ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Lance McCullers pitched seven strong innings, Jake Marisnick homered and the Houston Astros beat the Tampa Bay Rays 1-0 on Thursday night to tie a franchise record with their 11th straight road win.
McCullers (9-3) gave up three hits while striking out seven. The Astros have won his last six starts and have won 18 of 21 overall. Their 11th straight road win matched the club record set last May 14-June 5 on the way to winning the franchise’s first World Series title.
The Rays, who had won five straight overall and eight straight at home, had runners on first and third with none out in the eighth against reliever Chris Devenski, but Matt Duffy lined into a double play and Jake Bauers grounded out.
Hector Rondon pitched the ninth for his fifth save in seven opportunities.
Marisnick’s homer in the fifth came off Ryan Yarbrough (7-4) and was his seventh of the season. It ended the Rays’ streak of 26 scoreless innings, the second-longest in franchise history.
RED SOX 4, ANGELS 2
BOSTON — Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a two-run homer and Rafael Devers had a solo shot to help Boston beat Los Angeles.
Boston completed a season sweep of the Angels for the first time since they joined the American League as an expansion club in 1961.
The Red Sox have won four straight and six of seven as they head to New York to open three-game series between the rivals on Friday night with first place in the AL East on the line.
Hector Velazquez (6-0) pitched two scoreless innings of relief. Craig Kimbrel earned his 24th save with a scoreless ninth inning.
Andrelton Simmons hit a solo homer and Albert Pujols had an RBI single for the Angels, who have lost six straight. Los Angeles was up 1-0 until Devers led off the fifth with his 13th homer, to center off of Jamie Barria (5-4).
DODGERS 11, CUBS 5
LOS ANGELES — Anthony Rizzo’s three-run double and Addison Russell’s two-run homer highlighted a seven-run seventh inning as Chicago broke loose after Los Angeles starter Clayton Kershaw exited.
The Cubs pounded out 15 hits, including four by Rizzo. Russell drove in four runs in the final regular-season meeting between the teams that played each other in the NL Championship Series the last two years.
They met seven times in 10 days, with the Cubs winning four games over the two series.
The Dodgers staked Kershaw to a 3-1 lead before he departed after five innings because of a pitch limit.
The Cubs jumped on reliever Walker Buehler (4-2), who arrived earlier in the morning from Triple-A Oklahoma City, where he had been set for a rehab assignment. Albert Almora Jr. homered on Buehler’s second pitch and Russell’s sacrifice fly tied it at 3 in the sixth.
Steve Cishek (2-0) got the win with 1 2/3 innings of relief.
ROCKIES 9, GIANTS 8
SAN FRANCISCO — DJ LeMahieu hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning and set a career best with five RBIs, rallying Colorado past San Francisco.
Nolan Arenado hit his 19th home run, tying him for the NL lead with Washington’s Bryce Harper. Trevor Story added three hits for Colorado, which had lost four straight at San Francisco.
The Rockies blew leads of 5-2 and 7-5 and were down 8-7 before scoring twice off closer Sam Dyson (2-2) to avoid a series sweep.
Adam Ottavino (4-1) gave up two runs but retired three batters to win. Wade Davis pitched the ninth for his 22nd save.
DIAMONDBACKS 4, MARLINS 0
MIAMI — Zack Greinke pitched seven innings and was an offensive dynamo, too, helping Arizona beat Miami.
Greinke singled twice, drove in a run, stole a base and scored. He leads Arizona pitchers this year with four RBIs and four runs, raised his season average to .300, and is now 7 for 7 lifetime in steal attempts.
As for pitching, Greinke (8-5) won for the fifth time in his past six starts.
Paul Goldschmidt continued his recent tear with three hits, and Nick Ahmed added two hits. Each scored and drove in a run.
Trevor Richards (2-5) allowed three runs in four innings. Miami rookie Brian Anderson went 0 for 4 to end his 24-game on-base streak, which had been the longest active string in the National League.
PHILLIES 4, NATIONALS 3
PHILADELPHIA — Aaron Nola pitched into the eighth inning to win his 10th game of the season, Rhys Hoskins homered again and Philadelphia started a pivotal division series by beating Washington.
Hoskins hit a two-run shot in the seventh inning for his 13th home run of the year and a 4-1 lead that propelled the Phillies within two games of idle Atlanta for first place the NL East. Both the Phillies and Nationals entered this four-game set within striking distance of the Braves.
Nola (10-2) struck out eight and walked only two over 114 pitches and 7 2/3 innings. He has won seven straight decisions at home dating to last season.
Tommy Hunter allowed two runs in the ninth before Seranthony Dominguez got the final two outs for his sixth save.
Tanner Roark (3-9) struck out five over seven innings for the Nationals, who fell to 4-12 since June 9.
BREWERS 6, REDS 4
CINCINNATI — Eric Thames hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning and Milwaukee slowed Cincinnati’s best surge of the season.
The game included a benches-clearing incident in the third inning as Cincinnati’s Joey Votto exchanged words with Brewers catcher Erik Kratz.
Thames gave the Brewers a 5-4 lead when he homered in the seventh inning off reliever Amir Garrett (0-1).
Eric Sogard added a sacrifice fly in the ninth.
Junior Guerra (4-5) gave up Jose Peraza’s second career leadoff homer and Jesse Winker’s two-run shot while getting his first victory since May 14. Corey Knebel pitched the ninth for his eighth save.
The last-place Reds were the hottest team in the NL Central heading into the game, winning nine of their last 10 games.
MARINERS 4, ORIOLES 2
BALTIMORE — Nelson Cruz homered and drove in three runs, and Seattle utilized two errors in the 10th inning to complete their first four-game sweep at Baltimore in franchise history.
The Mariners improved to 8-0 in extra innings this season. They prevailed in 11 innings on Wednesday, and won the four games at Camden Yards by a total of six runs.
Manny Machado and Chris Davis hit solo homers for Baltimore.
Dee Gordon beat out an infield hit off Miguel Castro (2-4) in the 10th and scored when center fielder Colby Rasmus bobbled Jean Segura’s single. A throwing error by third baseman Steve Wilkerson and an RBI single by Cruz followed.
Juan Nicasio got three straight outs in the 10th for his first save.
James Pazos (2-1) worked the ninth for Seattle.
ATHLETICS 4, TIGERS 2
DETROIT — Jed Lowrie had two more hits, Sean Manaea pitched six strong innings and Oakland beat Detroit to sweep the four-game series.
Lowrie went 9 for 17 (.529) with two homers and three doubles in the set, driving in at least one run in all four games.
The A’s went 8-2 on their three-city road trip and have won 10 of 12 overall.
Detroit lost its ninth straight. The Tigers haven’t lost 10 in a row since their 119-loss season in 2003.
Manaea (8-6) won his third straight start, allowing two runs on five hits and a walk.
Michael Fulmer (3-7) gave four runs and nine hits. He is 1-3 in his past six starts.
TWINS 2, WHITE SOX 1, 13 INNINGS
CHICAGO — Max Kepler drew a two-out walk with the bases loaded in the 13th inning to push Minnesota past Chicago.
The Twins pushed across the go-ahead run after Logan Morrison doubled off left fielder Charlie Tilson’s glove with two outs. Hector Santiago (2-3), the sixth White Sox reliever, intentionally walked Ehire Adrianza before walking Jake Cave and Kepler.
Alan Busenitz (2-0), the Twins’ sixth reliever, pitched 1 2/3 innings for the win.
Minnesota bounced back after the White Sox tied it with two outs in the bottom of the ninth when closer Fernando Rodney walked pinch-hitter Daniel Palka on four pitches to force in a run.
