Veteran Atlanta right-hander Charlie Morton will try to regain his form on Sunday when the Braves host the Milwaukee Brewers in the rubber game of their three-game series.

Morton (1-3, 6.85 ERA) will be opposed by Milwaukee left-hander Aaron Ashby (0-2, 2.33). The Braves won Saturday’s game 3-2 to end Milwaukee’s four-game winning streak.

Morton has been struggling. He has lost three of his last four starts and has a 7.85 ERA over that stretch. In his last start on Tuesday, Morton allowed five runs (four earned) in 5 2/3 innings against the New York Mets.

His lack of success has left him confused.

“There were still signs last year that I could still be a dominant pitcher because I would still get swings and misses,” Morton said. “Now it seems like more of those at-bats have turned into long at-bats that result in walks or hits and my pitch counts are just driven up.”

Morton has made 16 career starts against Milwaukee, going 4-8 with a 4.15 ERA.

He faced the Brewers once during the 2021 regular season and absorbed a loss, despite giving up only two runs in six innings on Aug. 1. He lost the first game of the NLDS to the Brewers last year, giving up two runs in six innings.

Atlanta manager Brian Snitker did not express concern.

“You’ve got to look at the baseball card. It will be there,” Snitker said.

Ashby will be making his seventh appearance and third start. He pitched in relief Tuesday against Cincinnati and threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings. His last start came April 27 at Pittsburgh, when he allowed one run on one hit, five walks and six strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.

“I though his stuff was excellent,” manager Craig Counsell said. “It was exciting to see. It’s special stuff for sure.”

Ashby has never faced Atlanta during the regular season. He made two relief appearances against the Braves in the 2021 NLDS, posting a 6.75 ERA in 2 2/3 innings. That includes a blown save in the deciding fourth game of the series.

The Brewers will be without outfielder Andrew McCutchen, who was placed on the COVID list after testing positive shortly before Saturday’s game. McCutchen reported symptoms earlier Saturday. McCutchen was hitting .240 with two homers and 14 RBIs.

“He came in, got tested and just went back to the hotel,” Counsell said. “He’s just going to stay at the hotel and as he feels better, we’ll figure out what to do.”

McCutchen was replaced in left field by Tyrone Taylor and replaced on the roster by utility man Mike Brosseau, who had been optioned on Sunday.

Atlanta right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. has reached base in all eight games since returning from knee surgery. He has homered in both games of the Milwaukee series and has a 22-game on-base streak, dating to last season, the best in the National League.

Milwaukee closer Josh Hader needs two strikeouts to reach 500. He earned his 107th career save on Friday and moved into second place on the club’s all-time list, trailing only Dan Plesac (133). Hader has 11 saves in 11 tries and became only the fifth pitcher to earn a save in their first 11-plus games of a season.

–Field Level Media

Wilmer Flores hit a grand slam and drove in six runs as the San Francisco Giants snapped their five-game losing streak with a 13-7 victory Saturday over the visiting St. Louis Cardinals.

Mauricio Dubon and Darin Ruf hit two-run homers for the Giants, who had scored just five runs in their previous four games. Giants starter Logan Webb (4-1) allowed four runs on eight hits in five innings. He struck out seven batters and walked two.

San Francisco first baseman Brandon Belt suffered an injury swinging his bat in the eighth inning and exited the game.

Cardinals starter Steven Matz (3-2) lasted just two innings while allowing eight runs on five hits (including three homers) and three walks. Dylan Carlson hit a three-run homer and Paul DeJong drove in two runs with two hits to pace the Cardinals’ offense.

Yadier Molina extended his hitting streak to eight games and got his 1,000th career RBI. He became the eighth primary big league catcher with 2,000 hits and 1,000 RBIs.

Rockies 4, Diamondbacks 1

Consecutive singles by Yonathon Daza, Jose Iglesias and Connor Joe with two outs in the ninth inning capped a four-run rally to give visiting Colorado a victory over Arizona in Phoenix.

