CHICAGO -- Kris Bryant hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning to give the Chicago Cubs a 12-11 comeback victory over the San Francisco Giants in a wild, back-and-forth game Wednesday night at Wrigley Field.
Nicholas Castellanos and Kyle Schwarber also connected for Chicago, which has won four straight despite losing leads twice in the last four innings. The Cubs moved back into first place in the NL Central by a half-game over St. Louis, which lost to Milwaukee in a rain-shortened game.
Castellanos, who went 4 for 5, has homered in three straight games for the second time in his career -- he also did it with Detroit in 2016 -- and has nine in 19 games since being acquired in a trade before the July 31 deadline. He is batting .392 (31 for 79) with the Cubs.
Evan Longoria, Mike Yastrzemski, Stephen Vogt and Kevin Pillar homered for San Francisco, which has dropped three straight.
Castellanos led off the eighth with an infield single to set the stage for Bryant, who stroked a 1-1 pitch from Reyes Moronta (3-7) into the left field bleachers.
Brandon Kintzler (3-2) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win and Craig Kimbrel worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his 11th save.
Cubs starter Yu Darvish tossed seven sharp innings against Philadelphia in his last outing and left with a 5-0 lead. But the bullpen blew the big advantage, leaving the right-hander with a no-decision.
Chicago led 6-2 heading into the fifth on Wednesday. This time, Darvish coughed up the lead himself.
After retiring 12 straight batters, Darvish gave up a double to Brandon Crawford with one out in the fifth. One out later, Yastrzemski homered to make it 6-4.
The Cubs got a run back in the bottom of the fifth, but San Francisco scored five runs in the sixth to take the lead.
Darvish, after dropping a routine throw at first base for an error with one out, gave up a two-run homer to Vogt to make it 7-6. Pillar then followed with a solo shot to tie the score.
That was all for Darvish, who allowed seven runs (six earned) on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. He had eight strikeouts and walked none for a career-high fifth straight start.
Derek Holland took over in the sixth against his former team and didn't fare any better. He gave up three hits in two-thirds of an inning, including a two-run double to pinch-hitter Austin Slater to give the Giants a 9-7 lead.
The Cubs then rallied for three runs in the bottom of the sixth against reliever Trevor Gott to grab a 10-9 advantage. Anthony Rizzo drove in the first with a double to left-center, Javier Báez tied the game with an infield single and Schwarber drove in the go-ahead run with a groundout.
San Francisco scored twice in the seventh to grab an 11-10 lead.
BREWERS 5, CARDINALS 3, 7½ INNINGS
ST. LOUIS — Mike Moustakas homered and Keston Hiura drove in a pair of runs to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a win over the St. Louis Cardinals in a rain-shortened game.
The game was stopped after 7½ innings and made official following a rain delay of 66 minutes.
Reds 4, Padres 2
CINCINNATI -- Luis Castillo shook off his worst career start to pitch six solid innings, Jose Iglesias hit a solo home run and the Cincinnati Reds beat the San Diego Padres to win the three-game series.
Castillo (12-5), who allowed nine hits and eight runs on Friday against St. Louis, bounced back to limit San Diego to five hits and one run with four strikeouts.
The Reds sent nine batters to the plate while scoring three runs in a third inning started by Eric Yardley (0-1), who got the loss in his major league debut after being promoted from Triple-A El Paso before the game. Nick Senzel led off with a line drive that left fielder Josh Naylor misplayed for a two-base error and scored one out later on Eugenio Suarez's single.
Iglesias lofted his ninth homer of the season into the seats down the left field line with one out in the fourth inning for a 4-1 lead.
Francisco Mejia led off the seventh inning for the Padres with his eighth homer of the season, a solo shot off Lucas Sims. Greg Garcia drove in Ty France with a third-inning two-out double for San Diego's other run.
Braves 5, Marlins 0
ATLANTA -- Adeiny Hechavarria and Ronald Acuna Jr. each hit a two-run homer, Julio Teheran struck out a season-high nine and the Atlanta Braves beat Miami to continue their mastery of the Marlins.
The Braves are 14-4 against Miami this year after winning the 2018 season series between the NL East rivals 14-5.
Teheran (8-8) combined with Sean Newcomb and Josh Tomlin for a seven-hit shutout. The right-hander allowed five hits in seven innings.
Teheran improved to 3-0 against Miami this season and rebounded nicely from the shortest start of his career. He lasted only 11/3 innings while allowing six runs in a loss to the New York Mets last Thursday.
