SAN FRANCISCO -- Eventually, Johnny Cueto and Yasmani Grandal spoke civilly and worked out their differences as grown men: They each apologized before tension escalated.
Cueto thought Grandal was stealing signs at second base from San Francisco catcher Buster Posey after a first-inning double. Grandal figured Cueto was throwing at his head in the third out of frustration and retaliation.
Grandal said "it caught me by surprise" and insists that wasn't the case at all in the Dodgers' 6-1 victory behind Clayton Kershaw on Wednesday, but rather just him trying to get ready to move "because I'm slow."
"We talked about it, we apologized to each other, so we're on good terms now I guess," Grandal said. "Let's not make it a bigger deal than it really is."
The benches cleared briefly after the top of the third when Cueto and Grandal exchanged words. It happened just after Cueto's high, inside pitch flew wildly past Posey, allowing another Dodgers run home for a 3-0 lead (see full recap).
Cole shuts down Nationals as Pirates roll to win
PITTSBURGH -- Gerrit Cole shut down the best offense in the majors, holding the Washington Nationals to three hits in seven innings to win for the first time in a month as the Pittsburgh Pirates eased to a 6-1 victory Wednesday night.
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Cole (2-4) struck out three, walked two and received an overdue dose of support when Josh Bell smacked a three-run home run in the sixth off Jacob Turner (2-2). Andrew McCutchen went 2 for 4 with two RBIs and also stole two bases for Pittsburgh.
Turner cruised through the first five innings in his second start of the year, but ran into trouble in the sixth. A walk and a hit batter brought up Bell, who sent a pitch into the right field stands (see full recap).
D-backs send Mets to season-worst 7th straight loss
PHOENIX -- Chris Herrmann and the Diamondbacks made it another long day for the sinking New York Mets.
Herrmann homered off Rafael Montero leading off the 11th inning, giving the Diamondbacks a 5-4 victory on Wednesday and sending the Mets to their season-high seventh straight loss.
New York went 0-6 in Milwaukee and Arizona, the Mets' longest winless trip since 1999, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. At 16-23, New York dropped seven games under .500 for the first time September 2014. And Matt Harvey's winless streak stretched to six starts since April 11 (see full recap).
Reeling Marlins blanked by Astros to finish homestand
MIAMI -- The Miami Marlins are for sale, and their players aren't helping the team's market value.
Miami mustered just three hits against Lance McCullers and three relievers Wednesday afternoon to conclude a dismal homestand with a 3-0 loss to the Houston Astros.
The Marlins were outscored 22-4 in the series and head to California last in the NL East after going 1-8 on their homestand.
"It can't get any worse than what it is," said second baseman Dee Gordon, whose errant throw led to two unearned runs. "We've just got to find a way to get some wins," (see full recap).
