CHICAGO — Gregory Polanco homered twice Thursday to help back a third straight solid start by Trevor Williams, and the Pittsburgh Pirates pulled away from the Chicago Cubs, 6-1.

Francisco Cervelli lined a three-run shot in the seventh off Cubs reliever Justin Wilson as Pittsburgh scored four times in the inning to break open a tight game.

Adam Frazier also went deep for Pittsburgh, which improved to 9-3.

Williams (3-0) allowed one run and four hits through six innings, striking out five and walking one.

“They’re the team to beat in the Central,” Williams said, “so it’s good for us to take two out of three, especially early in the season.”

CARDINALS 13, REDS 4: Jose Martinez drove in six runs and Yadier Molina homered in his return from a one-game suspension, powering visiting St. Louis to a victory that left Cincinnati, at 2-10, mired in its worst start since 1955.

The Cardinals homered a season-high four times while piling up a season high in runs. The Reds helped by walking 11 batters, three of them with the bases loaded.

ROCKIES 5, NATIONALS 1: D.J. LeMahieu hit two home runs and drove in a career-high four runs to lead Colorado at Washington.

Chad Bettis (2-0) allowed one run and three hits over seven innings as Colorado took the opener of a four-game series.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

INDIANS 9, TIGERS 3: Francisco Lindor hit a leadoff homer and drove in three runs, helping Cleveland win at home for its 11th consecutive victory against Detroit.

The Indians completed a four-game series sweep and improved to 31-10 against their AL Central rival since 2016. Jose Ramirez hit a two-run homer and Trevor Bauer (1-1) struck out seven while pitching seven innings of two-run ball.

NOTES

RANGERS: Shortstop Elvis Andrus will miss 6 to 8 weeks after additional tests confirmed the fracture in his right elbow.

Dr. Keith Meister, the team physician, said the fracture is stable and won’t require surgery. The elbow of Andrus’ throwing arm is in a splint after he was hit by a pitch Wednesday night.

TIGERS: Pitcher Jordan Zimmermann is expected to make his next start after being hit on the jaw by a line drive Wednesday night against Cleveland.

Zimmermann said the swelling in his jaw had gone down and he didn’t have a headache, and planned on beginning his usual routine between starts. Zimmermann’s next scheduled start is Tuesday against Baltimore.

• Pitching coach Chris Bosio will be away from the team for a couple of weeks because of an undisclosed health issue.