Willson Contreras hit his first career grand slam and Anthony Rizzo and Jason Heyward added three-run shots Saturday, powering Chicago to a 12-8 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
Jake Arrieta (3-0) returned to the mound where he threw his second career no-hitter last April 21 and struggled mightily at the outset, giving up two homers in the first inning. Chicago’s offense pulled him through with another homer-filled game at Great American Ball Park. Arrieta helped with an RBI triple.
‘‘We’ve been making the most of them the last few games,’’ Heyward said of the big hits.
The Cubs have won 20 of their last 24 games against the Reds, including 17 of 21 at Great American. The Cubs have homered in each of their last 14 games in Cincinnati, which suits their power-laden lineup.
Heyward’s second homer in two days made it 11-5 in the sixth. The Cubs hit 42 homers against Cincinnati last season, the most by any Reds’ opponent in their history.
Chicago has six homers in the first two games of the series.
‘‘We’ve had some hiccups, but we’ve been picked up by our offense,’’ said Arrieta, who gave up five runs in six innings. ‘‘As starting pitchers, we have to take advantage of our offense.’’
In the series opener, Rizzo’s three-run homer tied it with two outs in the ninth and set up a 6-5 win in 11 innings. He connected in the first inning on Saturday against left-hander Cody Reed (1-1), who was moved into the Reds’ injury-depleted rotation. Contreras hit his grand slam in the second, which was Reed’s final inning.
‘‘We score, what, nine runs and we lose? That’s tough,’’ Reed said.
Arrieta was pitching on six days’ rest. He needed 53 pitches to get through the first two innings. Joey Votto hit a three-run homer in the first — he drove in five runs overall — and Eugenio Suarez followed with a solo shot.
‘‘I feel like I did my job after that first inning or so,’’ said Arrieta, who struck out eight and didn’t walk a batter. ‘‘After that, you want to protect the lead and get as deep into the game as you can.’’
Arrieta knocked in a run with his fourth career triple , a drive to right field that Scooter Gennett misplayed and missed as he tried to make a diving catch on the warning track.
Tigers 5, Twins 4 — Minnesota slugger Miguel Sano punched Tigers catcher James McCann in the mask during a bench-clearing scrap in the fifth inning of Detroit’s road victory.
Two innings after Tigers outfielder JaCoby Jones was hit in the face by a pitch, Detroit starter Matthew Boyd threw behind Sano, who pointed his bat toward Boyd and yelled out at the mound. McCann intervened and appeared to put his mitt in the face of Sano, who reacted immediately with a right hand.
There was plenty of pushing and shoving near home plate as both benches and bullpens emptied, but there did not appear to be any other punches thrown. Sano and Boyd were both ejected.
Jones took a 90-mile-per-hour fastball from Twins reliever Justin Haley to the face in the third.
Jones sprang to his feet and ran up the third base line, in the direction of the Tigers’ dugout, where he was met by a trainer and manager Brad Ausmus.
The trainer put a towel to Jones’ bleeding mouth, and the outfielder walked into the dugout toward the clubhouse under his own power. There was no immediate update on his condition.
Nicholas Castellanos and Justin Upton each hit a solo home run for the Tigers, who put star slugger Miguel Cabrera on the disabled list before the game and used five relievers after Boyd was tossed.
Blaine Hardy (1-0) won in relief, and Francisco Rodriguez earned his sixth save in eight chances this season.
Michael Tonkin (0-1) took the loss. Tonkin walked Mikie Mahtook leading off the sixth inning, and Castellanos followed with an RBI double to put Detroit on top 4-3. McCann added a sacrifice fly later in the inning.
Pinch-hitter Jason Castro hit a solo homer in the ninth, but Rodriguez closed it out by striking out Joe Mauer with a runner at first base.
Both starting pitchers struggled with their control, and the teams combined to use 13 relievers. Twins left-hander Adalberto Mejia walked three but struck out six in 2⅔ innings. Meanwhile, Boyd walked three batters in the first two innings before settling down to retire eight of the next nine Twins.
That streak, and Boyd’s day, came to an end when he threw behind Sano — perhaps in retaliation for Haley nailing Jones in the face.
Yankees 11, Pirates 5 — Pinch-hitter Chris Carter drilled a three-run homer in the eighth inning off reliever Felipe Rivero to lift New York over host Pittsburgh.
Carter sent the first pitch he saw from Rivero (1-1) into the bullpen beyond the center field fence for his first homer with the Yankees.
Starlin Castro added a three-run shot of his own and Aaron Judge hit his team-high sixth home run for New York. Ronald Torreyes had four hits and two RBIs.
Dellin Betances (2-1) earned the win in relief.
Andrew McCutchen hit his third home run and had a sacrifice fly for Pittsburgh. David Freese added a solo home run, but the Pirates fell apart late.
Indians 7, White Sox 0 — Carlos Carrasco pitched eight innings of three-hit ball, helping Cleveland shut out host Chicago for the second straight night.
Carrasco (2-1) struck out eight and did not allow a runner to reach second base.
Chicago hasn’t scored in 23 innings, including during a three-hitter from Cleveland’s Corey Kluber in a 3-0 Indians win Friday night.
Edwin Encarnacion and Michael Brantley hit two-run home runs and Jose Ramirez added a solo shot as the Indians won their fifth straight game.
Encarnacion hit an 0-2 pitch to center field in the first inning for a 2-0 lead against Mike Pelfrey (0-1), who made his season debut in place of the injured James Shields.
Athletics 4, Mariners 3 — Adam Rosales and Ryon Healey each homered in the first inning, Jharel Cotton pitched six innings of two-run ball and Oakland stretched its win streak to five games with a victory over visiting Seattle.
