>>Wacha Sharp In Win Over Nationals

Michael Wacha outdueled Max Scherzer by twirling seven outstanding innings, and Matt Adams singled in the deciding run in the St. Louis Cardinals' 4-1 win over the Washington Nationals.

Wacha (3-0) held Washington to a run on five hits and struck out six to win his third consecutive start and lead the Cardinals to a seventh victory in eight games.

Matt Carpenter and Jason Heyward each finished 2-for-4 for St. Louis, with Heyward scoring the go-ahead run on Adams' two-out single off Scherzer that snapped a 1-1 deadlock in the sixth inning.

The hit helped deal Scherzer (1-2) a second loss in four outings despite the prized free-agent addition yielding just two runs over seven innings of work.

Denard Span drove in the Nationals' lone run with a single in the rubber game of this three-game series.

>>Pirates Rally Past Cubs

Gregory Polanco went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates over the Chicago Cubs, 5-4, in the finale of a four-game set at PNC Park on a cold Thursday afternoon.

Josh Harrison added a pair of doubles and scored twice for the Pirates, who salvaged a split of this series despite temperatures in the low 40s. Sean Rodriguez added a homer for Pittsburgh, which has won two straight to conclude a 10-game homestand with five wins to get back to the .500 mark at 8-8.

Starlin Castro had two hits and scored a run for the Cubs, who blew a three- run lead to move to 2-2 on their current seven-game road trip.

Cubs phenom Kris Bryant started in center field for the first time since his call-up on Friday. He had started his first six games at third base. he finished the game 0-for-3 with an RBI to see his five-game hitting streak come to a halt.

National League Scoreboard
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Miami 9, Philadelphia 1
New York 6, Atlanta 3
Milwaukee 4, Cincinnati 2
Colorado 2, San Diego 1
San Francisco 3, Los Angeles 2 (10 innings)

>>Royals Take Down Sox In 13 Innings

Eric Hosmer's two-out double in the top of the 13th inning lifted the Kansas City Royals to a 3-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox in a game marred by a benches-clearing brawl earlier on.

Long before Hosmer struck the biggest blow with a shot down the right-field line off Jake Petricka (0-1) that scored Jarrod Dyson from first, the teams literally came to blows at the conclusion of the seventh inning.

Tempers flared after Royals starter Yordano Ventura fielded a comebacker from Adam Eaton and shouted an expletive at the Chicago outfielder before tossing the ball to first base. Both teams immediately ran on to the field, with a few punches being thrown prior to order being eventually restored after several minutes.

Hosmer and Moustakas both ended 3-for-5 in the Royals' 15th win in their last 18 matchups with Chicago, while Kendrys Morales knocked in two runs with a first-inning single before Kansas City went scoreless over the next 11 frames.

The White Sox mustered only seven hits in the opener of this four-game set, with Abreu finishing 2-for-4 with an RBI double.

Neither team could do much with the bats following the ugly fracas, with the game providing few scoring opportunities until Moustakas singled with one out in the 13th and was erased on a fielder's choice from Dyson, who entered in the eighth as Cain's replacement.

Hosmer then drove a ball into the right-field corner and the speedy Dyson beat an off-line throw home for the first run since the fifth inning.

American League Scoreboard
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New York 2, Detroit 1
LA Angels of Anaheim 2, Oakland 0
Toronto 7, Baltimore 6
Tampa Bay 2, Boston 1

>>Brawl Highlights Royals, Sox Game

Starting pitchers Yordano Ventura and Chris Sale were among five players ejected following a benches-clearing brawl at the conclusion of the seventh inning of Thursday's game between the Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox.

The incident was ignited when Ventura snared a comebacker from Chicago's Adam Eaton and yelled an expletive at the White Sox outfielder before tossing the ball to first base. Both teams immediately emptied their benches, with a few punches being thrown prior to order being eventually restored after several minutes.

Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain and pitcher Edinson Volquez and Chicago hurler Jeff Samardzija also were ejected for their parts in the melee.

Ventura had hit Jose Abreu with a pitch back in the fourth inning, with Sale plunking Mike Moustakas a frame later to trigger a warning to both teams.

Abreu doubled off Ventura in his next at-bat to tie the game at 2-2 in the fifth.

Ventura has now been ejected in each of his last two starts. The fiery young right-hander was tossed after hitting Oakland's Brett Lawrie with a pitch in Saturday's game against the Athletics. Ventura was fined by Major League Baseball for the incident, with teammate Kelvim Herrera suspended five games for later throwing at Lawrie.

Herrera has since appealed the penalty and took over for Ventura in the eighth inning.