Cubs Justin Steele pitched a two-hitter for his first career complete game

Justin Steele pitched a two-hitter for his first career complete game, Seiya Suzuki homered and the Chicago Cubs beat the Los Angeles Angeles 5-1 on Friday.

Steele (1-3) dazzled in his first victory in 13 starts this season. The left-hander threw 95 pitches, striking out seven and walking two, while lowering his ERA from 3.20 to 2.95.

The crowd of 36,948 cheered when he came out for the ninth inning and roared when Brandon Drury grounded out to end the game.

The Cubs won their second straight after losing eight of 10. The Angels dropped their fifth in a row since a season-high six-game win streak.

Steele won 16 games last season and made his first All-Star team. He missed six weeks this year after straining his left hamstring in the opener at Texas and hadn’t received much run support since his return. He got enough this time.

PIRATES 14, METS 2

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Paul Skenes threw seven strong innings and Pittsburgh tied a franchise record by smashing seven home runs in a demolition of the New York Mets.

Bryan Reynolds homered from both sides of the plate, including a grand slam, and Rowdy Tellez had a grand slam among his two homers.

Skenes (5-0), a 22-year-old rookie, allowed two runs on four hits with a walk and eight strikeouts while his ERA ticked up slightly to 2.12.

The mustachioed right-hander has struck out seven or more batters in nine of his first 10 starts, the most ever by a pitcher over the first 10 games of his career. Skenes has thrown 74 pitches of at least 100 mph this season, more than double anyone else in the majors.

Yet Skenes didn’t just beat the Mets with his heat. The last of his 107 pitches was an 87 mph slider that Harrison Bader whiffed at, bringing just the second sellout crowd of the season at PNC Park to its feet as the 6-foot-6 top overall pick in the 2023 draft made his way to the dugout.

WHITE SOX 3, MARLINS 2

MIAMI (AP) — Drew Thorpe threw 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball, Nicky López doubled twice and drove in two runs and the Chicago White Sox beat Miami.

Luis Robert Jr. had two hits, two walks and two stolen bases for the White Sox, who won their first opening game of a road series this season. They were 0-14 before Friday.

The Marlins lost their fifth straight and dropped to an NL worst 30-58.

CARDINALS 7, NATIONALS 6, 11 INNINGS

WASHINGTON (AP) — Willson Contreras hit a tying homer in the ninth inning, Masyn Winn scored the go-ahead run on a passed ball in the 11th, and St. Louis rallied from an early 5-0 deficit to beat the Washington.

Contreras struck out with one out in the 11th and Winn on third against Dylan Floro (3-2), but the ball got past catcher Riley Adams, who was working his first inning behind the plate after Keibert Ruiz was lifted for a pinch-runner in the 10th.

In the ninth, Nationals closer Kyle Finnegan left a 2-2 fastball over the middle of the plate to Contreras, who sent it 407 feet over the wall in right-center to make it 5-all.

Ryan Helsley (3-3) worked two innings and retired the side in the 11th on two popups and a grounder. Keibert Ruiz’s run-scoring single in the bottom of the 10th scored the automatic runner to make it 6-6, Helsley’s third blown save of the season.

PHILLIES 8, BRAVES 6

ATLANTA (AP) — Trea Turner hit a pair of two-run home runs off Max Fried, Aaron Nola earned his 100th career victory and Philadelphia beat Atlanta.

The NL East-leading Phillies extended their lead over second-place Atlanta to 10 games by winning the opener of the weekend series.

Nola (10-4) retired Atlanta’s first 10 batters before giving up a one-out single to Ozzie Albies in the fourth inning. Austin Riley followed with a two-run homer to center field. Albies had three hits, including a homer, and Marcell Ozuna added a three-run shot in the eighth off José Alvarado.

TIGERS 5, REDS 4

CINCINNATI (AP) — Rookie Colt Keith homered twice, Parker Meadows and Riley Greene also went deep and Detroit held off Cincinnati.

Meadows led off the third with a 410-foot homer to right field. After Reds center fielder Stuart Fairchild’s catch robbed Matt Vierling of an extra-base hit, Keith hit one out to almost the same spot as Meadows in the right-field seats.

Keith then had a two-run shot in the fifth, and Greene led off the seventh with his team-leading 17th homer, another deep shot to right field.

The Tigers got an outstanding start from right-hander Reese Olson, who pitched no-hit ball through four innings. He left after 5 2/3, allowing just two runs and three hits and striking out eight.

