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Baseball-Highlights of Monday's MLB games

Aug 29 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Monday's Major League Baseball games: Cubs 8, Pirates 7 Miguel Montero's 13th-inning pinch hit drove in Kris Bryant with a game-winning run as the Chicago Cubs claimed an 8-7 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates in a game that stretched into early Tuesday. The score capped a two-run inning as the Cubs rallied from a 7-6 deficit to their fifth walk-off victory of the season. Josh Harrison's sacrifice fly to left drove in David Freese with a go-ahead run and a 7-6 Pirates lead in the 13th inning while Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo responded in the bottom of the inning with a run-scoring single to bring home Fowler and force a 7-7 deadlock. Right-hander Jeff Locke, the seventh Pirates pitcher on the night, worked four innings. He fell to 9-8 after allowing two runs on seven hits. Cubs reliever Rob Zastryzny (1-0) survived a difficult 13th to claim the win. He allowed one run on two hits while walking one and striking out two in the 13th. Red Sox 9, Rays 4 Rick Porcello, improving to 13-0 in 14 home starts, pitched seven solid innings for his major league-leading 18th victory and Mookie Betts hit his 30th homer, doubled in a run and scored twice to power Boston to a rout of last-place Tampa Bay. The win kept the Red Sox two games behind the first-place Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East. Mets 2, Marlins 1 Yoenis Cespedes' two-out homer in the bottom of the 10th inning lifted New York to a pivotal win over Miami at Citi Field. Cespedes crushed a 1-1 pitch from Nick Wittgren deep into the bleachers in left field. It was the third hit of the game for Cespedes, who admired the blast as the Mets began pouring out of the dugout. The Mets tied the Marlins for second place in the National League East while ensuring they'd remain no more than 2 1/2 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the race for the second wild card. Cardinals 6, Brewers 5 Randal Grichuk hit a game-tying home run while Stephen Piscotty had two hits and scored the go-ahead run on a ninth-inning error as St. Louis rallied for a victory over Milwaukee at Miller Park. Milwaukee erased a 3-1 deficit with four runs in the seventh inning, including a solo home run from rookie shortstop Orlando Arcia but the Cardinals answered in the eighth when with one out, Grichuk tagged Corey Knebel for his 19th home run of the year, tying the game at 5. Greg Garcia kicked off the ninth with a pinch-hit double off Tyler Thornburg, who then walked Piscotty. Yadier Molina followed and put down a bunt that Thonrnburg fired to third for the force but Villar rushed a throw to first that went wide, scoring Piscotty and putting the Cardinals ahead. Indians 1, Twins 0 (10 innings) Jason Kipnis' RBI single with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning broke a scoreless tie and gave Cleveland a victory over Minnesota. The loss was the 11th in a row for the Twins. The win went to reliever Zach McAllister (3-2), who came into a bases-loaded, two-outs situation in the top of the 10th and got the third out. Tigers 4, White Sox 3 Jarrod Saltalamacchia blasted a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth, lifting Detroit to a victory over Chicago at Comerica Park. Detroit's catcher drilled his 12th homer this season off setup reliever Nate Jones (5-3). J.D. Martinez led off the inning with a walk and Jones retired the next batter before Saltamacchia's game-winner. Justin Wilson (4-4) picked up the victory with 1 1/3 inning of scoreless relief. Francisco Rodriguez pitched the ninth for his 37th save, surviving a pair of long flyouts. Justin Upton added a solo homer for Detroit. Nationals 4, Phillies 0 Tanner Roark combined with two relievers on a four-hit shutout as Washington blanked Philadelphia. Jayson Werth homered for Washington, which ran its winning streak against Philadelphia to seven. The Nationals, however, won for just the third time in nine games overall. The Phillies lost for the third time in four games and were shut out for the seventh time this season. Blue Jays 5, Orioles 1 Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista hit solo homers, and starter Marco Estrada gave up one run over seven-plus innings as Toronto defeated Baltimore. This was the opener of a key three-game series in the American League East. First-place Toronto now has won four straight and pushed third-place Baltimore four games behind with only 31 games remaining. Donaldson's 34th homer and fourth in two games tied the game in the fourth while Bautista gave the Blue Jays a 3-1 lead in the sixth with his 16th and first since returning from the disabled list Thursday. Astros 6, Athletics 0 Joe Musgrove notched his second career win and Houston claimed the series opener with Oakland at Minute Maid Park. Musgrove (2-2) worked 5 1/3 innings allowing three hits and three walks with seven strikeouts. The rookie's scoreless outing represented a rebound from consecutive struggles against the Orioles and Pirates, and the Houston bullpen protected the two-run margin that Musgrove delivered when he departed in the sixth inning. Royals 8, Yankees 5 Dillon Gee pitched six solid innings and Alcides Escobar hit a three-run homer as Kansas City held off New York to open a six-game homestand. The Royals have won 18 of 22 to move within two games of the Baltimore Orioles for the second wild-card postseason spot. They play 21 of their final 31 games at Kauffman Stadium, where they are 41-21. Gee (6-7) curbed the Yankees on four hits and one run, while walking one and striking out four to pick up the victory. He has won his past two home starts, allowing two runs over 13 innings. Rangers 6, Mariners 3 Carlos Beltran had a home run, and a run-scoring double in Texas' four-run third all in support of Yu Darvish, who pitched into the seventh inning in Texas' victory over Seattle in the first of a three-game series. Darvish (5-3) gave up three runs on six hits and two walks while striking out nine over in 62/3 innings. Beltran hit his 25th home run in the first and a drove in a run in the Rangers' third. In the inning, Nomar Mazara had a run-scoring triple, Ian Desmond an RBI double and Jonathan Lucroy followed with a base hit that drove in another run. Angels 9, Reds 2 Mike Trout, C.J. Cron and Jefry Marte each had three hits, a home run and two RBIs to lead Los Angeles' rout of Cincinnati in front of 34,161 at Angel Stadium. Kole Calhoun also had three hits and a home run and Albert Pujols hit another homer as the Angels blasted a season-high five home runs for their fifth victory in six games. Trout socked his 25th homer of the season, with Pujols adding his 26th to tie Hall of Famer Frank Robinson for ninth place in baseball history with 586. Rockies 8, Dodgers 1 Colorado 23-20 since the All-Star break. In that stretch, they have won series against Baltimore, the New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, Washington (twice) and have been swept in three-game encounters by Philadelphia and Milwaukee. Nick Hundley hit a two-run homer in the fourth off Kenta Maeda (13-8). DJ LeMahieu had three RBI, including a two-run double in a five-run seventh, Nolan Arenado added an RBI double and Gerardo Parra had a run-scoring single. Arenado's hit gave him 33 RBIs in August, tying the team record for RBI in that month set by Andres Galarraga in 1996. Parra's hit was his 1,000th career hit. (Editing by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru)