Zach Davies became the first Milwaukee starter to win his first seven decisions in a season, hanging on for five innings Saturday before the Brewers’ bullpen finished off a 5-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Ryan Braun had an RBI single in the fourth that put the Brewers ahead to stay. Mike Moustakas hit his 19th home run and pinch-hitter Manny Piña added a late homer.
Milwaukee moved a season-high nine games over .500 and beat the Pirates for the fifth time in six games this year.
Davies (7-0) gave up seven hits and left with a 4-3 lead. Four relievers blanked the Pirates on one hit, with Josh Hader striking out the side in the ninth for his 15th save.
Pirates starter Jordan Lyles lasted only three innings, giving up three runs on five hits and four walks.
Michael Feliz (2-2) took the loss.
Colin Moran hit his ninth homer of the year for the Pirates. Rookie Bryan Reynolds extended his hitting streak to a major league-high 16 games with a single in the third.
ANGELS 12, MARINERS 3
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani homered and singled in his first three major league at-bats against countryman Yusei Kikuchi, leading Los Angeles over Seattle.
Ohtani’s fourth-inning homer was the Angels’ third consecutive dinger in four pitches off Kikuchi (3-4), who was chased from his rough start shortly afterward. Tommy La Stella and Mike Trout also homered before Ohtani hit the first big league homer by a Japanese-born hitter off a Japanese-born pitcher since 2009.
The Angels’ designated hitter won the much-anticipated first stateside meeting between the stars, who also faced off five times in their domestic league.
Meanwhile, Ohtani added an RBI double in the fifth inning off Tayler Scott, who made his major league debut in relief of Kikuchi.
Scott became the second South African player in major league history, and the first pitcher. The 27-year-old Johannesburg native yielded four hits and three runs while striking out four in 2 2/3 innings.
César Puello homered and drove in four runs, while Albert Pujols and Kevan Smith had two-run singles as the Angels pounded out 16 hits to win for just the second time in six games.
Kyle Seager and Edwin Encarnacion homered for the Mariners, who have lost six of eight.
After opener Noe Ramirez got four outs, Dillon Peters (1-0) yielded three runs over 5 2/3 resilient innings.
BRAVES 1, MARLINS 0
MIAMI (AP) — Julio Teheran pitched six sharp innings, rookie Austin Riley scored the only run and Atlanta edged Miami.
The Braves won despite getting only three hits and improved to 5-0 this season at Marlins Park. Miami had just four hits.
Teheran (4-4) gave up two hits and struck out five. Luke Jackson recorded four outs for his ninth save.
Riley hustled for a leadoff double in the seventh against Trevor Richards (3-6), took third on a flyout and scored on Tyler Flowers’ sacrifice fly.
Richards gave up two hits in seven innings.
TIGERS 9, TWINS 3
DETROIT (AP) — JaCoby Jones homered twice and drove in a career-high five runs in Detroit’s win over Minnesota.
Christin Stewart also homered for the Tigers, who had lost three straight and 13 of 14 at Comerica Park.
Nick Ramirez (2-0), Detroit’s second pitcher in a bullpen game, gave up one run and three hits with three walks in three innings.
Kyle Gibson (6-3) gave up five runs and eight hits with two walks in five innings.
Jones hit a three-run homer in the second and a tw-run homer in the eighth. Stewart led off the bottom of the third with his fifth homer.
INDIANS 8, YANKEES 4
CLEVELAND (AP) — Rookie Oscar Mercado hit a two-run homer off CC Sabathia to break a fifth-inning tie and Cleveland defeated New York.
Roberto Perez homered in his fourth straight game for Cleveland. The Indians have won four of five on their homestand against AL division leaders New York and Minnesota.
Didi Gregorius hit a home run in his second game back with New York this season. The Yankees have lost five of six.
Sabathia (3-3), denied the 250th win of his career for the second straight outing, appeared to injure his leg fielding a groundball earlier in the fifth. The 38-year-old left-hander was removed after the fifth, allowing four runs.
Adam Plutko (2-1), called up from Triple-A Columbus before the game, retired 16 of the final 17 hitters he faced following Gregorius’ two-run homer in the first. The right-hander sent down the last 10 hitters, giving up two runs in six innings.
