>>Royals Hold Off Braves
(Atlanta, GA) — Alex Gordon had three of the five KC hits, including a solo shot and drove in two as the Royals held on for a 5-4 victory over the Braves at Atlanta. Lucas Duda contributed a pinch-hit homer in the eighth to break a tie. Ian Kennedy logged his 18th save, but not before giving up a run on three hits to start the ninth. The Royals are 6-and-2 in their last eight. Josh Donaldson drove in two runs in defeat. Dallas Keuchel struck out 12 and yielded two runs on three hits over six innings in a no-decision. The NL East-leading Braves are 2-and-5 in their last seven.
>>Goldschmidt, Martinez Power Cardinals Past Pirates
(Pittsburgh, PA) — Paul Goldschmidt and Jose Martinez homered as the Cardinals rallied past the Pirates 4-3 in Pittsburgh. Kolten Wong got the scoring started with an RBI double in the second for St. Louis. Dakota Hudson gave up three runs over six-and-a-third for his 10th win. Andrew Miller threw a perfect ninth for his third save. The Cards have won three straight and six-of-seven. Starling Marte hit a three-run homer in the first for Pittsburgh. Chris Archer gave up four runs over six frames to fall to 3-and-7. The Bucs have lost nine-of-11.
>>Giants Outlast Cubs On Panda Homer In 13th
(San Francisco, CA) — Pablo Sandoval crushed a solo homer in the bottom of the 13th inning as the Giants outlasted the Cubs 5-4 in San Francisco. Alex Dickerson also went deep and Kevin Pillar doubled home two runs for San Francisco. Sam Coonrod came away with the win for the Giants, who have won 10 of their last 11 games. Brad Brach gave up the homer in the 13th to take the loss for Chicago. Kris Bryant went 3-for-6 and drove in a pair of runs for the Cubs. Chicago is on a three-game slide.
>>Reds Hammer Brewers
(Milwaukee, WI) — The Reds scored four in the first inning and five more in the fifth on their way to a 14-6 win over the Brewers in Milwaukee. Eugenio Suarez went 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBI, Jesse Winker homered and Phillip Ervin hit a three-run triple as the Reds built up a 9-0 lead. Tanner Roark picked up his sixth win, giving up two runs over five innings. Sal Romano picked up the rare three-inning save. Cincinnati has won three-of-four. Manny Pina went 2-for-2 with a homer and four RBI. Zach Davies fell to 8-and-3, giving up seven runs in four innings. Milwaukee has lost two straight.