Pirates end woes at Dodger Stadium

LOS ANGELES — Clutch hitting from Andrew McCutchen and Pedro Alvarez helped the Pittsburgh Pirates finally win a series in Dodger Stadium after a seven-year drought.

McCutchen hit his first home run in over a month, doubled twice and scored two runs to help the Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3 on Sunday and take three of four from the defending NL West champions.

“It’s good that we were able to get three out of four against a really good team here in L.A.,” McCutchen said. “We haven’t done that in a long time, so it’s a step in the right direction, definitely.”

Alvarez drove in three runs against Zack Greinke and Josh Harrison homered against Chris Perez, helping the Pirates win for the eighth time in 12 games. The last time they captured a series at Chavez Ravine was in September 2006, when they took two of three under then manager Jim Tracy.

“We’ve been out here a lot and not done a whole lot. So it was a big thing for us — because we flat-out believe we can play,” skipper Clint Hurdle said. “We needed to knock this off our ‘to-do’ list, and we were able to. We knew what we were facing here, and we outpitched them for three of the four days. We played three really clean ballgames. We have confidence and we have enough edge and grit, and I think it showed up this weekend.”

Edinson Volquez (3-4) allowed two runs and five hits over five innings, striking out six and walking one.

“You’ve got to stay focused on what you’re doing, especially against those guys because they have a good lineup,” Volquez said. “You can’t make a lot of mistakes against them, especially with Greinke because he’s one of the best pitchers in the National League. Tonight I had better fastball command than I did in New York, so I was able to throw more strikes and keep the fastball down.”

Jason Grilli, the fifth Pirates pitcher, got three outs for his eighth save and third of the series after giving up a pair of two-out walks and an RBI single by pinch-hitter Scott Van Slyke. It was the Dodgers only hit after Justin Turner’s solo homer with one out in the fourth.

Greinke (8-2) gave up a season-worst four runs and five hits in seven innings and struck out seven.

“He’s an ultra-competitor. And to beat him, you’ve got to out-compete him,” Hurdle said. “We laid off some tight pitches, we worked some counts, got his pitch count up, then we hit some pitches we were able to handle and got the barrel on them. But that was the plan coming in. I mean, you give him strike one and he can cut you up three different ways. So we just tried to be as aggressive as he was. We were looking for fastballs early, and his location played into it.”

Alvarez opened the scoring in the first with a two-run single after Greinke gave up a two-out double to McCutchen and walks to Ike Davis and Russell Martin.

“McCutchen did a lot against us,” manager Don Mattingly said. “Obviously the kid at third base (Alvarez) had a couple of big hits too, and had some good at-bats. Zack had been fairly successful against him.”

McCutchen, whose 21 homers, 84 RBIs and .317 average last season helped the Pirates end a 20-year playoff drought, made it 3-1 in the third with his fifth homer and first since April 23. The RBI was the first for the reigning NL MVP after a drought of nine games and 33 at-bats since his run-scoring single against Washington’s Blake Treinen on May 22.

“I haven’t been hitting the ball the way I knew I could be, so tonight was a good start for myself,” said McCutchen, who came in 4 for 21 against Greinke with two RBIs. “Just being ready to hit was the biggest key, and getting pitches to hit. I’ve been a little late, probably because my timing’s been off on off-speed pitches. So tonight I got myself in a hitting position and was ready to fire. And when I got a good pitch to hit I was able to put the barrel on it.”

Harrison, who was 7 for 17 in the series, hit his fourth homer in the seventh for the Pirates’ final run.

REDS 4, DIAMONDBACKS 3

PHOENIX — Chris Heisey hit a go-ahead homer in the fifth inning and the Cincinnati Reds connected four times in all to take three of four from the Diamondbacks.

Cincinnati led 3-0 after homers by Zack Cozart and Todd Frazier in the third and by Ryan Ludwick in the fourth. Arizona tied it with a three-run fourth, then Heisey’s second home run of the season put the Reds on top for good.

Alfredo Simon (7-3) gave up three runs in 6 1-3 innings. Aroldis Chapman hit 103 mph on the Chase Field radar gun in a perfect ninth, earning his seventh save in eight opportunities.

Wade Miley (3-6) allowed four home runs in a game for the first time in his career.

David Peralta singled twice in his major league debut for the Diamondbacks.

BREWERS 9, CUBS 0

MILWAUKEE — Kyle Lohse allowed only three hits and Ryan Braun had a two-run homer to lead the Brewers to a rout of the Cubs.

Milwaukee pounded Cubs ace Jeff Samardzija (1-5) for eight earned runs in three innings, raising his ERA from 1.68 to 2.54.

