Kris Bryant returns to Wrigley Field, Giants beat Cubs 6-1

September 11, 2021 GMT
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San Francisco Giants' Kris Bryant greets Chicago Cubs fans as he walks to the dugout before a baseball game in Chicago, Friday, Sept. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
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San Francisco Giants' Kris Bryant greets Chicago Cubs fans as he walks to the dugout before a baseball game in Chicago, Friday, Sept. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

CHICAGO (AP) — Kris Bryant drew a pair of standing ovations in his return to Wrigley Field, Evan Longoria and Brandon Belt homered in the seventh inning and the San Francisco Giants beat the Chicago Cubs 6-1 on Friday for their fifth straight victory.

The Giants improved to a major league-best 91-50.

Bryant was traded to the Giants for two prospects at the July 30 deadline as the rebuilding Cubs unloaded marquee stars who were set to become free agents after this season. The 29-year-old got a standing ovation from the crowd of 29,439 during a pregame video tribute and again before his first inning at-bat. Bryant went 0 for 3 with a walk, run and struck out swinging twice.

San Francisco’s Dominic Leone opened with two perfect innings on a bullpen day, and the Giants used eight pitchers in a combined two-hitter. Camilo Doval (2-1) got the final out of the sixth for the win. Trevor Megill (1-1) was the loser.

Rookie Frank Schwindel hit a solo drive for the Cubs, giving him 12 homers and seven in the last 11 games. Chicago lost for just the second time in 10 games.

WHITE SOX 4, RED SOX 3

CHICAGO (AP) — José Abreu hit a three-run homer and Carlos Rodón pitched five effective innings on extended rest, helping Chicago beat Boston.

Luis Robert added an RBI single as Chicago bounced back from a 2-4 trip. The AL Central leaders also got steady innings from Craig Kimbrel and Liam Hendriks after the Red Sox rallied in the seventh.

Boston lost for the fourth time in five games, but it maintained its one-game lead for the top AL wild card because of the New York Yankees’ 10-3 loss to the Mets. The Red Sox also remained nine games back of AL East-leading Tampa Bay.

All-Star shortstop Xander Bogaerts returned after being sidelined by COVID-19, but ace left-hander Chris Sale was placed on the injured list after he tested positive. The seven-time All-Star also had a mild bout with COVID-19 in January that required him to quarantine for two weeks.

Rodón (12-5) allowed one run and three hits in his first start since Sept. 1. Hendriks finished for his 34th saves. Tanner Houck (0-4) was the loser.

Bobby Dalbec homered for Boston.

METS 10, YANKEES 3

NEW YORK (AP) — Rookie Tylor Megill struck out a career-high 10 in a career-long seven innings and the Mets took advantage of a string of mental and physical mistakes by the reeling Yankees to rout their Bronx rival at Citi Field in the opener of the season’s second Subway Series.

Making the 15th start of his first big league season, Megill (3-4) allowed four hits and walked one as the Mets got back to .500 at 71-71.

The Yankees lost their season-high seventh in a row and for the 11th time in 13 games following a 13-game winning streak. They began the night a half-game ahead of Toronto for the AL’s second wild-card berth.

Jordan Montgomery (5-6) allowed a career-high seven runs in 3 1/3 innings — just five runs were earned. Francisco Lindor chased him with an opposite-field home run just inside the right-field pole.

DODGERS 3, PADRES 0

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Julio Urías pitched seven shutout innings for his major league-leading 17th victory, Max Muncy slugged a two-run homer and Los Angeles beat San Diego to snap a two-game skid.

Urías (17-3) scattered three hits, struck out seven and walked one to remain unbeaten in his last 13 starts, going 8-0 in that stretch. The left-hander hasn’t lost since June 21 at San Diego.

Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for his 31st save.

Muncy’s 32nd homer off Joe Musgrove (10-9) gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead in the third. Mookie Betts singled for the Dodgers’ first hit of the game and scored on Muncy’s shot to right.

PIRATES 4, NATIONALS 3

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Ke’Bryan Hayes capped off a ninth-inning rally with an RBI single and Pittsburgh slipped past Washington.

Hayes completed a two-run comeback by sending Alberto Baldonado’s pitch to right field, scoring Ben Gamel from third for the first walk-off hit of his career.

