PITTSBURGH (AP) — Dansby Swanson, Kyle Tucker and Seiya Suzuki all took Pirates ace Paul Skenes deep in the fifth inning as the Cubs pulled away for an 8-3 victory on Thursday.
Suzuki later added a two-run shot off reliever Kyle Nicolas as Chicago took two of three from the last-place Pirates.
Skenes (3-3), fresh off a masterful performance in a win over the Los Angeles Dodgers last Friday, labored through his shortest start of the season.
The 22-year-old reigning National League Rookie of the Year lasted just five innings. His four walks matched his total on the season coming in and the aggressive Cubs pounced in the fifth to turn a two-run deficit into a 3-2 lead.
Swanson led off the fifth with his sixth homer. Tucker added his eighth two batters later and Suzuki put Chicago in front to stay with a shot to the left-field bleachers. Ian Happ, a Pittsburgh native, had three hits. Swanson, Suzuki and Michael Busch had two hits apiece for the Cubs.
Colin Rea (2-0) allowed two runs in a season-high six innings for Chicago.
Bryan Reynolds hit his ninth home run for Pittsburgh. The Pirates have dropped four of five.
ROYALS 8, RAYS 2
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Bobby Witt Jr. homered to extend his hitting streak to 22 games and had three RBIs, Seth Lugo pitched solid six innings and Kansas City earned a three-game sweep of Tampa with a victory.
Vinnie Pasquantino had a single, a double and two RBIs for the Royals, who have won nine of their past 10.
Mikael Garcia hit a line-drive double to center field for the Royals, stole third base and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Michael Massey to tie it 1-1 in the fourth.
Lugo (3-3) gave up two runs and five hits with five strikeouts. Daniel Lynch IV, Angel Zerpa and Chris Stratton each threw a scoreless inning of relief for the Royals.
Shane Baz (3-1) gave up seven runs and nine hits with three walks over 5 2/3 innings and had his ERA increase from 2.45 to 3.86.
Yandy DÃaz hit a in the first for the Rays. Jonathan Aranda added an RBI single in the sixth.
DIAMONDBACKS 4, METS 2
NEW YORK (AP) — Juan Soto hit his first two home runs at Citi Field as a member of the Mets, but Arizona earned a win to hand New York a rare home series loss.
The Diamondbacks won the final two games of the three-game series — the first time the Mets have lost back-to-back contests at Citi Field since July 27-28, when they fell to the Atlanta Braves.
New York, which is 13-3 at Citi Field this season, had its franchise-record streak of 10 straight home series wins snapped.
Zac Gallen (2-4) allowed only two hits over six innings. He didn’t allow a runner past first base until Soto’s opposite field 391-foot blast with one out in the sixth.
Soto then hit a 399-foot shot to almost the same area of left-centerfield off Kevin Ginkel in the eighth.
RED 9, CARDINALS 1
CINCINNATI (AP) — Jose Trevino hit a two-run homer and Spencer Steer added a solo shot as Cincinnati defeated St. Louis in a game delayed 1 hour, 37 minutes by rain.
Trevino’s two-out, two-run homer off Matthew Liberatore put the Reds ahead 2-0 in the second.
Brendan Donovan scored from first on Nolan Arenado’s single when Elly De La Cruz booted the ball in short left field for his major-league leading seventh error, making the score 2-1.
Neither team’s starter returned following the rain delay.
Liberatore (2-3) allowed two runs and two hits in three innings for the Cardinals. Reds left-hander Andrew Abbott gave up a run on four hits over four innings.
Steer hit a solo homer, his third of the season, off Riley O’Brien to make the score 5-1 in the sixth.
Santiago Espinal’s two-run single in the seventh pushed the Reds’ lead to 8-1. He went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
WHITE SOX 8, BREWERS 0
CHICAGO (AP) — Miguel Vargas hit a three-run home run, Luis Robert Jr. had four RBIs and Chicago beat Milwaukee.
Sean Burke (2-4) gave up two hits and three walks over six scoreless innings for his first win since the season opener. Mike Vasil, Brandon Eisert and Jared Shuster each threw an inning of no-hit relief as Chicago dealt the Brewers their first shutout of the season.
After Edgar Quero and Andrew Vaughn hit back-to-back two-out singles to chase starter Chad Patrick, to make it 4-0 in the bottom of the sixth.
