PITTSBURGH: Gregory Polanco homered, Chris Stewart added three hits and the Pittsburgh Pirates completed a four-game sweep of the National League Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers with a 4-2 victory on Thursday.
The Pirates have won 11 of 13 and moved within three games of the Brewers. Milwaukee has lost five straight.
Polanco hit a solo shot off Jimmy Nelson (8-5) in the fourth inning, his ninth homer. Stewart scored the go-ahead run in the fifth on a single by Josh Harrison.
Jameson Taillon (6-3) struck out a season-high eight in 5 1/3 innings. Felipe Rivero worked a perfect ninth for his ninth save.
Braves 6, Dodgers 3: Mike Foltynewicz pitched into the seventh inning and Atlanta stopped Los Angeles’ 11-game winning streak.
The Dodgers had won 31 of their last 35 but could not overcome another shaky start by Brandon McCarthy (6-4), who was bothered by a blister and could be headed to the disabled list.
Kurt Suzuki hit a two-run homer for the Braves, who jumped out to a 6-1 lead after four innings against McCarthy. Foltynewicz (8-5) allowed three runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings, striking out five.
Yankees 4, Mariners 1: Luis Severino pitched out of trouble to throw seven shutout innings, and Brett Gardner hit a solo home run off Felix Hernandez in New York’s victory over Seattle.
Severino (6-4) struck out six and allowed eight hits. Gardner connected against Hernandez (5-4) in the sixth. Other than that, Hernandez was as good as he’s been in 2017, striking out a season-high nine and pitching at least seven innings for the second time.
Padres 5, Giants 2: Jhoulys Chacin outpitched Madison Bumgarner, and Cory Spangenberg hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh inning that chased Bumgarner from his first home start in more than three months as San Diego defeated San Francisco.
Bumgarner (0-4) struck out five and walked one over 6 1/3 innings, taking his home mound for the first time since spraining his pitching shoulder in an April 20 dirt bike accident. The 2014 World Series MVP is winless after six starts this season. San Francisco is 0-6 in those games.
Blue Jays 8, Red Sox 6: Justin Smoak hit a pair of homers and Steve Pearce drove in two runs when Boston second baseman Brock Holt lost his popup in the sun, giving Toronto a four-game split.
Including the 15-inning game on Tuesday with the Blue Jays, the AL East-leading Red Sox played 76 innings in about 144 hours — the equivalent of 8 1/2 games in six days.
Diamondbacks 12, Reds 2: Jake Lamb hit a pair of three-run homers and Patrick Corbin pitched into the eighth inning during an emergency start, sending Arizona over Cincinnati.
Arizona stabilized itself by taking two of three in the series. The Diamondbacks had dropped eight of nine heading into the set.
Lamb homered in the first inning off Luis Castillo (1-3) and again in the ninth for a career-high six RBIs.
Mets 3, Cardinals 2: Cardinals pitcher Trevor Rosenthal was late covering first base on a two-out grounder by Jose Reyes that turned into a game-winning single in the ninth inning for the New York Mets.
A leadoff walk and T.J. Rivera’s single put runners on the corners with two outs. Reyes then hit a grounder up the first base line, and Matt Carpenter fielded it cleanly well behind the bag.
Orioles 9, Rangers 7: Jonathan Schoop and Adam Jones both homered and drove in three runs, and Baltimore rallied to beat Cole Hamels and Texas to complete a four-game sweep.
Mark Trumbo and Chris Davis also went deep for the Orioles, who trailed 5-1 in the fifth inning before coming back to hand Hamels (4-1) his first loss in 10 starts this season.
Royals 16, Tigers 4: Brandon Moss drove in four runs, Mike Moustakas had three RBIs and Kansas City routed error-prone Detroit.
Eric Hosmer and Whit Merrifield homered for the Royals, who moved within 1½ games of first-place Cleveland in the AL Central division. The 16 runs and 19 hits were season highs for Kansas City.
Detroit committed three errors in the Royals’ four-run first inning, when only one run was earned. It was the most errors the Tigers have made in an inning since May 1, 2010.
Michael Fulmer, the 2016 AL Rookie of the Year, threw 37 pitches in the first. Fulmer (10-7) was removed after facing 18 batters in the shortest outing of his career.
