Dansby Swanson went 3-for-4 with a homer and a double for the Chicago Cubs in a 5-1 win against the visiting Dodgers on Tuesday, helping spoil the Los Angeles debut of left-hander Tarik Skubal.

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Nico Hoerner singled and homered while Pete Crow-Armstrong contributed two hits, an RBI and a run for the Cubs, who won the opener of the three-game series 10-5 on Monday.

Cubs starter Javier Assad gave up one run and four hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out three and walked two. Ryan Rolison (6-1) retired all three batters he faced.

Skubal (7-6), the reigning two-time AL Cy Young Award winner who was acquired from the Detroit Tigers on Saturday, pitched six innings and allowed two runs on four hits. He walked two and struck out six.

Kyle Tucker homered for the Dodgers, who have lost a season-high five in a row.

The Cubs won for the eighth time in 12 games.

With the score tied 1-1 in the sixth inning, Chicago’s Seiya Suzuki walked on four pitches with one out. Alex Bregman then hit a long fly ball just out of the reach of Tucker in right and off the wall for a double, putting runners on second and third.

Michael Busch hit a hard grounder to Tommy Edman playing in at second base, and Edman threw out Suzuki at the plate. However, Hoerner followed with a high chopper over the mound for an infield single, scoring Bregman for a 2-1 lead.

Alex Vesia came out of the Los Angeles bullpen for the seventh and gave up a leadoff double to Swanson before Crow-Armstrong came through with a two-out RBI single to extend the gap to 3-1.

Evan Phillips then took over on the mound, and Suzuki greeted him with a run-scoring single.

Hoerner tacked on a solo home run in the eighth, increasing the advantage to 5-1.

Ryan Zeferjahn tossed a perfect eighth inning in his Cubs debut, a day after he was acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Angels.

Tucker came up with two outs in the second, and the former Cub lifted a sinker over the wall in left-center field for an opposite-field homer and a 1-0 lead.

After Skubal retired the first six batters he faced, Swanson clubbed the first pitch of the third deep over the fence in left-center to tie it 1-1.

Tigers hit 3 HRs as Troy Melton shuts down the Mariners

Troy Melton pitched seven scoreless innings as the Detroit Tigers defeated the host Seattle Mariners 8-0 on Tuesday.

Riley Greene, Gleyber Torres and Dillon Dingler homered for the Tigers, who won their fourth game in a row and fifth out of six to move past Seattle in the American League wild-card chase. It was Detroit’s second straight shutout victory and third in the past six games.

Melton (7-1) allowed three singles — by Dominic Canzone with two outs in the first, Randy Arozarena leading off the fourth and Cal Raleigh with two outs in the seventh. The right-hander walked two and struck out four.

Jacob Waguespack and Yilber Diaz each tossed one inning to complete a four-hit shutout.

The Tigers opened the scoring in the third inning. Zach McKinstry led off with a double to right field and took third on a groundout. Torres hit a chopper to the left side of the infield, with shortstop Colt Emerson throwing out McKinstry at the plate.

Dingler grounded a single to center, sending Torres to second. Greene hit a soft grounder to short, with Emerson’s sidearm throw sailing down the right field line to allow one run to score and leave runners at second and third. Colt Keith lined a two-run single to right, giving Detroit a 3-0 lead.

Greene hit a solo shot to right-center with two outs in the fifth off Mariners starter Emerson Hancock, extending the margin to 4-0.

The Tigers added four runs in the ninth off reliever Seranthony Dominguez, who was making his Mariners debut after coming over from the Chicago White Sox in a weekend deal.

Javier Baez drew a leadoff walk, took third on McKinstry’s single to right and scored on Kevin McGonigle’s groundout. Torres hit a two-run shot to left-center, and Dingler followed by going deep to right-center.

Hancock (6-6) went six innings and allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits. The right-hander walked two and fanned six.