Lenyn Sosa singled to lead off the bottom of the seventh and scored when Andrew Benintendi drew the last of three consecutive walks to load the bases with no outs. Robert followed with a that made it 8-0 in the seventh.
Patrick (0-3) lost his third straight start. He gave up three runs on six hits with four strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.
ATHLETICS 3, RANGERS 0
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jeffrey Springs gave up two hits in six scoreless innings, Jacob Wilson and Miguel Andujar each had two hits and an RBI and the Athletics beat Texas.
Springs (4-3) had allowed at least three runs in each of has last five starts and 19 total in that span. Mason Miller pitched a perfect ninth inning and earned his 10th save in as many opportunities this season.
Wilson hit a RBI single in the top of the seventh and Luis UrÃas added another in the eighth for the Athletics.
Marcus Semien had a single, two walks and a stolen base for the Rangers.
Tyler Mahle (3-1) gave up a run on five hits with a walk and six strikeouts over six innings. The 30-year-old right-hander gave up two runs across 12 innings in his previous two starts, both no decisions.
GUARDIANS 4, TWINS 3, 10 INNINGS
CLEVELAND (AP) — José RamÃrez became the first player in Cleveland franchise history to and then scored the winning run in the 10th inning as the Guardians rallied for a victory over Minnesota.
RamÃrez’s single drove in Steven Kwan to tie it at 3. RamÃrez then stole second base to become the 24th player in major league history — and only active one — to reach the milestone.
After Kyle Manzardo was intentionally walked, pinch-hitter Angel MartÃnez hit a sharp grounder into right field off Justin Topa (1-2) to score RamÃrez and give Cleveland its second walk-off win of the four-game series.
Kolby Allard (1-0) got the win as the Guardians took three games in the four-game set and went 6-4 on their 10-game homestand. There were two rain delays totaling 2 hours, 23 minutes on what was ironically Weather Education Day.
An 18-minute rain delay between the sixth and seventh innings ended up benefiting the Twins. Minnesota scored a pair of runs in the seventh and took advantage of Cleveland’s fielders struggling with damp conditions.
Harrison Bader led off the inning with an infield single after Cleveland third baseman Will Wilson slipped while fielding the grounder. Bader scored on an RBI single by Christian Vázquez after Noel slipped in right center.
BLUE JAYS 4, RED SOX 2
TORONTO (AP) — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. put º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøahead with a three-run homer in the eighth inning, Daulton Varsho had a solo shot and the Blue Jays beat Boston.
º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøtrailed 2-0 through six innings before Varsho connected off Tanner Houck in the seventh, his second homer in two games. Varsho was activated off the injured list Tuesday after missing the start of the season while recovering from right shoulder surgery.
Mason Fluharty (2-0) retired all four batters he faced and Yimi Garcia finished for his second save.
º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøwon back-to-back games for the first time since a three-game winning streak from April 15-18.
Guerrero erased a 2-1 deficit with a 404-foot drive to left field off Justin Slaten in the eighth.
Slaten (0-2) took the loss for the second straight game, spoiling Houck’s strong start.
Houck allowed one run and four hits in seven innings. He walked none and struck out six. The Red Sox have lost his past five starts.
Blue Jays right-hander José BerrÃos permitted two runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. He walked two and matched a season high with eight strikeouts.
Boston’s runs came on a bases-loaded double by Alex Bregman in the fifth.
NATIONALS 4, PHILLIES 2
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Luis Garcia Jr. singled, doubled and drove in a run, Brad Lord pitched effectively into the sixth inning for his first major league win and Washington avoided a three-game sweep with a victory over Philadelphia.
Nathaniel Lowe also drove in a run for Washington, which had lost three in a row overall.
Lord (1-3) allowed two runs and six hits in five-plus innings. The rookie right-hander struck out four and walked one.
Jose A. Ferrer fanned three in two scoreless innings of relief, and Kyle Finnegan got three outs for his 10th save.
Trea Turner had three hits for Philadelphia, which had won four straight.
Alec Bohm’s RBI single in the fifth put the Phillies in front 1-0 before the Nationals scored all their runs in the sixth off Taijuan Walker (1-3) with some help from the Phillies.
Lowe’s RBI single tied it at 1, and the Nationals went in front when Bryce Harper couldn’t field Keibert Ruiz’s hard-hit grounder at first base. Lowe scored on the error, and Ruiz reached third. Garcia’s single plated Ruiz, and the Nationals tallied their final run on a double steal, with Garcia scoring from third and Dylan Crews going from first to second.
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