MLB Capsules: Jon Jay’s pinch-hit home run propels Cubs past Rays

Jon Jay connected for his third career pinch-hit homer and Ian Happ hit a tiebreaking, two-run single an inning later, helping the Chicago Cubs rally for a 7-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday in Chicago.

The Cubs appeared to be headed for their sixth loss in eight games before Jay drove a 1-2 pitch from Erasmo Ramirez (4-3) over the wall in left-center for a tying three-run shot with two outs in the sixth. Jay then popped out of the dugout for a curtain call, obliging the crowd of 39,855 on a picturesque day at Wrigley Field.

Happ got his big hit in the seventh, driving in Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo with a bouncer up the middle against Tampa Bay’s drawn-in infield.

Pedro Strop (3-2) pitched a scoreless seventh for the win. Carl Edwards Jr. and Koji Uehara worked the eighth, and All-Star Wade Davis got three outs.

Rangers 8, Red Sox 2: In Arlington, Texas, Andrew Cashner held a hot Boston lineup hitless into the sixth inning, Rougned Odor hit an early two-run homer and Texas ended the longest winning streak in the majors at six games with a rain-delayed victory over the Red Sox.

Cashner (4-7) retired 10 straight batters before first baseman Pete Kozma’s error on a dropped throw kept the sixth going. The next batter, Xander Bogaerts, ended the no-hit bid with a two-run homer.

The right-hander allowed three hits, three walks and two unearned runs with four strikeouts in seven innings.

Boston, which had at least 10 hits and six runs in every game during the winning streak, missed a chance to be the first team to sweep a season series of more than three games against the Rangers since they moved to Texas in 1972. The Red Sox won the first five meetings this year.

After a delay of nearly 90 minutes to start the game, Odor’s 16th homer put Texas ahead 2-0 in the second. Carlos Gomez had a solo shot in the third.

Odor scored three times before leaving with a bruised left hand after the fifth inning, when he was hit by a pitch.

Doug Fister (0-2) gave up six runs – four earned – over 3 2/3 innings in his third start since Boston claimed him off waivers from the Angels.

Rockies 5, Reds 3: In Denver, Jon Gray hit his first career homer an estimated 467 feet – the farthest by any Rockies player this season – and pitched effectively into the sixth inning as Colorado beat Cincinnati on a sweltering night.

Pat Valaika had a career-high three hits, including a two-run homer and a run-scoring single with two outs in the eighth.

Gray’s two-run drive in the second was the longest among pitchers since MLB’s Statcast began tracking distances in 2015. Gray (2-0) also was solid on the mound, going 5 2/3 innings and allowing three runs, two earned, in his second start since a broken bone in his left foot sidelined him for two months. Greg Holland threw a shaky ninth for his 28th save to help the slumping Rockies win for the third time in 14 games.

The game-time temperature of 97 degrees tied for the second-hottest home contest in Rockies history.

Scott Feldman (7-6) gave up four runs in five innings.

Blue Jays 7, Yankees 6: In New York, Dellin Betances forced in the go-ahead run with four walks in the eighth inning, and Toronto beat New York after wasting a five-run lead.

Justin Smoak and Kendrys Morales hit back-to-back home runs in the third off Michael Pineda, who also allowed Kevin Pillar’s leadoff homer in the fourth. Russell Martin tied the score at 6 with a seventh-inning homer against Chad Green, then walked to drive in the go-ahead run in the eighth against Betances (3-4).

Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 29th home run, tying Joe DiMaggio’s Yankees rookie record set in 1936, and Ji-Man Choi homered in his Yankees debut.

Toronto took two of three from New York, which is 0-6-1 in its last seven series. Leading the A.L. East by four games on June 13 with a 38-23 record, the Yankees have lost 16 of their last 22.

Danny Barnes (2-2) threw 1 2/3 innings and Roberto Osuna pitched the ninth to convert his 20th consecutive save chance and 21st overall this season. Brett Gardner singled with two outs, and Osuna struck out Judge.

Brewers 4, Orioles 0: In Milwaukee, Matt Garza pitched into the seventh inning and Keon Broxton hit a two-run homer to lift Milwaukee to a three-game sweep of Baltimore.

Garza allowed five hits and two walks with four strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings for his first scoreless outing of the season.

Oliver Drake, Jared Hughes and Corey Knebel completed the shutout with 2 2/3 innings.

Garza (4-4) ran into trouble in the second inning after the Orioles loaded the bases with no outs. The veteran right-hander escaped by striking out Ruben Tejada and pitcher Jayson Aquino (1-2) before getting Seth Smith to fly out to right field.

Astros 10, Braves 4: In Atlanta, George Springer drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, Josh Reddick and Marwin Gonzalez each had three RBIs and streaking Houston beat Atlanta.

Houston has won four straight and 12 of 15 to improve to 58-27 overall, best in the majors. The first three batters – Springer, Jose Altuve and Reddick – went 8 for 15 with six RBIs in this one and hit a combined .581 in the two-game series with 15 RBIs in 31 at-bats.

Norichika Aoki doubled to begin the three-run seventh and chase Braves starter Jaime Garcia (2-7). Springer followed with a single, Altuve with a double and Gonzalez with a single to make it 7-4.