ORIOLES 4, ASTROS 1
HOUSTON (AP) — Renato Núñez hit his 16th homer, Richie Martin added a two-run shot in the ninth and Baltimore snapped a three-game skid by beating Houston.
Núñez homered in the sixth inning and the Astros tied it in the bottom half on a sacrifice fly, but a solid defensive play by right fielder Anthony Santander ended the threat.
It was still tied in the eighth when Will Harris (1-1) took over for starter Framber Valdéz and Hanser Alberto greeted him with a double to left field. Trey Mancini singled, and Núñez reached when Alberto got caught in a rundown between third and home for the first out.
Pedro Severino grounded into fielder’s choice, but the Orioles took a 2-1 lead when shortstop Jack Mayfield badly overthrew first base for an error that allowed Mancini to score.
Paul Fry (1-3) struck out two in 1 2/3 innings, and Miguel Castro got the last four outs for his second save.
Valdéz yielded five hits and one run in a career-high seven innings in his first start this season after making 14 relief appearances.
PHILLIES 4, REDS 1
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Nick Pivetta struck out six in his first career complete game, Jay Bruce had a two-run single and Philadelphia beat Cincinnati.
Pivetta (4-1) allowed six hits in his third start since his demotion to the minors. The right-hander is 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA since being recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
J.T. Realmuto hit a solo homer for the NL East leaders.
Reds starter Tanner Roark (4-5) gave up four runs and six hits in five innings.
Pivetta retired 17 straight batters after allowing two hits to start the game. He hadn’t gone more than 7 1/3 innings in his previous 64 career starts.
Nick Senzel led off the game with a double, went to third on Joey Votto’s single and scored on Eugenio Suarez’s double-play grounder.
RAYS 9, RED SOX 2, 1ST GAME
RED SOX 5, RAYS 1, 2ND GAME
BOSTON (AP) — Marco Hernández hit a key two-run double in his first major league start in over two years, David Price pitched six solid innings in his 300th career start as Boston beat Tampa Bay to salvage a split of a day-night doubleheader.
It was Boston’s first home win over the Rays this season after losing the first four meetings, including the opener.
Tampa Bay’s four-game winning streak ended.
Price (4-2) gave up a run on five hits, matched his season-high with 10 strikeouts and walked two.
Reliver Colin Poche took the loss in his major league debut, giving up two runs in 1 1/3 innings.
In the opener, Ryan Yarbrough held Boston to an unearned run into the eighth inning and Travis d’Arnaud hit a three-run homer.
Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a solo homer for Boston, which has dropped the first two of a four-game series.
The 27-year-old Yarbrough (5-2) limited Boston to three singles, striking out seven without issuing a walk before Bradley homered off the Pesky Pole in the eighth.
The Rays jumped ahead 4-0 in the second against Josh Smith (0-2).
RANGERS 10, ATHLETICS 5, 1ST GAME
RANGERS 3, ATHLETICS 1, 2ND GAME
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Adrian Sampson threw a four-hitter for his first career complete game, and Texas wrapped up a doubleheader sweep over Oakland.
Sampson (5-3) struck out seven and walked one over 109 pitches to win his fifth game in a row.
Danny Santana got the first hit for Texas in the nightcap with a one-out single in the fifth and scored before adding an RBI triple an inning later.
Mark Canha’s 10th homer, in the fourth, accounted for the only Oakland run.
In the opener, Tim Federowicz homered in his first big league game this season, Nomar Mazara also went deep.
Jeffrey Springs (4-1) worked three innings in relief of starter Joe Palumbo, the lefty who went four innings in his big league debut after being recalled from Double-A Frisco.
Texas went ahead to stay with a three-run first off Paul Blackburn (0-1), who was called up as Oakland’s 26th player for the doubleheader after being in Triple-A Las Vegas all season. The right-hander gave up five runs in three innings.
Between games, Texas celebrated the retirement of the No. 29 jersey of former third baseman Adrián Beltré.
Matt Olson and Josh Phegley homered for the A’s.
WHITE SOX 2, ROYALS 0
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Lucas Giolito worked into the eighth inning and had a career-high 11 strikeouts to win his seventh consecutive start, outdueling Brad Keller as Chicago beat Kansas City.
