MLB: Giants’ 8-game winning streak ends with 1-0 loss to Pirates
San Francisco Giants second baseman Joe Panik, right, stretches for the throw as Pittsburgh Pirates’ Gregory Polanco slides into second during the second inning of a baseball game Monday, June 20, 2016, in Pittsburgh. Pirates’ Erik Kratz was called out on strikes for the last out on the play though and the inning was over. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
PITTSBURGH — The San Francisco Giants’ eight-game winning streak ended in improbable fashion.
Jeff Locke followed consecutive horrible starts with 6 2/3 scoreless innings, and Erik Kratz hit his first home run since 2014 to help the Pittsburgh Pirates beat Madison Bumgarner and the Giants 1-0 on Monday night.
Locke (6-5) allowed five hits, no walks and struck out three, helping the Pirates to their second win in 12 games. The left-hander had allowed 18 runs and 20 hits over 8 2/3 innings during his previous two outings, certainly making him a longshot to cool off the major leagues’ hottest team.
“He was throwing a lot of strikes,” Giants first baseman Brandon Belt said. “He had the ball moving both ways. His changeup was working well. He just did a good job.”
Bumgarner (8-3) was the tough-luck loser, allowing one run in eight innings while having his seven-game winning streak ended. The left-hander had his 12th straight start allowing two earned runs or fewer and gave up five hits while striking out eight and walking two.
The St. Louis Cardinals stopped a five-game slide with a 3-2 win over the Chicago Cubs, with Brandon Moss and Jhonny Peralta hitting homers John Lackey. The Cardinals got back on track following their first winless homestand of at least two series since 1983. It was their first trip to Wrigley Field since they were eliminated by the Cubs in their NL Division Series last year.
The Los Angeles Dodgers won their fourth straight, with Clayton Kershaw yielding six hits over seven dominant innings to earn his ninth victory in 10 starts in a 4-1 result against Washington.
Arizona completed a four-game sweep against Philadelphia with a 3-1 win and the Colorado Rockies beat the Miami Marlins 5-3 in a record-setting home run contest.
Mark Reynolds hit two homers and Trevor Story, Nick Hundley and Charlie Blackmon also went deep for the Rockies. Marcell Ozuna homered twice and Giancarlo Stanton hit one for the Marlins. The eight solo homers accounted for all the runs in the game, setting a major league record. The previous mark was five.
At Arlington, Shin-Soo Choo hit a go-ahead, two-run single, Ian Desmond homered halfway up the hill in center field and streaking Texas beat Baltimore 4-3 in a makeup game matching the American League’s top two teams.
Texas extended its season-best winning streak to seven games, the last four being one-run decisions. Since the makeup of an April 17 rainout counted as a series, the AL West leaders stretched their club record to 10 consecutive series wins — the longest in the AL since Tampa Bay’s 10 in a row three years ago.
At Boston, Jose Abreu doubled home two runs off Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel with two outs in the 10th inning after the White Sox escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the ninth to win 3-1.
AL Central-leading Cleveland rallied for a 7-4 win over Tampa Bay, Justin Upton hit a line drive over the left-field wall in the 12th inning for his second home run of the game to lift the Detroit Tigers to an 8-7 win over the Seattle Mariners, and the Houston Astros beat the LA Angels 10-7.
