run to the right-field seats in the eighth for Oakland.

ROYALS 4, TIGERS 3 Brandon Moss doubled off the wall in the ninth to score the tying run, and Alex Gordon drove him home with a sacrifice fly to give host Kansas City the victory.

INTERLEAGUE

GIANTS 5, INDIANS 4 Buster Posey pinch hit a two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the eighth inning and host San Francisco defeated Cleveland. Posey, on a scheduled rest day, doubled off the wall on a 3-2 slider on the seventh offering from Indians reliever Bryan Shaw (2-4).

DODGERS 9, WHITE SOX 1 Kike Hernandez had two home runs to lead the surging Los Angeles Dodgers in a rain-shortened game over the host the Chicago White Sox, spoiling the debut of top prospect Yoan Moncada.

Sports on 07/20/2017

Upcoming Events