Acuna's shot off Caleb Smith (8-7) in the fifth cleared the center field wall. His team-leading 36th homer came one night after he was hit by Elieser Hernandez's first pitch, leading to the ejection of Braves manager Brian Snitker.
The first-place Braves, who had no singles or doubles among their three hits, have won four straight. The last-place Marlins have dropped five in a row.
Rockies 7, Diamondbacks 2
PHOENIX -- Tim Melville pitched seven innings of two-hit ball in his first major league appearance in almost two years, and the Colorado Rockies cruised to a win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Melville, a 29-year-old right-hander with just six previous big-league appearances who started this season in independent ball, limited Arizona to a first-inning double and a sixth-inning home run to go with four strikeouts and two walks. He also picked up his first major-league hit -- a two-out, fourth-inning single -- and his first two career RBIs.
Melville was called up from Triple-A Albuquerque earlier Wednesday to start in place of Jon Gray, whom the Rockies before the game placed on the 60-day injured list with a left foot fracture.
Colorado won the season series with Arizona, 10 games to nine. Ketel Marte and Alex Avila homered for the Diamondbacks, who had their four-game win streak snapped.
The Rockies jumped on struggling Arizona starter Mike Leake (9-10) early with two runs on three straight singles and a fielder's choice in the top of the first.
In the fourth, a hit batter, four singles and a sacrifice fly produced three more runs and a 5-0 lead for the Rockies. Leake got through five innings and was charged with five runs on eight hits. He's allowed 17 earned runs on 26 hits in 16 innings over his last three starts.
Nationals 11, Pirates 1
PITTSBURGH -- Patrick Corbin pitched eight scoreless innings to remain unbeaten in more than two months, and Asdrubal Cabrera's three-run home run capped a six-run third as the Washington Nationals rolled to a victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Corbin (10-5) struck out four and walked two while throwing 93 pitches to help the Nationals maintain their lead atop the National League wild-card standings.
Signed to a six-year, $140-million contract in free agency in December, Corbin has not lost since June 11. The left-hander is 5-0 with a 2.12 ERA in 12 starts since then.
Joe Musgrove (8-12) gave up six runs and seven hits in five innings as Pittsburgh lost for the 29th time in 37 games since the All-Star break.
Eaton opened the scoring in the third with an RBI double and Anthony Rendon followed with a two-run single, giving him 100 RBIs. Following a walk to Juan Soto, Cabrera hit a drive to straightaway center field to make it 6-0.
It was Cabrera's second home run since being claimed Aug. 6 off waivers from the Texas Rangers and 14th overall. He was filling in at second base for Brian Dozier, who is on paternity leave.
American League
Rays 7, Mariners 6
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Kevin Kiermaier drove in four runs, including a solo homer during a two-run ninth inning, and the Tampa Bay Rays avoided a three-game sweep by beating the Seattle Mariners.
Kiermaier tied it at 6-6 on a leadoff homer against Matt Magill (3-1). The Rays then loaded the bases on Willy Adames' single, a double by Mike Brosseau and an intentional walk to pinch-hitter Ji-Man Choi with no outs before Magill's wild pitch with Tommy Pham batting allowed Adames to score the winning run.
Daniel Vogelbach had a solo homer and Mallex Smith added a two-run triple off Emilio Pagan (3-2) as the Mariners went up 6-5 in the top of the ninth.
The Rays went 3-3 during a six-game homestand against last-place Seattle and Detroit.
Tim Lopes had two RBIs for the Mariners, who head home after a 6-3 road trip.
Orioles 8, Royals 1
BALTIMORE -- The Orioles tied a major league record by allowing their 258th home run this season but hit four of their own in a victory over the Kansas City Royals.
Anthony Santander and Renato Nunez hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning for Baltimore, which won its first series since July 25-27 at the Los Angeles Angels.
Jonathan Villar opened the scoring with a two-run shot, while Hanser Alberto put the game away with a three-run blast in the sixth.
Whit Merrifield homered leading off the third for Kansas City. The 2016 Cincinnati Reds owned the previous record for home runs allowed in a season, but the Orioles have 35 games to surpass them.
Aaron Brooks (3-7) picked up his first win in eight starts with the Orioles since being claimed on waivers from Oakland on July 6. He allowed one run and seven hits with four strikeouts over five innings.
