ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — David Price struck out 11, becoming the first pitcher in 10 years to fan at least 10 in five straight starts, and Tampa Bay beat Pittsburgh 5-1 on Wednesday.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — David Price struck out 11, becoming the first pitcher in 10 years to fan at least 10 in five straight starts, and Tampa Bay beat Pittsburgh 5-1 on Wednesday.
Price (6-7) gave up five hits and one walk in 8 1-3 innings, leaving the game after Andrew McCutchen’s home run in the ninth. The last pitcher with five straight starts of 10 strikeouts was Minnesota’s Johan Santana in 2004.
Price also set a franchise record for strikeouts in a month with 54. He went 2-3 in five June starts.
Ben Zobrist’s RBI triple highlighted the Rays’ three-run first inning off Charlie Morton.
Morton (4-9) struck out a career-high 11 in seven innings, giving up four hits.
Zobrist and James Loney each had two hits, and Kevin Kiermaier drove in two runs for the Rays, who won for the ninth time in 29 games.
BREWERS 9
NATIONALS 2
MILWAUKEE — Scooter Gennett had a grand slam and five RBIs, Khris Davis added a solo shot, and Milwaukee roughed up ace Stephen Strasburg in a rout of Washington.
Homer-prone starter Marco Estrada (7-4) allowed just two hits — and no homers — and pitched effectively into the seventh for the Brewers, who bounced back a day after falling 4-2 in 16 innings to Washington.
Davis finished with three RBIs.
Strasburg (6-6) was tagged for eight hits and seven runs in 4 2/3 innings. It matched a career-worst outing for Strasburg, who also allowed seven earned runs in a two-inning start against Miami on July 12, 2013.
The Brewers’ bats broke out after scoring just two runs in 25 innings in the first two games of a series between NL division leaders. Milwaukee had 13 hits, even with Ryan Braun, Aramis Ramirez and Jonathan Lucroy all getting a day off.
Estrada walked four and struck out four in 6 1-3 innings.
CARDINALS 9
ROCKIES 6
DENVER — Matt Adams homered and drove in two runs, Matt Holliday had three hits, and St. Louis rallied to beat Colorado.
Drew Stubbs homered, and Justin Morneau had two hits for the Rockies, who finished their homestand 1-5.
The game featured the major league debuts of both starting pitchers. St. Louis’ Marco Gonzales was sharp early before faltering. Colorado’s Yohan Flande also started well before getting hit hard in his last inning.
Pat Neshek (2-0) pitched an inning in relief to earn the win. Trevor Rosenthal got four outs for his 23rd save in 26 chances.
The Cardinals scored twice in the eighth off Adam Ottavino (0-2) on RBI doubles by Daniel Descalso and Matt Carpenter to take a win away from Flande.
St. Louis added two more runs in the ninth on two of the club’s four sacrifice flies.
YANKEES 5
BLUE JAYS 3
TORONTO — Mark Teixeira hit a two-run home run, Hiroki Kuroda won for the first time in four starts and the New York Yankees beat Toronto to snap a four-game skid.
Kuroda (5-5) won for the first time since May 28, at St. Louis, allowing three runs and eight hits in 6 1-3 innings. He gave up a home run to Jose Reyes on his first pitch.
David Robertson got five outs for his 18th save in 20 tries.
Drew Hutchison (5-6) is 0-3 with a 9.22 ERA in three starts against the Yankees this season.
ATHLETICS 8
METS 5
NEW YORK — Yoenis Cespedes hit a three-run double, slumping Brandon Moss had a two-run homer and the Oakland Athletics jumped all over an ineffective Zack Wheeler and the New York Mets.
Coco Crisp homered and had three hits as the AL West leaders built an eight-run cushion for Brad Mills (1-0), who took a shutout into the seventh inning for his first major league victory in almost two years.
Oakland rebounded from its most lopsided loss of the season to split the two-game interleague series, boosting the best record in baseball to 48-30. The Mets had won three straight.
Sean Doolittle struck out all three hitters in the ninth for his 11th save, extending his scoreless streak to 25 1-3 innings. He has retired 37 of his last 38 batters.
Wheeler (3-8) followed up the best start of his brief career with his worst.
MARLINS 3
PHILLIES 2
PHILADELPHIA — Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit a two-run double for Miami, and Henderson Alvarez threw 6 2-3 strong innings.
Alvarez (5-3) allowed two runs — one earned — and seven hits. He is 3-0 with an 0.78 ERA in his last seven starts.
Steve Cishek struck out the side in the ninth for his 18th save in 19 tries.
A.J. Burnett (5-7) gave up three runs and five hits, striking out eight in seven innings.
The Marlins have won two of the first three in the four-game set. They had lost eight of their previous nine games in Philadelphia.
REDS 4, CUBS 1
CHICAGO — Mat Latos pitched seven impressive innings for his first win of the season and Jay Bruce had two run-scoring doubles that led Cincinnati.
With the wind blowing in on a cold summer night, Devin Mesoraco’s five-game homer streak came to an end. The Reds catcher was tied with Adam Dunn, Ken Griffey Jr., Johnny Bench, George Crowe and Ted Kluszewski for the franchise record.
Latos (1-0) allowed one run and five hits in his third start after beginning the season on the disabled list. Aroldis Chapman pitched the ninth for his 14th save in 15 chances.
Edwin Jackson (5-8) allowed four runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings for Chicago, which has dropped four of five.
BRAVES 4, ASTROS 0
HOUSTON — Justin Upton homered for the second straight game and had three RBIs and Alex Wood pitched seven scoreless innings to help the Atlanta Braves beat Houston Astros.
Shae Simmons and Juan Jaime finished the three-hitter as the Astros were shut out for the 10th time this season.
The Braves had just two hits when Upton launched his 16th homer, a two-run shot in the seventh off Collin McHugh (4-6).
Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman left in the eighth after being hit by a pitch on what appeared to be his right elbow. There was no immediate update on his injury.
Wood (6-6) was recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett to make his first start since May 4 after 11 relief appearances in his last stint with the Braves. He allowed three hits.