Sunday brought us a nearly full slate of MLB action (the Marlins and Mets were rained out), including loads of day baseball. The Astros and Red Sox each got their fifth straight win, and we also had key rubber matches between the Yankees and Rays and the Brewers and Cubs. Let's jump in. 

Select games can be streamed regionally via fuboTV (Try for free). For more on what channel each game is on, click here.

Baseball scores for Sunday, May 12

Cubs take two of three from Brewers

The Cubs won the series finale 4-1 over NL Central rival Brewers. It's Chicago's third straight win and 12th win in their past 14 games. As the tweet below notes, the Cubs have won eight straight series for the first time since 2008.

Behind lefty Jon Lester, who finished his night with six strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings, the Cubs at 24-14 (.632) are not only in first-place in the NL Central, but the squad heads into this week with the best record in the National League. Shortstop Javier Baez put the Cubs ahead 2-1 with a two-out RBI double off Brewers starter Jhoulys Chacin in the fifth inning, to score Kris Bryant from first base. Baez also had an incredible defensive play in the sixth innings that earned our highlight of the day (see below). Bryant, meanwhile, extended his on-base streak to a career-best 22 games for the longest active streak in MLB.

Dodgers' Ryu flirts with no-hitter

Dodgers righty Hyun-Jin Ryu is currently flying under the radar as one of the most dominant starting pitchers during this past month. Ryu had yet another commanding outing for Los Angeles where he threw eight shutout innings as the Dodgers blanked the Nationals 6-0 on Sunday. Ryu took a no-hitter bid through the eighth inning, until Nationals outfielder Gerardo Parra hit a double with one out. You can read more on Ryu's near no-no and his recent dominant outings here.

Highlight of the day: Baez saves Cubs' lead

Baez was firing from all cylinders in the Cubs win over the Brewers on Sunday night. He went 2 for 3 on the night, with one RBI and a walk. But, here's the play that solidified its spot for our highlight of the day. Take a look:

Here come the Red Sox

Remember the hand-wringing earlier this season regarding the reigning-champion Red Sox? They're steadily putting all that behind them. The Sox on Sunday crushed the Mariners to complete the sweep of the home series and win their fifth game in a row. Since they dropped to a season-worst seven games below .500 on April 17, the Sox have gone 16-6 and for the moment are in wild-card position (not that we're devoting much attention to wild-card position at this relatively early hour). More to the point, coming into Sunday, the the SportsLine Projection Model (@SportsLine on Twitter) gave Boston better than a two in three chance of making the postseason. Those odds have improved a bit more after Sunday's win. 

Over this 16-6 run, the Sox have put up an ERA in the low-3.00s while authoring an OPS of more than .800 at the plate. In other words, everything's clicking. At a particular level, Michael Chavis continues to be huge: 

He drove in five of those runs on Sunday. The 23-year-old rookie is now batting .282/.407/.563 with six home runs and 14 walks in 86 plate appearances. Along the way, Chavis -- a former consensus top-100 prospect -- has stabilized second base for Boston. That's a position that otherwise would likely be a major concern given Dustin Pedroia's ongoing injury issues. 

So, yes, if you wrote off the Red Sox earlier in the season, then you were woefully premature in doing so.

Yanks take big series at the Trop

The Yankees overcame a dominant-in-the-early-innings Blake Snell on Sunday and in doing so took two of three from the first-place Rays. Aaron Boone's club is now even in the wins column with Tampa Bay and just a half-game off the pace. They've achieved this despite an almost unprecedented run of early season injuries to frontline contributors. 

Of course, Masahiro Tanaka didn't need much in the way of run support on Sunday: 

Masahiro Tanaka
SP
vs. TB, 5/12/19
IP7
H5
R1
SO7
BB0

Tanaka has now pitched to a 3.44 ERA on the season with 47 strikeouts against 14 walks in 52 1/3 innings. 

The co-star in this one? Tropicana Field, which decided to crap out in the late innings: 

After a lengthy delay, play resumed, and, well, it didn't go well for the hosts: 

A Triple-A lineup beats the reigning AL Cy Young winner, and the DJ Kitty Dance Party is snuffed out. Tough day in St. Pete. 

Springer takes AL home run lead with huge day

Astros center fielder George Springer had a mammoth day against the Rangers on Mother's Day. Among his five hits were two home runs, including his 29th career leadoff home run. That gives him 15 homers for the season, and that for the moment is good for the AL lead. Here's that leadoff shot: 

Springer is now batting .321/.400/.660 on the season. That's excellent production, especially for an up-the-middle defender. Alex Bregman also had a pair of homers in this game. 

As for the Astros, they've now won five in a row, and they have the largest division lead in baseball. 

Quick hits