WASHINGTON -- Stephen Strasburg and the Washington Nationals put a perfect finish on another rough day for the sputtering Chicago Cubs.
Strasburg struck out 13 in 7 innings, Bryce Harper had 2 doubles and 2 RBI, and the Nationals beat the Cubs 8-4 on Wednesday night.
Anthony Rendon and Matt Wieters hit back-to-back home runs against John Lackey (5-9) during Washington's four-run second inning. After the Cubs pulled within three at 6-3, Daniel Murphy went deep in the fifth.
The Cubs lost for the fourth time in six games to drop back to .500 at 39-39. They cut veteran catcher Miguel Montero after he criticized pitcher Jake Arrieta for his role in the Nationals' seven steals Tuesday night, and then reigning NL MVP Kris Bryant departed with a right ankle sprain.
"Things happen. You have to fix them when things happen," Cubs Manager Joe Maddon said. "You don't cry. Of course suboptimal, no question."
Bryant awkwardly clipped third base while catching a foul pop off the bat of Wieters in the sixth. He walked around gingerly before being helped off the field. An X-ray was negative and Bryant is expected to miss at least the next two games, according to Maddon.
"We have a game to win tomorrow," Maddon said. "[Bryant] will not be starting, obviously, so we'll try to figure it out in another way."
Strasburg (9-2) allowed three runs, two earned, and four hits before leaving with back spasms. He improved to 6-1 in his last nine starts.
"He had it going on tonight," Nationals Manager Dusty Baker said. "You could just sort of tell when he left last night that he was going to be ready. Today, he had that kind of look in his eyes."
Ryan Zimmerman drove in two runs for the NL East-leading Nationals.
METS 8, MARLINS 0 Steven Matz pitched seven innings and two relievers completed a seven-hitter, helping the visiting Mets to the victory. Asdrubal Cabrera and Curtis Granderson each hit a two-run home run in support of Matz (2-1), who allowed 6 hits, all singles, and 1 walk while lowering his ERA to 2.67 in 4 starts this year.
REDS 4, BREWERS 3 Scooter Gennett hit a two-run home run against the club that decided he no longer fit its rebuilding plans, and Billy Hamilton scored the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning for host Cincinnati. The Brewers lost starter Chase Anderson to a strained oblique. Anderson hurt his left side while striking out in the top of the second inning, a notable setback to the NL Central leaders.
GIANTS 5, ROCKIES 3 Jae-Gyun Hwang hit a home run in his major league debut, a tiebreaking drive in the sixth inning that helped the host Giants extend the Rockies' losing streak to a season-high eight games.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
INDIANS 5, RANGERS 3 Trevor Bauer pitched into the seventh inning, Michael Brantley drove in two runs and host Cleveland got the victory in Manager Terry Francona's return to the team. Francona was cleared to come back after another health scare forced him to leave Monday's game and miss Tuesday's 2-1 loss to Texas.
BLUE JAYS 4, ORIOLES 0 Marcus Stroman pitched five-hit ball into the eighth inning for host Toronto, and Jose Bautista and Justin Smoak hit home runs. Stroman (8-4) bounced back from his worst start of the season, a seven-run outing at Texas last Thursday.
TWINS 4, RED SOX 1 Adalberto Mejia pitched 5 2/3 innings in his second consecutive scoreless start, Max Kepler hit a two-run home run and visiting Minnesota rebounded from two consecutive losses against Boston. Kepler also had an RBI single, and Miguel Sano added an RBI double to help the Twins improve to 24-11 on the road.
ROYALS 8, TIGERS 2 Salvador Perez and Mike Moustakas hit consecutive home runs during visiting Kansas City's four-run fourth inning. Ian Kennedy (2-6) allowed 2 runs and 5 hits in 7 innings for the Royals.
ASTROS 11, ATHLETICS 8 Josh Reddick and George Springer had three hits each and combined for five RBI as host Houston used a five-run third inning to take the lead and hold on for against Oakland.
YANKEES 12, WHITE SOX 3 Miguel Andujar had three hits and four RBI in his major-league debut, Aaron Judge added his major league-leading 27th home run and the struggling New York Yankees pounded the host Chicago White Sox.
INTERLEAGUE
PIRATES 6, RAYS 2 Jose Osuna doubled twice and drove in two runs, rookie Josh Bell hit his 15th home run and host Pittsburgh jumped all over Tampa Bay's Blake Snell. Osuna's ground-rule RBI double sparked a four-run rally with two out in the first.
PHILLIES 5, MARINERS 4 Tommy Joseph led off the ninth inning with his 13th home run and Andrew Knapp added a two-out RBI single, helping the Phillies rally for the road victory. Joseph's drive to left on a 3-2 pitch from Edwin Diaz (2-3) was Philadelphia's first hit since the third inning.
Sports on 06/29/2017