LDN - Sports

MLB roundup: Cubs boost win streak to eight

[August 12, 2016] CHICAGO -- Jason Hammel extended his winning streak to five and the Chicago Cubs completed a four-game season sweep of the Los Angeles Angels with a 3-1 victory on Wednesday night.

Hammel (12-5) allowed four hits, struck out six and walked two through a seven-inning outing. He also had a fifth-inning hit and scored a run.

The victory was the eighth straight for Chicago (71-41) and second in a row over Los Angeles (49-64) in the abbreviated Wrigley Field series.

Hammel has not lost since Aug. 1. Aroldis Chapman struck out the side in the ninth for his 24th save and fourth with the Cubs.

The Cubs broke the ice with two outs in the third to claim a 1-0 lead. Kris Bryant doubled to the left field wall and scored on Anthony Rizzo's bouncer into right. They made it 2-0 in the fifth as Hammel singled to right, reached second on a wild pitch and scored when as Dexter Fowler bounced a one-out double down the left field line.

Phillies 6, Dodgers 2

LOS ANGELES -- Freddy Galvis hit a three-run homer and Ryan Howard added a three-run double to lift Philadelphia over Los Angeles.

The defeat cost the Dodgers a share of first place in the National League West. The San Francisco Giants retained sole ownership with a 1-0 victory over the Miami Marlins earlier on Wednesday.

Elvis Araujo, who was recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Tuesday, got the win in relief. Araujo (2-1) allowed one hit and hit one batter in his lone inning, the sixth.

Araujo replaced starter Jeremy Hellickson, who left the game after five innings with back tightness. Hellickson retired the final 13 batters he faced, collected seven strikeouts and permitted just one run and three hits.

Left-hander Scott Kazmir suffered his third successive loss. Kazmir (9-6) allowed two runs on four hits and three walks in six-plus innings while striking out six.

Nationals 7, Indians 4

WASHINGTON -- Jayson Werth had a three-run homer and a double and scored three times, and Anthony Rendon added two doubles to help the Nationals earn a split of the series between division leaders.

The Nationals pounded out 11 hits despite playing their third straight game without right fielder Bryce Harper, who remains sidelined with a stiff neck.

Washington broke a 4-4 tie with a three-run fifth. Daniel Murphy had an RBI double in the inning, and Rendon added a two-run double.

Francisco Lindor hit a two-run homer for Cleveland and Jose Ramirez had three hits, extending his hitting streak to 14 games.

A's 1, Orioles 0

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Ross Detwiler pitched eight shutout innings in his return to the major leagues and Oakland defeated Baltimore.

Detwiler (1-0) was called up Wednesday from Triple-A Nashville and made his A's debut and first major-league start since May 14, 2015, with Texas. He gave up six hits, struck out two and walked none. A's right-hander John Axford pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save of the season.

The Orioles, who lead the major leagues with 170 home runs, have scored a combined three runs against the A's in three one-run losses. Baltimore fell out of a tie for first place with Toronto in the American League East and trails by one game.

Yonder Alonso went 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI double for the A's.

Royals 3, White Sox 2 (14)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Lorenzo Cain delivered a two-out, RBI single in the 14th inning for his fifth career walk-off hit as Kansas City edged Chicago.

Cain's ingle to center scored Christian Colon, who started the inning with a single. Paulo Orlando's sacrifice bunt moved Colon to second.

Dillon Gee (4-5), who was slated to start Saturday at Minnesota, pitched two innings to pick up the victory.

Rangers 5, Rockies 4

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Adrian Beltre singled with the tying run on third base and winning run on second in the eighth inning to lead Texas past Colorado for its fifth straight win.

The RBIs were Nos. 1,536 and 1,537 for Beltre, who tied Joe DiMaggio for 47th all time. The 37-year-old, who is batting .411 with five RBIs in his past four games, hit the second pitch he saw off right-handed reliever Adam Ottavino into center to score Mitch Moreland and Shin-Soo Choo.

Elvis Andrus struck out to start the Rangers' eighth, but Moreland reached on an error by Rockies first baseman Mark Reynolds. Boone Logan (1-2), who took the loss by allowing two unearned runs, then hit Choo to put runners on first and second with one out. Ian Desmond, who had two RBIs, advanced the runners with a groundout.

With first base open, Colorado manager Walt Weiss elected to walk Beltran intentionally to load the bases for Beltre, who drove the ball past diving shortstop Cristhian Adames.

Blue Jays 7, Rays 0

TORONTO -- Troy Tulowitzki homered and had five RBIs, J.A. Happ struck out seven in six scoreless innings for his 10th straight win and Toronto beat Tampa Bay.

Justin Smoak also homered and Melvin Upton Jr. stole three bases for the Blue Jays (65-50) in the rubber match of the three-game series. Happ (16-3), who held the Rays (46-67) to four hits and two walks, won for the 10th time in his past 11 starts.