Giolito (9-1) allowed three hits and two walks in 7 2/3 innings.
Rookie Eloy Jiménez hit a two-run homer in the second inning off Keller (3-8), who worked eight innings, allowing two runs on five hits, with one walk and four strikeouts.
Alex Colome pitched the ninth for his 13th save in as many chances.
Royals manager Ned Yost was ejected for arguing a strike call to Alex Gordon in the sixth inning.
DIAMONDBACKS 6, BLUE JAYS 0
TORONTO (AP) — Zack Greinke and four relievers combined on a five-hitter, Alex Avila and Kevin Cron hit solo home runs and Arizona topped Toronto.
Nick Ahmed drove in two runs as the Diamondbacks won their third straight.
Greinke (7-2) allowed four hits in six innings to win for the first time in four starts. Matt Andriese pitched the eighth and Zack Godley finished.
Toronto was blanked for the fifth time this season. The Blue Jays have scored two runs or fewer five times in their past seven games. They went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position and left seven men stranded.
Blue Jays right-hander Aaron Sanchez (3-7) allowed five runs and six hits in six innings.
METS 5, ROCKIES 3
NEW YORK (AP) — Steven Matz struck out 10, Pete Alonso moved closer to the Mets’ rookie home run record and New York beat Colorado.
Matz (5-4) threw 120 pitches in six innings. He gave up two earned runs on six hits and two walks.
The Rockies stranded seven runners against Matz, who struck out Charlie Blackmon, leaving runners at the corners in the sixth.
Alonso led off the seventh with his 21st home run — it came with some drama, too.
Alonso’s drive was just beyond the glove of left fielder David Dahl and off the orange line atop the fence. The ball bounced back onto the field, Alonso kept running and he slid into third. An umpire crew review showed it was indeed a home run. Alonso moved within five of matching Darryl Strawberry’s rookie record.
Seth Lugo retired all six batters he faced and Edwin Diaz notched his 14th save with a one-hit ninth.
Jon Gray (5-5) allowed four runs on eight hits and three walks while striking out eight over 5 2/3 innings.
CARDINALS 9, CUBS 4
CHICAGO (AP) — Pinch-hitter Victor Caratini hit a tiebreaking bases-loaded double in Chicago’s four-run sixth inning in a win over St. Louis.
Hitting for starting pitcher Jon Lester with the bases loaded, Caratini lined the first pitch from John Gant to left field. Marcell Ozuna attempted a sliding catch, but the ball dropped and rolled to the wall, allowing three runs to score.
Kyle Schwarber, who had homered in the fourth inning, followed with a double to drive in Caratini, and the Cubs won for the fifth time in six games.
Lester (5-4) was hit hard early, allowing all four St. Louis runs in the first inning on long homers by Ozuna and Harrison Bader. He retired the last 11 hitters he faced in five-hit, six-inning outing.
John Brebbia (1-3), the first of five St. Louis relievers, allowed two runs in 1 1/3 innings and took the loss.
DODGERS 7, GIANTS 2
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Corey Seager had three of his four hits and three of his four RBIs following intentional walks to Cody Bellinger, and Los Angeles beat San Francisco.
Justin Turner added three hits, two RBIs and two runs scored and pinch-hitter Kyle Garlick started the go-ahead rally in the sixth with his first career hit.
Rich Hill (3-1) allowed two runs in five innings, escaping a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the fifth.
Jeff Samardzija (3-5) worked 5 1/3 innings, allowing seven hits, and three earned runs while striking out five and walking two.
Aramís García hit a solo homer and Donovan Solano added an RBI single for the Giants.
NATIONALS 4, PADRES 1
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Max Scherzer struck out nine in seven strong innings and Brian Dozier hit a two-run home run for his 1,000th career hit to lead Washington over San Diego.
Scherzer (4-5) allowed six hits and issued only one walk, an intentional pass. Sean Doolittle got the final out for his 14th save.
Eric Lauer (5-5) had won three straight starts coming in. He allowed four runs, three earned, on seven hits in seven innings and struck out five.
Dozier, who signed with the Nationals as a free agent in January, homered to left off Lauer in fourth, his 10th. Howie Kendrick was aboard on a leadoff walk.
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