MLB roundup: Arrieta survives off day thanks to Cubs' hitters

[May 26, 2016]  ST. LOUIS -- It wasn't vintage Jake Arrieta on Wednesday, but with the Chicago Cubs' offense clicking, it didn't have to be.

Surviving his worst regular-season outing in nearly a year, Arrieta won his 20th straight decision dating to 2015 as Chicago outlasted the St. Louis Cardinals 9-8 at sold-out Busch Stadium.

In upping his record to 9-0, Arrieta lasted five innings, allowing seven hits and four runs with a walk and four strikeouts. It was the first time since June 16, 2015, that Arrieta yielded four runs in a regular season game -- a 6-0 loss to Cleveland.

The Cubs backed up Arrieta with 10 hits and their second six-run inning in as many games, erasing a 1-0 deficit as 11 men batted and battered Carlos Martinez.

Matt Adams' homer in the seventh drew the Cards within a run, but the Cubs held on.

Brewers 3, Braves 2

ATLANTA -- It took a 13-inning marathon, but Milwaukee finally are assured of a series victory on the road.

Jonathan Villar singled home the tiebreaking run, and the Brewers edged Atlanta in a game that featured 16 pitchers and took nearly five hours.

Villar's hit came off Casey Kelly, a Braves starter working his third inning of relief.

Carlos Torres worked a perfect bottom of the 13th to earn his first save of the year. Michael Blazek (3-1) pitched a scoreless 12th for the win.

Rangers 15, Angels 9

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Rookie Nomar Mazara's tape-measure home run was the biggest hit of many for Texas against Los Angeles.

Mazara's second-inning blast was measured at 491 feet by Major League Baseball's Statcast system, making it officially the longest homer in the majors this year. The shot landed halfway up the upper deck of Globe Life Park's home run porch in right field.

The 491-foot distance also would make it the longest homer in stadium history, topping a 490-foot rocket by Josh Hamilton in 2010. But the Rangers would not verify the stadium record because the new measuring system has only been used since last season. Under the old measuring procedure, Mazara's blast would be listed as 442 feet.

Mazara also had a two-run, bases-loaded single as the Rangers broke the game open with a four-run sixth when they sent 10 batters to the plate and took an 11-6 lead.

Indians 4, White Sox 3

CHICAGO -- Cleveland closed within a half-game of the American League Central lead after holding off a late Chicago rally. The Indians took three of four in the series at U.S. Cellular Field to close the gap on first-place Chicago.

Bryan Shaw gave up a two-run homer to Miguel Cabrera with one out in the eighth inning as the White Sox made it a one-run game after Corey Kluber worked 7 1/3 innings and left with a 4-1 lead.

Mets 2, Nationals 0

WASHINGTON -- Steven Matz pitched eight scoreless innings and retired 16 batters at one point in the longest outing of his career as New York beat Washington.

The Mets took two of three games in the series and have won five of their last six games in Washington. The Nationals saw their lead shrink to a half-game over the Mets in the National League East.

Matz allowed four hits with seven strikeouts and set down 16 in a row before pinch hitter Clint Robinson had a two-out single in the eighth. Matz then retired pinch-hitter Bryce Harper on a grounder to end the eighth. Jeurys Familia pitched the ninth for his 16th straight save this year and 32nd in a row dating to last year.

Phillies 8, Tigers 5

DETROIT -- Odubel Herrera hit a three-run homer and Peter Bourjos added a solo shot to help power Philadelphia over Detroit.

Aaron Nola (4-3) went six innings for the Phillies and while he gave up four runs, three of them came in the fifth after Philadelphia had fashioned a 5-1 lead.

David Hernandez allowed a run in the seventh but Hector Neris choked off further damage with two strikeouts and then pitched a scoreless eighth. Jeanmar Gomez notched his 17th save for getting the last three outs.

Twins 7, Royals 5

MINNEAPOLIS -- Eduardo Nunez had three hits, including a leadoff home run, as Minnesota salvaged the final game of a three-game series with Kansas City.

Nunez hit the second pitch of the game from Royals starter Dillon Gee over the fence in left field for his fourth home run of the season. It was the first career leadoff homer for Nunez.

Two pitches later, Brian Dozier hit one into the second deck in left for his fifth homer of the year and a quick 2-0 lead for the Twins. It was the fifth time in team history the Twins led off the game with back-to-back homers and the first time since Danny Santana and Dozier did it on June 9, 2014.