Braun homered to left on the first pitch he saw from Samardzija, and the Brewers rolled from there with Samardzija having trouble locating his fastball. Lyle Overbay broke the game open with a three-run double in the third.

Lohse’s RBI single drove in Overbay to make it 8-0 for the pitcher’s second run-scoring hit of the game. Lohse (7-1) struck out six in Milwaukee’s first complete game shutout this season.

BRAVES 4, MARLINS 2

MIAMI — Evan Gattis broke a ninth-inning tie with a two-run homer, and the Braves completed a three-game sweep by beating the Marlins.

Shae Simmons, pitching in his second big league game, earned his first career save when he retired Christian Yelich with two on for the final out. Closer Craig Kimbrel was given the day off because of a heavy recent workload.

The Braves pulled off the sweep after losing four consecutive games to Boston. Miami, which began the series tied with Atlanta atop the NL East, fell three games back.

The Marlins have lost four home games in a row but are still 20-11 at Marlins Park.

METS 4, PHILLIES 3, 11 innings

PHILADELPHIA — Lucas Duda hit a two-run homer with two outs in the 11th, lifting the Mets over the Phillies in the third straight extra-innings game between the teams.

The Mets and Phillies split a pair of 14-inning games the previous two days.

Duda came off the bench in the 10th to play first base, then connected in the 11th as the Mets won for the fifth time in six games. The teams conclude their rare five-game series on Monday night.

Ryan Howard hit an early two-run homer for the Phillies. Marlon Byrd hit a solo shot in the 11th.

Josh Edgin (1-0) struck out the side in the 10th. Jenrry Mejia held on for his sixth save in six chances.

Phillippe Aumont (0-1), called up prior to the game to provide relief to the tired Philadelphia bullpen, walked Travis d’Arnaud with two outs and Duda homered.

GIANTS 8, CARDINALS 0

ST. LOUIS — Tim Hudson threw seven shutout innings and Joaquin Arias keyed a four-run first inning with a two-run single to lead the Giants to a win over the Cardinals.

The Giants have won five of six and have the best record in the NL at 37-20.

St. Louis has lost four of five. The Cardinals managed just four hits.

Hudson (6-2) gave up three hits, struck out six, and walked two in improving to 4-4 against St. Louis. Hudson’s previous win against the Cardinals came on July 19, 2007, as a member of the Atlanta Braves. He retired the last 11 batters he faced.

RANGERS 2, NATIONALS 0

WASHINGTON — Yu Darvish struck out 12 over eight innings, Leonys Martin broke open a scoreless duel with a homer in the seventh and the Rangers beat the Nationals to avert a three-game sweep.

Pitching for the first time since May 22 after missing his last turn with a stiff neck, Darvish (5-2) gave up five hits and walked two in dropping his ERA to 2.08. The right-hander matched his season high in strikeouts and overpowered a team that amassed 19 runs in the first two games of the series.

Joakim Soria worked a perfect ninth to earn his 11th save and seal Texas’ major league-leading 11th shutout.

Martin hit an 0-1 pitch from Tanner Roark (3-4) into the Washington bullpen beyond the right-field wall.

BLUE JAYS 4, ROYALS 0

TORONTO — Mark Buehrle pitched eight sharp innings to become baseball’s first 10-game winner, Edwin Encarnacion homered again and the Blue Jays beat the Royals.

Buehrle (10-1) won his sixth straight decision. He gave up six hits, walked one and struck out three.

He lowered his ERA to 2.10, second-best in the AL to New York’s Masahiro Tanaka, and improved to 25-12 lifetime against the Royals.

Encarnacion, who matched Mickey Mantle’s AL record with 16 home runs in May, started off a new month with another drive. He hit a two-run shot off Aaron Crow in the eighth for his 19th homer of the season.

Jeremy Guthrie (2-5) lost his fifth straight decision.

TWINS 7, YANKEES 2

NEW YORK — Phil Hughes pitched eight poised innings in his return to New York and wound up a winner when the Twins rallied past the Yankees behind big hits from Josh Willingham and Brian Dozier in a six-run ninth.

Willingham belted a tying homer on the first pitch from closer David Robertson, denying rookie Chase Whitley his first major league victory. Robertson (0-2) then walked two batters and gave up Dozier’s two-out double, putting the Twins on top 3-2.

Eduardo Nunez, also let go by the Yankees, lined a two-run double on Matt Daley’s first pitch. Oswaldo Arcia added a two-run single off Matt Thornton to make it 7-2, all but sealing Minnesota’s second victory in the three-game series.

