MLB round up: Giants salvage win against Brewers, Red Sox blank Rays
The San Francisco Giants avoided a four-game sweep against the Milwaukee Brewers as pitcher Logan Webb was brilliant again.
A day after falling out of first place in the National League (NL) West for the first time in three months, the San Francisco Giants averted a four-game sweep by beating the Milwaukee Brewers 5-1.
The win put San Francisco back level with the idle Los Angeles Dodgers ahead of the rivals' three-game series that opens on Friday.
On Thursday, the Giants got another spectacular pitching performance from Logan Webb, who allowed four hits and a run in his seven innings while striking out 10.
Webb has not allowed more than two runs in any of his last 14 starts, and the Giants have won 13 of those games.
They needed a late offensive outburst to do it again as Eric Lauer was just as effective for the Brewers, limiting San Francisco to three hits and a run in seven innings.
The Giants finally broke through against Devin Williams after two were out in the eighth, with Darin Ruf giving San Francisco the lead with an RBI double and Thairo Estrada following with a three-run homer to blow it open.
Red Sox blank Rays
Eduardo Rodriguez and Garrett Richards held the Tampa Bay Rays scoreless while striking out 10 as the Boston Red Sox claimed a 4-0 victory in a game that featured 14 total hits, all of them singles. The win earned Boston a split in the four-game series and marked Tampa Bay's first back-to-back losses since August 14 and 15.
The Oakland Athletics opened up an 8-0 lead before hanging on for an 8-6 win against the Detroit Tigers, picking up a half game on the idle Houston Astros in the AL West.
The Washington Nationals earned a 6-0 lead heading into the sixth inning but watched it evaporate as the Philadelphia Phillies prevailed 7-6 behind Andrew McCutchen's bases-clearing double and RBI single.
Pirates drop chance to beat Cubs
The Pittsburgh Pirates rallied to tie their game against the Chicago Cubs with two runs in the ninth inning and appeared set to extend the game when Ian Happ sent a routine pop-up to the right side with two on and two out in the 11th. But Wilmer Difo failed to catch the ball, allowing Sergio Alcantara to trot home from third with the winning run. The Cubs won 6-5.
Duvall launches one in Colorado
Two innings after a Charlie Blackmon grand slam gave the Colorado Rockies the lead, Adam Duvall had an emphatic response with a towering 477-foot homer in the fifth that gave the Atlanta Braves a 6-5 lead and would prove to be the final margin.
Thursday's results
Philadelphia Phillies 7-6 Washington Nationals
Boston Red Sox 4-0 Tampa Bay Rays
Oakland Athletics 8-6 Detroit Tigers
Chicago Cubs 6-5 Pittsburgh Pirates
Cleveland Indians 4-2 Kansas City Royals
San Francisco Giants 5-1 Milwaukee Brewers
New York Mets 4-3 Miami Marlins
Atlanta Braves 6-5 Colorado Rockies
Dodgers at Giants
The eternal rivals – the Los Angeles Dodgers and Giants – are tied for the National League (NL) West lead with 85-49 records as they open a critical three-game series at AT&T Park on Friday. David Price toes the mound for the Dodgers as the Giants counter with Anthony DeSclafani.