Tulowitzki hit a three-run homer in the first inning against Blake Snell (3-5). After walking to force in a run in the second, Tulowitzki hit an RBI single in the sixth against Danny Farquhar to stretch the lead to 6-0. Ryan Garton replaced Farquhar and allowed Smoak's 13th homer of the season in the seventh.

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Cardinals 3, Reds

ST. LOUIS -- Jaime Garcia delivered another long, efficient outing when St. Louis needed it. After going eight shutout innings on Friday, he pitched eight more against Cincinnati.

Garcia (9-8) allowed six hits and two runs, walking one and fanning four before leaving after Joey Votto doubled and Adam Duvall singled to start the ninth. Seung Hwan Oh relieved Garcia and induced a 5-4-3 double play ball from Eugenio Suarez that scored Votto, then fanned Tony Renda to polish off his 10th save in 11 chances.

St. Louis started the scoring in the first as Matt Carpenter lofted the 11th leadoff homer of his career over the wall in right-center field for his 15th homer of the season. Brandon Moss upped the Cardinals' lead to 2-0 in the third with a two-out double to right that scored Carpenter, who tripled to left center with one out. Jhonny Peralta hit a solo shot in the fourth, the 200th homer of his career.

Padres 4, Pirates 0

PITTSBURGH -- Edwin Jackson limited Pittsburgh to two singles in seven dominating innings and an alert Travis Jankowski pulled off a rare steal of home for San Diego.

Jackson and relievers Ryan Buchter and Brandon Maurer didn't allow a Pirates runner past second base during the combined two-hitter.

Jankowski accomplished one of the baseball's rarest plays -- a steal of home that wasn't part of a double steal -- in the eighth inning. After Jankowski doubled and moved to third on a grounder, he saw catcher Eric Fryer casually throwing the ball back to reliever Antonio Bastardo and took off for the plate, sliding in safely.

Yankees 9, Red Sox 4

BOSTON -- Starlin Castro's two-run double capped a five-run seventh inning for New York against Boston at Fenway Park.

Didi Gregorius and Gary Sanchez each slugged solo home runs, and Austin Romine, Jacoby Ellsbury and Chase Headley each added RBIs for the Yankees (57-56), who avoided falling below .500 for the first time since July 17.

Alex Rodriguez was greeted with boos when he entered as a pinch-hitter for Aaron Hicks with two on and nobody out in the seventh inning but flied out to right field. The 41-year-old Rodriguez, who will play his final game with the Yankees on Friday in New York before being released, is scheduled to start Thursday's series finale.

Diamondbacks 3, Mets 2

NEW YORK -- Oscar Hernandez hit his first major league home run leading off the 12th inning and Arizona edged New York at Citi Field for its third straight win.

The Mets (57-56) have lost four of five and are 10-18 since July 8 but remain just 2 1/2 games behind the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals in the race for the second National League wild card.

Hernandez, who was recalled from Double-A Mobile on Tuesday to replace starting catcher Welington Castillo (paternity leave), was hitless in his first four at-bats before homering down the left field line against left-hander Jerry Blevins (4-2).

Jean Segura went 3-for-5 with a walk and two stolen bases while scoring Arizona's first two runs. Paul Goldschmidt went 2-for-4 and drove home Segura both times.

Mets starter Bartolo Colon allowed one run and seven hits and one walk while striking out a season-high eight in seven innings.

Brewers 4, Braves 3

MILWAUKEE -- Chris Carter hit a three-run homer as Milwaukee snapped Atlanta's four-game winning streak.

Atlanta's Freddie Freeman went 3-for-3 with two homers and a walk. He hit solo shots in the fourth and eighth innings, each time drawing the Braves within a run of Milwaukee, which scored all of its runs in the fourth behind Carter's team-leading 26th home run of the season.

Giants 1, Marlins 0

MIAMI -- Giants starter Jeff Samardzija beat David Phelps in a pitching duel between former Notre Dame teammates, helping San Francisco win two games in the three-game series.

Brandon Crawford provided the big blow by going deep in the fourth inning for his 11th homer of the season.

Santiago Casilla earned his 26th save, working around a two-out double by Ichiro Suzuki.

Samardzija (10-8) snapped a three-game losing streak, pitching 5 2/3 scoreless innings. He allowed three hits -- all singles -- and three walks while striking out three.

Phelps fell to 5-6 despite yielding just the one run in five innings.

Astros-Twins, ppd.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Houston received a reprieve from the weather. The Astros trailed the Twins 5-0 in the third inning before the game was delayed by rain. After a lengthy delay, the unofficial game was rained out, and it will be made up in its entirety as part of a day-night doubleheader Thursday.

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