Best of MLB: Yankees Rout Cubs, Improve to AL-best 19-9

CHICAGO -- Aaron Hicks tied a career high with four hits, Starlin Castro homered and drove in three runs against his former team, and the New York Yankees pounded Brett Anderson and the Chicago Cubs 11-6 on Saturday night.

Hicks connected for a three-run homer in the eighth inning as the AL East leaders (19-9) earned their fourth straight win, extending their surprising start. Jordan Montgomery (2-1) pitched into the seventh for his first road win in his fifth major league start.

Castro, a three-time All-Star with the Cubs before he was traded to the Yankees in December 2015, hit an RBI double in New York's five-run first. He drove a 3-1 pitch from reliever Felix Pena deep into the bleachers in left for a two-run shot in the fourth, giving the Yankees an 8-0 lead.

Castro finished with three hits in his fifth straight multihit game, running his AL-best batting average to .381. Hicks has 10 hits in his last 20 at-bats (see full recap).

Reds ride extra-base barrage to 14-2 romp over Giants
CINCINNATI -- Adam Duvall, Patrick Kivlehan and Eugenio Suarez each hit a solo home run in the first three innings, and the Cincinnati Reds set a season high in runs for the second straight game with a 14-2 rout of the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night.

Nine players drove in at least one run for the Reds, who got 18 hits and have scored 27 runs over a two-game span for the first time since May 2010 against Houston. Nine of Cincinnati's 18 hits went for extra bases.

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Cincinnati sent 11 batters to the plate during a six-run third inning that left the Reds up 10-2. Seven had hits, including Suarez's RBI double and Kivlehan's first homer of the season.

Billy Hamilton was a home run short of the cycle while scoring two runs and driving in two -- in the first three innings (see full recap).

Harrison's single gives Pirates 2-1 win over Brewers in 10
PITTSBURGH -- Josh Harrison singled home Gift Ngoepe with one out in the 10th inning to lift the Pittsburgh Pirates over the Milwaukee Brewers 2-1 on Saturday night.

Ngoepe led off the inning with a single against Carlos Torres (1-3), advanced to second on a wild pitch and took third on pinch-hitter Jose Osuna's fly ball. Harrison drove a ball over the head of right fielder Domingo Santana for his seventh career walk-off hit.

Tony Watson (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings for the Pirates.

Pittsburgh's Gerrit Cole and Milwaukee's Matt Garza each allowed a run over seven innings.

Cole gave up two hits with eight strikeouts and two walks. He retired his last 10 batters (see full recap).

Santana, Lindor homer in 9th to beat Royals 3-1
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Carlos Santana and Francisco Lindor hit back-to-back home runs with two outs in the ninth inning to lift the Cleveland Indians to a 3-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday.

Kelvin Herrera (1-1) gave up the home runs in a span of three pitches. Santana took a 2-0 pitch out to right-center. Lindor hit his eighth, which landed in the Indians' bullpen.

Andrew Miller (2-0) picked up the victory, while Cody Allen earned his eighth save in as many opportunities, but had to work around a walk and a single.

The Royals led 1-0 going into the eighth, but the bullpen could not hold it.

Joakim Soria, the third Kansas City pitcher, gave up three hits and the tying run in the eighth for his second blown save. Kipnis' two-out single scored Michael Brantley (see full recap).

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