Danny Duffy (6-6) was staked to an 8-0 lead, but struggled to make it into the sixth.
The Pirates have won 11 of 13 and moved within three games of the Brewers. Milwaukee has lost five straight.
Polanco hit a solo shot off Jimmy Nelson (8-5) in the fourth inning, his ninth homer. Stewart scored the go-ahead run in the fifth on a single by Josh Harrison.
Jameson Taillon (6-3) struck out a season-high eight in 5 1/3 innings. Felipe Rivero worked a perfect ninth for his ninth save.
Braves 6, Dodgers 3: Mike Foltynewicz pitched into the seventh inning and Atlanta stopped Los Angeles’ 11-game winning streak.
The Dodgers had won 31 of their last 35 but could not overcome another shaky start by Brandon McCarthy (6-4), who was bothered by a blister and could be headed to the disabled list.
Kurt Suzuki hit a two-run homer for the Braves, who jumped out to a 6-1 lead after four innings against McCarthy. Foltynewicz (8-5) allowed three runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings, striking out five.
Yankees 4, Mariners 1: Luis Severino pitched out of trouble to throw seven shutout innings, and Brett Gardner hit a solo home run off Felix Hernandez in New York’s victory over Seattle.
Severino (6-4) struck out six and allowed eight hits. Gardner connected against Hernandez (5-4) in the sixth. Other than that, Hernandez was as good as he’s been in 2017, striking out a season-high nine and pitching at least seven innings for the second time.
Padres 5, Giants 2: Jhoulys Chacin outpitched Madison Bumgarner, and Cory Spangenberg hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh inning that chased Bumgarner from his first home start in more than three months as San Diego defeated San Francisco.
Bumgarner (0-4) struck out five and walked one over 6 1/3 innings, taking his home mound for the first time since spraining his pitching shoulder in an April 20 dirt bike accident. The 2014 World Series MVP is winless after six starts this season. San Francisco is 0-6 in those games.
Blue Jays 8, Red Sox 6: Justin Smoak hit a pair of homers and Steve Pearce drove in two runs when Boston second baseman Brock Holt lost his popup in the sun, giving Toronto a four-game split.
Including the 15-inning game on Tuesday with the Blue Jays, the AL East-leading Red Sox played 76 innings in about 144 hours — the equivalent of 8 1/2 games in six days.
Diamondbacks 12, Reds 2: Jake Lamb hit a pair of three-run homers and Patrick Corbin pitched into the eighth inning during an emergency start, sending Arizona over Cincinnati.
Arizona stabilized itself by taking two of three in the series. The Diamondbacks had dropped eight of nine heading into the set.
Lamb homered in the first inning off Luis Castillo (1-3) and again in the ninth for a career-high six RBIs.
Mets 3, Cardinals 2: Cardinals pitcher Trevor Rosenthal was late covering first base on a two-out grounder by Jose Reyes that turned into a game-winning single in the ninth inning for the New York Mets.
A leadoff walk and T.J. Rivera’s single put runners on the corners with two outs. Reyes then hit a grounder up the first base line, and Matt Carpenter fielded it cleanly well behind the bag.
Orioles 9, Rangers 7: Jonathan Schoop and Adam Jones both homered and drove in three runs, and Baltimore rallied to beat Cole Hamels and Texas to complete a four-game sweep.
Mark Trumbo and Chris Davis also went deep for the Orioles, who trailed 5-1 in the fifth inning before coming back to hand Hamels (4-1) his first loss in 10 starts this season.
Royals 16, Tigers 4: Brandon Moss drove in four runs, Mike Moustakas had three RBIs and Kansas City routed error-prone Detroit.
Eric Hosmer and Whit Merrifield homered for the Royals, who moved within 1½ games of first-place Cleveland in the AL Central division. The 16 runs and 19 hits were season highs for Kansas City.
Detroit committed three errors in the Royals’ four-run first inning, when only one run was earned. It was the most errors the Tigers have made in an inning since May 1, 2010.
Michael Fulmer, the 2016 AL Rookie of the Year, threw 37 pitches in the first. Fulmer (10-7) was removed after facing 18 batters in the shortest outing of his career.
Danny Duffy (6-6) was staked to an 8-0 lead, but struggled to make it into the sixth.
