Yankees beat Mariners 5-4 for 5th straight victory
NEW YORK (AP) - DJ LeMahieu and Kyle Higashioka made savvy baserunning moves, turning a double-play grounder into the go-ahead run, and the New York Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners 5-4 on Saturday for their fifth straight victory.
Aaron Judge and Rougned Odor homered and the Yankees capitalized on a three-base error by right fielder Mitch Haniger to win for the 10th time in 12 games.
New York erased a 4-1 deficit by scoring four times in the sixth inning. The Yankees have won the first three in a four-game series against Seattle in a matchup of teams in the playoff chase. The Mariners fell to 3-6 on a 10-game trip and each loss has been decided by no more than two runs.
Odor hit a two-run drive inside the right field foul pole to pull the Yankees to 4-3 in the sixth. With one out, pinch-hitter Gleyber Torres hit a fly and Haniger raced back, appeared to overrun it and then slipped, allowing the ball to get to the warning track.
Higashioka delivered a tying, pinch-hit double with one out and took third on LeMahieu's single off Casey Sadler (0-2).
Anthony Rizzo followed with a sharp grounder to first baseman Ty France, who stepped on the bag. Higashioka broke for home while France focused on LeMahieu, who alertly stopped first and second. LeMahieu forced a rundown and was tagged out after Higashioka had crossed the plate for the tiebreaking run.
Andrew Heaney (7-8) settled down after a rocky beginning for his first win since being traded from the Los Angeles Angels to the Yankees. Jonathan Loaisiga pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save in place of Aroldis Chapman, who was put on the injured list before the game with left elbow inflammation.
Kyle Seager homered for Seattle.
BLUE JAYS 1, RED SOX 0, 1ST GAME
RED SOX 2, BLUE JAYS 1, 8 INNINGS, 2ND GAME
TORONTO (AP) - Jonathan Araúz singled home the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning and Boston beat Toronto to split a doubleheader.
Matt Barnes (6-3) worked one inning for the victory Adam Ottavino finished for his eighth save. The Red Sox won for the second time in their past 10 games.
Facing right-hander Adam Cimber (2-3), Araúz grounded a leadoff single past shortstop Bo Bichette to score Franchy Cordero.
Toronto won the opener when Marcus Semien led off the bottom of the seventh by connecting on the first pitch from Barnes (5-3). It was Semien's 26th home run of the season and the first game-ending homer of his career.
Jordan Romano (5-1) pitched a perfect seventh for the win.
Before the opener, Boston put slugger J.D. Martinez on the COVID-19-related injured list. The Red Sox have scored five runs or fewer in 15 consecutive games.
GIANTS 9, BREWERS 6, 11 INNINGS
MILWAUKEE (AP) - Brandon Belt hit his second homer of the night during a four-run outburst in the 11th inning and San Francisco beat Milwaukee in a wild game between division leaders.
Each team scored three runs in the 10th inning - with Luis UrÃas and Willy Adames homering for Milwaukee - after the Giants tied it on two-out triple in the ninth.
LaMonte Wade put the Giants ahead for good in the 11th with a one-out single that scored Austin Slater. Belt followed with a two-run shot to right. Kris Bryant capped the rally with an RBI double.
All four of the Giants' 11th-inning runs came off Sal Romano (0-1) in his Brewers debut. Belt also hit a solo shot in the fourth and has three homers over the last two nights.
Jake McGee (4-2) pitched the 11th with a 9-5 lead and was credited with the win after allowing only one run on Lorenzo Cain's two-out single.
PHILLIES 5, METS 3
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Brad Miller homered twice and first-place Philadelphia withstood a ninth-inning rally for its seventh straight victory, beating New York.
Odubel Herrera hit a three-run homer and doubled to help the Phillies increase their NL East lead over New York to 1 1/2 games.
The Mets have lost six of seven and eight of 10. They had just two hits before Michael Conforto, Jonathan Villar and James McCann started the ninth with three consecutive homers to match a club record. Two more batters reached base before Ian Kennedy struck out Pete Alonso and J.D. Davis for his 18th save and second with the Phillies.
A double by pitcher Tylor Megill (1-2) and an infield single by Javier Báez were the only Mets hits through eight innings. J.D. Hammer (1-0) was the winner.