Chris Devenski (6-3) earned the win after walking one and striking out two in 1 1/3 innings.

Pirates 5, Phillies 2: In Philadelphia, Gerrit Cole pitched six strong innings and drove in his first runs of the season with a tiebreaking two-run single to lead Pittsburgh over Philadelphia.

Cole (7-7) rebounded from a poor outing Friday against San Francisco and a shaky first inning against the Phillies, allowing two runs and seven hits with eight strikeouts and one walk. The right-hander struck out the side in his final inning.

Felipe Rivero, pitching on his 26th birthday, recorded his fifth save by striking out the side in a scoreless ninth.

Cole’s big hit came in the Pirates’ four-run fourth inning, when Pittsburgh also got some help from Ben Lively (1-4).

Athletics 7, White Sox 4: In Oakland, California, Sonny Gray pitched six mostly sharp innings for Oakland to beat Chicago for the second time in two weeks.

Jed Lowrie had three hits and two RBIs, Bruce Maxwell doubled in two runs and Jaycob Brugman homered to help the A’s to their second straight home win following eight consecutive losses at the Coliseum.

Gray (4-4) allowed a two-run homer to Matt Davidson, the only blemish during an otherwise strong outing. Todd Frazier also homered for the White Sox, a two-run shot in the ninth.

White Sox starter Mike Pelfrey (3-7) retired 10 batters and allowed four runs, falling to 0-6 in six career starts at Oakland.

Padres 6, Indians 2: In Cleveland, Cory Spangenberg hit a two-run homer, Luis Perdomo won his third straight start and San Diego got another rare road win, beating Cleveland as the Indians played again without manager Terry Francona.

Perdomo (4-4) allowed one earned run in five innings and continued his turnaround after a rough start this season. The right-hander didn’t get his first win until his 11th start and is 4-1 since June 12.

Carlos Asuaje drove in two runs and the Padres did just enough against starter Trevor Bauer (7-7) to improve to 14-26 on the road.

Francisco Lindor had three hits and two RBIs for the Indians, who dropped their second straight to the Padres, fell to 18-23 at home and are 2-11 in interleague play.

Francona missed his second consecutive game as he remains hospitalized at the Cleveland Clinic. Francona, who was hospitalized twice last month, has been undergoing tests to determine what has been causing light-headedness and increasing his heart rate recently.

Team president Chris Antonetti said Francona will be away at least “a couple more days” and it’s possible he’ll miss the remainder of the team’s homestand before the break.

Giants 5, Tigers 4: In Detroit, Ty Blach took a shutout into the seventh inning, and San Francisco held off a late Detroit rally.

The Giants led 5-0 before the Tigers scored four times in the seventh. Blach (6-5) was pulled after allowing a two-run single to Victor Martinez, and San Francisco needed three relievers to get through the inning. The Giants used five relievers in all, with Hunter Strickland pitching the eighth and Sam Dyson finishing for his third save.

The last-place Giants have won seven of their last eight games – after losing 12 of 13 before that.

Daniel Norris (4-7) permitted five runs and seven hits in four innings. Hunter Pence hit a two-run triple off Norris, who has lost his last three starts. Gorkys Hernandez added three hits.

Angels 2, Twins 1: In Minneapolis, Parker Bridwell tossed six scoreless innings, Kole Calhoun hit his 12th home run and Los Angeles edged Minnesota to avoid a road sweep.

Bridwell (3-1) outpitched All-Star Ervin Santana while scattering four hits and stranding seven runners.

Cameron Maybin stole home on a double steal in the sixth, giving the Angels a two-run cushion that helped end their three-game losing streak.

Santana (10-6) allowed seven hits in his fourth complete game this season, most in the majors. He lost consecutive starts for the first time this year.

Brian Dozier’s run-scoring single in the seventh was all the Twins could muster on offense.

Bud Norris earned his 12th save in 14 opportunities.

Marlins 9, Cardinals 6: In St. Louis, Giancarlo Stanton homered twice, his 22nd career multihomer game, and Marcell Ozuna and Justin Bour also went deep as Miami beat St. Louis.

Stanton went 3 for 4 with a walk while driving in four runs. He has five hits in his last two games after starting the Marlins’ road trip in a 1-for-17 funk.

Dustin McGowan (5-0) gave up a run in 1 1/3 innings of relief. AJ Ramos earned his 15th save in 16 attempts.

Mike Leake (6-7) went 3 2/3 innings in his shortest outing of the season. Just three of the eight runs he allowed were earned.

Dodgers 1, Diamondbacks 0: In Los Angeles, Alex Wood pitched three-hit ball over seven innings to start the season 10-0 and N.L. West-leading Los Angeles beat second-place Arizona.

Wood became the first Dodgers starter to reach 10-0 since Don Newcombe in 1955, when the Brooklyn Dodgers won the first of the franchise’s six World Series championships.

The 26-year-old left-hander hasn’t lost since May 30, 2016 – a span of 13 consecutive starts. Wood struck out 10 and walked two.

Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for his 20th save in as many chances. He put the potential tying run on with a two-out single to Brandon Drury before striking out Chris Herrmann to end the game.

Arizona’s Zack Godley (3-3) gave up one run and three hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Yasmani Grandal’s RBI double to deep center field in the second scored Chris Taylor from first base.