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MLB roundup: Brewers gain ground on Cubs

[September 05, 2018] Jonathan Schoop drove in three runs, Jesus Aguilar and Christian Yelich drove in two runs apiece, and the host Milwaukee Brewers pulled away for an 11-1 win over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday.

Milwaukee moved within three games of the Cubs for first place in the National League Central with one game to go in the series. The Brewers have won 40 of their past 60 home games but will travel to Chicago for a series beginning next Monday.

Brewers starter Wade Miley (3-2) kept the Cubs off balance with a consistent fastball and a vexing breaking ball. He gave up one run on three hits in six innings, walking none and striking out five.

Willson Contreras drove in Chicago's lone run as the Cubs lost for only the fourth time in their past 14 games. Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo left after fouling a ball off his foot. The team said X-rays were negative.

Red Sox 5, Braves 1

Steve Pearce had three hits and drove in three runs to help the Red Sox beat host Atlanta.

Pearce was 3-for-4 with a walk. Since coming over in a June trade with the Toronto Blue Jays, Pearce is batting .296 (29-for-98) with 19 RBIs in 36 games.

Boston has won the first two games in the three-game series and improved to 13-3 in interleague games. The Red Sox reduced their magic number for making the playoffs to six. Atlanta saw its lead in the National League East reduced to three games over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Phillies 9, Marlins 4

Cesar Hernandez hit a bases-loaded triple in the first inning, and Asdrubal Cabrera drove in another three runs to lead visiting Philadelphia to a victory at Miami.

Cabrera, acquired from the New York Mets on July 27, hit a two-run double and a solo homer. He has 23 homers this year -- seven of them against Miami and five of those at Marlins Park. In fact, Cabrera has a home run in four straight games against the Marlins.

J.T. Realmuto homered twice to lead Miami's offense. He has 20 homers this season and is 6-for-16 in his career against Phillies starter Jake Arrieta (10-9) with two doubles, a triple and two homers. Arrieta struck out a season-best 11 batters in 7 1/3 innings.

Astros 5, Twins 2

Backed by a four-run, first-inning uprising, Justin Verlander cruised through seven strong innings, and host Houston extended its winning streak to four games with a series-clinching victory over Minnesota.

The Astros secured a winning, 10-game homestand that finishes Wednesday with their ambush of Minnesota right-hander Trevor May (3-1), who made his first start since Aug. 14, 2015, serving as the "opener" on the mound. May surrendered five hits and four runs in his lone inning.

Verlander (14-9) retired the final 13 batters he faced, allowing three hits and two walks with eight strikeouts to bump his season total to 248 K's -- the fifth-highest single-season mark in club history. Alex Bregman went 3-for-4 with three doubles for the Astros, the third three-double game of his career.

Rays 4, Blue Jays 0

Visiting Tampa Bay broke open a one-run game with a three-run seventh inning en route to a shutout of Toronto.

The Rays used seven pitchers to limit the Blue Jays to three hits, two walks and a hit batter while striking out 10. Tampa Bay, which has won four straight games, including the first two games of the three-game series, leads the season series 9-2.

Hunter Wood (1-1) pitched two perfect innings, the second and third, with one strikeout to earn the win. Blue Jays starter Ryan Borucki (3-4) allowed two runs, three hits, two walks and a hit batter in six-plus innings. The left-hander struck out five.

Cardinals 11, Nationals 8

Yadier Molina hit a grand slam in the ninth inning, Marcell Ozuna homered twice, and St. Louis finished with five home runs in a wild win over host Washington.

Molina's grand slam locked up the victory, as the Cardinals were holding onto a 7-5 lead before he belted his shot off Sammy Solis. The Cards homered three times in the sixth, with Ozuna, Paul DeJong and Patrick Wisdom all going deep. St. Louis finished with 10 hits -- five singles and the five home runs.

Wilmer Difo also homered for the Nationals.

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Red Sox first baseman Steve Pearce (25) hits a two RBI single scoring third baseman Rafael Devers (not pictured) and second baseman Ian Kinsler (not pictured) in the sixth inning against the Atlanta Braves at SunTrust Park. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

Pirates 7, Reds 3

Starling Marte cracked a two-run homer, and Gregory Polanco had a two-run double as Pittsburgh downed visiting Cincinnati for its second straight win.

The Pirates are 11-4 against Cincinnati this year. Pittsburgh starter Joe Musgrove (6-8) struck out eight in 6 1/3 innings. He gave up two runs on five hits and no walks.

Scooter Gennett hit two solo homers for the Reds, who have lost two straight and five of seven.

Diamondbacks 6, Padres 0

Robbie Ray threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings, and host Arizona broke out of an offensive slump by scoring more than five runs for the first time in 15 games in blanking San Diego.

Ketel Marte and A.J. Pollock had two hits apiece, and pinch hitter Daniel Descalso and Paul Goldschmidt had RBI singles around two San Diego errors in a four-run seventh inning to help the Diamondbacks break a four-game losing streak.

The Diamondbacks, who remained 1 1/2 games behind Colorado in the NL West, had not scored as many as six runs since a 7-6 loss at San Diego on Aug. 18. They had 14 total runs in their past eight games.

Indians 9, Royals 3

Yandy Diaz rapped his first major league homer and also tripled among his three hits, and Mike Clevinger gave up just one run and three hits while striking out 10 in six innings as host Cleveland routed Kansas City.

Clevinger (11-7) allowed only a solo home run to Alex Gordon. Diaz scored three runs and drove in two. Francisco Lindor also homered for the Indians, who ended a three-game losing streak.

Kansas City had its six-game winning streak snapped. Royals starter Danny Duffy exited in the first inning due to tightness in his pitching shoulder. The left-hander dealt with a shoulder impingement injury earlier this season.

Rockies 6, Giants 2

Carlos Gonzalez hit a bases-clearing triple, pinch hitter Ryan McMahon homered, and Colorado rallied to beat visiting San Francisco.

David Dahl also went deep for Colorado, which scored five times in the seventh inning to record its 40th comeback win of the season to maintain its lead in the National League West.

Rockies starter German Marquez had another strong outing but couldn't get the victory. He followed up his career-high 13-strikeout performance at San Diego by fanning 11 Giants in 6 2/3 innings. He allowed two runs on seven hits and two walks.

Rangers 4, Angels 2

Elvis Andrus and Adrian Beltre each slugged solo homers to help Texas defeat visiting Los Angeles.

Rangers starter Mike Minor (11-7) allowed two runs and three hits over five-plus innings. He departed after allowing a homer to Shohei Ohtani to start the sixth. Minor struck out seven and walked one to help the Rangers win for the third time in four games.

David Fletcher had three of the six hits by the Angels, who have dropped three of their past four contests.

Tigers 8, White Sox 3

Grayson Greiner drove in three runs, and Francisco Liriano collected his first victory since April 28 to lead Detroit past host Chicago.

Mikie Mahtook hit a two-run homer and scored twice for Detroit, and Niko Goodrum supplied two hits and scored three runs. Dawel Lugo added two hits, a run and two RBIs.

Liriano (4-9) snapped a personal eight-game losing streak that lasted 17 starts. He pitched the minimum five innings to be eligible for the win. Liriano allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits while striking out five and walking one.

--Field Level Media

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