Called on to protect a 1-0 lead in the ninth, Diamondbacks closer Mark Melancon (0-3) gave up four runs (three earned) on five hits in 2/3 innings.

Daniel Bard retired three straight batters after allowing a leadoff walk to Pavin Smith in the ninth inning to earn his ninth save.

Nationals 7, Angels 3

Washington got home runs from Josh Bell, Yadiel Hernandez and Nelson Cruz to pave the way to a victory over host Los Angeles in Anaheim, Calif.

The Angels’ pitching staff entered the game on an 18-inning scoreless streak but the streak ended in the top of the first inning on Bell’s solo homer, one of two hits for the Nationals’ first baseman. Third baseman Maikel Franco had two hits and drove in three runs for the Nationals, who had 10 hits in all.

The Angels hit two home runs of their own, one by Jared Walsh and the other by Brandon Marsh, both coming in the fourth inning, which cut Washington’s lead to 4-3. Angels starter Michael Lorenzen (3-2) had his toughest outing of the season, giving up five runs on five hits and two walks in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out seven.

White Sox 3, Red Sox 1

Jose Abreu and Luis Robert logged back-to-back RBI hits in the 10th inning as Chicago came from behind to beat host Boston.

Leury Garcia’s sacrifice fly erased the 1-0 lead that Boston held from the fifth inning on, and the White Sox went on to win their fifth consecutive game.

The Red Sox had a chance to walk off in the ninth after Jackie Bradley Jr. lined a one-out single to left and Christian Vazquez doubled into the left-center gap. But both were stranded as Bobby Dalbec struck out looking and Trevor Story popped up.

Braves 3, Brewers 2

Max Fried pitched seven strong innings and Ronald Acuna Jr. homered for the second straight game to help Atlanta over visiting Milwaukee.

The win evened the three-game series between the teams and ended Milwaukee’s four-game winning streak. The game lived up to expectations as a pitching duel, with Fried going head-to-head with Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes, the reigning National League Cy Young winner.

Fried (4-2) allowed one run on four hits with one walk and eight strikeouts to earn his fourth straight win. The walk was the first allowed by Fried since opening day and only his second of the year. Burnes (1-2) pitched six innings and allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits, one walk and seven strikeouts.

Reds 9, Pirates 2 (Game 1)

Tyler Stephenson broke an eighth-inning tie with a two-run double and drove in four to help Cincinnati snap a nine-game losing streak with a win over visiting Pittsburgh in the first game of a day-night doubleheader.

Stephenson finished 3-for-4 with two doubles while Lucas Sims (1-0) pitched out of his own bases-loaded, none-out jam in the eighth to record just the second win in 22 games for the Reds.

Tyler Naquin’s three-run double highlighted the seven-run uprising in the eighth for Cincinnati’s biggest inning of the season. The nine runs marked a season high for the Reds, while the Pirates lost for the seventh time in nine games.

Pirates 8, Reds 5 (Game 2)

Pittsburgh clubbed four homers to overpower host Cincinnati and to earn a split of the scheduled day-night doubleheader.

It was the second doubleheader split in the last four days for the Pirates, who had an extra off day on Friday due to a rainout in Cincinnati.

Bryan Reynolds, Yoshi Tsutsugo, Diego Castillo and Ben Gamel all homered for Pittsburgh.

Astros 3, Tigers 2

Michael Brantley delivered a game-tying RBI triple in the eighth inning, and Houston scored the go-ahead run on a bases-loaded walk later in the frame to push its winning streak to six with a win over visiting Detroit.

Brantley followed a one-out single from Jose Altuve with his extra-base hit into the right field corner, scoring Altuve and knotting the game at 2-2. Altuve and Brantley each reached base against Tigers reliever Michael Fulmer (1-1), who later issued a bases-loaded walk to Kyle Tucker.

Astros closer Ryan Pressly notched his fourth save with a perfect eight-pitch ninth. Bryan Abreu (1-0) earned the victory.

