CHICAGO: Ben Zobrist homered twice and Anthony Rizzo added a towering solo shot as the streaking Chicago Cubs defeated the Washington Nationals 8-6 in Major League Baseball Friday for their fifth straight win.
Zobrist has homered three games in a row. He drove in four runs for the second consecutive day against the Nationals as the streaking Cubs won for the ninth time in 10 games and improved to 22-6, the best record in the majors.
Elsewhere, South Korea’s Jung Ho Kang homered twice as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2, while Madison Bumgarner and the San Francisco Giants survived a shaky second inning to beat the Colorado Rockies 6-4 to take the division lead.
Rizzo and Zobrist hit back-to-back homers in the fourth for a 4-2 lead for Chicago. Rizzo’s 10th homer up toward a flag atop the foul pole in right field was reviewed and upheld.
Zobrist connected again for his fifth homer, a three-run shot with two outs in the fifth that made it 7-2.
John Lackey (4-1) struck out 11, one shy of his career high, in seven innings, while Hector Rondon pitched a scoreless ninth for his fifth save in as many chances.
Lackey became the fifth active pitcher with 2,000 strikeouts when he fanned Jayson Werth in the fourth, joining CC Sabathia, Bartolo Colon, Felix Hernandez and Jake Peavy and earning a standing ovation from the Wrigley Field crowd of 39,206.
At St. Louis, Kang, who was activated from the disabled list before the game, ripped the first pitch he saw from Tyler Lyons into the right field bullpen for a two-run homer to give the Pirates a 3-0 lead in the sixth. Kang followed with a 427-foot homer into the upper deck in left in the eighth.
Liriano (3-1) fanned 10 through seven innings for his 24th career double-digit strikeout performance of his career.
Brandon Crawford hit a three-run homer, and Madison Bumgarner and San Francisco shook off a slow start to end a three-game losing streak to Colorado.
Hunter Pence, who had three hits, Matt Duffy and Brandon Belt also drove in runs for the Giants, who ended a two-game slide.
Bumgarner (4-2) won his third straight start, retiring 15 of 17 after giving up all four runs in the second. He allowed seven hits, walked one and struck out 10 in 7 1/3 innings.
Jose Ramirez got three hits and drove in a career-high five runs as the Cleveland Indians defeated the reeling Kansas City Royals 7-1 for its fourth straight win.
The World Series champion Royals have lost eight of 10.
Ramirez delivered a bases-loaded double in the third and a two-run double in the fifth. He singled in the second, walked in the eighth and raised his batting average to .324.
Danny Salazar (3-2) held the Royals to four hits and struck out nine in 7 2/3 innings.
Melky Cabrera had four hits and three RBIs, Jose Abreu hit a solo homer, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins 10-4, while the New York Yankees edged the Boston Red Sox in a tense and testy affair that saw David Ortiz and Boston manager John Farrell ejected.
Also Friday, the Miami Marlins had a 6-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, the Cincinnati Reds beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-1 and the Texas Rangers topped the Detroit Tigers 5-1 and the Blue Jays downed the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-2.
Zobrist has homered three games in a row. He drove in four runs for the second consecutive day against the Nationals as the streaking Cubs won for the ninth time in 10 games and improved to 22-6, the best record in the majors.
Elsewhere, South Korea’s Jung Ho Kang homered twice as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2, while Madison Bumgarner and the San Francisco Giants survived a shaky second inning to beat the Colorado Rockies 6-4 to take the division lead.
Rizzo and Zobrist hit back-to-back homers in the fourth for a 4-2 lead for Chicago. Rizzo’s 10th homer up toward a flag atop the foul pole in right field was reviewed and upheld.
Zobrist connected again for his fifth homer, a three-run shot with two outs in the fifth that made it 7-2.
John Lackey (4-1) struck out 11, one shy of his career high, in seven innings, while Hector Rondon pitched a scoreless ninth for his fifth save in as many chances.
Lackey became the fifth active pitcher with 2,000 strikeouts when he fanned Jayson Werth in the fourth, joining CC Sabathia, Bartolo Colon, Felix Hernandez and Jake Peavy and earning a standing ovation from the Wrigley Field crowd of 39,206.
At St. Louis, Kang, who was activated from the disabled list before the game, ripped the first pitch he saw from Tyler Lyons into the right field bullpen for a two-run homer to give the Pirates a 3-0 lead in the sixth. Kang followed with a 427-foot homer into the upper deck in left in the eighth.
Liriano (3-1) fanned 10 through seven innings for his 24th career double-digit strikeout performance of his career.
Brandon Crawford hit a three-run homer, and Madison Bumgarner and San Francisco shook off a slow start to end a three-game losing streak to Colorado.
Hunter Pence, who had three hits, Matt Duffy and Brandon Belt also drove in runs for the Giants, who ended a two-game slide.
Bumgarner (4-2) won his third straight start, retiring 15 of 17 after giving up all four runs in the second. He allowed seven hits, walked one and struck out 10 in 7 1/3 innings.
Jose Ramirez got three hits and drove in a career-high five runs as the Cleveland Indians defeated the reeling Kansas City Royals 7-1 for its fourth straight win.
The World Series champion Royals have lost eight of 10.
Ramirez delivered a bases-loaded double in the third and a two-run double in the fifth. He singled in the second, walked in the eighth and raised his batting average to .324.
Danny Salazar (3-2) held the Royals to four hits and struck out nine in 7 2/3 innings.
Melky Cabrera had four hits and three RBIs, Jose Abreu hit a solo homer, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins 10-4, while the New York Yankees edged the Boston Red Sox in a tense and testy affair that saw David Ortiz and Boston manager John Farrell ejected.
Also Friday, the Miami Marlins had a 6-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, the Cincinnati Reds beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-1 and the Texas Rangers topped the Detroit Tigers 5-1 and the Blue Jays downed the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-2.
