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Buccos Win in 10th to Snap Streak

AP Photo / Pittsburgh Pirates' Andrew McCutchen drives in John Jaso with a base hit during the 10th inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016, in Milwaukee.

MILWAUKEE — Andrew McCutchen hit a home run and a pair of RBI singles, including the tiebreaker in the 10th inning as the Pittsburgh Pirates stopped a nine-game skid at Miller Park, beating the Milwaukee Brewers 3-2 Thursday night.

McCutchen has 44 RBIs in 56 career games at Miller Park, his highest total at any opposing park.

McCutchen homered into the second tier of seats in left field off Wily Peralta in the first for his 18th home run of the season. He then hit an RBI single that beat the shift in the third.

Pinch-hitter John Jaso blooped a single off Carlos Torres (2-3), advanced on a sacrifice, took third on a ground out and scored on McCutchen’s liner through the right side of the infield.

Antonio Bastardo (2-0) picked up the win in relief and Tony Watson pitched a scoreless 10th for his eighth save in 11 chances.

Chad Kuhl, making his first career appearance against Milwaukee, cruised through the first six innings — allowing just two hits. However, he ran out of gas in the seventh.

Pitching coach Ray Searage made a mound visit after Chris Carter’s one-out double and just before Kir Nieuwenhuis stepped in. Whatever was said, didn’t work. Nieuwenhuis hit Kuhl’s first pitch into the seats in right to tie the score. Orlando Arcia doubled to end the 23-year-old rookie right-handers’ eighth start of the season.

Kuhl walked two, snapping his streak of no walks in his three previous road starts. He struck out five in 6 1/3 innings, his longest outing of the season and fifth consecutive time he went at least six innings.

With McCutchen’s winning hit, the Pirates have won seven of Kuhl’s first eight major-league starts.

Peralta was done after throwing 63 of 100 pitches for strikes in five shaky innings. He walked three and struck out five in his fourth start since rejoining the rotation on Aug. 9. He had been optioned to Triple-A Colorado Springs on June 12 after going 4-7 in 13 starts, including the season opener.

CALL OVERTURNED

Second base umpire Bob Davidson’s out call on Starling Marte’s attempted steal of second in the Pirates’ fifth was overturned after a 2:34 review.

CREEPY TALE

Pirates manager Clint Hurdle shared a story about ghosts at the team’s hotel during his pregame session with the media.

“It’s real to some people, there’s no doubt,” Hurdle said. “I have not seen that ghost. I have not had any relationship-building with that ghost.”

Baseball players in the past have reported eerie encounters and strange happenings at the Pfister Hotel in downtown Milwaukee.

“I had a player call me one night assuring me of the fact that there is a ghost and it turned his TV on twice during the night,” Hurdle said. “I actually had him come into my room to settle him down. Went back to his room for a while. Sat with him. The TV didn’t come back on. I exited and everything was OK. I don’t want to name names, but he’s still playing.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Pirates: 3B Jung Ho Kang accompanied the team on the road trip. He’s been on the 15-day disabled list since Aug. 20 with a left shoulder injury. … Hurdle talked about the importance of OF Gregory Polanco’s compact swing. His 19 home runs lead the team. “In theory, he’s got long levers,” Hurdle said. “He’s incorporated some lift in his swing when balls are down and done a very good job with it.”

UP NEXT

Pirates:  RHP Ryan Vogelsong (2-3, 2.98 ERA) makes his seventh start and 17th appearance when he faces Milwaukee for the first time this season. He is 4-0 with a 2.53 ERA in his last six appearances, including five starts, against the Brewers.

RANGERS 9, INDIANS 0

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Cole Hamels allowed only two singles over eight innings for his 14th victory, Carlos Gomez hit a three-run homer in his first at-bat with Texas and the AL-best Rangers beat Cleveland in the opener of a four-game series matching division leaders.

Hamels (14-4) retired 19 straight batters after Francisco Lindor’s two-out single to left in the first. The only other baserunner for the Indians was Carlos Santana after a leadoff hit in the eighth, though he was stranded at second after advancing on a passed ball.

Adrian Beltre and Rougned Odor also homered for the Rangers (75-53).

Josh Tomlin (11-8) lost his fifth consecutive start in August.

NATIONALS 4, ORIOLES 0

WASHINGTON (AP) — Max Scherzer allowed two hits over eight innings, Bryce Harper had a two-run double and the Washington Nationals avoided a four-game home-and-home sweep with a 4-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday night.

Scherzer (14-7) struck out 10 and did not walk a batter. He retired 12 straight after Adam Jones’ fourth-inning double and 21 of 22 before Mark Trumbo’s leadoff single in the eighth.

Jayson Werth’s solo home run staked Washington to a 1-0 lead. Daniel Murphy’s RBI double in the eighth came before Harper’s second hit helped the Nationals pull away.

The Nationals had lost four straight including three in a row to the Orioles, who won twice in Baltimore before the teams shifted to Washington.

Ubaldo Jimenez (5-11) allowed one run and five hits over six innings.