Pittsburgh trailed 3-2 going into the ninth but quickly put two men on off Patrick Murphy (0-1). Murphy gave way to Baldonado, who retired Cole Tucker but allowed the tying run to score on a groundout to shortstop by Colin Moran.

Hayes then won it to spoil the return of former Pirates All-Star first baseman Josh Bell to PNC Park. Bell, who spent five seasons in Pittsburgh before being traded to the Nationals in December, hit his 26th home run.

Chad Kuhl (5-6) pitched a scoreless ninth for the victory.

Anthony Alford homered for Pittsburgh.

BREWERS 10, INDIANS 3

CLEVELAND (AP) — Lorenzo Cain hit a grand slam to cap a six-run fifth inning, Eduardo Escobar homered from both sides of the plate and Milwaukee beat Cleveland to move closer to the NL Central title.

Milwaukee’s magic number to win the division is nine and the Brewers (87-55) are 32 games over .500 for the first time in franchise history.

Cain’s home run off reliever Sam Hentges was his third career grand slam and gave Milwaukee a 9-1 lead. Escobar led off the fifth with a home run off right-hander Eli Morgan (2-7) and started the sixth with a homer against the left-handed Hentges, marking the fourth time in his career he’s homered from both sides.

Luis Urías hit a two-run homer in the fourth after committing two errors in the first.

Adrian Houser (9-6) gave up one hit in six innings— Bobby Bradley’s two-run single in the first — and worked around five walks.

The Indians stole six bases, matching the most in the majors this season, and have stolen 35 straight bases, a streak that began Aug. 11.

ORIOLES 6, BLUE JAYS 3

BALTIMORE (AP) — Cedric Mullins and Ryan McKenna homered off Robbie Ray and Baltimore ended Toronto’s season-high winning streak at eight.

Anthony Santander also had a three-run shot in the seventh inning off Julian Merryweather (0-1) that traveled 423 feet and gave Baltimore the decisive lead. The Orioles have won five games in September, one more than they won in August.

Ray, who was the American League Player of the Week, allowed three runs and a season-high eight hits and eight strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings. It was his shortest outing since June 18 against Baltimore.

Conner Greene (1-0) got his first career win by throwing 1 2/3 scoreless innings, and Cole Sulser picked up his seventh save,

Ryan McKenna also homered for Baltimore and Austin Hays tripled, extending his career-long hitting streak to 16 games.

TIGERS 10, RAYS 4

DETROIT (AP) — Miguel Cabrera got his ninth straight hit before the string ended, Jonathan Schoop launched a grand slam and Detroit beat Tampa Bay.

Rays rookie shortstop Wander Franco extended his on-base streak to 39 games, then left in the first inning with tightness in his right hamstring. The 20-year-old Franco, who came up limping on Nelson Cruz’s double in the first inning, has the second longest on-base run in major league history — Frank Robinson set the record of 43 in 1956.

The Tigers scored twice in the sixth, four times in the seventh and three more in the eighth to beat the team with the best record in the AL.

Cabrera singled in his first two at-bats, giving him a career total of 2,973 and making him the first Tigers player to get nine straight hits since Walt Dropo’s major league record 12 straight in July 1952.

Jose Cisnero (4-4) was the winner. Pete Fairbanks (3-6) took the loss.

BRAVES 6, MARLINS 2

ATLANTA (AP) — Jorge Soler had a two-run single during a five-run fifth inning, Ian Anderson tied a career high with nine strikeouts and Atlanta beat Miami.

The comeback victory was the Braves’ 35th this season and their second in two nights.

Anderson (7-5) allowed two runs and five hits with two walks in five innings. Atlanta closer Will Smith faced the minimum in the ninth for his 32nd save in 37 chances.

Trevor Rogers (7-7) was the loser.

ROCKIES 11, PHILLIES 2

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Elias Díaz hit a grand slam, Germán Márquez pitched six shutout innings and Colorado continued to hurt Philadelphia’s playoff chances.

Trevor Story and C.J. Cron also homered for the Rockies, who won for the second straight night at Citizens Bank Park and improved to 20-50 on the road.

