South Korean slugger leads Reds in win against Pirates
CINCINNATI—The Cincinnati Reds edged the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-4, on Saturday to move within two games of their rivals in the National League Central division.
South Korean slugger ShinSoo Choo extended his hitting streak to a career-high 14 games and Joey Votto drove in a pair of runs to lead the Reds, who have won the first two games in the series against the Pirates and are closing in on second place in the division.
Kansas City got a gamewinning home run from Mike Moustakas to beat Detroit in the American League, handing Justin Verlander his first loss to the Royals since Sept. 9, 2009.
In other games, the New York Mets ended the Philadelphia Phillies’ seven-game winning streak at Citi Field, the Milwaukee Brewers held the Miami Marlins without a run for the second consecutive game and the Colorado Rockies managed 13 hits in a win over the Chicago Cubs.
The Seattle Mariners extended their season-high winning streak to five games by beating the Houston Astros, the New York Yankees ended a three-game losing streak by beating the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays for their 16th win in 18 games.
Cincinnati’s Mat Latos and Pittsburgh’s A.J. Burnett had a tough time finding their control after a 1-hour, 17-minute rain delay in the middle of the first inning.
Latos gave up three runs in five innings. Travis Snider’s pinch-hit RBI double cut it to 5-4 in the eighth, but Logan Ondrusek got Jose Tabata to ground out with the bases loaded, ending the rally.
Aroldis Chapman escaped a two-on threat in the ninth for his 23rd save in 26 chances.
Royals beat Tigers
Kansas City’s Salvador Perez drove in three runs and Moustakas went 3 for 4 to lead the Royals to a 6-5 victory over the Tigers.
Verlander gave up six runs, five earned, on eight hits and four walks in 5 2-3 innings. It was the seventh time in 21 starts that Verlander failed to make it into the sixth inning.
Jeremy Guthrie picked up the victory for Kansas City, surrendering five runs on 10 hits and two walks in six innings.
The Mets’ Gonzalez Germen came out of the bullpen to bail out fellow rookie Zack Wheeler and help New York hold off Philadelphia 5-4.
Marlon Byrd, David Wright and Daniel Murphy each had an RBI single for the Mets, who handed Cole Hamels his 12th defeat of the season — most in the National League.
Germen struck out three in 1 2-3 hitless innings for his first MLB win. (AP)