Dodgers 7, Cubs 0 (Game 1)

Clayton Kershaw threw seven scoreless innings, and Austin Barnes had a home run with three RBIs, as visiting Los Angeles beat Chicago in the opener of a doubleheader.

Freddie Freeman matched a career high with three doubles for the Dodgers, while Trea and Justin Turner combined to deliver three hits with three RBIs.

Kershaw (4-0) yielded all five Chicago hits and walked one with two strikeouts to match the longest outing of his season. The left-hander lowered his ERA to 1.80.

Dodgers 6, Cubs 2 (Game 2)

Mookie Betts delivered a three-run double and two-run homer for two of Los Angeles’ three hits, but they were more than enough to cap the visiting Dodgers’ doubleheader sweep of reeling Chicago.

Betts cleared the bases with his double down the left-field line during a four-run second and added some insurance via a drive high into the left-field bleachers in the ninth. Los Angeles also benefited from nine walks issued by Chicago pitching to win its fifth in a row. Tyler Anderson (3-0), meanwhile, gave up two runs, four hits and struck out seven with a walk over five innings.

Willson Contreras went 3-for-4 with a triple and home run for the Cubs, who have dropped four in a row and 13 of 16 since starting 6-4. They’ve also lost five straight and nine of their last 10 at home.

Blue Jays 8, Guardians 3 (Game 1)

Raimel Tapia and George Springer each had three RBIs as visiting Toronto defeated Cleveland in the opening game of a doubleheader.

Kevin Gausman (3-1) earned his third successive win while allowing one run, six hits and one walk and striking out five in 6 1/3 innings.

Cleveland starter Shane Bieber (1-2) was knocked around for seven runs on eight hits and three walks in 3 1/3 innings.

Guardians 8, Blue Jays 2 (Game 2)

Franmil Reyes continued his hot hitting with a home run to support a strong outing by winning pitcher Triston McKenzie in Cleveland’s victory over visiting Toronto in Game 2 of a doubleheader. Cleveland has won six of its last eight games.

The Blue Jays won the first game of the doubleheader, 8-3 and their first three batters reached safely in Game 2, but Toronto scored just one run in the first and Cleveland rallied.

McKenzie (2-2) settled in after the rocky start. He retired the final 11 hitters he faced. The 6-5, 165-pound right-hander pitched six innings and allowed four hits, two runs and two walks. He struck out six batters.

Twins 1, Athletics 0

Sonny Gray struck out seven in four scoreless innings in his return from the injured list, as four Minnesota pitchers combined for a three-hit shutout over visiting Oakland.

Jorge Polanco hit a solo homer in the sixth inning for the game’s lone run. Polanco had three of the Twins’ five hits, finishing a triple shy of the cycle for the AL Central-leading Twins, who have won back-to-back games.

Oakland continued its tailspin with its eighth loss in a row. The Athletics have scored one run overall in their past three games, and the game marked the 10th time this season that they have been held to fewer than two runs.

Marlins 8, Padres 0

Joe Dunand homered in his first major league at-bat and Jorge Soler capped a five-run ninth with a grand slam as visiting Miami routed San Diego to snap a six-game losing streak.

Pablo Lopez shut out the Padres over eight innings. The right-handed Lopez ran his record to 4-1 and lowered his earned run average to a miniscule 1.00. He issued two walks and had five strikeouts. He retired nine straight Padres at one point and got 13 outs on ground balls.

The 26-year-old Dunand is a Miami native and a nephew of Alex Rodriguez. He reached the first row of seats in left on the third pitch he saw from Padres left-handed starter Sean Manaea with one out in the bottom of the second.

–Field Level Media

Before Saturday’s game, Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom offered his outlook on the team’s disappointing start to 2022.

“Obviously, we’ve had some tough losses late, you know, more than more than our share,” Bloom said. “But they happened. We don’t have a time machine. We can’t go back and change them.”