The A’s two hottest hitters quickly got to Ariel Miranda (1-2). Rosales led off with his second homer, and two batters later, Healy hit a two-run shot, his third this season and first since April 6.
Cotton (2-2) gave up two runs, six hits, two walks and hit a batter. Ryan Madson got four outs for his first save.
Miranda allowed four runs and seven hits in three-plus inning in his worst start of the season, failing to pitch at least five innings for the first time in three starts.
Cardinals 4, Brewers 1 — Aledmys Diaz hit a go-ahead pinch-homer in the seventh inning, Lance Lynn pitched six strong innings, and St. Louis won in Milwaukee.
Diaz, who didn’t start at shortstop due to back stiffness and a sore shoulder, homered leading off the seventh against reliever Carlos Torres (0-2).
Lynn (2-1) gave up a run and three hits in six innings. He struck out seven and walked two.
Seung Hwan Oh got his fourth save in five tries.
Travis Shaw had an RBI double in the first for Milwaukee, and the Cardinals tied it at 1 in the fourth on Ryan Braun’s two-base error. Braun made a diving catch on Kolten Wong’s soft liner, but his throw to second from his knees sailed out of play down the first-base line, allowing a run to score.
Phillies 4, Braves 3 — Maikel Franco hit a two-run single with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning to give host Philadelphia the win over Atlanta.
Adonis Garcia’s infield single drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th after Brandon Phillips hit a tying solo homer off Edubray Ramos with two outs in the ninth, but the Phillies rallied against Jim Johnson (2-1).
The Phillies loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning on one-out singles by pinch-hitter Brock Stassi and infield hits by Cesar Hernandez and Aaron Altherr. After Johnson struck out Odubel Herrera, Franco lined a hit to deep right field.
The Phillies have won four of five while the Braves have lost five straight after winning five in a row.
Jeanmar Gomez (2-1) allowed an unearned run in the 10th but earned the win.
Rays 6, Astros 3 — Tim Beckham’s third straight hit came during a four-run sixth inning that helped host Tampa Bay to a victory over AL West-leading Houston.
Beckham, who tripled and singled in two at-bats against Astros starter Charlie Morton (1-2), drove in a run with his single in the sixth off reliever Will Harris.
Evan Longoria, Steven Souza Jr., and Corey Dickerson had two hits each for the Rays, who have won four of five.
The loss broke the Astros’ three-game win streak.
Austin Pruitt (2-0) got the win after 2 1/3 innings of hitless relief. Alex Colome pitched the ninth for his fourth save. Astros center fielder George Springer, playing in his major league-leading 205th straight game, left in the fifth with a tight left hamstring. Evan Gattis and Jose Altuve hit their first home runs of the season off Rays starter Blake Snell.
Rockies 12, Giants 3 — Antonio Senzatela got his third win in four major league starts, Trevor Story homered for the second straight night, and host Colorado routed San Francisco.
Charlie Blackmon tripled and homered and Mark Reynolds also homered for the Rockies, who have won five of six and can sweep the Giants with a win Sunday. San Francisco has lost five of six and dropped to 6-12 overall, worst in the NL.
Senzatela (3-0) allowed four hits and struck out three while walking none. The rookie right-hander was buoyed early as the Rockies got three runs in the first inning, capped by Reynolds’ fifth homer of the season.
Matt Moore (1-3) went four innings and allowed six runs and nine hits, including home runs by Story and Blackmon during a three-run fourth
Diamondbacks 11, Dodgers 5 — Yasmany Tomas homered twice and David Peralta hit a team-record four doubles, leading host Arizona over Los Angeles.
Chris Herrmann and Jake Lamb each hit a two-run homer for Arizona.
Peralta scored three times and Tomas drove in his third run by drawing a bases-loaded walk as part of a three-run seventh inning.
Arizona improved to 8-1 at home and 12-7 overall, with wins in five of its last seven games. The Diamondbacks’ home record is the best after nine games in franchise history.
The Dodgers (8-10) have lost five of six.
Herrmann homered off starter Kenta Maeda (1-2) in the fourth, giving the Diamondbacks a 5-2 lead on the way to their fourth straight win over Los Angeles this month.
Rangers 2, Royals 1 — Elvis Andrus delivered an RBI single with one out in the ninth and host Texas defeated Kansas City for the second time in three games in its final at-bat.
Rougned Odor led off the ninth with a sharp single off Travis Wood (0-2), who didn’t face another batter before Peter Moylan took over. After Odor stole second base, Andrus hit a sharp single to left field.
Matt Bush (1-0) threw a scoreless ninth with a strikeout.
Wood was also the loser in the series opener Thursday night when the Rangers won 1-0 in 13 innings. Up until then, Wood had made 105 consecutive appearances without a loss and was tied with Moylan for the longest active streak in the majors.
Nationals 3, Mets 1 — Gio Gonzalez (2-0) pitched no-hit ball into the sixth inning to win again at Citi Field as Washington won its sixth straight game.
Gonzalez gave up two singles in 6⅓ innings.
The lefty improved to 9-1 lifetime on the Mets’ home field.
Still missing slugger Yoenis Cespedes and other starters, New York has lost seven of eight.
Koda Glover, the fourth Washington pitcher, completed the combined two-hitter by getting the last out for his first big league save.
Jacob deGrom (0-1) struck out 10 and walked six in 5⅔ innings — he matched a career high by fanning 13 in his last start. He was supposed to pitch Friday night, but was scratched with a stiff neck after sleeping on it wrong. Mets pitchers fanned 15 in all.
