Tampa Bay’s Ji-Man Choi high-fives teammates after hitting a two-run homer in the fourth inning Thursday, leading the Rays to a 2-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in St. Petersburg, Fla. Chris O’Meara/Associated Press
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Shane McClanahan pitched eight superb innings to win his fifth consecutive start and the Tampa Bay Rays completed a three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals with a 2-1 victory on Thursday.
Ji-Man Choi hit a two-run homer as the Rays moved a season-high 11 games over .500.
McClanahan (7-2) allowed one unearned run, two hits, walked one and struck out nine, The lefty, who leads the majors with 98 strikeouts, has given up just five runs over 40 innings in his last six starts.
It was the first time McClanahan has pitched into the eighth inning.
Jason Adam worked the ninth to get to his second save.
Miles Mikolas (4-4) had an eight-inning complete game for the Cardinals, allowing three hits and striking out nine.
DODGERS 11, WHITE SOX 9: Max Muncy broke open the game with a three-run homer in the sixth inning after White Sox Manager Tony La Russa ordered an intentional walk to Trea Turner with a 1-2 count, helping Los Angeles win at Chicago.
Muncy had five RBI in his return after missing 11 games because of left elbow inflammation.
Los Angeles trailed 4-0 before a six-run fifth and was ahead 6-5 when Freddie Freeman hit an RBI single in the sixth off Bennett Sousa. a 27-year-old rookie left-hander.
Sousa bounced an 0-2 slider for a wild pitch that allowed Freeman to take second. Wanting to set up a left-on-left matchup, La Russa ordered the intentional walk to the right-handed-hitting Turner, who had singled in a run in the fifth.
Muncy, whose two-run double off Dylan Cease put the Dodgers ahead 5-4 in the fifth, worked the count to 2-2 and sliced a slider to the opposite field and into the left-field seats, his fourth home run this season.
Gavin Lux had four hits, including an RBI double, and scored twice. Freddie Freeman had three hits and three RBI, including a two-run double in the fifth.
PHILLIES 8, BREWERS 3: Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Odúbel Herrera homered as interim manager Rob Thomson and streaking Philadelphia won its season-high seventh straight game, completing a series sweep at Milwaukee.
The NL Central-leading Brewers lost their season-worst sixth in a row.
Didi Gregorius singled, tripled, doubled and drove in a run for Philadelphia.
DIAMONDBACKS 5, REDS 4: Josh Rojas hit a go-ahead single during a four-run rally in the ninth inning and Arizona won at Cincinnati, earning a split in the four-game series.
The Diamondbacks went into the ninth trailing 3-1, but got help from reliever Tony Santillan’s wild tosses.
Pavin Smith drew a leadoff walk, went to second on a wild pitch by Santillan (0-1) and scored on an Alek Thomas single. Santillan then threw away a bunt for an error, and a sacrifice set up a two-run single by Rojas through a drawn-in infield that made it 4-3.
Rojas later scored on a grounder.
The blown lead by the Reds wasted a solid pitching performance by starter Tyler Mahle, who allowed one run and four hits with a season-high 10 strikeouts over six innings.
ROCKIES 4, GIANTS 2: Yonathan Daza looped a tiebreaking single into right field, capping a three-run fourth inning fueled by three errors, and Colorado won at San Francisco to take two of three from the Giants.
San Francisco made a season-high four errors, including a pair in the fourth by second baseman Thairo Estrada.
Charlie Blackmon had three hits for the Rockies.
NOTES
CUBS: Catcher Willson Contreras and the Cubs avoided an arbitration hearing scheduled for later in the day, agreeing to a one-year contract for $9.625 million.
The agreement was at the midpoint between the $10.25 million Contreras had asked for and the $9 million the Cubs had offered when figures were exchanged on March 22.
TWINS: Catcher Gary Sanchez agreed to a $9 million, one-year contract, avoiding an arbitration hearing that had been scheduled for next week.
The agreement was at the midpoint of the $9.5 million Sanchez had asked for and the $8.5 million offered by the Twins when proposed salaries were exchanged on March 22. A hearing had been scheduled for Tuesday.
ARBITRATION: Pitcher Lucas Sims lost to the Cincinnati Reds in salary arbitration and will get $1.2 million instead of his $1.6 million request, leaving clubs with a 7-3 advantage in decisions with five cases remaining.
Margaret Brogan, Robert Herzog and Jeanne Vonhof issued the decision, a day after hearing arguments.
Sims was 5-3 with a 4.40 ERA and seven saves in 10 chances last season, striking out 76 and walking 18 in 47 innings. He earned $598,500 and was eligible for arbitration for the first time.
A 28-year-old right-hander, Sims is 1-0 with a 9.45 ERA in six appearances this season. He started the season on the injured list because of back spasms, pitched for the Reds from April 23 to May 10, then went back on the IL because his back.
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