DENVER (AP) — Slumping outfielder Andrew McCutchen hit three homers and drove in five runs to help the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Colorado Rockies 9-4 on Tuesday night.
This was the second time McCutchen has gone deep three times in a game. He also accomplished the feat on Aug. 1, 2009, against Washington.
The perennial All-Star entered the game in a 3-for-23 funk on this road trip but rediscovered his swing. McCutchen hit solo shots in the first and second innings off starter Jorge De La Rosa (1-3). He also lined a three-run homer off reliever Christian Bergman in the sixth.
The major league record for homers in a game is four, which has been done 16 times and last by Josh Hamilton in 2012. McCutchen had a chance to equal the mark in the eighth, but grounded out.
Gerrit Cole (2-2) threw six innings and allowed four runs — two earned — to win his second straight start.
WHITE SOX 10, BLUE JAYS 1
TORONTO (AP) — Chris Sale won again, pitching eight sharp innings and leading Chicago over Toronto for its fifth straight win.
Sale (5-0) has won all of his starts this season and leads the majors in victories. The lefty ace has a 1.66 ERA.
Sale carried a one-hitter into the seventh inning, retiring 13 straight batters before Edwin Encarnacion homered. Sale gave up four hits in eight innings, striking out six and walking two.
Dioner Navarro hit a two-run homer and Avisail Garcia and Adam Eaton added solo shots for Chicago.
The three home runs, 15 hits and 10 runs were all season highs for the White Sox.
R.A. Dickey (1-3) allowed six runs and eight hits in six innings. The knuckleballer is winless in his last four outings and dropped to 2-6 in 12 career games against Chicago.
CUBS 4, BREWERS 3
CHICAGO (AP) — Addison Russell's two-out, two-run triple in the sixth inning snapped a tie and Chicago held off Milwaukee to secure its best 20-game start since 1907.
Anthony Rizzo added an RBI single in the seventh and Adam Warren (2-0) struck out three in two scoreless innings as the Cubs improved to 15-5, surpassing the 1969 club's 14-6 start. The 1907 World Series-winning team began 16-4.
Ryan Braun's pinch-hit, two-run double off Pedro Strop in the eighth got the Brewers within a run. But Hector Rondon pitched a scoreless ninth for his fourth save.
With a 16 mph wind blowing in and the wind chill 34 degrees at first pitch, runs were at a premium. Third baseman Aaron Hill's fielding error to begin the sixth led to two unearned runs off Jimmy Nelson (3-2) in the Brewers' fourth loss in five games.
TWINS 6, INDIANS 5
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Miguel Sano singled in a run with one out in the ninth inning, giving Minnesota walk-off win over Cleveland.
Minnesota rallied after Mike Napoli homered off Kevin Jepsen (2-3) in the top of the ninth to tie the game 5-5. It was Jepsen's third blown save in five chances.
The Twins came back against closer Cody Allen (0-2). Minnesota's Brian Dozier doubled with one out in the ninth and intentionally walked Joe Mauer. Sano followed with a line drive to center field to score Dozier.
Minnesota is now 6-4 at Target Field and 1-10 on the road.
Twins starter Ricky Nolasco allowed four runs on five hits and struck out nine over 7 1/3 innings.
RED SOX 11, BRAVES 4
ATLANTA (AP) — David Price matched his career high with 14 strikeouts, Travis Shaw homered and drove in five runs and Boston beat Atlanta as the Braves' staggering home-run drought reached 15 games.
The Braves, who opened the season with nine straight losses, have lost seven straight.
The homer drought is the longest for the Braves in their 51 years in Atlanta. It's the franchise's longest span since a 16-game streak in September, 1946, when the Braves were based in Boston. Atlanta is 1-12 at home.
Price (3-0) allowed two runs on six hits in eight innings. The left-hander struck out the side in the eighth to match his career high.
Shaw hit a three-run homer off Matt Wisler (0-2) in the first and added a two-run double off Ryan Weber in Boston's five-run ninth.
MARLINS 6, DODGERS 3
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Giancarlo Stanton homered for the third straight game, hitting a go-ahead, three-run shot off Clayton Kershaw, and Miami rallied to beat Los Angeles for its third straight victory.
The Marlins trailed 3-0 before scoring five runs in the sixth inning off Kershaw (2-1), capped by Stanton's drive into the center-field bleachers.
Kershaw's five earned runs allowed in the inning were as many as he allowed in his first 35 innings to start this season. He hadn't allowed five runs in an entire game in his last 30 starts.
Kershaw finished with 10 strikeouts in seven innings but got his first loss in his last eight regular-season starts dating to last year.
Tom Koehler (2-2) pitched five innings for the win and A.J. Ramos worked around a two-out, two-on jam in the ninth to close it out for the Marlins.
METS 4, REDS 3
NEW YORK (AP) — Yoenis Cespedes returned from a leg injury to line a tying, three-run homer as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning off Brandon Finnegan, slumping David Wright had a go-ahead single later in the inning and New York rallied past Cincinnati for its 10th straight win against the Reds.
Cespedes had missed three straight games because of a bruised right thigh and had fluid drained Monday. He electrified the small Citi Field crowd on a cool night when he rocketed a 93 mph fastball, the first pitch he saw from Finnegan, off the green wall that was the fence when the ballpark opened in 2009.
Wright, who had been 1 for 17 with runners in scoring position, broke the tie later in the inning against Tony Cingrani (0-2).
Logan Verrett (3-0) won in relief for the second straight day. Jeurys Familia closed for his seventh save in seven chances.
ATHLETICS 5, TIGERS 1
DETROIT (AP) — Rich Hill allowed four hits in seven scoreless innings, and Oakland beat Detroit.
