Baseball-Highlights of Saturday's MLB games

(Adds later games) Sept 13 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Saturday's Major League baseball games - - - Cubs 6, Pirates 4 Felix Doubront pitched six scoreless innings and rookies Javier Baez and Matt Szczur homered as the Chicago Cubs held on to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates to snap a season-worst seven-game losing streak. Doubront (2-1) allowed four hits in his third start since being acquired from the Boston Red Sox in a trade. He helped send the Pirates to just their second loss in their last nine games. Pittsburgh (78-70) remained 1 1/2 games in front of the Milwaukee Brewers for the second National League wild card but fell three games adrift of the St Louis Cardinals in the NL Central race. Szczur led off the eighth with his first major league home run to give the Cubs a 6-0 lead. - - - Nationals 10, Mets 3 Bryce Harper continued to thrive when the Washington Nationals' left fielder hit a mammoth two-run homer in the second inning to jumpstart a rout of the New York Mets. The Nationals (84-63) racked up 16 hits - and had at least one in every inning - in beating the Mets for the 13th time in the last 14 games at Citi Field. Washington's second win in the three-game series reduced its magic number for winning the National League East to six. - - - Reds 5, Brewers 1 Center fielder Billy Hamilton's two-run triple in the seventh inning gave the Cincinnati Reds some much-needed breathing room in a victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. Cincinnati was leading 2-1 through six innings, and with left-hander Zack Duke on in relief of right-hander Yovani Gallardo, the Reds put two runners on with singles by left fielder Ryan Ludwick and pinch-hitter Jason Bourgeois. Third baseman Todd Frazier finished with three hits and scored twice for the Reds (71-78), who got six strong innings from left-hander David Holmberg. Milwaukee fell to 77-72. - - - Royals 7, Red Sox 1 Second baseman Omar Infante, who was dropped from second to seventh in the batting order, went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and right-hander Jeremy Guthrie pitched eight strong innings as the Kansas City Royals defeated the Boston Red Sox. Designated hitter Nori Aoki, who batted second for the first time this season, and left fielder Alex Gordon each had two hits and drove in a run for the Royals (81-66) who stayed a half-game behind Boston for first-place in the American League Central. - - - Yankees 3, Orioles 2 Brian McCann hit a solo home run, and Shane Greene pitched into the sixth inning as the New York Yankees bolstered their slim playoff hopes with a victory over the Baltimore Orioles. The Yankees (76-71) won despite managing only four hits. They began the day five games behind the three teams tied atop the wild card race. First baseman Steve Pearce hit a home run and a double for Baltimore (88-60), which had won a season-high six straight. Center fielder Adam Jones and right fielder Nick Markakis added two hits each. - - - Cardinals 5, Rockies 4 Shelby Miller worked six efficient innings as the Cardinals held off the Colorado Rockies. Miller (10-9) allowed five hits and a run with no walks and five strikeouts in his fifth straight quality start. Although his scoreless streak of 17 2/3 innings was snapped in the fourth, Miller has given up only six runs in his last 33 innings. The Cardinals (82-67) stretched their National League Central lead over Pittsburgh to 3 1/2 games as the Pirates lost 6-4 to the Chicago Cubs. - - - Blue Jays 6, Rays 3 Adam Lind and Edwin Encarnacion homered in the seventh inning and R.A. Dickey pitched seven innings as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Tampa Bay Rays. After the Rays tied the game 3-3 in the sixth on the 21st homer of the season by third baseman Evan Longoria, the Blue Jays regained the lead in the seventh on a two-run homer by Lind. The Rays fell to 71-78 while Toronto improved to 77-70. - - - Rangers 3, Braves 2 Three runs in the sixth inning spurred the Rangers to a win over the Atlanta Braves. Rougned Odor hit a two-run double to put the Rangers on top and starter Lisalverto Bonilla was solid in his Major League debut, pitching six innings, allowing two hits and two earned runs while striking out three. The Braves fell to 75-73. - - - White Sox 5, Twins 1 (Game 1) Jose Quintana led the Chicago White Sox to a win over the Minnesota Twins in the first game of a doubleheader by setting a new career high with 13 strikeouts. Quintana went seven-plus innings and allowed just the one run on three hits. He also retired 11 of Minnesota's first 12 hitters, four on strikeouts, and found his strikeout groove in the middle innings. - - - White Sox 7, Twins 6 (Game 2) Dayan Viciedo drilled a two-run homer to left field in the ninth inning to give the White Sox a doubleheader sweep and their fourth win in a row. - - - Phillies 2, Marlins 1 Ken Giles pitched a scoreless eighth inning to continue his stellar play since his call-up in June, posting a 3-1 record with a 1.08 ERA in 41 2/3 innings. The 24-year-old preserved his team's 2-1 lead after Maikel Franco and Marlon Byrd provided RBI hits in the first inning for Philadelphia. - - - Tigers 5, Indians 4 Catcher Alex Avila's two-run home run on a pitch with two outs in the eighth inning brought the Detroit Tigers from behind for a victory over the Cleveland Indians that protected their half-game lead in the American League Central Division. Detroit originally took a 3-2 edge in the fourth inning on Victor Martinez's home run, but fell behind when Cleveland scored twice in the fifth. Detroit (82-66) has won five of six to inch ahead of second-place Kansas City. Third-place Cleveland (76-71) is 5 1/2 out. - - - Diamondbacks 10, Padres 4 Arizona first baseman Mark Trumbo had three hits and three RBIs and right-hander Chase Anderson won his National League rookie-best ninth game in the Diamondbacks' victory over the San Diego Padres. Trumbo had a two-run single in the first inning and an RBI grounder in the second as Arizona jumped to a 6-0 lead for Anderson (9-6), who has one more victory than Mets rookie right-hander Jacob deGrom. - - - Dodgers 17, Giants 0 The Los Angeles Dodgers recorded the most runs scored by an opponent at AT&T Park in a 17-0 thumping over the San Francisco Giants. The Dodgers got hits from every starter as L.A. established season highs for hits (24) and runs. The win allowed the Dodgers (84-64) to go two games up on the Giants (82-66) with 14 to play, including Sunday's series finale that matches L.A. ace Clayton Kershaw (18-3) against San Francisco's Yusmeiro Petit (5-3). Right-hander Zack Greinke pitched six shutout innings and helped his cause with a double and a two-run homer, the fifth home run of his career. - - - Angels 5, Astros 2 Mike Trout launched two home runs and starting pitcher Jered Weaver was stellar as the Angels won their 10th successive game and Major League-leading 93rd of the season. Weaver (17-8) struck out 12 batters and allowed just one run and one walk in seven innings. Trout finished 3-for-3 and has hit 34 homers this season. - - A's 3, Mariners 2 (10 innings) Shortstop Jed Lowrie's bases-loaded walk on four pitches with two outs in the top of the 10th inning ended up driving in the winning run as the A's beat the Seattle Mariners. Seattle closer Fernando Rodney, who matched the franchise record for saves in a season with his 45th on Friday suffered through a terrible 10th inning in a non-save situation Saturday. He walked four of the first six batters he faced, including the four-pitch pass to Lowrie to bring in the go-ahead run. The A's (82-66) maintained a half-game lead over Kansas City for the first of two wild-card spots in the American League, while Seattle (80-67) fell a game behind the Royals. (Editing by John O'Brien)