Ten innings later against the Chicago White Sox, another tough loss. Boston lost a 1-0 lead in the ninth and fell 3-1, its sixth loss in as many extra-inning games.

The next challenge is avoiding a three-game series sweep at home in a Sunday morning affair.

“We had a chance to finish the game in the ninth,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora, whose team had two runners in scoring position with one out after Jackie Bradley Jr. singled and Christian Vazquez doubled but couldn’t score. “… Where we’re at right now, any chance we have, we have to take advantage.”

Starting pitching hasn’t been an issue, as Nick Pivetta pitched six shutout innings and struck out eight.

Now, Michael Wacha (3-0, 1.38 ERA) will look to continue Boston’s recent trend of starting pitchers allowing two or fewer runs in 13 of the last 15 games.

Wacha dealt 5 2/3 shutout innings Tuesday against the Los Angeles Angels. Just one baserunner reached scoring position against Wacha, who retired 15 of the 20 total batters he faced.

The right-hander hasn’t allowed more than two runs in any of his five starts, the last three of which he has won. For the season, his .148 opponent’s batting average is the lowest in the American League.

“(Wacha) was pounding the strike zone with good stuff and got some quick outs,” Cora said. “For a defender, he’s a dream come true. His pace, throwing strikes, you have to be ready because the ball will get hit. So far we’ve done an outstanding job defensively behind him. He’s been great.”

Saturday’s resilient effort helped Chicago extend its win streak to five straight.

The White Sox, who have allowed two runs or fewer in four of those five games, were previously 0-10 when trailing after eight innings.

“This kind of game, that’s what we need to get our confidence up,” center fielder Luis Robert said. “We had a really rough April and to win this kind of game gives us hope.”

Jose Abreu and Robert had back-to-back RBI hits to begin the 10th after Leury Garcia hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth.

“It proves what I’ve been telling you all about them all along — heart, guts, talent,” manager Tony La Russa said.

Chicago’s pitching plan for the final two games wasn’t determined before the series, as the team still awaits the return of Lance Lynn (right knee tendon tear) which is expected at some point in May.

Dallas Keuchel (1-3, 8.40) will get the ball despite struggling mightily with command in recent starts.

Last Sunday against the Angels, the big southpaw allowed four earned runs on six hits and five walks. It was his second straight start with five free passes and his third consecutive loss.

Following his last outing, Keuchel had allowed more hits (24) and earned runs (14) than any White Sox starter.

“I still feel good,” Keuchel said. “That’s the main thing and I’m upbeat with how things are progressing. Obviously, I want to win every start, that’s not likely. But at the same time, I gotta give six, seven innings instead of five.”

–Field Level Media

The visiting Pittsburgh Pirates clubbed four homers to overpower the Cincinnati Reds, 8-5, Saturday night to earn a split of the scheduled day-night doubleheader.

It was the second doubleheader split in the last four days for the Pirates, who had an extra off day on Friday due to a rainout in Cincinnati.

The Reds, who have lost 21 of 23, used a seven-run explosion in the bottom of the eighth to break a 2-2 tie and beat the Pirates, 9-2, in the first game, snapping a nine-game skid. Tyler Stephenson had three hits, including two doubles, and a career-high four RBIs to pace the Reds.

In the nightcap, the Pirates jumped out to a fast start in the first inning thanks to the long ball. Bryan Reynolds homered off Cincinnati’s last-minute opener Dauri Moreta (0-1) for a 1-0 lead. After a double by Ke’Bryan Hayes, Cincinnati’s only left-handed pitcher, Phillip Diehl, entered the game and surrendered back-to-back homers to Yoshi Tsutsugo and Diego Castillo to give the Pirates a 4-0 lead.

The suddenly resurgent Cincinnati offense came back with two runs thanks to an RBI single from Mike Moustakas and a Colin Moran sacrifice fly. Right fielder Jack Suwinski robbed Moran at the wall of a two-run homer on the sacrifice fly.

