Paul Goldschmidt hit two homers, including a grand slam, and drove in a career-high seven runs as the St. Louis Cardinals rolled past the visiting Milwaukee Brewers 10-0 Friday night. The victory kept the National League Central-leading Cardinals four games ahead of the second-place Chicago Cubs. The Cardinals have gone 39-19 since July 12 and 25-9 since Aug. 7. The injury-depleted Brewers snapped their seven-game winning streak and fell to third place in the division, five games off the pace. They also slipped a game behind the Cubs for the NL's second wild-card spot. Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright (12-9) allowed just two hits and struck out seven in six scoreless innings. He also contributed to the offense, hitting a double and scoring a run. Cubs 17, Pirates 8 Anthony Rizzo hit a grand slam, Willson Contreras homered twice, and Chicago overcame an early four-run deficit to defeat Pittsburgh for the eighth time in the past nine home meetings. Nicholas Castellanos and rookie Nico Hoerner hit two-run homers as Chicago capitalized on friendly wind conditions and produced its highest run total of the season. The wind was blowing out to center field at 20 mph at first pitch. Pittsburgh first baseman Josh Bell exited the game after the top of the fifth inning with an undisclosed injury. Braves 5, Nationals 0 Nick Markakis celebrated his return to the roster with a pair of hits, and rookie Mike Soroka threw six shutout innings to help Atlanta earn a win at Washington. Markakis was activated before the game after missing 44 games with a left wrist fracture. He went 2-for-4 with a double, scored a run, drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and made three nice catches in left field in his return. Soroka (12-4), who had battled a stomach virus the last two days, gave up only one hit and earned his first career win against Washington. He gave up three walks and struck out four. Soroka lowered his ERA to 2.57, second in the major leagues. Giants 1, Marlins 0 Tyler Beede made a second consecutive scoreless start, and Buster Posey drove in the game's only run with a sixth-inning single as host San Francisco blanked Miami. Beede (5-9), Tyler Rogers and Shaun Anderson combined on a four-hitter, helping the Giants win for just the second time in five tries on their seven-game homestand. Sandy Alcantara (5-13) was the hard-luck loser for the Marlins. He completed seven innings, allowing just one run on nine hits. He struck out six and did not walk a batter. Dodgers 9, Mets 2 Clayton Kershaw snapped a three-start losing streak by tossing 6 1/3 solid innings, and Gavin Lux gave Los Angeles the lead for good with a three-run homer in the fourth inning as the Dodgers won in New York. The NL West-champion Dodgers have won eight of 11. The loss damaged the playoff hopes for the Mets, who had their four-game winning streak snapped and fell three games behind the Chicago Cubs in the race for the second NL wild card. Kershaw (14-5) ensured he would not lose four straight starts – or four straight decisions – in the regular season for the first time in his career. He allowed two runs on four hits and three walks with five strikeouts. Blue Jays 6, Yankees 5 (12 innings) Bo Bichette led off the bottom of the 12th inning with a home run as Toronto defeated visiting New York. Bichette's 11th homer of the season came against Tyler Lyons (1-2). Toronto's Wilmer Font (3-2) pitched two perfect innings to earn the win. Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka allowed four runs on eight hits with six strikeouts and no walks in five innings. Toronto left-hander Anthony Kay, making his second career major league start, allowed five runs, seven hits and one walk while striking out two in 4 1/3 innings. Rays 11, Angels 4 Tampa Bay blasted four home runs – including three in one inning – to roll past Los Angeles in Anaheim, Calif. The Rays remained in the second American League wild-card spot, one game ahead of the Indians and a half-game behind the Athletics. Willy Adames, Austin Meadows and Jesus Aguilar homered in the third inning, and Guillermo Heredia went deep to lead off the sixth for the Rays, who have won seven of nine. Angels center fielder Mike Trout was not in the starting lineup for the sixth consecutive game because of a nerve issue in his right foot. He is day-to-day. Athletics 14, Rangers 9 Khris Davis hit two home runs and drove in four runs, Ramon Laureano homered and had four RBIs, and Matt Olson and Marcus Semien also went deep as Oakland extended its winning streak to four games with a victory in Arlington, Texas. Sean Murphy doubled three times and scored four runs, and Sheldon Neuse went 4-for-5 with three RBIs for Oakland. Davis has 19 career homers at Globe Life Park, tying David Ortiz, Carlos Delgado and Tino Martinez for second most in stadium history by a visiting player, one behind Jason Giambi. Shin-Soo Choo and Danny Santana hit three-run homers for Texas. Astros 4, Royals 1 Gerrit Cole struck out 11 over eight solid innings, and George Springer hit a three-run home run in the ninth as Houston won at Kansas City. Cole (17-5) allowed one unearned run on four hits and two walks. It was the 18th time he's reached double figures in strikeouts this year, and he leads the major leagues with 292 K's. He has won 13 straight decisions dating back to March, sporting a 1.85 ERA in that stretch. With the game tied at 1-1 in the top of the ninth, Kyle Tucker singled with one out, and pinch hitter Michael Brantley walked. After Josh Reddick struck out, Springer bashed his 35th homer of the season to left-center. Rockies 10, Padres 8 Trevor Story homered twice among his three hits, and Colorado beat San Diego in Denver. Garrett Hampson also went deep and had three hits, and Nolan Arenado had a home run, his 40th of the season, and a double for Colorado (63-85). Daniel Murphy, Pat Valaika and Drew Butera had two hits each to help Jeff Hoffman (2-6) win for the first time since May 29. Austin Hedges homered and Wil Myers, Josh Naylor and Luis Urias had two hits each for San Diego. Reds 4, Diamondbacks 3 Joey Votto and Josh VanMeter hit two-run homers, and Luis Castillo went five innings for his 15th victory as visiting Cincinnati won in Phoenix, handing Arizona its sixth straight defeat. Votto had two hits, his fifth multiple-hit game in the last nine. Castillo (15-6) gave up two runs on four hits and three walks while striking out three. He extended his career highs in wins and strikeouts (211). Eduardo Escobar had two hits and an RBI, and Wilmer Flores had two hits but made a crucial error for the Diamondbacks, who fell 4 1/2 games behind the Cubs for the second NL wild-card spot. White Sox 9, Mariners 7 Yoan Moncada went 3-for-5 with a double, a triple and four RBIs as Chicago won at Seattle. Jose Abreu, Adam Engel and Eloy Jimenez homered for the White Sox, who snapped a two-game losing streak. Josh Osich (3-0) got the victory with 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief. Alex Colome recorded the last four outs for his 27th save. Mariners starter Yusei Kikuchi (6-10) lasted only 2 1/3 innings, giving up five runs on 10 hits with a walk and a strikeout. Orioles 6, Tigers 2 Trey Mancini homered and drove in three runs, DJ Stewart added a two-run blast, and Baltimore defeated host Detroit. Aaron Brooks (5-8) earned the victory while giving up two runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. Jonathan Villar added two hits, a run and a stolen base for the Orioles. The Orioles' Mason Williams walked twice, scored a run and drove in another in the opener of a four-game series between the teams with the majors' worst records. Twins at Indians, ppd. Minnesota's scheduled game at Cleveland was postponed due to inclement weather. The teams will play a day-night doubleheader Saturday. — Reuters