Hughes (6-1) held his former team to three hits — all in a row to begin the fourth — and retired his final 15 batters during his sixth straight win.

RED SOX 4, RAYS 0

BOSTON — Jon Lester pitched seven shutout innings and Brock Holt drove in two runs with one of his four doubles to lift the Red Sox to their seventh straight win, completing a three-game sweep over the reeling Rays.

Boston’s streak follows a 10-game skid, its longest in 20 years. The Red Sox said that matches a major league record for consecutive wins after a double-digit losing stretch, according to research by the Elias Sports Bureau.

The 1989 Detroit Tigers did it after losing 12 in a row, and the 1942 Pittsburgh Pirates also did it after dropping 10 straight.

Holt had his big day after hitting his first major league homer in Saturday night’s win. Garin Cecchini added an RBI double for his first major league hit.

Evan Longoria had a pair of singles for the Rays, who dropped their season-high sixth straight. Tampa Bay owns the AL’s worst record at 23-34.

ORIOLES 9, ASTROS 4

HOUSTON — Manny Machado hit his first career grand slam, David Lough homered and drove in three runs, and the Orioles beat the Astros.

Orioles slugger Nelson Cruz, leading the majors with 20 home runs and 52 RBIs, left in the third inning with a bruised left hand after being hit by a pitch from Scott Feldman. X-rays were negative and Cruz was listed as day to day.

Machado’s towering shot capped a six-run sixth inning.

The 21-year-old Machado missed the first month after offseason knee surgery and has struggled since his return, prompting manager Buck Showalter to move him from the second spot to seventh in the batting order. He was back to batting second on Sunday and had two hits for the second straight game, raising his average to .230.

Wei-Yin Chen (6-2) got the win. Feldman (3-3) allowed nine runs in 5 1-3 innings.

ATHLETICS 6, ANGELS 3

OAKLAND, Calif. — Jed Lowrie homered and drove in two runs against Oakland nemesis Jered Weaver and the Athletics completed a three-game sweep of the Angels.

Josh Donaldson hit a two-run single and Coco Crisp and Lowrie added RBI hits in a four-run third inning against Weaver (6-4) to give the A’s their first home sweep of at least three games against the Angels since June 29-July 1, 2004.

Oakland leads the AL West by 4½ games over Los Angeles, its largest pre-All-Star break lead since being 5½ up in 1990.

The big inning was more than enough support for Sonny Gray (6-1), who allowed a pair of sacrifice flies and an RBI double by Erick Aybar in 6 2-3 innings to rebound from a rare rough start. Gray has 11 quality starts in 12 outings this season for a 2.45 ERA.

MARINERS 4, TIGERS 0

SEATTLE — Rookie Roenis Elias pitched a three-hitter for the first complete game of his career, leading the Mariners over the Tigers.

Elias (4-4) struck out eight and walked one in his 12th major league start, and the first one to last longer than seven innings.

The 25-year-old left-hander from Cuba kept Detroit off balance with his curve, striking out five with the breaking ball. The Tigers only put one runner in scoring position, and Elias matched a career high with 111 pitches.

Max Scherzer (6-2) gave up four runs and nine hits in 6 2-3 innings.

WHITE SOX 4, PADRES 1

CHICAGO — Chris Sale pitched a two-hitter, Paul Konerko homered and the White Sox defeated the Padres.

Sale (5-0) struck out nine, walked none and threw 100 pitches. He froze Everth Cabrera for a called strike three to end the game, lowering his ERA to 1.59 ERA in seven starts.

Sale has allowed just one earned run in his last 25 innings, a span of four starts. The lefty was on the disabled list in late April because of a strained muscle in his pitching arm.

Konerko had two hits and drove in three runs as the White Sox won for the eighth time in 13 games.

Eric Stults (2-6) gave up four runs and five hits in six innings.

INDIANS 6, ROCKIES 4

CLEVELAND — Michael Bourn’s two-run homer in the ninth inning gave the Indians a win over the Rockies and a sweep of their three-game series.

Bourn hit an 0-1 pitch into the right-field seats off Adam Ottavino (0-2). Mike Aviles singled and took second on George Kottaras’ sacrifice before Bourn hit his second home run of the season.

Bourn raced around the bases and threw his helmet into the air as he was mobbed by his teammates at home plate. The walk-off win was Cleveland’s fourth of the season.

Scott Atchison (2-0) worked around a two-out double in the ninth by striking out Charlie Blackmon to end the inning.

Colorado completed a 2-7 road trip and has lost four straight for the first time since last September.