Arrieta's pitching leads Chicago Cubs to 9-8 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals

Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jake Arrieta throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Wednesday, May 25, 2016, in St. Louis.
Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jake Arrieta throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Wednesday, May 25, 2016, in St. Louis.

ST. LOUIS-Jake Arrieta remained unbeaten on the season despite allowing as many as four runs for the first time in nearly a year and the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 9-8 on Wednesday.

Arrieta (9-0) joined the White Sox's Chris Sale as the only nine-game winners in the majors.

Arrieta allowed four runs in a regular-season game for the first time since June 16, 2015.

He became the first Cub to win his first nine decisions since Kenny Holtzman in 1967 and it is the best start to a season for the franchise since Jim McCormick went 16-0 in 1886.

Kris Bryant hit a three-run homer and Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist each drove in two for the Cubs.

Carlos Martinez (4-5) lost his career-high fifth straight start, giving up six runs in five innings.

 

BLUE JAYS 8, YANKEES 4

NEW YORK-Russell Martin hit his first two home runs of the season, Michael Saunders also went deep and Toronto finally broke out its big bats, halting New York's six-game winning streak.

Marco Estrada (2-2) took a two-hitter into the seventh inning and the last-place Blue Jays won for the fourth time in six games following an 0-5 slide.

Ivan Nova (3-2) threw well again but lost for the first time in four starts since moving from the bullpen to the rotation.

 

METS 2, NATIONALS 0

WASHINGTON-Steven Matz pitched a career-high eight innings to win his seventh consecutive start for the New York Mets.

Matz (7-1) has a 1.13 ERA over his winning streak, not allowing a run in four of those starts.

David Wright hit his sixth homer of the season in the first and Rene Rivera singled in a run in the seventh to help New York take the decider of a three-game set.

Jeurys Familia worked out of trouble in the ninth for his 16th save.

Tanner Roark (3-4) allowed two runs-one earned-over seven innings for Washington.

 

RED SOX 10, ROCKIES 3

BOSTON-Jackie Bradley Jr. extended his major league-best hitting streak to 29 games, Xander Bogaerts homered to extend his hitting streak to 18 games and Boston got its fourth straight win.

Steven Wright (4-4) had another solid outing, giving up three runs, two earned. He has now given up three runs or fewer in eight of his nine starts.

Chad Bettis (4-3) held the Red Sox scoreless through three innings but was responsible for seven runs over the next two innings before getting pulled.

 

PIRATES 5, DIAMONDBACKS 4

PITTSBURGH-David Freese hit a long two-run home run to cap a four-run fifth inning, Sean Rodriguez also homered and Pittsburgh rallied.

Freese hit a 451-foot blast into the Pirates' bullpen in center field off Rubby De La Rosa (4-5) to put the Pirates ahead 5-4. They trailed 4-1 coming into the fifth but then Gregory Polanco hit an RBI double and Starling Marte drove in a run with a groundout.

Jeff Locke (3-3) gave up four runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings for his first career victory against the Diamondbacks.

Mark Melancon worked around Chris Owings' second double of the game with two outs to pitch a scoreless ninth and get his 16th save in 17 opportunities.

 

MARLINS 4, RAYS 3

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.-Cole Gillespie had a late tiebreaking RBI single, Marcell Ozuna drove in two runs and Miami beat Tampa Bay.

Miami took a 4-3 lead in the eighth when J.T. Realmuto singled, went to second on Chris Johnson's sacrifice bunt and scored on Gillespie's single off 30-year old Tyler Sturdevant (0-1), who made his major league debut Tuesday.

Kyle Barraclough (3-1) got two outs in the seventh to get the win. David Phelps allowed a single but struck out three in the eighth before A.J. Ramos pitched the ninth to record his 15th save.

Logan Morrison had three hits, including a homer, and three RBIs for the Rays.

 

INDIANS 4, WHITE SOX 3

CHICAGO-Corey Kluber allowed two runs over 7 1/3 innings and Cleveland roughed up a top White Sox pitcher for the second straight day.

After sending Chris Sale to his first loss after a 9-0 start, the Indians got three runs and five hits in six innings against Joel Quintana (5-4). Quintana's ERA, an AL-best 1.98 at the start of the day, rose to 2.22.

Before Tuesday, the White Sox had been 15-3 in games started by Sale and Quintana.

Melky Cabrera hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning, and Jose Abreu had three hits for the White Sox.

Kluber (4-5) allowed two runs-one earned-and seven hits in 7 1/3 innings with nine strikeouts. Cody Allen struck out two in a perfect ninth to remain perfect in 11 save chances.

 

TWINS 7, ROYALS 5

MINNEAPOLIS-Miguel Sano hit the go-ahead two-run home run in the fifth inning after Minnesota lost an early lead, and the Twins staved off another series sweep.

Eduardo Nunez and Brian Dozier each homered, too, the first two batters to face Royals starter Dillon Gee (1-2) and just the fifth pair in Twins history to go deep in their first two plate appearances of the game.

Tyler Duffey (2-3) gave away a 3-0 lead during a five-run fourth by the Royals, but the right-hander hung around long enough to become the first Twins starter this season to record his second victory. The rotation has totaled six wins.

 

GIANTS 4, PADRES 3,
10 INNINGS

SAN FRANCISCO-Brandon Crawford singled in Matt Duffy with two outs in the 10th inning, and surging San Francisco got its 13th win in 14 games.

Duffy singled off Brad Hand (1-2) with one out, pinch-hitter Hunter Pence popped out, Duffy advanced on a wild pitch and Crawford hit a 1-2 offering over center fielder Jon Jay as Duffy scored standing up.

San Francisco completed a three-game sweep, extended its winning streak to five and improved to 9-0 against the Padres this season.

Yangervis Solarte hit a tying, two-run homer off Josh Osich in the eighth.

George Kontos (1-1) retired two batters for the win.

 

PHILLIES 8, TIGERS 5

DETROIT-Odubel Herrera and Peter Bourjos homered off Anibal Sanchez, and Philadelphia Phillies salvaged the finale of a three-game series.

Detroit had won eight of nine, including the first two games of this set, but Herrera's three-run drive put Philadelphia up 5-1 in the fourth. Aaron Nola (4-3) and the Phillies were able to hold on from there. Jeanmar Gomez pitched the ninth for his major league-leading 17th save in 18 chances.

Sanchez (3-6) allowed three earned runs and eight hits in six-plus innings. The Tigers made two errors in the fourth before Herrera's two-out homer, so three runs were unearned.

Philadelphia's Andres Blanco swiped home in the second as part of a double steal, with Bourjos taking
second.

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