RED SOX 5, YANKEES 3, 10 INNINGS

NEW YORK (AP) — Masataka Yoshida hit a tying, two-run homer off Clay Holmes with two outs in the ninth inning, Ceddane Rafaela homered against Tommy Kahnle leading off the 10th and Boston stunned New York and sent the Yankees to their 14th loss in 18 games.

Boston overcame a 3-0 deficit, starting the comeback when Romy Gonzalez hit his first home run of the season leading off the fifth.

Holmes, without a save since June 9, allowed pinch-hitter Dominic Smith’s two-out single in the ninth. Yoshida fell behind 0-2, then drove a full-count pitch — Holmes’ sixth straight sinker — into the right-field seats for his third homer.

With an automatic runner on second, Rafaela homered on a 1-0 fastball over the heart of the plate from Kahnle (0-1), the rookie’s 10th home run this season.

GIANTS 4, GUARDIANS 2

CLEVELAND (AP) — Michael Conforto hit a two-run double as San Francisco won for the eighth time in their last 11 games, beating Cleveland.

Patrick Bailey added a sacrifice fly and Nick Ahmed had an RBI single for the Giants, who built a 4-0 lead in the fourth inning against Guardians ace Tanner Bibee (7-3).

Cleveland, which has the best home record in the majors at 28-11, got a solo homer from Josh Naylor and a sacrifice fly from Andrés Giménez.

RANGERS 3, RAYS 0

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Corey Seager extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a two-run double and Michael Lorenzen combined with four relievers on a three-hitter as Texas blanked the Tampa Bay.

Seager went the opposite way with a double into the left-center field gap after consecutive two-out singles in the third inning by No. 9 batter Jonathan Ornelas and leadoff hitter Marcus Semien. Nathaniel Lowe drove in Seager with a single for the only other Texas run.

Lorenzen (5-4) gave up one hit and struck out four, but walked five in his five innings. Lorenzen walked the bases loaded in the fifth before striking out Brandon Lowe, the final batter the right-hander faced.

Jose Leclerc worked a scoreless inning after relieving Lorenzen. Jacob Latz got two outs, David Robertson pitched 1 1/3 innings and Kirby Yates worked a perfect ninth for his 12th save in as many chances.

ASTROS 13, TWINS 12

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Alex Bregman had a three-run homer and Houston held off Minnesota after taking an eight-run lead into the bottom of the ninth.

Jeremy Peña had three hits, scored three times and drove in three runs to help the Astros win for the 13th time in 5 games. They are a major league-best 21-9 since June 1.

Down 13-5 after Houston scored three times in the ninth, the Twins fell just short with a seven-run outburst. Josh Hader came on with two outs and gave up a grand slam to Carlos Correa before striking out Manuel Margot for his 15th save.

Twins designated hitter Jose Miranda went 4 for 4, setting a team record with 10 straight hits.

ROCKIES 4, ROYALS 2

DENVER (AP) — Brenton Doyle broke an eighth-inning tie with a two-run double in Colorado's victory over Kansas City.

Doyle finished with three hits, the tiebreaking double coming off reliever John Schreiber (3-3). Michael Toglia had a solo home run for Colorado that weathered a replay review.

Salvador Perez had an RBI single and Freddy Fermin added three hits, including a single off Jalen Beeks leading off the ninth inning. Nick Loftin followed with a single before Beeks retired the next three batters for his eighth save. Victor Vodnik (2-1) worked a scoreless inning in relief for the victory.

MARINERS 2, BLUE JAYS 1

SEATTLE (AP) — Luis Castillo limited Toronto to two hits over a dominant 6 2/3 innings, Luke Raley had a two-run double in the third and Seattle beat Toronto.

Castillo (7-9) was nearly untouchable in his 200th career start, retiring each of the first nine Blue Jays hitters, and not allowing a hit until Kevin Kiermaier hit a solo home run with one out in the sixth.

Castillo’s only blemish before Kiermaier’s homer was a leadoff four-pitch walk to Spencer Horwitz in the fourth inning.

ORIOLES 3, ATHLETICS 2

OAKLAND, Calif (AP) — Albert Suárez struck out six over six sharp innings and won back-to-back outings for the first time this season, pitching Baltimore past Oakland.

The right-hander (5-2) surrendered Miguel Andujar’s first-inning home run but settled in to hold down an A’s lineup coming off consecutive 5-0 shutouts and a series sweep of the Los Angeles Angels.

Coming off his first quality start of the season, Suárez allowed two runs on four hits and walked one as the Orioles won for the seventh time in nine games following a five-game losing streak. Baltimore is now 56-32 and joined four previous Orioles teams to win at least 56 of their initial 88 games and are the first to do so since 1979.