Ben Gamel launched Pittsburgh’s fourth homer, a long two-run homer to the back deck of right field off Robert Dugger to increase Pittsburgh’s lead to 7-2 in the fourth.

The Reds again responded against Pirates starter Mitch Keller, as Drury drilled his team-leading fifth homer to the seats in right with two runners on to cut the Pittsburgh lead back to two, 7-5. Drury drove in four runs in the loss and had five hits in the two games.

After a leadoff ground-rule double by Moustakas in the fifth, Keller was pulled by manager Derek Shelton two outs shy of qualifying for a win. Keller allowed five runs on six hits, striking out three and walking three in 4 1/3 innings.

Heath Hembree (2-0) recorded the final two outs of the fifth against his former team for his second win in as many decisions. David Bednar struck out the side in a perfect ninth for his fourth save in as many chances this season.

The Pirates added to their lead in the seventh on Suwinski’s two-out double that scored Daniel Vogelbach. The Reds put their first two batters on in the seventh but couldn’t score as Kyle Farmer grounded out to end the inning, extending his hitless streak to 0-for-28.

–Field Level Media

Tampa Bay’s Brandon Lowe stroked two solo homers, Manuel Margot notched his first grand slam and the visiting Rays recorded their sixth straight win, walloping the Seattle Mariners 8-2 on Saturday night.

With Lowe’s pair of homers staking Tampa Bay to a 3-1 lead, Margot unloaded off former Rays closer Diego Castillo with the bases loaded in a five-run eighth inning to blow open the contest.

Wander Franco was 3-for-5 with a run and Kevin Kiermaier was 2-for-4 with a double and a stolen base as the Rays won for the 13th time in 17 games.

Pitching in front of over 40 family and friends, Washington native Drew Rasmussen (3-1) spun five strong innings. The right-hander yielded one run on five hits with five strikeouts and two walks.

Adam Frazier went 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI, Abraham Toro homered and Julio Rodriguez tripled and scored for the Mariners, who lost their season-long sixth straight game.

Seattle lefty starter Marco Gonzales (1-4) lasted 5 1/3 innings, allowing three runs (two earned), four walks and six hits, including both homers by Lowe.

The Rays opened the scoring in the third.

With Yandy Diaz on second and one out, Harold Ramirez’s deep fly to center was run down by Rodriguez. However, Frazier took the relay and threw errantly to third on Diaz’s tag up, with the ball skipping out of play and awarding Diaz home plate.

Seattle loaded the bases on a single and two walks with one out to no avail in its third. Ty France flew out to right, then Rasmussen covered first and dug out a low throw from first baseman Diaz after his diving stop of a hard grounder by J.P. Crawford, who later left with back spasms.

Two pitches into the next frame, Lowe pushed it to 2-0 with a 400-foot sizzler traveling at 109.8 mph off the lefty hitter’s bat to right-center.

In the fifth, Frazier singled in speedster Rodriguez, who led off by slicing his first career triple to right field, but Lowe’s second deep drive — his fifth — off Gonzales made it 3-1 the next inning.

After Randy Arozarena’s RBI fielder’s choice in the seventh, Margot tagged a 95-mph sinker from Castillo into the Rays’ bullpen for a grand slam, his second homer in as many nights.

Toro’s third homer in the ninth rounded out the scoring.

–Field Level Media

The Washington Nationals got home runs from Josh Bell, Yadiel Hernandez and Nelson Cruz to pave the way to a 7-3 victory over the host Los Angeles Angels on Saturday night in Anaheim, Calif.

The Angels’ pitching staff entered the game on an 18-inning scoreless streak following consecutive shutouts of the Red Sox on Thursday and the Nationals on Friday. But the streak ended in the top of the first inning on Bell’s solo homer, one of two hits for the Nationals first baseman.

Third baseman Maikel Franco had two hits and drove in three runs for the Nationals, who had 10 hits in all. Everyone in Washington’s starting lineup had at least one hit except leadoff hitter Cesar Hernandez.

