Seiya Suzuki hit a three-run double, Cody Bellinger homered and the Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants 8-2 on Wednesday for their fourth consecutive win. Suzuki, Bellinger and Ian Happ each had two hits as Chicago completed a three-game sweep to move a season-high 12 games above .500 at 76-64. The Cubs also moved within 1 1/2 games of NL Central-leading Milwaukee.
Brenton Doyle hit a three-run triple in a four-run fifth inning, Charlie Blackmon had three hits and three RBIs on his bobblehead night, and the Colorado Rockies beat the Toronto Blue Jays 8-7 on Saturday. Doyle’s two-out triple gave the Rockies a 7-5 lead and Blackmon followed with an RBI single as the Rockies broke a four-game losing streak and won for just the second time in their last 12 games. “They were throwing me a lot ot off-speed and I got a good fastball up in the zone, and that's where I was hunting,” said Doyle, who struck out with the bases loaded in the second inning.
Pinch-hitter Alejandro Kirk’s three-run double keyed a five-run seventh inning and the Toronto Blue Jays hit three homers in a 13-9 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Friday night. Danny Jansen, Brandon Belt and Ernie Clement went deep for the Blue Jays, who have won four of six to move within 1 1/2 games of slumping Texas for the final AL wild card. Jansen exited later with a broken finger.
Ryan Mountcastle doubled in two runs in the sixth inning to put Baltimore ahead for good, and the Orioles got an effective performance from their realigned bullpen in a 5-4 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Saturday night. Baltimore has won four straight and seven of eight to move 33 games over .500 (81-48) for the first time since the end of the 1997 season. The victory enabled the Orioles to maintain their three-game lead over second-place Tampa Bay in the AL East.
Osleivis Basabe hit a grand slam for his first major league homer, capping off a nine-run eighth inning for the AL wild card-leading Tampa Bay Rays, who beat the Colorado Rockies 12-4 on Tuesday night. Basabe is filling at shortstop for Wander Franco, who is on MLB’s administrative list while authorities in the Dominican Republic investigate him for an alleged relationship with a minor. After the Rays loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth against Brent Suter (4-1), pinch-hitter Christian Bethancourt delivered an RBI single to tie it before Yandy Díaz made it 5-4 on his run-scoring base hit.