CHICAGO — Willson Contreras homered in the 15th inning Saturday to give the Chicago Cubs a 2-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.
Contreras turned on a 1-2 pitch from Burch Smith (0-1), sending a long shot to left field that gave Chicago its 11th win in 13 games. He spun and flipped his bat toward the Cubs’ dugout as the ball sailed toward the bleachers and was mobbed by teammates when he crossed the plate.
Chicago moved back ahead of the Brewers for the NL Central lead after falling into a virtual tie with Friday’s 7-0 loss. Milwaukee had its season-high seven-game win streak snapped.
Tyler Chatwood (2-0) struck out seven in four innings to cap a strong effort by the bullpen after Cole Hamels worked seven solid innings.
Hamels gave up a run and three hits in his fourth straight no-decision. Seven relievers combined to give up one hit the rest of the way.
PIRATES 2, CARDINALS 1: Jordan Lyles overcame a 30-pitch first inning to combine with four relievers on a two-hitter, and Pittsburgh won at St. Louis for its seventh win in 10 games following an eight-game losing streak.
Lyles (3-1) allowed one hit through six innings, struck out six and walked three, lowering his ERA to 2.09, fifth-best in the NL.
Lyles battled through the first after a rain delay of 2 hours, 56 minutes, at the start. He struck out Matt Carpenter in a 10-pitch at-bat leading off, walked Paul Goldschmidt on a full count, retired Paul DeJong on a lineout that ended a seven-pitch at-bat, then struck out Marcell Ozuna in another seven-pitch at-bat.
Lyles was removed after 101 pitches. He had been 0-1 with a pair of no-decisions since beating San Francisco on April 19.
METS 4, MARLINS 1: Jacob deGrom ended a five-start winless streak, allowing one run over seven innings to win for the first time since April 3 and lead New York at home.
Pete Alonso and Michael Conforto hit back-to-back homers in a three-run sixth that included an RBI single by deGrom, his second hit of the night.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
TIGERS 5, TWINS 3: John Hicks hit a tiebreaking homer in the ninth inning, Ronny Rodriguez went deep twice and Detroit won at Minneapolis in the opener of a doubleheader.
Brandon Dixon also homered for the Tigers, who beat the AL Central-leading Twins for the first time this season and snapped Minnesota’s four-game winning streak.
The Twins made it 3-3 in the eighth when C.J. Cron homered off Joe Jimenez (2-1) before Hicks connected on the first pitch from reliever Trevor Hildenberger (2-2). Detroit added a insurance run on Christin Stewart’s RBI single to right.
WHITE SOX 7, BLUE JAYS 2: Marcus Stroman was angry when removed from yet another start when he received little run support, and Toronto lost at home.
Stroman (1-6) exchanged words with Manager Charlie Montoyo and pitching coach Pete Walker after being replaced by Derek Law with runners at the corners in the seventh. Stroman allowed four runs – three earned – and eight hits in 6 1/3 innings. He has lost three straight starts and has a losing record despite a 3.12 ERA.
Stroman has received eight runs of support in nine appearances, and Toronto has failed to score while he was on the mound in six outings, including the last three.
ATHLETICS 3, INDIANS 2: Matt Olson scored from third base when right fielder Jordan Luplow slipped trying to field Ramon Laureano’s short fly in the ninth inning, lifting Oakland at home.
Olson walked leading off against A.J. Cole (0-1), and Kendrys Morales followed with a single before both runners were sacrificed over. Laureano lofted an 0-1 pitch over the head of second baseman Jason Kipnis, who was running toward right field. Luplow appeared in position to make the catch but slipped on the grass and fell as the ball dropped in for a single, allowing Olson to score easily.
Luplow pounded his hands into the grass while Olson threw up his arms as the A’s – sporting their Kelly green jerseys – bolted out of the dugout to celebrate a second straight walkoff win. Matt Chapman homered in the 12th inning to sink Cleveland on Friday.
ANGELS 7, ORIOLES 2: Albert Pujols homered twice to increase his total to 641, had three RBI and scored three runs to help Los Angeles win at Baltimore.
Shohei Ohtani had two hits and an RBI for Los Angeles in his fifth game this season. He’s 4 for 21 since returning from the injured list following elbow surgery.
Pujols hit a two-run drive in the first inning and a solo shot in the fourth. He also singled and scored in a three-run sixth that made it 6-2.
INTERLEAGUE
PHILLIES 7, ROYALS 0: Zach Eflin became the majors’ first pitcher with two complete games this season, lifting Philadelphia at Kansas City, Missouri.
Eflin (5-3) finished his second career shutout, the other coming July 22, 2016 in his eighth major league start. He allowed four hits, struck out seven and walked none while throwing 110 pitches.
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