MLB capsules: August 21

MIAMI — With his first swing of the night, Yasiel Puig ended a slump and silenced speculation he’s in trouble.

He came off the bench to hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning and help the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Miami Marlins 6-4 on Tuesday night.

Puig was held out of the starting lineup after going hitless in his past 11 at-bats. He also drew a fine when he arrived late for pregame drills, raising more questions about the 22-year-old’s maturity and comportment.

He entered in the sixth inning in a double switch, batted for the first time leading off the eighth and needed only one pitch to break a 4-all tie.

The NL West leaders broke a two-game losing streak, their longest in two months. They won despite blowing a 4-1 lead and hitting into four double plays.

METS 5, BRAVES 3

NEW YORK — Rookie Zack Wheeler beat NL East-leading Atlanta for the third time, pitching shutout ball into the seventh inning and sending New York to victory.

Wheeler improved to 3-0 this year against the team with the best record in the majors. Helped by his midseason promotion from Triple-A, the Mets hold an 8-7 edge over the Braves.

Marlon Byrd and Ike Davis homered and speedy Eric Young Jr. sparked the Mets, stealing two bases, scoring twice and making a diving catch in left field. Catcher Travis d’Arnaud doubled for his first hit in the majors, ending an 0-for-10 rut.

Wheeler (6-2), raised in the Atlanta suburbs, defeated the Braves at Turner Field in his big league debut in June, then topped them at Citi Field in July.

ROCKIES 5, PHILLIES 3

PHILADELPHIA — Troy Tulowitzki and Wilin Rosario homered to lead Colorado past Philadelphia.

Jorge De La Rosa (13-6) pitched into the seventh to win his third straight start. Dexter Fowler also drove in a run to help the Rockies jump out to a 5-0 lead.

Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado made a fantastic backhanded stop and in-the-air throw to first in the seventh inning to rob Jimmy Rollins of a run-scoring hit.

Rafael Betancourt tossed a scoreless ninth for his 16th save.

Tyler Cloyd (2-3) allowed five runs in six innings in his first major league start since June 12.

DIAMONDBACKS 5, REDS 2

CINCINNATI — Paul Goldschmidt set a club record with his third grand slam of the season and became the first NL player to drive in 100 runs, powering Arizona over Cincinnati.

Goldschmidt connected in the eighth inning off J.J. Hoover, ending the reliever’s streak of 23 scoreless appearances. His 31st homer tied him with Pittsburgh’s Pedro Alvarez for the NL lead. All of his career grand slams have come this season.

Left-hander Patrick Corbin (13-3) stymied Cincinnati’s lefty-dominated lineup, pitching a six-hitter, including Chris Heisey’s two-run homer, during his second complete game. Corbin matched his career high with 10 strikeouts.

The left-hander shut down the Reds’ left-handed threats — Shin-Soo Choo, Joey Votto and Jay Bruce were a combined 0 for 12 with seven strikeouts.

NATIONALS 4, CUBS 2

CHICAGO — Ryan Zimmerman had two hits and drove in a run, Bryce Harper had two hits and scored a crucial ninth-inning run, and Dan Haren pitched six strong innings to help Washington beat Chicago.

Zimmerman had two doubles and could have had four hits as he lined out to third base in the third inning to start a double play and hit a hard shot at the center-fielder in the seventh.

Haren (8-11) kept the Cubs off-balance despite not throwing a pitch faster than 89 all night. Rafael Soriano gave up a leadoff homer to Donnie Murphy in the ninth before getting the last three outs for his 32nd save in 38 chances.

Cubs starter Chris Rusin (2-3) gave up two runs and 10 hits in 5 2-3 innings.

BREWERS 6, CARDINALS 3

MILWAUKEE — Kyle Lohse beat St. Louis for the first time this season and Sean Halton knocked in a career-high three runs to help lead Milwaukee to victory.

Lohse (9-8) beat the Cardinals in his fourth try this season and improved to 3-5 in nine outings overall against his former team.

Lohse left after six innings with the Brewers leading 6-3. He struck out four, walked two and allowed six hits and three runs, two coming on Yadier Molina’s two-run homer in the fourth. Molina also doubled and scored in the second on Matt Adams’ single.

John Axford and Brandon Kintzler each pitched a scoreless inning, and Jim Henderson pitched the ninth for his 19th save in 22 chances.

Lance Lynn (13-7) got roughed up in the Brewers’ five-run fourth, highlighted by Halton’s two-run single with the bases loaded.

PIRATES 8, PADRES 1

SAN DIEGO — A.J. Burnett threw seven strong innings and Pittsburgh had six extra-base hits, including Neil Walker’s home run, to beat San Diego.

Burnett (6-8) held the Padres to one run and four hits, struck out seven and walked one. He bounced back from two starts in which he allowed 10 earned runs and 16 hits in 10 innings.

The right-hander improved to 2-5 lifetime against the Padres. His only previous victory against San Diego was a no-hitter on May 12, 2001, while with the Marlins. Burnett walked nine that night.

