Sal Stewart homered and drove in five runs on Saturday night to help the streaking Cincinnati Reds earn a 9-2 victory to clinch a series win over the visiting Detroit Tigers.

Brady Singer (2-1) allowed two runs on eight hits across 5 1/3 innings for the Reds, who have won nine of their last 11 games. Singer struck out three and TJ Friedl went 3-for-4 with a solo home run, as Cincinnati scored nine runs for the second straight day.

Jack Flaherty (0-2) lasted just two innings for Detroit, yielding six runs on five hits, striking out four and walking two. Spencer Torkelson homered in his fourth straight game for the Tigers, who have dropped four of their last six.

Kevin McGonigle turned on the second pitch of the game, connecting on his second homer of the year to give Detroit a 1-0 lead.

After Matt McLain and Elly De La Cruz each earned out-one walks in the bottom of the first, Stewart’s three-run homer put the Reds ahead 3-1.

Nathaniel Lowe followed with a solo homer, his third in the last two games, to make it 4-1.

In the second inning, De La Cruz belted a two-run blast to extend the margin to five before Torkelson’s solo shot cut the Detroit deficit to 6-2 in the fourth.

Ke’Bryan Hayes and Friedl singled off Tigers left-hander Tyler Holton to begin the sixth before Connor Seabold entered for Detroit. After De La Cruz’s walk loaded the bases, Stewart’s single to right plated two to push the lead to 8-2.

Four Reds relievers combined to throw 3 2/3 stellar innings, including Emilio Pagan’s scoreless ninth.

–Field Level Media

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a playoff career-high 42 points to lift the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 121-109 road win over the Phoenix Suns on Saturday.

The reigning NBA Most Valuable Player finished 15 of 18 from the floor with eight assists to give the Thunder a commanding 3-0 lead in their first-round Western Conference playoff series.

Oklahoma City has won 11 consecutive first-round games.

Gilgeous-Alexander’s previous playoff high was 40 points in Game 4 of last season’s Western Conference Finals against Minnesota.

“We did a really good job tonight playing to our identity offensively,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Everyone was aggressive. Everyone was playing within themselves. Everyone was moving around the ball.”

Playing without Jalen Williams, who suffered a hamstring strain in Wednesday’s Game 2 victory, the Thunder leaned even more heavily on Gilgeous-Alexander.

Gilgeous-Alexander hit his first 11 shots, not missing until less than three minutes remained in the third quarter.

“The efficiency was ridiculous,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.

“He’s mastered the art of just staying disciplined and staying inside of himself and controlling what we can control at a really high level,” Daigneault said. “That’s what allows him to stay in games when things aren’t going his way, and that’s what allows him to improve. He feels a sense of control over his game and his craft. He also, as a result, feels a sense of control over his performance.”

Dillon Brooks led the Suns with 33 points while Jalen Green added 26 points. Devin Booker scored 16 points, but was held to 6-of-16 shooting from the floor.

Despite being without Williams, which moved Ajay Mitchell into the starting lineup, and Isaiah Joe, who was out for personal reasons, the Thunder reserves still dominated their counterparts. Oklahoma City’s bench outscored Phoenix’s 36-12.

“Those guys were awesome. They gave us great minutes, especially in the first half,” Daignuealt said of his bench. “… In a playoff series, you need everybody at different times, to execute different things, and we had those guys step up in a big way today.”

The Suns were within nine early in the fourth quarter when Gilgeous-Alexander checked back in.

Moments later, Cason Wallace stepped into a passing lane, intercepting Devin Booker’s pass and fed to Gilgeous-Alexander for a layup on the other end, sending the Oklahoma City bench into celebration while Phoenix called a timeout with the Thunder up 98-85 with 7:25 remaining.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished 14 of 15 from inside the arc and 11 of 12 from the free-throw line.

“Give him credit. He had us spinning,” Suns coach Jordan Ott said. “He had us spinning tonight.”

Mitchell scored 15 points while Alex Caruso scored 13 off the bench.

Dillon Brooks scored nine consecutive Phoenix points to help his team pull within 10 with three minutes remaining, but the Thunder hit four consecutive free throws to maintain the double-digit advantage.

“He was efficient and I got him Game 4,” Brooks said of Gilgeous-Alexander.

The Thunder took a 62-53 lead into halftime with a 12-2 run to close the second quarter.

Grayson Allen, who had missed the last five games with a hamstring injury, made his first appearance of the postseason, playing 17 minutes and scoring seven points on 2-of-8 shooting.

The Suns were without Jordan Goodwin, who suffered a calf injury in Game 1, and Mark Williams (foot).

The Thunder have a chance to close out the series Monday in Phoenix.

–Field Level Media

Max Muncy hit a two-run home run and Andy Pages had three RBIs in the host Los Angeles Dodgers’ 12-4 win over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday.

The Dodgers, who totaled 14 hits, snapped the Cubs’ 10-game winning streak and took control of the game with a six-run fourth inning.

Teoscar Hernandez had two hits and two RBIs, Alex Freeland had two doubles, a run and an RBI, and Hyeseong Kim had two hits and an RBI.

Seiya Suzuki, Moises Ballesteros and Miguel Amaya hit solo home runs for Chicago. Suzuki also had a three-hit game.

The Dodgers’ six-run rally started with Kim’s one-out single, and he scored Freeland’s RBI double that evened the game at 3-3.

Shohei Ohtani walked, then Freddie Freeman’s RBI single scored Freeland as the Dodgers took a 4-3 lead and ended Colin Rea’s (3-1) night.

Cubs reliever Javier Assad didn’t fare any better. The right-hander walked Muncy, and later, with two outs, yielded a single to Hernandez that scored Freeman and Ohtani for a 6-3 advantage.

Dalton Rushing’s RBI single drove in Santiago Espinal, who pinch-ran for Muncy, and Los Angeles opened up a 7-3 lead. Pages’ RBI single made it 8-3 when Hernandez scored.

Earlier in the game, Suzuki’s homer gave Chicago a 1-0 lead in the second.

The Cubs led 2-0 in the third when Amaya scored on Michael Busch’s RBI single.

Muncy’s two-run homer plated Ohtani, who led off the third with a walk, and tied the game at 2-2.

But the Cubs took a 3-2 lead in the fourth when Ballesteros launched a solo shot to right field.

Amaya’s solo homer pulled Chicago within 8-4 in the fifth.

Los Angeles’ lead grew to 10-4 in the sixth when Pages’ double knocked in Kyle Tucker and Hernandez. Kim’s RBI groundout scored Rushing to make it 11-4. Moments later, Pages scored on a newly entered Vince Velasquez’s wild pitch for a 12-4 lead.

Roki Sasaki (1-2) scattered seven hits, gave up four runs and struck out five over five innings. Rea surrendered six runs on six hits, walked four and struck out four in 3 1/3 innings.

–Field Level Media