The Angels hit two home runs of their own, one by Jared Walsh and the other by Brandon Marsh, both coming in the fourth inning which cut Washington’s lead to 4-3.

But the Nationals pushed across a few insurance runs and got quality pitching the rest of the way to finish it off.

Nationals starter Josiah Gray (4-2) got the victory after giving up three runs on five hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings while striking out three. Steve Cishek, Erasmo Ramirez and Tanner Rainey combined for 3 2/3 scoreless innings of relief.

Angels starter Michael Lorenzen (3-2) had his toughest outing of the season, giving up five runs on five hits and two walks in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out seven.

Solo homers by Bell in the first and Hernandez in the second staked Washington to a 2-0 lead. The Nationals increased their lead to 4-0 in the fourth inning on a two-run single by Franco before the Angels battled back in the bottom of the inning.

Los Angeles got on the scoreboard against Gray on a solo homer by Walsh. And after Max Stassi walked, Marsh homered to cut Washington’s lead to 4-3.

Lorenzen got the first two outs of the fifth inning before allowing a single by Bell, knocking Lorenzen out of the game. Elvis Peguero entered the game and allowed a two-run homer to Cruz, putting the Nationals up 6-3.

Peguero gave up an RBI double to Franco in the sixth.

–Field Level Media

Joe Dunand homered in his first Major League at-bat, Jorge Soler capped a five-run ninth with a grand slam homer and Pablo Lopez shut out the Padres on five hits over eight innings Saturday night as the visiting Miami Marlins scored an 8-0 win in San Diego to snap a six-game losing streak.

The right-handed Lopez ran his record to 4-1 and lowered his earned run average to a miniscule 1.00. He issued two walks and had five strikeouts. He retired nine straight Padres at one point and got 13 outs on ground balls. Right-hander Louis Head completed the first shutout of the Padres this season.

The 26-year-old Dunand is a Miami native and a nephew of Alex Rodriguez. He reached the first row of seats in left on the third pitch he saw from Padres left-handed starter Sean Manaea with one out in the bottom of the second.

Dunand’s home run gave the Marlins a 1-0 lead. He then doubled in the fifth to trigger a two-run Miami inning. Dunand was the Marlins’ second-round pick in the 2017 draft out of North Carolina State. He was born and raised in Miami and was hitting .255 with Triple-A Jacksonville with just one homer in 14 games when he was promoted Saturday when Jon Berti was placed on the 10-day injured list.

Lopez worked his way out of two jams.

In the first, the Padres loaded the bases with two out on singles by Jake Cronenworth and Manny Machado and a walk to Jurickson Profar. But Trent Grisham popped out to short to end the threat. Profar and Jose Azocar singled in the fourth before C.J. Abrams grounded out.

The Marlins were still leading only 1-0 going into the fifth when Jacob Stallings drew a leadoff walk from Manaea. Dunand followed with a double in the left field corner and Garrett Cooper hit a two-out, two-run double. Manaea (2-3) gave up three runs on seven hits and a walk with eight strikeouts in six innings.

Soler’s grand slam off Ray Kerr followed three walks and Jazz Chisholm’s RBI double off Dinelson Lamet.

–Field Level Media

Consecutive singles by Yonathon Daza, Jose Iglesias and Connor Joe with two outs in the ninth inning capped a four-run rally to give the visiting Colorado Rockies a 4-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday in Phoenix.

Called on to protect a 1-0 lead in the ninth, Diamondbacks closer Mark Melancon allowed hits to C.J. Cron and Ryan McMahon to start the inning. Garrett Hampson entered as a pinch runner for Cron.

Melancon (0-3) struck out Elias Diaz and induced Brendan Rodgers to ground into a fielder’s choice for two outs.

Daza singled to score Hampson, Iglesias then singled to plate Rodgers and Joe’s single allowed Daza to come home. Iglesias also scored on Joe’s hit because of a throwing error by center fielder Jordan Luplow.