Trumbo stole second base with two outs in the eighth, but J.J. Hardy flied out to deep center field on Scherzer’s 95th and final pitch. Mark Melancon allowed one hit in the ninth.

METS 10, CARDINALS 6

ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis pitcher Adam Wainwright lost his glove trying to tag out Yoenis Cespedes and lost the game, too, when Alejandro De Aza homered and drove in five runs for New York.

Seth Lugo (1-2) pitched five scoreless innings for his first big league win. The Mets took two of three to win their first series at Busch Stadium since 2008.

Brandon Moss hit two home runs for the Cardinals and Jedd Gyorko and Stephen Piscotty also connected.

The Mets led 3-0 in the fifth when Wainwright (9-8) and Cespedes were involved in a bizarre play.

Cespedes tried to go from first to third on a bloop single by James Loney. When several Cardinals chased the ball, Wainwright covered third base. Cespedes slid and his cleat pinned Wainwright’s glove to the bag — he would’ve been out, but when Wainwright pulled away his hand, the mitt stayed stuck under Cespedes’ foot. Because Wainwright didn’t control the ball, Cespedes was called safe in a ruling upheld by replay. Moments later, De Aza hit a three-run homer to make it 7-0.

ANGELS 6, BLUE JAYS 3

TORONTO (AP) — Albert Pujols reached the 100-RBI mark for the 13th time, the fifth player in history to achieve the feat, Mike Trout had three hits and drove in four runs, and Los Angeles beat Toronto.

Jered Weaver pitched 5 2/3 innings to snap a three-start losing streak and help the Angels win consecutive games for the first time since Aug. 2-3.

The Angels also prevented J.A. Happ from becoming the first 18-game winner in the majors. After winning 11 straight decisions, Happ (17-4) suffered his first lost since June 10 at Detroit. He allowed four runs and six hits in five innings.

One day after his 584th home run moved him past Mark McGwire into sole possession of 10th place on the career list, Pujols joined Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, Alex Rodriguez and Babe Ruth as the only players with 100 or more RBIs in 13 seasons.

ROYALS 5, MARLINS 2

MIAMI (AP) — Alcides Escobar homered and drove in two runs to lead surging Kansas City past Miami.

Salvador Perez and Kendrys Morales also drove in runs. The defending champion Royals have won 15 of 18 to pull within four games of the second AL wild card spot.

Edison Volquez (10-10) pitched five innings and allowed two runs, both unearned, and three hits.

The Royals’ bullpen, which has been a successful formula for the reigning two-time AL pennant winners, pitched four scoreless innings to push its franchise-record scoreless streak to 38 2/3 innings — the best in the majors since 2002-03 when San Francisco tossed 39 1/3 straight.

Kelvin Herrera pitched the ninth for his ninth save in 11 chances.

Tom Koehler (9-9) was the loser.

RAYS 2, RED SOX 1

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Enny Romero earned his first major league save, relieving with two outs in the ninth inning and fanning Boston slugger David Ortiz to give Tampa Bay a four-game split.

After Tyler Sturdevant struck out Hanley Ramirez and Jackie Bradley Jr. to begin the ninth, Romero was summoned. Romero sent Ortiz to the ground with a high-and-tight 1-2 fastball, then got him to look at strike three. A day earlier, the 40-year-old Ortiz reached 30 home runs and 100 RBIs. Ortiz was rested for the final day of an 11-game road trip that saw Boston go 7-4. The Red Sox, who began the day tied with Toronto for the AL East lead, lost the final two games of the series.

Mikie Mahtook ended a stretch of 34 hitless at-bats with a go-ahead double in the seventh off Drew Pomeranz (10-10). Jake Odorizzi (9-5) improved to 6-0 in eight starts since the All-Star break. He gave up one run and five hits in seven innings.

WHITE SOX 7, MARINERS 6

CHICAGO (AP) — Todd Frazier tied it with an RBI single in the seventh inning and lifted Chicago past Seattle with a line drive down the left-field line in the ninth.

Adam Eaton led off the ninth with a bloop single off Nick Vincent (3-4) and went to second on Tim Anderson’s sacrifice. Jose Abreu was walked intentionally before Frazier’s liner over third scored Eaton, leading to a pileup of players behind the pitcher’s mound.

David Robertson (4-2) worked around a walk and two incidents of fans running on the field in the ninth that delayed play for several minutes.

Robinson Cano hit his 29th home run and the Mariners wasted a solid return off the disabled list by James Paxton in their third straight loss.

TIGERS 8, TWINS 5

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — James McCann had a three-run homer and finished with four hits, Daniel Norris pitched into the seventh inning and Detroit completed a sweep for Minnesota’s seventh straight loss.

The Tigers are 10-2 against the Twins this year. They have won eight in a row at Target Field.

Norris (2-2) struck out five in 6 1/3 innings, allowing six hits without a walk in his longest and strongest start this season. He took a shutout in the sixth, surrendering RBI singles by Robbie Grossman and Eduardo Escobar over his last two innings.

Francisco Rodriguez struck out two in a perfect ninth for his 35th save. Jose Berrios (2-4) was the loser.

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