White Sox 4, Twins 0
MINNEAPOLIS -- Lucas Giolito pitched a three-hit shutout of the second-highest scoring team in the major leagues, racking up 12 strikeouts for the Chicago White Sox in a victory over Minnesota to take the series from the first-place Twins.
Giolito (14-6) allowed only runner past first base, a double by Jonathan Schoop in the eighth. The 25-year-old fanned Jake Cave to finish that inning and reach double-digit strikeouts for the third straight time, the first White Sox starter to do so since Chris Sale did so in eight consecutive turns in 2015. The last right-hander with a streak that long for the team was Edwin Jackson, with three in a row in 2010.
Jose Abreu went 3 for 5 with two RBIs for the White Sox from his usual third spot in the lineup, with Leury Garcia and Tim Anderson each producing two hits from their places in front of him. The first three batters scored all four runs against Twins starter Jake Odorizzi (13-6), who was outdone by his fellow American League All-Star.
Giolito matched Cleveland's Shane Bieber for the major league lead with his third complete game of the season. The White Sox and Indians have a baseball-best five apiece. Giolito got his with 115 pitches, without a walk.
Rangers 8, Angels 7
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Hunter Pence drove in three runs, including an RBI single in the ninth inning that pushed the Texas Rangers past the Los Angeles Angels.
Elvis Andrus led off the ninth with a single up the middle off Trevor Cahill (3-8), the seventh Angels pitcher. After two wild pitches got Andrus to third, Pence grounded a single through the left side of the infield.
Texas, which twice earlier in the game blew two-run leads, overcame a late three-run deficit. Pence had a two-run double in the seventh, after striking out his first three at-bats, and Shin-Soo Choo's RBI single tied in the eighth.
The Rangers won three times in the four-game series. All of the wins came in their final at-bat, including 11-inning wins in the series opener Monday and the second game of a doubleheader Tuesday.
Jonathan Hernandez (1-0) worked the final 21/3 innings to win in his major league debut. It was the second night in a row a Rangers reliever got his first big league win.
Los Angeles went ahead 7-4 with a three-run sixth, including two runs coming home on the same play that Justin Upton had a sacrifice fly.
With the bases loaded with one out, after an intentional walk to Mike Trout, Upton hit his sac fly. Left fielder Willie Calhoun's throw home was well off target before catcher Jeff Mathis tried to pick off Trout, but first baseman Danny Santana misplayed the ball for an error that allowed a second run to score.
InterLeague
Phillies 5, Red Sox 2
BOSTON (AP) -- Bryce Harper homered to give Philadelphia a fifth-inning lead, and Corey Dickerson drove in two runs with a triple and a single to help the Phillies beat the Boston Red Sox and sweep the two-game series.
Boston started the first inning with back-to-back doubles, and Jackie Bradley Jr. homered for the second straight night to give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead against Drew Smyly after two innings. Rick Porcello (11-10) allowed just one hit through four innings before Cesar Hernandez led off the fifth with a double.
Hernandez took off on a wild pitch and scored when the throw got past Rafael Devers at third base. After a walk, Harper cleared the Green Monster with a two-run shot, his 27th homer of the year.
The game was dampened by showers but never delayed.
Jared Hughes (4-5) earned the win with 11/3 hitless innings of relief after Smyly lasted just 32/3 innings, allowing two runs and five hits with three walks while striking out four. Héctor Neris pitched the ninth for his 23rd save.
Mets 4, Indians 3, 10 innings
NEW YORK -- J.D. Davis lined an RBI single with two outs that capped a two-run rally in the 10th inning and the New York Mets, helped moments earlier by a huge Cleveland mental lapse, beat the Indians.
All-Star reliever Brad Hand's failure to cover first base on a potential game-ending double-play grounder cost Cleveland. Davis made the Indians pay with his first career game-ending hit.
The Mets won their fourth in a row and for the 20th time in 25 games, moving a season-high six over .500. It was their 12th win in the last 13 at Citi Field -- they have more home games down the stretch than any team in the majors.
New York also improved baseball's best interleague record this year to 14-5, winning for the second straight day in a matchup of playoff contenders.
Cleveland leads the AL wild-card race and has played well on the road lately. But the Indians have won only once while visiting the Mets -- that was in 2004 at Shea Stadium, with CC Sabathia getting the victory.
Carlos Santana hit a solo home run with two outs in the Cleveland 10th off Luis Avilan (4-1) for a 3-2 lead.
NW News on 08/22/2019