Giants 4, Padres 3 (10 innings)

SAN FRANCISCO -- Brandon Crawford singled off the center-field fence against reliever Brad Hand to score Matt Duffy from second base with two outs in the 10th inning as San Francisco recorded a second walk-off win in three days to complete a three-game sweep of the Padres.

Giants right-hander George Kontos pitched out of a jam in the top of the 10th inning to get the win as the Giants recorded a franchise-record ninth consecutive win over the Padres this season.

In losing a fourth straight game overall, the Padres rallied into a 3-3 tie in the top of the eighth inning on Yangervis Solarte's two-run homer off Giants left-handed reliever Josh Osich.

Marlins 4, Rays 3

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Marlins got a go-ahead single from Cole Gillespie in the eighth inning and a strong night from the bullpen, edging Tampa Bay at Tropicana Field.

Miami got 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, while Tampa Bay saw rookie Tyler Sturdevant, a day removed from his major-league debut, give up three hits and the go-ahead run in 0.1 innings. Miami has taken two of three games this week in the home-and-home series, which wraps up Thursday.

The Marlins took the lead in the eighth on an RBI single by Gillespie, who had been hitless in 12 games this season before Wednesday's game. Gillespie's single scored J.T. Realmuto, who had led off the inning with a single off Sturdevant. Miami got another single and walk to load the bases, but Dana Eveland got Miami's Justin Bour to strike out to end the inning with a one-run deficit.

Pirates 5, Diamondbacks 4

PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh pounded out 11 hits, two of them home runs, as it erased a three-run deficit in a win over Arizona.

At 26-19, Pittsburgh is seven games over .500 for the first time this season.

Pirates starter Jeff Locke evened his record at 3-3 while allowing four runs on seven hits through 7 1/3 innings. Sean Rodriguez and David Freese hit homers and Gregory Polanco was 3-for-4 with an RBI for the Pirates, who won for the fifth time in their past six games.

Red Sox 10, Rockies 3

BOSTON -- Jackie Bradley Jr. and Xander Bogaerts extended their respective hitting streaks and Travis Shaw drove in three runs as Boston roughed up Colorado at Fenway Park.

Bradley singled in the fourth inning to extend his career-high and major league-leading streak to 29 games, tying him with Johnny Damon for the fourth longest in Red Sox history.

He also had an RBI and is five games shy of tying Dom DiMaggio's franchise-record 34-game stretch in 1949. DiMaggio's brother Joe holds the major-league record of 56 games set in 1941.

Bogaerts also stretched his hit streak to a career-best 18 games with a solo homer.

Blue Jays 8, Yankees 4

NEW YORK -- Russell Martin hit his first two home runs of the season in consecutive at-bats as Toronto defeated New York.

Martin had not homered in his first 124 at-bats this year, but he ended the drought on consecutive swings in the sixth and seventh innings.

Martin opened the sixth by sending a 1-0 fastball from Ivan Nova (3-2) into the left-field seats. An inning later, he drove a 1-2 pitch from left-handed reliever Chasen Shreve into the right-field seats for a two-run home run and a 7-1 lead.

Astros 4, Orioles 3

HOUSTON -- Luis Valbuena homered for a second consecutive game and Houston turned another strong bullpen performance into a win and series victory over Baltimore at Minute Maid Park.

Valbuena smacked a two-out, opposite-field home run off Orioles right-hander Tyler Wilson (2-3) in the sixth inning to snap a 3-3 tie. His fourth blast on the season handed the decision to right-hander Pat Neshek, the first of four Houston relievers who excelled yet again.

Neshek (2-0) entered in relief of right-hander Collin McHugh and recorded the final two outs of the sixth inning for the Astros. Ken Giles worked around a one-out walk and struck out the side in the seventh inning before Will Harris stranded two runners in the eighth.

Dodgers 3, Reds 1

LOS ANGELES -- Cincinnati dropped its 10th consecutive game overall and its ninth straight to the Dodgers as Los Angeles completed a three-game sweep with a win at Dodger Stadium.

For the second night in a row, the Reds scored first but failed to protect the lead.

Dan Straily (2-2) took the loss, giving up three runs on three hits, walking one and striking out 11 in seven innings.

Mariners 13, Athletics 3

SEATTLE -- Seattle's Adam Lind hit two home runs and added six RBIs, and teammates Nelson Cruz and Robinson Cano also homered, as the Mariners hammered Oakland.

Seattle had a season-high 17 hits, with Lind accounting for four of them. He had a solo homer in the second inning, a three-run shot in the third, an RBI single in the sixth and an RBI double in the seventh as the Mariners rolled out to a 12-3 lead.

The 13 runs were also a season high for Seattle, which has won six of seven.

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