JOHN HICKS cranked a leadoff home run in the ninth inning, and the visiting Detroit Tigers overcame former ace Justin Verlander’s two-hit complete game with a 2-1 win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday.

Hicks’ blast, his ninth on the season, enabled the Tigers to snap an eight-game losing skid against Houston and a four-game losing streak overall.

Verlander had pitched brilliantly, allowing just one baserunner through eight innings before Hicks drilled a 1-0 fastball out to left field, snapping a 1-1 tie with his 412-foot shot. The only other hit Verlander (15-5) allowed was Ronny Rodriguez’s solo homer with two outs in the fifth. Verlander struck out 11, extending his club record for double-digit strikeout games to seven.

Detroit capitalized on poor base-running by Jose Altuve in the eighth inning and by Robinson Chirinos in the ninth, gunning both down at third. Chirinos, who had tied the game with a solo homer in the seventh, made the game’s final out trying to stretch a double into a triple.

CUBS 12, GIANTS 11
Chicago overcame a trio of deficits, clubbed three home runs and tallied 14 hits in a wild win over visiting San Francisco.

Nicholas Castellanos, Kyle Schwarber and Kris Bryant each homered for the Cubs, who won their fourth game in a row. Bryant provided the final turning point with a go-ahead, two-run blast in the eighth inning.

Evan Longoria, Mike Yastrzemski, Stephen Vogt and Kevin Pillar went deep for the Giants, who have dropped three games in a row. San Francisco erased deficits of 6-2, 7-4 and 10-9, while the Cubs overcame 2-0, 9-7 and 11-10 deficits. At least two runs were scored in every inning except the fourth and ninth.

METS 4, INDIANS 3 (10 INNINGS)
J.D. Davis laced the game-winning hit to cap a 10th-inning comeback by New York, which edged visiting Cleveland.

The Mets have won four in a row and are 20-5 since July 25. The Indians have lost six of eight.

Carlos Santana gave the Indians the lead with a two-out homer in the top of the 10th against Luis Avilan (4-0). But the Mets rallied in the bottom of the inning against Brad Hand (6-4). After a fielder’s choice by Michael Conforto tied it, Davis fell into an 0-2 hole, worked the count full and fouled off three pitches before hitting the winning single to left.

RANGERS 8, ANGELS 7
Hunter Pence singled home the game-winning run in the ninth, and Texas beat Los Angeles for its third walk-off win in the four-game series in Arlington, Texas.

Elvis Andrus singled off Trevor Cahill (3-8) to start the ninth. He took second and third on wild pitches before scoring on Pence’s single through the left side.

Only one Rangers starter failed to get a hit. Andrus had three hits and scored two runs, Pence had two hits and three RBIs, Nick Solak had two doubles and scored three times, Delino DeShields had two hits and two RBIs, and Willie Calhoun added two hits — including a solo home run — and two runs.

RAYS 7, MARINERS 6
Kevin Kiermaier homered to lead off the ninth inning to tie the score, and the winning run came across on a bases-loaded wild pitch as Tampa Bay salvaged the finale of a three-game series against Seattle in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Following Kiermaier’s homer, to straightaway center field off Mariners right-hander Matt Magill (3-1), a single, a double and an intentional walk to load the bases, Magill threw a curveball in the dirt to Tommy Pham. The ball bounced off catcher Omar Narvaez and toward the third base dugout, allowing Adames to score the winning run.

The Mariners, who saw their four-game winning streak halted, scored three runs off Rays closer Emilio Pagan (3-2) in the top of the ninth to take a 6-5 lead.

WHITE SOX 4, TWINS 0
Lucas Giolito allowed just three hits and struck out 12 while pitching his second complete-game shutout of the season as Chicago blanked Minnesota in the rubber game of a three-game series in Minneapolis.

Giolito (14-6) threw a season-high 115 pitches in cooling off the hot-hitting Twins, who were shut out for just the third time this season. He didn’t walk a batter while registering double figures in strikeouts for the third consecutive game.

Minnesota had rolled up 29 hits in the first two games of the series and had scored double-digit runs in three of its previous six games, winning five of them. — Reuters

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