UNDATED (AP) — Travis Demeritte hit his first big league homer in nearly three years and made a sliding catch to back another strong outing by Max Fried. That gave the Atlanta Braves a much-needed 3-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs. The reigning World Series champions won for only the third time in their last eight games. The Cubs have now lost six of seven.
In other MLB Tuesday action:
— David Peralta hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning and also started one of Arizona’s five double plays as the Diamondbacks put on a defensive clinic to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3. Arizona, which began the game with a majors-worst .189 batting average, had more double plays than hits. Peralta’s two-run drive was its fourth and final hit. The Diamondbacks also picked a runner off first base. Arizona won for just the fourth time in its last 21 games against the Dodgers.
— Carlos Rodón had nine strikeouts in six sharp innings, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Oakland Athletics 8-2 on Tuesday night. Wilmer Flores homered and drove in four runs. Austin Slater also connected as the Giants won their first game back at Oracle Park following an 8-3 road trip. Rodón (3-0) allowed three hits and one run, which raised his ERA from 1.06 to 1.17. The left-hander walked two and broke Tim Lincecum’s franchise record for most strikeouts through a pitcher’s first four starts with the team with 38. Lincecum had 35 Ks in 2009.
— Mike Trout homered and drove in three runs, and Patrick Sandoval pitched seven innings of two-hit ball as the surging Los Angeles Angels defeated the Cleveland Guardians 4-1 for their third straight victory. Trout drove a slider from Triston McKenzie into the bullpens in left field for a two-run shot in the third inning to give the Angels a 3-0 lead. He was inches from a second home run in the fifth, but the ball hit the wall in the left-field corner for an RBI double to score Shohei Ohtani. The three-time AL MVP has a nine-game hitting streak. Sandoval, who struck out nine, has not allowed an earned run in three starts this season.
— Miami outfielders Jesús Sánchez and Avisaíl García each threw out a runner at the plate in the fourth inning, and Joey Wendle hit a three-run shot that helped the Marlins beat the reeling Washington Nationals 5-2.
— Odubel Herrera homered, doubled and drove in three runs, Zach Eflin pitched six strong innings and the Philadelphia Phillies again took advantage of some shaky Colorado defense in a 10-3 rout of the Rockies.
— Daniel Lynch pitched six crisp innings and the Kansas City Royals handed the Chicago White Sox their eighth straight loss with a 6-0 victory. It’s the longest losing streak for Chicago since it also dropped eight in a row in June 2018.
— Jake Odorizzi allowed one hit over six innings to end a long winless drought, and a rejuvenated Kyle Tucker homered and drove in three runs to power the Houston Astros past the Texas Rangers 5-1. Odorizzi permitted just two baserunners and won for the first time in 10 starts since last August.
— Anthony Rizzo homered three times to take over the major league lead, Aaron Judge connected on his birthday and Joey Gallo ended the longest home-run drought of his career as the New York Yankees outslugged the Baltimore Orioles 12-8. Gallo connected for the first time in 23 games.
— Willy Adames homered twice and drove in a career-high seven runs, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 12-8. Adames hit a two-run blast in the first inning and a three-run drive during a six-run sixth for the NL Central-leading Brewers.
— Eric Hosmer hit his first homer of the season and Jake Cronenworth added a bases-loaded triple during an eight-run fourth inning that sent the San Diego Padres past the struggling Cincinnati Reds 9-6. The Padres have won 10 of 11 against Cincinnati since the start of last season.
— Chris Bassitt pitched six strong innings, and the New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-0 for their franchise-best sixth straight series win in a chippy game. The Cardinals have lost three straight for the first time this season.
