Pirates win 9th in a row

PITTSBURGH - As Gaby Sanchez “trucked” around third some 6 1/2 hours after the game began, one thought went through his head.

“‘This is enough,’” the 216-pound first baseman said after the game. “‘I’m tired. It’s been a long day.’”

Then Sanchez laughed. The Pittsburgh Pirates have been doing an awful lot of that lately.

Pinch-hitter Russell Martin singled home Sanchez for the winning run in the 14th inning and the Pirates earned their ninth consecutive victory, defeating the Milwaukee Brewers 2-1 Sunday.

The Pirates extended their longest winning streak since 2004, when they took 10 in a row. Pittsburgh reached the midpoint of its season with the best record in the majors at 51-30.

“It’s fun right now,” said Martin, who played a key role in an extra-inning victory he did not start for the second consecutive Sunday. “Obviously, winning is fun, but just being on a team with a bunch of guys who play with their hearts out there and enjoy the game, it’s definitely been a pleasure.”

Teammates were having fun with Sanchez, a slugger not known for his speed. Sanchez led off the 14th with an infield single. With one out, he stole second for his first steal in more than a year. After a walk, Martin hit a soft liner to center off Francisco Rodriguez (1-1).

Sanchez chugged around third and slid home ahead of the throw by Carlos Gomez.

“I guess he felt fresh today for some reason,” Martin said with a wry smile. “We’re just grinding; he’s out there grinding and made it happen and I think everybody is enjoying it.”

Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle gave the sign for Sanchez to make an attempt for his first stolen base as a Pirate and first overall since May 6, 2012. Sanchez has 10 steals and 30 infield hits in 513 career games according to STATS.

“Once it gets late like that, you’ve got to take some chances,” Hurdle said. “Gaby’s always heads-up.”

Sanchez validated the efforts of Pittsburgh’s stingy bullpen. Vin Mazzaro pitched five scoreless innings. He was among six Pirates relievers who combined for 11 scoreless innings after Charlie Morton was pulled following a rain delay of 2 hours, 20 minutes.

Justin Wilson, Bryan Morris, Jason Grilli and Mark Melancon each pitched a scoreless inning following Mazzaro - allowing a total of two hits and no walks.

Tony Watson (2-1) struck out four in three hitless innings.

“A truly incredible job from everybody out there,” Hurdle said.

Andrew McCutchen hit a tying single in the bottom of the eighth.

Bidding for the franchise’s first winning season or playoff berth in 21 years, surprising Pittsburgh enters July with the most victories in the majors. The crowd of 35,351 was about three 3,000 shy of capacity, snapping the PNC Park-record sellout streak of five games.

The vast majority of those on hand waited out a downpour not long after Milwaukee scored an unearned run in the second inning off of Morton, making his fourth start since returning from 2012 elbow surgery.

The Pirates trailed for roughly the next four hours - after the delay Tyler Thornburg and Mazzaro traded shutout innings - until tying it in the eighth against Jim Henderson. Starling Marte walked with one out, advanced on a ground out and came home on McCutchen’s single.

Martin Maldonado had three hits for Milwaukee, which got its only run when Yuniesky Betancourt came home on Schafer’s bunt in the second.

DODGERS 6, PHILLIES 1 Yasiel Puig capped his sensational first month in the major leagues with his first four-hit game, Stephen Fife scattered four hits over seven scoreless innings and the host Los Angeles Dodgers beat Philadelphia. Puig finished June with 44 hits, surpassing the 42 by Pittsburgh’s Bob Elliott in September 1939 for the second-most in a player’s first full calendar month in the major leagues. Joe DiMaggio had 48 in May 1936. Puig also eclipsed the Los Angeles Dodgers’ record for most hits in a month by a rookie, set by Steve Sax in August 1982.

