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Giants at Cubs final score: San Francisco squeaks by Chicago 3-2

Hunter Pence’s homer with two outs in the seventh was the only blemish on Lester’s line as he needed 102 pitches in a complete game effort.

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Lester allowed three hits and walked two. The surging Cubs had won five in a row before the offense cooled off in Saturday’s defeat to visiting San Francisco. By contrast, San Francisco has been the worst team in the majors since the All-Star break, with a 15-29 record.

With Lester settling for the three-hitter, the most recent Cubs no-hitter at Wrigley Field remains the one tossed by Milt Pappas on September 2, 1972 – 44 years ago to the day Friday.

Tampa Bay’s Alex Cobb went five solid innings during his first start in two years, guiding the Rays past AL East leader Toronto 8-3.

BALTIMORE – Mark Trumbo hit his major league-leading 41st homer to cap a six-run second inning, and Baltimore peppered NY with four long balls.

Brandon Crawford created another run all by himself after hitting a one-out single in the sixth. Baltimore leads the majors with 213 home runs, including 117 at home.

BRAVES 6, PHILLIES 4: Adonis Garcia scored the winning run in the 10th inning after homering twice earlier in the game as Atlanta won at Philadelphia. Alvarez joins Trumbo, Machado (33), Davis (33), Adam Jones (24) and Jonathan Schoop (21).

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Rangers’ closest competitors in the AL West right now are the Houston Astros, and Texas hasn’t let it be much of a competition.

The Rangers almost squandered a seven-run lead but won their sixth straight to push their AL West advantage to 9 1/2 games over the second-place Astros.

Mets 3, Nats 1 • Curtis Granderson singled home two in the third and Robert Gsellman allowed one run over six innings as host NY moved to within a game of the Cardinals for the second NL wild-card spot. Lester got Crawford looking to end the game.

Carlos Beltran also homered in the fourth, his 26th overall and fourth since coming to the Rangers from the New York Yankees at the August 1 trade deadline. His 16 victories and opponents batting average (.185) both lead the National League. They remained atop a tight pack in the NL wild card playoff chase.

METS 3, NATIONALS 1: Curtis Granderson and James Loney came through with big hits to back Robert Gsellman, and NY got another gritty start from an unheralded rookie in its banged-up rotation. San Francisco rebounded from a pair of one-run losses in the first two games of the four-game set. Melancon closed for his 38th save. He struck out seven in six innings.

Carrasco (10-7) had the 10th double-digit strikeout game of his career and the third this season. Opponents have a.454 OPS against him in the first three innings of games this season, which is almost 100 points lower than the next-closest pitcher (Carlos Martínez, .550).

Ross gave the Cubs the lead in the third with an RBI double. Will Smith struck Jason Heyward out to strand a runner in the eighth.

TIGERS 7, ROYALS 6: Miguel Cabrera homered among his three hits and drove in four runs as the Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals 7-6 Friday night. The postseason is about doing the small things, and in a 3-2 win over the best team in baseball, the Giants paid attention to just about every detail. He slipped a ground ball under the glove of second baseman Ben Zobrist and hustled for a double when he saw the Cubs outfielders, perhaps stiff from inactivity, were slow to react.

Lindor doubled in the first and third, singled in the fourth and added an RBI single in the sixth. La Stella’s throwing error in the first inning was a costly play that allowed an unearned run to score. He struck out seven, walked one and retired his final 10 batters.

Jed Bradley (1-0) got the win in his major league debut. Strickland escaped when he got Russell to line out to Pence. Of course, we’re a month away from the playoffs-injuries and disastrous performances can derail these players’ chances, or put them in big shoes to fill.

Bumgarner (14-8) escaped the fifth without further damage, but he snapped at first base umpire Phil Cuzzi, who always seems to be at the center of something when the Giants are involved. Welington Castillo had a three-run double and Lamb followed with his 27th homer to make it 6-0.

Nolan Arenado and Carlos Gonzalez each had two hits for the Rockies.

Arrieta, the reigning Cy Young Award victor, was knocked around in last Tuesday’s start, allowing a season-high tying six runs in 6 1/3 innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Carlos Estevez (3-7) worked a ideal eighth for the win.

The Cubs eventually pulled out an 8-7 win in 13 innings but Arrieta had no decision. Milwaukee’s bullpen limited Pittsburgh to just two hits the rest of the way as the Brewers dealt the Pirates their fourth consecutive loss.

Brandon Kintzler worked a scoreless ninth for his 13th save.

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His curveball has been great lately: In his last eight starts, Arrieta has thrown 102 curveballs.

Jon Lester threw a complete game 3 hitter Friday afternoon as the Cubs blanked the Giants 2-0