CHICAGO (AP) Chicago’s Ben Zobrist hit a three-run homer to power the Cubs to a 7-2 win against Philadelphia on Sunday, extending their winning streak to five and boosting their lead in the National League’s Central division.
The Cubs’ 6-1/2 game advantage is the biggest of any divisional leader, and the team that has not won the World Series for 108 years is living up to its preseason billing as the team to beat.
Their nearest divisional rival, Pittsburgh, dropped further off the pace with an interleague loss at Texas.
Washington restored its outright lead in the NL East by comfortably beating St. Louis, while Boston kept its nose in front in the American League East with an 11-inning win at Toronto.
Zobrist’s three-run shot off Vince Velasquez gave the Cubs a 5-0 lead in the third inning and they went on to complete a three-game sweep; their first at home over the Phillies for 21 years.
Velasquez allowed seven runs in just 4 2/3 innings.
Texas’ struggling sluggers Prince Fielder and Mitch Moreland both homered during a four-run fourth inning that lifted the Rangers to a 6-2 win against Pittsburgh.
Fielder ended a 34-game homer drought leading off the fourth. Moreland, who stopped a 1-for-27 skid with a homer Saturday, hit a three-run shot.
Washington’s Stephen Strasburg won his 12th consecutive decision dating to last season as the Nationals beat St. Louis 10-2.
Strasburg (9-0) improved to 12-0 in his past 15 starts, and the Nationals have won all 15 of those games. The 12 consecutive winning decisions is a franchise record for a starter, breaking a mark shared by Livan Hernandez (2005) and Dennis Martinez (1989).
He went six innings, giving up one run.
Boston’s Dustin Pedroia drove in the winning run in the 11th to give the Red Sox a 5-3 victory at Toronto.
Blake Swihart drew a one-out walk against Gavin Floyd (2-4) to start the rally and Pedroia hit a double off Drew Storen to bring in the go-ahead run.
Koji Uehara held on in the bottom of the 11th for his first save of the season as Boston became the first AL team to reach 30 wins.
Los Angeles’ Adrian Gonzalez snapped a ninth-inning tie with a two-run single as the Dodgers won 4-2 at the New York Mets.
His hit came off suddenly struggling closer Jeurys Familia, who gave up two runs, two hits and two walks to take the loss.
The Dodgers have won six of their past seven since a four-game skid.
San Francisco’s Hunter Pence hit three of a record-tying eight doubles in the Giants’ 8-3 win against Colorado.
Pence’s double in the eighth helped equal a mark accomplished four times since the Giants moved to San Francisco after the 1957 season. The Giants had 17 hits in all.
Baltimore’s Hyun Soo Kim hit his first major league home run to put the Orioles ahead in the seventh inning and they held on to win 6-4 at Cleveland.
Kim broke a tie with his shot off Jeff Manship, and Nolan Reimold added a leadoff homer in the ninth.
Kansas City’s Cheslor Cuthbert drove in the go-ahead run with an infield hit in a three-run eighth inning which lifted the Royals to a 5-4 win against the Chicago White Sox.
It continued the pattern of a frustrating series for Chicago, which blew a 4-2 lead, having failed to protect a 5-2 seventh-inning advantage on Friday and a 7-1 ninth-inning margin on Saturday. White Sox relievers allowed 17 runs and eight walks over 6-1/3 innings across the three-game series.
New York’s Starlin Castro produced a two-run, seventh-inning homer for the Yankees’ only hit of the game and that was enough for them to win 2-1 at Tampa Bay; their first one-hit win since 1914.
Oakland’s Billy Butler had a two-run single in the sixth as the Athletics rallied past Detroit 4-2.
Houston’s Carlos Correa hit a three-run homer off Mike Morin in the 13th inning to lift the Astros to an 8-6 win against the Los Angeles Angels.
Minnesota’s Joe Mauer homered, as did Miguel Sano for his fourth straight game, to power the Twins to a 5-4 win against Seattle, completing a three-game sweep.
Arizona had a five-run second inning for the second straight day, while Archie Bradley struck out a career-high nine as the Diamondbacks defeated San Diego 6-3.
Miami’s Derek Dietrich hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer and drove in four runs before getting hurt on a foul ball hit into the dugout as the Marlins downed Atlanta 7-3.
Milwaukee’s Jonathan Lucroy drove in three runs, giving him nine RBIs in the series, as the Brewers won 5-4 against Cincinnati, which has lost 12 of its past 13 games.
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