MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL – ROCKIES
Tyler Chatwood pitched four-hit ball over six innings, DJ LeMahieu hit a three-run homer and the Colorado Rockies beat the Chicago Cubs 4-1 for their season-high fifth straight win Thursday night.
The NL West leaders got all their runs in the second inning after Jon Lester (3-4) struck out the first two batters. LeMahieu’s drive to the right field basket made it 4-1, and with Chatwood dominating, that was more than enough.
Lester lost at Wrigley Field for the first time in nearly 13 months, while the Cubs dropped their second straight after winning a season-high five in a row. They did that hours after Major League Baseball said it is looking into a domestic violence accusation against shortstop Addison Russell.
Chatwood (6-7) shut down Chicago after giving up a solo homer to Kris Bryant in the first. He also singled and scored.
Greg Holland picked up his major league-leading 22nd save in as many chances with a scoreless ninth.
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL – AROUND THE LEAGUE
The New York Yankees have stretched their lead in the American League East by blasting the Boston Red Sox for the second consecutive night.
Gary Sanchez homered twice and had five RBIs off David Price as the Yanks cruised past the Bosox, 9-1. Sanchez launched a three-run shot in the third and a two-run drive in the fifth as New York roughed up Price once again.
Price was reached for six runs and eight hits in five innings. He owns a 4.69 ERA in 37 appearances lifetime against the Yankees.
Michael Pineda (pih-NAY’-duh) helped the Yankees move three games ahead of the second-place Red Sox, limiting Boston to an unearned run and four hits over seven innings to improve to 7-3.
Meanwhile, baseball’s top team used a late rally to end a two-game skid. The Astros won for the 12th time in 14 games and improved to 43-18.
Jose Altuve smacked a two-run homer as part of a five-run ninth in Houston’s 6-1 victory at Kansas City. Altuve’s tiebreaking blast came off Kelvin Herrara, who has been torched for seven home runs in just 24 1/3 innings this season.
Lance McCullers was working on a no-hitter until Lorenzo Cain’s one-out triple in the seventh.
— Joe Ross struck out a career-high 12 while allowing a run and four hits over 7 1/3 innings of Washington’s 6-1 romp over Baltimore. Stephen Drew homered into the second deck and Michael Taylor ripped a two-run double to back Ross, who entered the game with a 7.34 ERA in six starts this season. Trea Turner had three hits and stole three bases in the Nationals’ eighth win in 10 games.
— Chris Iannetta was the hitting star in the Diamondbacks’ 15-3 mauling of the Padres, slamming a two-run homer and collecting a career-high seven RBIs. Iannetta hit a three-run double in the sixth and a two-run double in the eighth as Arizona coasted to its ninth straight home win. Patrick Corbin improved to 5-0 in six home starts, allowing three runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings.
— The Giants scored four times in the 10th inning to beat the Brewers, 9-5. Hunter Pence singled home the tiebreaking run after Giants closer Mark Melancon coughed up a 5-3 lead in the ninth. Eduardo Nunez and Joe Panik each had two hits and two RBIs to help the Giants gain a split of the four-game series.
— St. Louis has its first seven-game losing streak in four years after Joey Votto went 4-for-4 with a two-run homer in the Reds’ 5-2 win over the Cardinals at Cincinnati. Scott Feldman limited the slumping Redbirds to four singles over seven shutout innings as the Reds completed their first four-game sweep since 2003. Adam Duvall had three hits off losing pitcher Mike Leake, who was traded by the Reds for Duvall in 2015.
— Seattle had won nine of 10 before Kyle Gibson combined with three relievers on a seven-hitter in Minnesota’s 2-1 win against the Mariners. Gibson lowered his ERA to 6.52 by giving up just one run and five hits in six innings. Jason Castro cracked a solo homer as the Twins stayed atop the AL Central, one game ahead of Cleveland.
— Danny Espinosa had three hits and three RBIs as the Angels hammered the Tigers, 11-4 in Detroit. Andrelton Simmons had three hits and two RBIs for Los Angeles, which trailed 4-1 before scoring four runs in the fifth and six more in the seventh. JC Ramirez improved to 6-4 despite yielding four runs and 10 hits in just five innings.
— Edinson Volquez followed his no-hitter by pitching seven scoreless innings to lead the Marlins’ 7-1 win at Pittsburgh. His bid for a second consecutive no-hitter ended when Josh Harrison had a bunt single down the third-base line with one out in the first inning. Volquez allowed three hits with eight strikeouts as he sent Miami to its ninth win in 12 games.
— Atlanta’s R.A. Dickey knuckleballed his way to a 3-1 decision over Philadelphia, holding the Phillies to three hits with a season-high eight strikeouts in seven frames. Dickey yielded a leadoff single to Tommy Joseph in the second and didn’t allow another hit until Odubel Herrera’s leadoff double in the seventh. Matt Kemp had a run-scoring double in Atlanta’s two-run first.
— Derek Norris homered in consecutive innings as the Rays dealt the White Sox their seventh loss in eight games, 7-5. Peter Bourjos and Colby Rasmus also homered for Tampa Bay, which held on after taking a 6-0 lead. Jake Odorizzi pitched into the seventh and blanked Chicago until Avisail Garcia’s three-run homer in the sixth.