Didi Gregorius homered and Bryce Harper had a pair of hits and an RBI for the Phillies, who have lost four straight and six of eight. Philadelphia fell 4 1/2 games behind first-place Atlanta in the NL East.

Márquez (12-10) was sharp for the Rockies, scattering six hits with six strikeouts and a walk. Bailey Falter (2-1) was the loser.

ASTROS 10, ANGELS 5

HOUSTON (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit his major league-leading 44th home run, but got tagged early by José Altuve and Alex Bregman in Houston’s victory over Los Angeles.

Ohtani (9-2) had been 8-0 in his last 13 starts since May 28, and gave himself a lead when he hit a solo homer in the first inning.

But the two-way sensation yielded six runs on a career-high nine hits in 3 1/3 innings. Altuve and Bregman were a combined 5 for 5 against Ohtani.

Bregman, who had four RBIs, Altuve and Carlos Correa each had three hits for the AL West leaders. Bregman extended his hitting streak to 10 games.

Framber Valdez (10-5) allowed four earned runs on six hits with five walks and six strikeouts in five innings.

Jared Walsh also homered for the Angels.

MARINERS 5, DIAMONDBACKS 4

SEATTLE (AP) — Tom Murphy hit a two-run home run in the second inning and added a solo shot in the sixth and Seattle beat Arizona for its eighth victory in 11 games.

Both homers came off Madison Bumgarner (7-10) as Seattle continued to inch closer in the AL wild-card race, pulling within a game of New York for the second spot.

J.P. Crawford led off the game with a solo homer for Seattle. Marco Gonzales (8-5) threw six innings, scattered four hits and allowed three unearned runs.

Henry Ramos and Seth Beer homered for Arizona. Beer hit a solo homer off Diego Castillo in the eighth inning in his first major league at-bat. Called up from Triple-A Reno earlier in the day, he’s the first Arizona player to homer in his first at-bat since John Hester in 2009.

Drew Steckenrider struck out the side in the ninth for his eighth save.

ROYALS 6, TWINS 4, 11 INNINGS

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Andrew Benintendi had four hits and two home runs, the last a two-run shot in the 11th to send Kansas City past Minnesota.

Benintendi had five RBIs in his second multi-homer game of the season in Minnesota. He’s driven in 11 runs in his last three games for Kansas City.

Ervin Santana (2-2) pitched around a walk and the automatic runner in a scoreless 10th against his former team, and Greg Holland earned his eighth save in 12 chances.

Juan Minaya (2-1) took the loss for the Twins.

Benintendi opened the scoring in the first with a three-run homer off Twins rookie starter Griffin Jax. He also hit two home runs in Minnesota on May 1.

Byron Buxton and Josh Donaldson homered for Minnesota in the first.

REDS 4, CARDINALS 2

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jose Barrero made the most of an unexpected start by doubling in the tiebreaking run in the ninth inning, leading Cincinnati past St. Louis.

The 23-year-old Barrero had two hits after he was recalled from Triple-A Louisville earlier in the day to fill in for infielder Kyle Farmer, who was placed on the paternity list. Barrero was hitting .167 over 14 big league games prior to Friday.

T.J. McFarland (3-1) started the ninth giving up an infield single to Eugenio Suarez. Following a force out at second, Barrero hit a ball to deep center that gave the Reds the lead. Barrero scored on Delino DeShields’ fielder’s choice grounder.

Michael Lorenzen (1-2) pitched the eighth for his first victory of the season, and Mychal Givens pitched the ninth for his seventh save.

Joey Votto homered for the second straight game when he led off the fourth with a drive just over the center-field wall and the outreached glove of Harrison Bader for his 30th homer.

ATHLETICS 10, RANGERS 5

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Matt Olson had four hits and drove in four runs, Starling Marte added an RBI triple and Oakland beat Texas for its third straight win.

Elvis Andrus took a pitch off his left hip from Rangers starter Glenn Otto to force home the go-ahead run in a six-run second inning. Andrus later scored on Marte’s triple in the fourth that chased Otto (0-1).

Josh Harrison had a two-run single in the fifth for the A’s (77-64), who along with the Mariners are one game back for the second AL wild card with Toronto only trailing the Yankees by a half-game in the race for that spot.

Deolis Guerra (4-1) pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings for the win.

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