Kris Bryant homered twice, doubled and drove in five runs while going 5 for 5 and the Chicago Cubs overcame Jake Arrieta’s career-high seven walks to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-6 on Thursday for a four-game sweep.
Bryant tied Colorado’s Nolan Arenado for the NL lead with 30 home runs. The Cubs won for the 18th time in 21 games and improved the best record in the majors to 77-43.
Chicago led 5-0 when Arrieta (15-5) allowed a pair of two-out walks in the fourth. Kirk Nieuwenhuis followed with a three-run homer. Hernan Perez hit a solo homer in the sixth off Arrieta.
Arrieta allowed four runs and three hits in 5 2/3 innings.
Aroldis Chapman worked the ninth for his seventh save with the Cubs.
Bryant singled and scored in the first, hit a two-run homer in the third and had an RBI double in the fourth off Zach Davies (9-6). Bryant hit a solo homer off Blaine Boyer in the sixth and added an RBI single in the eighth off Corey Knebel for his second career five-hit game.
Orioles 13, Astros 5
BALTIMORE (AP) — J.J. Hardy and Chris Davis each hit two of Baltimore’s six home runs, Hyun Soo Kim had a career-high four hits and the Orioles beat rookie Joe Musgrove and skidding Houston.
Mark Trumbo and Manny Machado also homered to help Baltimore improve to 40-19 at home and climb into a second-place tie with Boston in the AL East. The 13 runs matched a season high, set June 1 against Boston.
Trumbo set the tone in the first inning with his major league-leading 35th home run, a three-run shot to left against Musgrove (1-1). Kevin Gausman (4-10) struck out eight in 6 2/3 innings for Baltimore.
Alex Bregman and A.J. Reed homered for the Astros. They have lost five straight.
Phillies 5, Dodgers 4
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Maikel Franco hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the seventh inning and Philadelphia held off Los Angeles.
Ryan Howard also homered to help the Phillies avoid a three-game series sweep.
Michael Mariot (1-0) pitched a scoreless seventh inning in relief of Jerad Eickhoff to earn the victory. Freddy Galvis led off the bottom of the seventh with a single and Franco followed with his 22nd homer, to deep center off Grant Dayton (0-1) to give the Phillies a 5-4 lead.
Jeanmar Gomez pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 32nd save.
Justin Turner and Yasmani Grandal homered for the Dodgers.
Royals 8, Twins 1
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Alex Gordon hit a grand slam, Dillon Gee pitched seven strong innings and Kansas City beat Minnesota.
The defending champion Royals have won five straight and eight of nine to move above .500 for the first time since July 22. Starting pitchers have a 1.61 ERA in the five-game winning streak, allowing 23 hits and six earned runs in 33 2-3 innings, while striking out 27 and walking seven.
Gordon extended his hitting streak to a season-best nine games. He has homered in three straight.
Indians 5, White Sox 4
CLEVELAND (AP) — Cleveland manager Terry Francona put up a pinch-hitter in the middle of an at-bat and the strategy paid off when Tyler Naquin lofted a game-ending sacrifice fly in the ninth inning that lifted the Indians past Chicago.
The AL Central-leading Indians scored a single run in each of the last five innings to overtake Chicago. Cleveland improved to 6-2 on an 11-game homestand.
Nationals 8, Braves 2
ATLANTA (AP) — Rookie Reynaldo Lopez struck out 11, Jayson Werth reached safely in his 46th straight game and Washington pulled away to beat Atlanta.
Werth hit an RBI double in the fifth inning to tie Rusty Staub on the Nationals Expos franchise list for the longest streak of reaching base. Werth went 2 for 4 and has 43 hits and 32 walks during his string, the best in the majors this season.
Reds 5, Marlins 4
CINCINNATI (AP) — Ramon Cabrera hit a three-run homer, Dan Straily continued his second-half surge and Cincinnati beat Miami for its eighth victory in 10 series since the All-Star break.
Billy Hamilton used aggressive base-running to produce another run, and Eugenio Suarez added an RBI double to give Cincinnati three straight wins over Miami after losing the series opener.
Angels 6, Mariners 4
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Albert Pujols drove in two runs, Yunel Escobar had three hits and scored twice, and the Angels held off a late rally.
Mike Trout scored twice as the Angels earned a split of the four-game series with just their second win in 14 games. Pujols reached 95 RBIs with a two-run double in the eighth. He’s second in the AL, five behind Toronto’s Edwin Encarnacion.
Padres 9, D-Backs 8
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Rookie Alex Dickerson’s two-out, three-run double in the eighth inning lifted San Diego.
Dickerson smacked Enrique Burgos’ pitch into the gap in left-center field to snap the Padres’ five-game losing streak.
Giants 10, Mets 7
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Madison Bumgarner hit a go-ahead two-run homer off Jacob deGrom in the fourth inning — moments after giving up a grand slam — and San Francisco came back from four runs down.
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