CINCINNATI — Willson Contreras hit his first career grand slam and Anthony Rizzo and Jason Heyward each hit three-run shots, lifting the Chicago Cubs to a 12-8 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on a chilly Saturday afternoon at Great American Ball Park.
Contreras went 3-for-4 with a double, four RBIs and four runs. Heyward also had four RBIs. The home run barrage helped Jake Arrieta (3-0) earn the victory despite allowing four runs in the first. Arrieta struck out eight and didn’t walk a batter, but allowed five earned runs and a pair of home runs.
The Cubs (10-7) have won four straight and 20 of 24 against the Reds (9-9), who’ve lost four straight.
Joey Votto hit a three-run homer and Eugenio Suarez hit a solo shot to briefly put Cincinnati ahead in the first. Suarez added a solo shot in the eighth off Justin Grimm to snap a 14 2/3-inning scoreless streak for Chicago’s bullpen.
Yankees 11, Pirates 5
PITTSBURGH — New York has been searching for more offense on the road and found it against Pittsburgh, surging for 11 runs after the fifth inning in a come-from-behind victory.
Starlin Castro got the Yankees moving with a three-run home run off Pirates starter Jameson Taillon in the sixth. Ronald Torreyes followed with a two-run single to give the Yankees their first lead of the day later that inning. After the Pirates battled back to tie it, another five-run outburst in the eighth put the Yankees over the top.
Chris Carter hit a three-run pinch-hit home run off Pirates reliever Felipe Rivero (1-1) to put New York ahead for good. It was Carter’s first home run of the season and first with the Yankees after he hit 41 last year with Milwaukee.
Nationals 3, Mets 1
NEW YORK — Washington’s Gio Gonzalez continued his mastery of New York at Citi Field, when the left-hander carried a no-hitter into the sixth and earned the win with 6 1/3 strong innings.
Gonzalez allowed one run on two hits and three walks while striking out six in improving to 9-1 with a 1.62 ERA in 14 career starts at Citi Field. The Nationals (12-5) have won six straight. The Mets (8-10) have lost seven of eight.
The no-hit bid for Gonzalez ended when Juan Lagares delivered a clean single up the middle with none out in the sixth The hit sent Jose Reyes, who led off with a walk, to second. Reyes scored on a one-out single by Asdrubal Cabrera, but Gonzalez struck out Jay Bruce and Neil Walker to end the threat.
Athletics 4, Mariners 3
OAKLAND, Calif. — Adam Rosales and Ryon Healy hit first-inning home runs, propelling Oakland past Seattle for its fifth straight win.
Right-hander Jharel Cotton (2-2) and four relievers combined to limit the Mariners to nine hits, helping the Athletics win their third in a row over the Mariners to start the four-game series.
Rosales got the game-opening uprising going against Seattle left-hander Ariel Miranda (1-2) with his second homer of the season. After Jed Lowrie followed with a single, Healy belted his third homer of the season, a two-run shot to left field that gave Oakland a 3-1 lead.
Tigers 5, Twins 4
MINNEAPOLIS — Nicholas Castellanos belted his third homer as Detroit outlasted Minnesota in a long, mistake-filled afternoon game that included a benches-clearing altercation.
Detroit’s Justin Upton also launched his third homer and John Hicks had two hits in his season debut after being recalled earlier in the day as Miguel Cabrera went on the disabled list with a strained right groin.
Blaine Hardy (1-0) pitched 1 1/3 innings of relief after Matt Boyd was ejected for throwing behind Minnesota’s Miguel Sano. Francisco Rodriguez allowed a solo homer to Jason Castro in the ninth but recorded his sixth save in eight chances.
Angels 5, Blue Jays 4
ANAHEIM — Andrelton Simmons hit a grand slam in the third inning to turn a tie game into a 5-1 lead, and Tyler Skaggs pitched seven strong innings for the second consecutive start as Los Angeles picked up just its second win in 11 games.
Toronto’s Kevin Pillar hit a two-run home run in the seventh off reliever Tyler Yates to extend his hitting streak to 10 games, and Justin Smoak had three hits, including a ninth-inning home run, for Toronto.
