Nationals beat beleaguered Cubs – STLtoday.com

Stephen Strasburg struck out 13 in seven innings, Bryce Harper had two doubles and two RBIs, and Washington beat Chicago 8-4 on Wednesday night.

Anthony Rendon and Matt Wieters hit back-to-back homers against John Lackey (5-9) during Washington’s four-run second inning. After the Cubs pulled within three at 6-3, Daniel Murphy went deep in the fifth.

It was a rough day for the Cubs, who cut veteran catcher Miguel Montero . Then reigning NL MVP Kris Bryant departed with an ankle injury. (Story, B6)

Giants 5, Rockies 3 • Third baseman Jae-Gyun Hwang hit a go-ahead home run in his MLB debut as host San Francisco secured its first series sweep of the year and Colorado’s losing streak stretched to eight games.

Reds 4, Brewers 3 • Scooter Gennett hit a two-run homer against the club that decided he no longer fit its plans, and Billy Hamilton scored the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning as host Cincinnati beat Milwaukee.

Mets 8, Marlins 0 • Steven Matz pitched seven innings and two relievers completed a seven-hitter to help New York win in Miami.

Padres 7, Braves 4 • Luis Perdomo pitched five scoreless innings and Hunter Renfroe and Cory Spangenberg contributed two RBIs apiece as host San Diego beat Atlanta.

American League

Blue Jays 4, Orioles 0 • Marcus Stroman allowed five hits in seven innings, and Jose Bautista and Justin Smoak homered as host Toronto beat Baltimore.

Royals 8, Tigers 2 • Salvador Perez and Mike Moustakas hit consecutive homers during a four-run fourth inning in Detroit as Kansas City snapped a two-game losing streak.

Indians 5, Rangers 3 • Trevor Bauer pitched into the seventh inning and Michael Brantley drove in two runs as host Cleveland defeated Texas in manager Terry Francona’s return.

Twins 4, Red Sox 1 • Adalberto Mejia pitched 5 2/3 innings in his second straight scoreless start and Max Kepler hit a two-run homer as Minnesota won in Boston.

Yankees 12, White Sox 3 • Miguel Andujar had three hits and four RBIs in his major league debut and Aaron Judge added his major league-leading 27th homer as New York won in Chicago .

Astros 11, Athletics 8 • Josh Reddick and George Springer had three hits each and combined for five RBIs as host Houston beat Oakland.

INTERLEAGUE

Phillies 5, Mariners 4 • Tommy Joseph hit his 13th homer of the season leading off the ninth off closer Edwin Diaz. Andrew Knapp followed with a two-out RBI single in Seattle.

Pirates 6, Rays 2 • Jose Osuna doubled twice and drove in two runs and rookie Josh Bell hit his 15th homer of the season as Pittsburgh jumped on visiting Tampa Bay’s Blake Snell early.

Associated Press