Daniel Bard retired three straight batters after allowing a leadoff walk to Pavin Smith in the ninth inning to earn his ninth save.

Christian Walker’s run-scoring double with one out in the eighth inning put Arizona ahead 1-0.

Luplow was the catalyst. He was walked by Colorado reliever Alex Colome (1-0) with one out before stealing second and third base.

Ketel Marte walked and Walker followed with his double that bounced off the right field wall and scored Luplow.

The game featured a pitcher’s duel between starters Kyle Freeland of Colorado and Zach Davies of Arizona.

Freeland allowed only two hits and prevented a baserunner from going past second base through the first four innings.

The Diamondbacks finally threatened in the fifth inning when Josh Rojas singled with two outs to move Nick Ahmed to third base. Ahmed had reached on a fielder’s choice. Freeland then got Daulton Varsho to ground out to first base.

Arizona loaded the bases in the sixth after two outs. Marte singled and stole second before Walker and David Peralta walked. Ahmed then grounded out to the mound, allowing Freeland to escape again without allowing a run.

Davies threw a season-high 104 pitches in 6 1/3 innings. He allowed three hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

Freeland was relieved after going six innings. He gave up five hits and recorded five strikeouts with two walks.

–Field Level Media

Mookie Betts delivered a three-run double and two-run homer for two of Los Angeles’ three hits, but they were more than enough to cap the visiting Dodgers’ doubleheader sweep of the reeling Chicago Cubs with a 6-2 victory on Saturday night.

After seven strong innings from Clayton Kershaw highlighted the Dodgers’ 7-0 win in Game 1 earlier Saturday, Betts cleared the bases with his double down the left-field line during a four-run second and added some insurance via a drive high into the left-field bleachers in the ninth.

Los Angeles also benefited from nine walks issued by Chicago pitching to win its fifth in a row.

Tyler Anderson (3-0), meanwhile, gave up two runs, four hits and struck out seven with a walk over five innings for the NL West leaders, who have outscored their opponents 31-7 while going 5-0 in May.

Willson Contreras went 3-for-4 with a triple and home run for the Cubs, who have dropped four in a row and 13 of 16 since starting 6-4. They’ve also lost five straight and nine of their last 10 at home.

Contreras led off the bottom of the first with a deep drive to right field that Betts failed to catch, and resulted in a triple. Contreras then averted the tag at the plate on Ian Happ’s grounder to third for the game’s first run.

However, Chicago’s spot-starter Daniel Norris (0-2) walked the first three batters of the second inning before striking out Cody Bellinger. Keegan Thompson came on to fan Chris Taylor, but walked Hanser Alberto to tie the contest. Then he gave up Betts’ double to give Los Angeles a 4-1 lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, Contreras got the Cubs within 4-2 on his drive off Anderson, high up into the left-field bleachers for his first homer in 14 games. Chicago, though, has totaled 11 runs during its current 1-7 rut.

The Cubs’ Patrick Wisdom exited after the sixth inning with a left ankle issue, according to Marquee Sports Network.

–Field Level Media

Boston Red Sox left-hander Chris Sale’s return from a rib cage injury has been paused by a “personal medical issue.”

The team said Saturday that it’s not orthopedic or COVID-19 related.

“We want to respect his privacy and it’s not baseball-related,” Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Boom said. “He should be back throwing in a matter of days.”

Sale was expected to return from the 60-day injured list in early June. Now his expected return is roughly the third week of June.

An MRI in March revealed the fracture in Sale’s eighth rib. He suffered the injury during the lockout but wasn’t allowed to communicate it to the Red Sox until the new collective bargaining agreement was struck last Thursday.

Sale, 32, went 5-1 with a 3.16 ERA last season in his return from Tommy John surgery. The seven-time All-Star missed nearly two years.

Sale is 114-74 with a 3.03 ERA in his career with the Chicago White Sox (2010-16) and Red Sox.

–Field Level Media