Marcus Semien homered for the A's, and Hill (3-2) breezed through Detroit's righty-heavy lineup with little trouble. The left-hander struck out eight and wasn't really in any jams after he escaped the first inning with two on.
Mike Pelfrey (0-4) allowed five runs and nine hits in 6 2/3 innings and remains winless since signing with Detroit this past offseason. He allowed three runs in the fourth inning and then gave up Semien's two-run shot with two out in the seventh.
Justin Upton made a terrific catch in left field in the third, reaching above the wall on a drive by Oakland's Chris Coghlan. The ball actually popped out of Upton's glove, but he was able to gather it in before it hit the ground.
RAYS 3, ORIOLES 1
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Kevin Kiermaier hit a two-run homer and Tampa Bay beat Baltimore.
After Steven Souza Jr. had a two-out single in the sixth, Kiermaier put the Rays up 3-1 on his two-run shot off Ubaldo Jimenez (1-2).
Tampa Bay has won three in a row, with 11 of its 13 runs over the stretch coming with two outs.
Reliever Enny Romero (1-0) gave up a hit in one-plus innings for win. Alex Colome got the final two outs to get his fifth save.
Jimenez allowed three runs and six hits in six innings as the Orioles lost for the eighth time in 12 games since starting the season 7-0.
GIANTS 1, PADRES 0
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Johnny Cueto pitched a seven-hitter for his seventh career shutout to outwork James Shields, and San Francisco beat San Diego.
Cueto (4-1) struck out a season-high 11 batters, walked one and repeatedly pitched out of trouble to help the Giants to their seventh straight home win against the Padres. It was his 13th career complete game.
Denard Span drove in the game's only run with a two-out double in the fifth inning that scored Brandon Crawford.
Alexei Ramirez had two hits for San Diego. The Padres were blanked for the sixth time this season.
The matchup between the two former All-Stars lived up to the hype.
Shields (0-4) remained winless despite giving up only three hits over seven innings. The Padres' hard-luck ace did not allow a hit until Crawford's leadoff single in the fifth but received no run support again.
MARINERS 11, ASTROS 1
SEATTLE (AP) — Robinson Cano hit a grand slam and drove in six runs, Nathan Karns threw seven shutout innings and Seattle beat Houston.
Cano reached 1,000 RBIs in his career with a two-run single in the fifth and then crushed his seventh-inning grand slam.
Karns (2-1) allowed two hits and struck out six while walking three.
Dallas Keuchel (2-3) pitched six innings of six-hit ball in the defeat. The left-hander allowed five runs while striking out five and walking two.
The Mariners took the lead in the fourth on a run-scoring single by Nelson Cruz.
RANGERS 10, YANKEES 1
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — A.J. Griffin pitched eight strong innings, Mitch Moreland hit a bases-loaded two-run single during a five-run third and Texas beat New York.
The Rangers ended a four-game skid, during which they totaled five runs. They were no-hit for six innings by Yankees right-hander Nathan Eovaldi on Monday night.
In the third, Texas got all five runs with two outs after Prince Fielder was intentionally walked by Luis Severino (0-3) to load the bases. Ian Desmond walked, then Moreland hit his single. Desmond scored on a wild pitch, and Elvis Andrus had an RBI single.
Griffin (3-0) allowed four singles and a walk and struck out five. Griffin, who didn't pitch in the majors during the past two seasons following Tommy John surgery, has limited opponents to a .189 batting average in four starts.
Desmond and Rougned Odor homered for Texas, and Andrus had three hits.
ANGELS 9, ROYALS 4
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Johnny Giavotella drove in three runs with his first homer of the season, Mike Trout and Carlos Perez had two-run singles and Los Angeles beat Kansas City.
Jered Weaver (3-0) allowed four runs and nine hits over six innings and struck out four. The Angels scored one more run than they totaled in the right-hander's first three starts this season.
Edinson Volquez (3-1) gave up eight runs and 12 hits in in five innings. The right-hander, facing the Angels for the first time since 2007, was coming off a 4-0 win over Detroit in which he allowed five hits through seven innings.
Mike Moustakas homered and Jarrod Dyson hit a pair of RBI doubles for the defending World Series champions, who had six two-base hits altogether — all against Weaver. The franchise record is 11, set on Aug. 11, 2003 against the Yankees.
PHILLIES 4, NATIONALS 3
WASHINGTON (AP) — Andres Blanco's three hits included a two-run homer and he scored the go-ahead run on Maikel Franco's seventh-inning double, helping Philadelphia edge Bryce Harper and Washington.
Jeanmar Gomez, Philadelphia's fourth pitcher, got Harper to ground out to third with a man on first in the ninth to end the game and earn his fifth save.
Before the game, Phillies manager Pete Mackanin spoke about "a theory" for how to pitch to reigning MVP Harper, who came in leading the NL in homers and RBIs.
Philadelphia walked Harper three times, but he delivered a run-scoring single off Vincent Velasquez (3-1) in the fifth.
CARDINALS 8, DIAMONDBACKS 2
PHOENIX (AP) — Carlos Martinez gave up three hits in eight scoreless innings, Brandon Moss and Stephen Piscotty homered and St. Louis beat Arizona.
Martinez (4-0) won for the fourth time in four starts. The 24-year-old right-hander held the Diamondbacks without a hit until David Peralta's one-out single in the fourth.
Moss had four hits, including a three-run homer in the fifth inning. Piscotty added a two-run shot in the seventh.
Former Cardinal Shelby Miller (0-2) threw four scoreless innings before St. Louis broke through for five runs in the fifth.
Still, it was a small step forward for Miller, who had battled control issues and hadn't made it past the second inning in his previous two outings.
Jake Lamb and Yasmany Tomas homered for Arizona off reliever Tyler Lyons in the ninth.