GIANTS 5, ROCKIES 2 Madison Bumgarner scattered four hits over seven innings, Hunter Pence hit a two-run home run to help visiting San Francisco end its longest losing streak in three years. The Giants had lost six consecutive, their longest skid since dropping seven in a row from June 26-July 1, 2010. Colorado’s Michael Cuddyer singled in the eighth off Sandy Rosario, extending his hitting streak to 27 games, the longest in Rockies history and in the majors this season. He has reached base safely in a franchise-record 45 consecutive games.

BRAVES 6, DIAMONDBACKS 2 Freddie Freeman, Dan Uggla and Brian McCann homered, powering host Atlanta past Arizona for a three game sweep in the match up of division leaders. Paul Maholm (9-6) gave up 2 runs and 8 hits in62/3 innings for the Braves, who improved to a big league-best 28-11 at home.

NATIONALS 13, METS 2 Gio Gonzalez pitched seven shutout innings, Ian Desmond homered and Washington roughed up rookie Zack Wheeler and the host New York Mets.

MARLINS 6, PADRES 2 Jeff Mathis hit a grand slam with one out in the ninth inning, lifting host Miami past San Diego.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

INDIANS 4, WHITE SOX 0 Justin Masterson pitched his major league-leading third shutout of the season and visiting Cleveland completed its first four-game sweep in Chicago since 1948.

RAYS 3, TIGERS 1 Jeremy Hellickson earned his fifth June victory and host Tampa Bay beat Detroit. Hellickson (7-3) allowed one run over six-plus innings. He tied the team record for victories in one month held by Matt Moore, David Price and Scott Kazmir.

ROYALS 9, TWINS 8 David Lough hit three doubles, then launched a tie breaking home run in the eighth inning that lifted visiting Kansas City over Minnesota.

RED SOX 5, BLUE JAYS 4 Shane Victorino’s hard grounder eluded first baseman Josh Thole for an error as pinch-runner Jonathan Diaz raced home with the winning run in the ninth inning, and host Boston beat Toronto. The Red Sox won for the fifth time in six games and improved to an AL-best 50-34.

ANGELS 3, ASTROS 1 Josh Hamilton doubled home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and scored on shortstop Jake Elmore’s overthrow, helping the visiting Los Angeles Angels beat Houston and extend their winning streak to six.

ORIOLES 4, YANKEES 2 Chris Davis set a franchise record by hitting his 31st home run before the All-Star break and host Baltimore beat the New York Yankees for a three-game sweep.

INTERLEAGUE

RANGERS 3, REDS 2 Yu Darvish struck out eight in 6 2/3 scoreless innings for his first victory in eight starts and Texas scored twice on a squeeze bunt to beat visiting Cincinnati. Darvish (8-3) won for the first time since May 16, ending his longest professional winless drought - in his two years with the Rangers or seven in Japan before that. The AL West-leading Rangers have won 10 of 13.

ATHLETICS 7, CARDINALS 5 Jed Lowrie and Josh Donaldson homered and Tommy Milone overcame a rocky start to win for the first time in nearly four weeks as host Oakland held off St. Louis. Donaldson reached base four times for the A’s, who padded their AL-best home record by taking two of three in the interleague series. Carlos Beltran, Allen Craig and Matt Carpenter all homered for the Cardinals.

CUBS 7, MARINERS 6 Alfonso Soriano and Darwin Barney each doubled twice and the Chicago Cubs built a six-run lead before topping host Seattle.

Sunday’s games

NATIONAL LEAGUE Miami 6, San Diego 2 Washington 13, NY Mets 2 Atlanta 6, Arizona 2 Pittsburgh 2, Milwaukee 1, 14 inn.

LA Dodgers 6, Philadelphia 1 San Francisco 5, Colorado 2

AMERICAN LEAGUE Boston 5, Toronto 4 Tampa Bay 3, Detroit 1 Cleveland 4, Chicago White Sox 0 Kansas City 9, Minnesota 8 LA Angels 3, Houston 1 Baltimore 4, NY Yankees 2

INTERLEAGUE Texas 3, Cincinnati 2 Oakland 7, St. Louis 5 Chicago Cubs 7, Seattle 6