Marlins 6, Padres 3 (11 innings).
SAN DIEGO — Miami scored two runs in the top of the 11th inning on a swinging bunt single and two errors to break a 2-2 tie.
Pinch-hitter Justin Bour led off the inning with a single to center off Padres left-handed rookie reliever Jose Torres. Dee Gordon then chopped a ball 30 feet up the first base line for a hit, and Torres’ wild throw to first allowed Bour to score. Gordon kept running on the play and scored when Hunter Renfroe bobbled the ball in the right field corner.
Giancarlo Stanton hit his second homer of the game and third in two nights to cap a four-run 11th to extend Miami’s lead to 6-2.
Diamondbacks 11, Dodgers 5
PHOENIX – Yasmany Tomas hit two bases-empty homers and Jake Lamb and Chris Herrmann had two-run homers as Arizona improved its home record to 8-1.
David Peralta set an Arizona franchise record with four doubles and scored three runs.
Arizona has won five of seven games, and the Dodgers have lost five of six.
The Dodgers’ Kenta Maeda (1-2) gave up four homers in five innings.
Rockies 12, Giants 3
DENVER — Backed by a strong offensive performance, rookie right-hander Antonio Senzatela gave Colorado another superb start.
The Rockies reached season-highs in runs and hits (14), getting home runs from Mark Reynolds, who had three hits and four RBIs, Trevor Story and Charlie Blackmon.
Senzatela (3-0) held the Giants to one run– that coming on a Joe Panik homer in the sixth — and four hits in seven innings with no walks and three strikeouts.
Five losses in six games have dropped the Giants’ record to 6-12, the worst in the National League.
Phillies 4, Braves 3 (10 innings)
PHILADELPHIA — Maikel Franco drove in two runs with a single with two outs in the bottom of the 10th to give Philadelphia a walk-off win.
The Phillies won their third straight game and fourth in five games. Atlanta dropped its fifth consecutive game.
Atlanta’s Brandon Phillips sent the game into extra innings with a two-out home run in the ninth to tie the score 2-2.
Rangers 2, Royals 1
ARLINGTON, Texas — Elvis Andrus lined an RBI single to left field in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift Texas to its third straight win.
The Royals have lost three straight overall and nine consecutive games against the Rangers. Two of the three losses in this series have come in walk-off fashion.
Cardinals 4, Brewers 1
MILWAUKEE — Aledmys Diaz broke a 1-1 tie with a pinch-hit home run to lead off the seventh inning and the St. Louis bullpen worked three scoreless innings in the Cardinals’ victory.
That combination made a winner of Lance Lynn (2-1), who allowed three hits with two walks while striking out seven.
The Cardinals managed just one unearned run off Chase Anderson, who gave up six hits and a walk with six strikeouts.
Indians 7, White Sox 0
CHICAGO — Carlos Carrasco allowed three hits while pitching eight scoreless innings to help Cleveland extend its winning streak to five games.
The Indians shut out the White Sox on back-to-back nights after Corey Kluber limited them to three hits in a complete-game shutout Friday.
Michael Brantley, Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Ramirez homered for the reigning American League champions.
The White Sox haven’t scored in 23 consecutive innings.
Orioles 4, Red Sox 2
BALTIMORE — Trey Mancini and Jonathan Schoop hit back-to-back homers in the fourth inning off Boston knuckleballer Steven Wright, and that helped Baltimore starter Jayson Aquino get his first major league win.
It also extended the Orioles’ winning streak to four games.
Aquino (1-0) gave up two runs on six hits in six innings and needed to escape jams in each of his last three innings.
Rays 6, Astros 3
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Tampa Bay used a four-run sixth to record its seventh come-from-behind win.
Rays shortstop Tim Beckham had three hits out of the No. 9 spot in the batting order, and he drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth.
Evan Longoria and Peter Bourjos each had two RBIs for the Rays.
Evan Gattis and Jose Altuve hit homers for Houston, which had only two other hits and went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position.