Craig Kimbrel pitched a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts for his 22nd save to finish the 2 hour, 28 minute game in front of an announced crowd of 9,654.

DODGERS 8, BREWERS 5

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Freddie Freeman singled in the go-ahead runs with two outs in the eighth inning, Will Smith homered three times, and Los Angeles rallied past Milwaukee Brewers.

Daniel Hudson (6-1) got the win in relief and Evan Phillips struck out the side in the ninth to earn his 14the save.

Milwaukee’s Rhys Hoskins hit a grand slam in the fourth, but the Dodgers avoided their third loss in a row.

PADRES 10, DIAMONDBACKS 9

SAN DIEGO (AP) — All-Star Jurickson Profar hit a tying home run leading off the ninth inning and Manny Machado walked it off with a two-run shot in San Diego's wild victory over Arizona.

The Diamondbacks had stunned the Padres by rallying from a five-run deficit in the top of the inning to take an 8-7 lead on Alek Thomas’ first career grand slam with one out and pinch-hitter Randal Grichuk’s go-ahead, two-run shot with two outs, both off Robert Suarez.

But Profar hit his 13th homer to right-center on a 3-2 pitch from Paul Sewald (0-2). Jake Cronenworth walked and was replaced by pinch runner Tyler Wade. Machado then hit his 12th homer, to left-center to send the crowd of 47,171 — the largest in Petco Park history — into a frenzy

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Chicago Cubs' Justin Steele delivers a pitch during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Friday, July 5, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)

Steven R. Hurst, who over a decades-long career in journalism covered major world events including the end of the Soviet Union and the Iraq War as he worked for news outlets including The Associated Press, NBC and CNN, has died. He was 77.

Hurst, who retired from AP in 2016, died sometime between Wednesday night and Thursday morning at his home in Decatur, Illinois, his daughter, Ellen Hurst, said Friday. She said his family didn't know a cause of death but said he had congestive heart failure.

“Steve had a front-row seat to some of the most significant global stories, and he cared deeply about ensuring people around the world understood the history unfolding before them," said Julie Pace, AP’s executive editor and senior vice president. "Working alongside him was also a master class in how to get to the heart of a story and win on the biggest breaking news.”

He first joined the AP in 1976 as a correspondent in Columbus, Ohio, after working at the Decatur Herald and Review in Illinois. The next year, he went to work for AP in Washington and then to the international desk before being sent to Moscow in 1979. He then did a brief stint in Turkey before returning to Moscow in 1981 as bureau chief.

He left AP in the mid-1980s, working for NBC and then CNN.

Reflecting on his career upon retirement, Hurst said in Connecting, a newsletter distributed to current and former AP employees by a retired AP journalist, that a career highlight came when he covered the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 while he was working for CNN.

“I interviewed Boris Yeltsin live in the Russian White House as he was about to become the new leader, before heading in a police escort to the Kremlin where we covered Mikhail Gorbachev, live, signing the papers dissolving the Soviet Union,” Hurst said. “I then interviewed Gorbachev live in his office.”

Hurst returned to AP in 2000, eventually becoming assistant international editor in New York. Prior to his appointment as chief of bureau in Iraq in 2006, Hurst had rotated in and out of Baghdad as a chief editor for three years and also wrote from Cairo, Egypt, where he was briefly based.

He spent the last eight years of his career in Washington writing about U.S. politics and government.

Hurst, who was born on March 13, 1947, grew up in Decatur and graduated from Millikin University, which is located there. He also had a master’s in journalism from the University of Missouri.

Ellen Hurst said her father was funny and smart, and was “an amazing storyteller.”

“He’d seen so much,” she said.

She said his career as a journalist allowed him to see the world, and he had a great understanding from his work about how big events affected individual people.

“He was very sympathetic to people across the world and I think that an experience as a journalist really increased that,” Ellen Hurst said.

His wife Kathy Beaman died shortly after Hurst retired. In addition to his daughter, Ellen Hurst, he's also survived by daughters Sally Hurst and Anne Alavi and four grandchildren.

“Beyond his remarkable career, Steve was the consummate gentleman, treating everyone around him with respect and kindness,” said Ken Guggenheim, a news editor in AP’s Washington bureau. “I recall in particular his care and support for his wife Kathy during her tough fight against cancer and how proud he was of his daughters.”

FILE - Associated Press writer Steven Hurst is seen, March 9, 2010. (AP Photo, File)