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Designated hitter Taylor Ward, acquired from the Baltimore Orioles at the Monday trade deadline, made his debut for the Mariners, who had a two-game winning streak snapped. He went 0-for-3.

Seattle third baseman Brendan Donovan finished 0-for-4 while appearing for the first time since May 15 after being activated from the injured list. He had been sidelined due to a strained left groin.

Rangers halt 6-game slide in dramatic fashion vs. Giants

Ezequiel Duran capped a four-RBI outing with a deep run-scoring double to right with two outs in the ninth inning to give the Texas Rangers a 5-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night at Arlington, Texas.

Duran went 3-for-5 and won the game with an opposite-field drive over the head of San Francisco’s Jung Hoo Lee, who fell down on the warning track as the ball landed to his left and bounced over the wall while Jake Burger scored the winning run.

Duran also ripped a tiebreaking two-run double to right in the eighth as the Rangers halted a season-worst six-game slide. Duran is 7-for-9 with a homer and five RBIs in the first two contests of the three-game set.

Corey Seager (two runs) and Brandon Nimmo (one RBI) joined Duran in collecting three hits for the Rangers, who snapped a streak of 40 innings without holding a lead by scoring two runs in the opening frame. For Seager, it was his first three-hit game of the season.

Bryce Eldridge hit a tying two-run single in the ninth for San Francisco.

Osleivis Basabe hit a two-run homer for the Giants, who lost for the fourth time in five games.

Burger smacked a double to left on the first pitch in the ninth from Dylan Smith (0-4). One out later, Seager was walked intentionally before Nimmo struck out.

Lee was playing medium range in right and Duran hit a ball over his head for the second straight at-bat, this one ending the contest.

Texas held a two-run lead entering the ninth before All-Star Jacob Latz (3-1) blew a save for the third time in 24 opportunities.

Drew Gilbert lined a one-out single and Grant McCray drew a walk and both runners moved up on Elias Diaz’s passed ball. Eldridge followed with a two-run single to right to tie the score at 4.

Texas starter MacKenzie Gore pitched six scoreless innings. He gave up three hits, three walks and struck out four.

San Francisco’s Blade Tidwell allowed two runs and six hits over five innings. He struck out three and walked one.

Wyatt Langford walked against JT Brubaker to start the eighth before Reiver Sanmartin entered. Seager singled to center and Nimmo reached on an infield single before Duran shot an opposite-field liner over the head of Lee for a two-run double that gave the Rangers a 4-2 lead.

The Rangers pushed across two runs in the first to hold a lead for the first time since Thursday against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Nimmo’s double got Texas on the board and Duran singled to score Seager.

Reds score twice
in eighth without a hit to top Athletics

Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart scored on a pair of wild pitches in the eighth inning to help the Cincinnati Reds rally past the visiting Athletics 5-4 on Tuesday night in the opener of a three-game series.

The Athletics, who lost their sixth straight and their 22nd in 26 games, were nursing a one-run lead entering the bottom of the eighth when their defense imploded in ugly fashion. The Reds scored the tying and go-ahead runs without the benefit of a hit.

Reliever and loser Hogan Harris (3-1) walked De La Cruz and Stewart to begin the eighth. It appeared the Athletics would escape with two outs, but a sacrifice fly sent De La Cruz to third and Stewart advanced a critical 90 feet when Harris, backing up third base, didn’t throw to second.

In all, Harris walked three and threw two wild pitches, while reliever Elvis Alvarado also threw a wild pitch in the eighth. Julian Garcia (2-2) pitched a perfect eighth with two strikeouts to earn the win, while Emilio Pagan tossed a scoreless ninth for his 12th save in 15 opportunities.

One day after surviving the MLB trade deadline and remaining in Cincinnati, Brady Singer started and went six solid innings, giving the Reds another quality start, his sixth since June 1. Singer allowed three runs on five hits over six innings. The right-hander struck out six and walked three.

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