LOS ANGELES — Once they got Matt Cain out of the game, Yasiel Puig and the Los Angeles Dodgers roughed up the San Francisco Giants’ stellar bullpen.
LOS ANGELES — Once they got Matt Cain out of the game, Yasiel Puig and the Los Angeles Dodgers roughed up the San Francisco Giants’ stellar bullpen.
Dee Gordon and Puig broke open a tie game with consecutive RBI doubles in the seventh, Matt Kemp homered in the eighth and the Dodgers beat the NL West-leading Giants 6-2 on Saturday.
“Cain pitched a good game and pounded the zone,” Kemp said. “He threw strikes, mixed his pitches up well and got them over the plate. We couldn’t really get anything off of him. But we waited him out, got him out of there, got to their bullpen and scored some runs at the end for the W.”
Zack Greinke (6-1) allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings, striking out eight and walking three. The right-hander extended his streak to 20 consecutive starts in which he’s allowed fewer than three runs — the longest by any pitcher since the “dead ball” era.
“It’s always a luxury to have two Cy Young winners at the top of your rotation like Zack and Clayton Kershaw. That’s a plus for our team,” Kemp said. “Hopefully they’ll continue to stay healthy and keep doing what they’re doing. But we have to do our job as hitters and drive in runs for those guys.”
The Dodgers took the lead in the seventh against reliever Jeremy Affeldt (0-1) when Drew Butera doubled and scored on Gordon’s hit inside third base with Pablo Sandoval playing in on the grass with the Dodgers’ speedy leadoff hitter at bat. Puig then greeted Jean Machi with a ground-rule double into the left field corner.
“That’s a bad break,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “Pablo had to cover the bunt with two outs. Gordon hit it in a good spot, and the ball just bounced by him.”
The four runs charged to the Giants’ bullpen was in sharp contracts to the major league-best 1.75 ERA they brought into the game. Affeldt had pitched 10 2-3 scoreless innings in his 10 previous appearances since coming off the DL on April 16.
BRAVES 2, CUBS 0
ATLANTA — Ervin Santana pitched five-hit ball for seven innings to remain unbeaten, Ryan Doumit snapped a scoreless tie with a pinch-hit double in the seventh and Atlanta beat Chicago.
Santana (4-0) overcame a rain delay in the third inning and outlasted Cubs right-hander Jeff Samardzija, who had his long winless streak continue. Samardzija lowered his ERA to 1.45, second in the NL, but he is still without a win this season.
Santana walked one and struck out seven. Samardzija allowed only two hits with one walk and seven strikeouts in six innings.
PIRATES 4, CARDS 3
PITTSBURGH — Pedro Alvarez singled in the go-ahead run and Pittsburgh won its season-high fourth straight game.
Alvarez’s hit capped a four-run fourth inning against Lance Lynn (4-2) that helped the Pirates wipe out a 3-0 deficit.
ROCKIES 11, REDS 2
CINCINNATI — Corey Dickerson hit two home runs and two doubles, driving in a career-high four runs for Colorado.
Charlie Blackmon, Justin Morneau and Troy Tulowitzki also homered for the Rockies. Nolan Arenado doubled twice, a day after his 28-game hitting streak ended.
PHILLIES 5, METS 4
NEW YORK — Ryan Howard had four hits, including a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning, and Jimmy Rollins homered and scored four times to lead Philadelphia past slumping New York.
Chase Utley drove in two runs for the Phillies, who have won the first two games of the series against their NL East foes after dropping four straight to Toronto.
David Wright hit his first home run since opening day, ending the longest drought of his career, and had three RBIs. But the Mets wasted another great chance to score in the late innings, losing their fifth straight and eighth in nine games.
INTERLEAGUE
BREWERS 5, YANKEES 4
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Rickie Weeks hit a two-out RBI single after Jonathan Lucroy moved to third on a balk, Francisco Rodriguez earned his league-leading 15th save and Milwaukee snapped a three-game skid.
Lucroy, Carlos Gomez and Aramis Ramirez each homered off Yankees starter CC Sabathia.
ANGELS 5, BLUE JAYS 3
TORONTO — Tyler Skaggs pitched into the ninth inning and retired 21 straight batters, leading the Los Angeles Angels over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Rookie C.J. Cron hit his first major league homer and Chris Iannetta added a two-run shot as Angels won their sixth in a row at Toronto dating to 2012.
TIGERS 9, TWINS 3
DETROIT — Miguel Cabrera hit a three-run homer that capped a six-run second inning, sending Max Scherzer and Detroit past Minnesota.
On a day when the Tigers honored former manager Jim Leyland, they won with a familiar formula they used to reach the playoffs under him: Power by Cabrera, the two-time AL MVP, and pitching by Scherzer, the reigning Cy Young Award winner.
Cabrera connected for his fifth homer, tagging Kyle Gibson (3-3). Victor Martinez also homered, giving him eight this season and four in the last six games.
DIAMONDBACKS 4
WHITE SOX 3
CHICAGO — Wade Miley pitched seven strong innings, Cody Ross had three hits and Arizona beat Chicago.
Miley (3-3) allowed two runs on four hits while striking out six and not allowing a walk. His only mistake came on an 0-1 pitch in the fifth inning that Paul Konerko hit over the left-field fence for a two-run home run.
RAYS 7, INDIANS 1
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Erik Bedard gave up one hit in six shutout innings, James Loney had three hits and drove in two runs, and Tampa Bay broke a four-game skid with a victory over Cleveland.
Winning his second straight start after 15 consecutive starts without a win, Bedard gave up a double to Ryan Raburn in the second inning, Cleveland’s only hit until Lonnie Chisenhall led off the ninth with a single off Grant Balfour.
Juan Carlos Oviedo took over in the seventh for Bedard (2-1) and pitched two perfect innings.
Zach McAllister (3-3) gave up eight hits and five runs in 4 1-3 innings for the Indians, who had won four straight. McAllister is winless in four starts since winning three straight.