Jon Lester wins fifth straight; Cubs beat Dodgers, 4-0
CHICAGO—Jon Lester won his fifth straight start, Javier Baez backed him with three hits and two runs, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-0 on Wednesday.
Lester (9-2) gave up five hits over seven innings. Baez had two doubles, a triple and a steal. He also made some solid plays at shortstop and second base.
Kyle Schwarber hit his 14th homer, and Kris Bryant added two hits and an RBI. And the Cubs handed Ross Stripling his first loss since April 30, taking two of three in a rematch of the past two NL Championship Series.
Lester walked three and struck out one batter. Anthony Bass worked the final two innings to finish the six-hitter.
Stripling (6-2) had won six straight starts. The right-hander went six innings, allowing three runs and eight hits while striking out seven without a walk.
INDIANS 12, WHITE SOX 0
CLEVELAND—Corey Kluber became the first pitcher with 11 wins this season and Jose Ramirez and Jason Kipnis hit three-run homers in Cleveland’s victory over Chicago.
Reigning AL Cy Young winner Kluber (11-3) allowed only a second-inning single past third base by Omar Narvaez and a third-inning walk to Charlie Tilson in seven dominant innings. The right-hander struck out seven and retired the last 14 batters before giving way to George Kontos to begin the eighth. Josh Tomlin surrendered a double to Jose Abreu in the ninth before completing the combined two-hitter.
Kluber now has one more victory than Washington’s Max Scherzer and the Yankees’ Luis Severino.
Ramirez put the Indians ahead 3-0 in the first with his teamhigh 22nd home run off starter Reynaldo Lopez (2-5). He also extended his on-base streak to a career-high 28 games, scored three times and stole a base.
Kipnis’ three-run shot and Edwin Encarnacion’s two-run double were part of a six-run sixth against Bruce Rondon that pushed the lead to 11-0.
ATHLETICS 12, PADRES 4
SAN DIEGO—Light-hitting Franklin Barreto connected for a 424-foot, three-run home run, one of five long balls Oakland hit in routing San Diego.
Josh Phegley, Mark Canha, Matt Olson and Jed Lowrie also went deep for Oakland.
The A’s hit seven homers in sweeping the two-game series. Stephen Piscotty tied Tuesday night’s game with a homer with two outs in the ninth off Brad Hand and Lowie hit a two-run shot with two outs in the 10th for a 4-2 victory.
Barreto and Phegley went backto-back with their first homers of the season in the second inning off left-hander Joey Lucchesi (3-3), who had been on the disabled list for more than a month.
Frankie Montas (4-1) benefited from the long balls as he threw 6 2-3 strong innings. He held the Padres to one run and five hits, struck out six and walked three.
San Diego’s Christian Villanueva homered in the ninth, his 16th.
REDS 5, TIGERS 3
CINCINNATI—Scooter Gennett hit a tying two-run homer, and Eugenio Suarez also connected on the next pitch—a hit originally ruled a double but changed to a homer on review—and Cincinnati swept the two-game sweep against Detroit.
Tyler Mahle (6-6) overcame a pair of solo homers to remain unbeaten in four June starts. The rookie has allowed four earned runs while going 3-0 in the month. He struck out eight in six innings.
Raisel Iglesias gave up a hit in the ninth while earning his 11th save in 13 chances.
The Reds managed only a pair of singles through the first five innings before getting to Michael Fulmer (3-6). Gennett connected with two outs for his 13th homer, tying it 2-2. Suarez hit Fulmer’s next pitch to left field, with the ball landing on the top of the wall and bouncing back into play.
The Reds sounded their home run siren and shot off fireworks, but the umpires ruled the ball was in play and stopped Suarez at second base. After a review of 1 minute, 12 seconds, the hit was ruled a homer—replays indicated the ball skipped off the top of the wall and deflected off a railing behind it.
Adam Duvall added a homer in the eighth.
BLUE JAYS 5, BRAVES 4
TORONTO—J.A. Happ pitched a season-high 8 1/3 innings to win his fifth straight decision, Kendrys Morales hit a two-run home run and Toronto beat Atlanta for its seventh win in eight home games.
Happ (9-3) allowed four runs and six hits, walked none and struck out eight. He’s 4-0 with a 2.72 ERA in nine career starts against the Braves.
Happ retired 18 of 19 before Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis hit back-to-back singles with one out in the ninth.
Ryan Tepera came on and gave up an RBI single to Kurt Suzuki, struck out Charlie Culberson, then allowed an RBI single to Ender Inciarte, putting the tying run at second. Tepera finished it by getting Johan Camargo to fly out, earning his fifth save in eight opportunities
Morales, who turned 35 Wednesday, went 2 for 3 and scored twice. He homered in the first, walked and scored in the fourth, singled in the fifth, and flied out in the eighth.
Anibal Sanchez (3-1) was the loser.
GIANTS 6, MARLINS 5
SAN FRANCISCO—Brandon Belt had three hits, Gorkys Hernandez added a two-run single during a five-run sixth inning and San Francisco beat Miami.
Derek Holland (5-7) had seven strikeouts and allowed three runs over six innings in his first start against the Marlins since 2011. Hunter Pence had a pair of RBI singles to snap a 1-for-18 slump.
Unlike the first two games of this series that were marked by flaring tempers and alleged beanballs, the finale was tame. What fireworks there were came primarily in the sixth when San Francisco chased Miami starter Jose Urena (2-9).
The Marlins scored twice in the ninth off Sam Dyson. Reyes Moronta struck out JB Shuck for his first career save. Castro drove in a pair of runs and Brian Anderson had three hits for Miami, extending his on-base streak to a career-high 18 games.