The Pirates opened a two-game lead in the NL Central over St. Louis, which lost 6-3 at Milwaukee.

The Padres have lost 10 of 14 and tied their season high by dropping 17½ games behind the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers.

GIANTS 3, RED SOX 2

SAN FRANCISCO — Brayan Villarreal walked Marco Scutaro with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, handing San Francisco the victory over Boston.

Roger Kieschnick started the winning rally with a one-out single off Franklin Morales (2-1). The Giants loaded the bases with two outs when Morales walked Andres Torres and hit pinch-hitter Hector Sanchez on the left wrist.

Villarreal then threw four straight balls to Scutaro in his first appearance with the Red Sox, giving the defending World Series champions a rare reason to celebrate this summer.

Sergio Romo (4-6) pitched a perfect ninth for the win.

YANKEES 3, BLUE JAYS 2

NEW YORK — Jayson Nix hit a tying homer in the seventh inning and a game-ending single in the ninth, lifting the New York Yankees to their second comeback victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday, 3-2 in the nightcap for a doubleheader sweep.

In the opener, Robinson Cano and Chris Stewart each hit three-run homers to rally the Yankees from four runs down to an 8-4 win.

Toronto lost slugger Jose Bautista to a sore hip early in the opener.

Cano had an RBI single in the second game and had six hits and five RBIs in the two games.

Ichiro Suzuki singled and doubled in the first game, leaving him one shy of 4,000 combined hits during his careers in Japan and the major leagues.

Darren Oliver (3-4) walked Mark Reynolds to start the ninth. Suzuki pinch ran and advanced on Eduardo Nunez’s sacrifice bunt. Suzuki stole third before scoring on Nix’s line drive to left that gave the Yankees their eighth win in 11 games.

Mariano Rivera (4-2) worked out of a two-on jam in the top of the ninth for the win. Anthony Gose failed to get down a sacrifice bunt in the top of the ninth.

The Blue Jays extended their record with an 11th straight loss in New York.

Stewart connected off Neil Wagner (2-4) in the sixth inning of the opener for his first homer since May 15 — that’s 173 homerless at-bats — to put New York ahead.

In the opener, Cano got his 200th career home run and Ivan Nova (7-4) got the win.

TWINS 6, TIGERS 3

DETROIT — Justin Morneau had a season-high four hits, including a two-run homer and a two-run double, and Glen Perkins struck out Miguel Cabrera with two on for the final out to help Minnesota hold off Detroit.

Mike Pelfrey (5-10) gave up three runs and seven hits in 6 2-3 innings. Jared Burton got out of a two-on, one-out jam in the eighth, and Perkins finished for his 29th save in 32 chances.

Rick Porcello (9-7) allowed five runs and seven hits over 4 1-3 innings for Detroit.

The Twins were without All-Star Joe Mauer, who was scratched from his start at first when he experienced dizziness during batting practice.

RAYS 7, ORIOLES 4

BALTIMORE — Alex Cobb took a two-hitter into the seventh inning, Matt Joyce drove in three runs and Tampa Bay beat Baltimore for its sixth win in seven games.

Wil Myers had two hits and two RBIs for the Rays, who moved percentage points ahead of Boston for the AL East lead.

Cobb (8-2) was making his second start since being hit in the head by a line drive on June 15. He allowed two runs, one earned, three hits and four walks in six-plus innings.

Miguel Gonzalez (8-6) gave up three runs, two earned, eight hits and four walks in 5 2-3 innings for the Orioles. The right-hander is 0-3 in five starts since July 20.

WHITE SOX 2, ROYALS 0

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — John Danks shut down Kansas City’s scuffling offense for eight innings, and Chicago did just enough damage against Ervin Santana to squeak out a victory.

Danks (3-10) ended an eight-start winless streak by scattering seven hits and a walk. That the veteran left-hander’s finest start of the season came against the Royals wasn’t much of a surprise: Danks improved to 5-0 against them in 13 career starts.

Addison Reed worked around a leadoff single in the ninth for his 32nd save. It wrapped up the first shutout win for the last-place White Sox since a 3-0 victory against the Angels on May 17.

Gordon Beckham homered off Santana (8-7) in the first inning for the only earned run.

MARINERS 7, ATHLETICS 4

OAKLAND, Calif. — Nick Franklin hit a home run and drove in three runs and the Mariners rallied from a four-run deficit to beat the Athletics.

Brad Miller and Kendrys Morales also drove in runs for the Mariners, who won for just the third time in 53 games when trailing after seven innings.

Josh Donaldson and Nate Freiman each hit a home run for the A’s, who dropped 1 1-2 games behind the AL West-leading Texas Rangers. Derek Norris also drove in a run for the A’s.

Sean Doolittle (4-5) allowed hits to all four batters he faced in the eighth. Brandon Maurer (4-7) pitched a scoreless seventh to record the victory. Danny Farquhar recorded his eighth save in 11 chances with a scoreless ninth.

By wire sources