ATLANTA -- Cody Bellinger hit his 41st home run, Max Muncy and Justin Turner connected against reliever Sean Newcomb in the seventh inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 8-3 Friday night in a matchup of NL division leaders.
It was nothing new for the powerful Dodgers, who set a major league record with 22 homers in a five-game span when Will Smith launched a two-run shot off Jerry Blevins in the eighth.
Los Angeles continued to dominate the Braves, too. The Dodgers improved to 18-6 against Atlanta since 2016, using Muncy's three-run homer and Turner's solo shot to lead 6-3 after Newcomb relieved starter Mike Soroka.
Los Angeles led 1-0 in the second when Bellinger crushed a homer to right-center, his fourth in five games to take the NL lead. He began the night tied with Angels star Mike Trout for most in the majors.
The NL East-leading Braves pounced on Kenta Maeda in the bottom half, going ahead 3-1 on Matt Joyce's two-run double and Ronald Acuna Jr.'s hard RBI single to left-center.
Maeda avoided further trouble when Freddie Freeman lined out with the bases loaded. The right-hander struck out seven straight before Josh Donaldson singled with two outs in the fifth.
The two-time defending NL champion Dodgers, who eliminated the Braves from the postseason last year and swept them at home in May, got a run back in the third off Soroka on Joc Pederson's RBI single.
Soroka has gone six straight starts without a win, but was in line for his 11th when Newcomb replaced him with two outs in the seventh. Soroka allowed three runs and seven hits. He escaped a bases-loaded jam in the sixth when Edwin Rios grounded into a double play.
Muncy's go-ahead homer sailed into the seats in right-center as the sellout crowd moaned. Turner followed with a drive to the same part of the ballpark, the 14th time the Dodgers have gone back-to-back this season.
The NL West leaders are 13-3 since July 30.
PIRATES 3, CUBS 2
PITTSBURGH — Pinch-hitter Cole Tucker drew a bases-loaded walk and Kevin Newman hit an RBI single, all with two out in the ninth inning, as the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied to beat the Chicago Cubs.
Tucker, pinch-hitting, worked a bases-loaded walk off Brandon Kintzler (2-2), and Newman followed with a single to center field on a full-count for his third game-ending hit of the season.
Kintzler walked three batters in 1/3 of an inning, including an intentional walk to Josh Bell with two outs and the Cubs leading 2-1. Erik Gonzalez entered as a pinch runner for Bell and scored on Newman’s single.
The Cubs fell to 23-39 on the road. They have also lost 17 of their last 25 games away from Wrigley Field. The loss left Chicago a game behind the NL Central-leading St. Louis.
NATIONALS 2, BREWERS 1
WASHINGTON — Anthony Rendon hit a tiebreaking RBI double in the eighth inning, and the Washington Nationals beat the Milwaukee Brewers in the opener of a three-game series between National League playoff contenders.
The Nationals’ five-game winning streak matched their longest of the season. At 66-55, they improved to 11 games over .500 for the first time since June 9, 2018. Milwaukee lost for just the third time in nine games.
CARDINALS 13, REDS 4
CINCINNATI — Dexter Fowler hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs, Paul DeJong and Paul Goldschmidt added two-run shots and the St. Louis Cardinals rocked Luis Castillo on the way to a romp over the Cincinnati Reds.
Kolten Wong had a solo homer among his four hits and Fowler, Marcell Ozuna and Tommy Edman each had three as the Cardinals piled up a season-high 18 hits and moved into sole possession of first place in the NL Central.
Rookie sensation Aristides Aquino, who was the first player since 1900 to hit at least nine home runs in his first 14 games, made it a record 10 in 16 with a two-run shot deep into the left-field seats in Cincinnati’s three-run sixth. Rhys Hoskins previously held the record with nine in 2017 for Philadelphia.
PHILLIES 8, PADRES 4
PHILADELPHIA — Bryce Harper homered for the third straight game, Roman Quinn and J.T. Realmuto also went deep and Philadelphia’s resurgent offense remained red-hot in an victory over the San Diego Padres.
The Phillies had 12 hits, and tied their season-high winning streak at four in a row while pulling even with the Chicago Cubs for the second NL wild-card spot.
ROCKIES 3, MARLINS 0
DENVER — Jon Gray struck out seven in eight strong innings and Nolan Arenado and Ryan McMahon homered for the second straight game, leading the Colorado Rockies to a win over the Miami Marlins.
Gray scattered five hits and didn’t walk a batter in his best outing of the season. He threw 100 pitches and was an inning short of the second complete game of his career. He pitched eight innings for the second time in four starts.
INTERLEAGUE
ROYALS 4, METS 1
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Mike Montgomery outpitched Noah Syndergaard, and the Kansas City Royals ended their scoreless drought in a victory over the New York Mets.
The hottest team in the majors until this week, the Mets have lost four of five after a 15-1 stretch propelled them into the crowded NL wild-card race. They dropped the series opener in a rematch of the 2015 World Series won by Kansas City in five games.
Montgomery (3-5) pitched six strong innings and allowed just one unearned run on five hits while striking out three and walking two. It was the second consecutive start in which he didn’t permit an earned run, following seven smooth innings Saturday in a 7-0 win over Detroit.
The left-hander is 2-3 with the Royals since they acquired him from the Chicago Cubs.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
YANKEES 3, INDIANS 2
NEW YORK — Masahiro Tanaka pitched effectively into the seventh inning, Aaron Judge broke out of his slump with two hits and two runs, and the New York Yankees rebounded from their worst home loss of the season with a victory over the Cleveland Indians.
New York (82-42) clinched its 27th consecutive winning record since 1993, the second-longest streak in major league history behind the Yankees’ run of 39 seasons from 1926-64.
BLUE JAYS 7, MARINERS 3
TORONTO — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Randal Grichuk hit back-to-back home runs, Jacob Waguespack won his third straight decision and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Seattle Mariners.
Derek Fisher and Danny Jansen also went deep for the Blue Jays, who have hit 110 home runs since June 16. The New York Yankees entered play Friday with a major league-leading 112 homers in the same span.
RED SOX 9, ORIOLES 1
BOSTON — Andrew Benintendi and Mitch Moreland each hit RBI triples in the fourth inning, Rick Porcello held the Orioles to one run over six innings, and the Boston Red Sox topped Baltimore.
Porcello (11-9) allowed four hits and a pair of walks while striking out two to hand the 2016 AL Cy Young Award winner his sixth victory in eight starts.
TIGERS 2, RAYS 0
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Daniel Norris, Drew VerHagen and Joe Jimenez combined on a five-hitter to outpitch Charlie Morton, and the Detroit Tigers beat the Tampa Bay Rays.
Norris went the first three innings, VerHagen pitched five and Jimenez earned his seventh save by striking out Eric Sogard with two men on base to end the game.
VerHagen (3-2), who came into the game with an 8.03 ERA, gave up only three hits and two of them were erased by double plays.
TWINS 4, RANGERS 3
ARLINGTON, Texas — Max Kepler and Jonathan Schoop hit two-run home runs to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 4-3 win over the Texas Rangers on Friday night.
The Twins increased their AL Central lead to 1½ games over the Cleveland Indians, who lost Friday night.
Schoop homered in the seventh inning following a one-out single by Marwin Gonzalez. Kepler hit his team-leading 33rd homer in the fourth inning on the first pitch after Miguel Sanó reached when Rougned Odor dropped a popup in shallow right field.
The Twins lead the major leagues with 238 homers and are on pace to break the big-league record of 267 set last season by the New York Yankees. Minnesota has homered in 16 of its past 18 games since July 28 with a total of 37.
NW News on 08/17/2019