Joe Maddon could make light of his latest ejection, saying he got in a workout and snacked on some buttered raisin bread after he got tossed.
On a day when the Cubs lost again, their manager found at least a few positives.
John Lackey’s winless streak stretched to five starts, Maddon was ejected and the Cincinnati Reds beat struggling Chicago, 9-5, at Wrigley Field on Tuesday behind Zack Cozart’s 13th home run.
Lackey (7-5) allowed six runs — five earned — six hits and five walks in six innings, dropping to 0-3 in his past five starts. The Cubs have lost five of their last six games and 10 of 15.
Maddon was ejected for the second time this season. David Ross was batting in the second, took a 3-0 pitch and started heading to first, only for plate umpire Jerry Meals to call a strike. Maddon got tossed by Meals as he protested from the dugout, then came out for a spirited argument that lasted a few more minutes.
Pirates 5, Cardinals 2 — Eric Fryer burned his former team with two hits and three RBIs and Juan Nicasio (7-6) worked two scoreless innings in relief of lefty Steven Brault, who allowed one earned run in four innings while throwing 82 pitches and adding a single in his debut.
Josh Harrison and David Freese added RBIs for the Pirates, who have taken the first two games of a four-game set and are 7-4 in the season series, closing within one-half game of the second-place Cardinals in the NL Central.
Marlins 5, Mets 2 — Giancarlo Stanton hit two long homers to match his career high with five RBIs, powering Wei-Yin Chen and Miami to a victory that snapped the Mets’ five-game winning streak.
Chen (5-3) tossed seven innings of three-hit ball, spoiling Jose Reyes’s return to the Mets in his first major league game since serving a 59-day domestic violence suspension.
Blue Jays 8, Royals 3 — Josh Donaldson hit two solo home runs, Troy Tulowitzki had a three-run blast and Toronto connected four times to beat Kansas City.
Fresh off being named a reserve to the AL All-Star team, Donaldson went 3 for 4 and scored four runs as the Blue Jays won their fourth straight.
Yankees 9, White Sox 0 — Carlos Beltran celebrated his ninth All-Star selection with three of New York’s season-high 20 hits, and Chase Headley hit a two-run homer for the second straight day for the Yankees, who improved to 2-3 on a 10-game trip that takes the club to the All-Star break.
Brewers 5, Nationals 2 — Hernan Perez hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the sixth inning to back an effective pitching performance by Zach Davies, and Milwaukee clinched its second road series win of the season.
Phillies 5, Braves 1 — Maikel Franco homered for the third straight game, and Philadelphia hit four overall to get the win.
Peter Bourjos, Cody Asche and Tommy Joseph all hit solo shots for the Phillies.
Zach Eflin (1-2) struck out six and walked none in his first career complete game and first major-league win. He did it in just 2 hours 8 minutes.
Indians 12, Tigers 1 — Lonnie Chisenhall was 4 for 5 with three RBIs, Carlos Santana and Tyler Naquin homered, and Cleveland remained perfect in 11 games against Detroit this season.
Angels 13, Rays 5 — C.J. Cron homered twice and drove in four runs, and Los Angeles overcame another shaky start by Tim Lincecum for just its third win in 15 games.
Astros 5, Mariners 2 — Luis Valbuena hit a solo homer and Colby Rasmus and rookie A.J. Reed added two-run shots in the fourth to back up a solid start by Dallas Keuchel.