WHITE SOX 4, CUBS 0
CHICAGO (AP) - Carlos Rodón struck out 11 in five stellar innings, Cesar Hernandez and José Abreu hit back-to-back home runs and the Chicago White Sox beat the Cubs.
Yoán Moncada added a two-run double for the White Sox in their second straight win in the crosstown series at Wrigley Field.
Rodón and the White Sox bullpen combined for 17 strikeouts. David Bote had two of the five hits for the Cubs, who have dropped three straight and five of six.
Rodón (9-5) allowed just two hits to bounce back after losing consecutive starts for the first time this season. He was lifted after walking Rafael Ortega to lead off the sixth. Cubs starter Adbert Alzolay (4-12) dropped his eighth straight decision.
ATHLETICS 12, RANGERS 3
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Matt Olson matched his career high with four hits, including a two-run double as part of Oakland's seven-run third inning, and the Athletics handed Texas its 13th consecutive road loss.
Yan Gomes and Josh Harrison also homered. Oakland's sputtering offense batted around in consecutive innings for the first time since 2016. A's newcomer Starling Marte added a pair of hits to continue his surge at the plate. Oakland has won seven of nine.
Cole Irvin (8-10) pitched four-hit ball over seven innings.
Adolis GarcÃa homered and drove in three runs for Texas, which has lost five straight overall. Drew Anderson (0-1) gave up four runs in two innings.
ASTROS 4, TWINS 0
HOUSTON (AP) - Yordan Alvarez hit the 50th home run of his career, rookie Luis Garcia pitched six scoreless innings and three relievers completed the four-hitter to help Houston beat Minnesota.
Alvarez, who was playing in his 184th career game, reached 50 home runs faster than any player in franchise history, passing Lance Berkman, who did it in his 231st game in 2001. The Astros had lost three in a row and five of six.
Alvarez connected on his homer off Michael Pineda (4-7) with no outs in the fourth to make it 2-0. The shot pushed the team's streak of consecutive games with a homer to 17, the longest in the majors since 2019.
Garcia (8-6) allowed two hits and struck out eight.
NATIONALS 3, BRAVES 2
ATLANTA (AP) - Riley Adams' two-run homer in the ninth gave Washington the lead and the Nationals rallied with three runs off Atlanta closer Will Smith.
Smith (3-6) blew a 2-0 lead in the ninth, wasting a strong start from Charlie Morton and costing Atlanta an opportunity to move past the New York Mets and into second place in the tight NL East.
Smith suffered his third blown save in 25 chances.
Jorge Soler homered for Atlanta. Andres Machado (1-0) had two strikeouts in a scoreless eighth. Kyle Finnegan pitched the ninth for his third save.
RAYS 12, ORIOLES 3
BALTIMORE (AP) - Brandon Lowe hit a grand slam, Nelson Cruz homered for the second straight game and Tampa Bay beat Baltimore.
Yandy Diaz and Wander Franco also went deep for the AL East-leading Rays, and Shane McClanahan (6-4) allowed three runs and five hits with eight strikeouts over a career-high seven innings.
Cruz doubled in the first inning and homered off rookie Spenser Watkins (2-3) with a man on in the fifth to put the Rays ahead for good. It was a sufficient encore to Cruz's performance on Friday night, when the 41-year-old slugger homered and had five RBIs to help beat the last-place Orioles. Since coming to the Rays in a July 22 trade with Minnesota, Cruz has four home runs and 10 RBIs in 12 games.
Cedric Mullins homered for the Orioles, extending his career-best hitting streak to 15 games.
REDS 11, PIRATES 3
CINCINNATI (AP) - Jesse Winker went 3 for 5 with a homer, double and tied a career high with six RBIs in Cincinnati's victory over Pittsburgh.
Nick Castellanos and Joey Votto also homered, helping the Reds pull within two games of the Padres for the second NL wild card.
Rookie right-hander Vladimir Gutierrez (7-3) allowed a run over six innings to earn the victory. Mitch Keller (3-9) was the loser.
Bryan Reynolds went 3 for 4 with a two-run homer and an RBI triple for Pittsburgh.
CARDINALS 5, ROYALS 2
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Nolan Arenado homered, pinch-hitter Matt Carpenter had a tiebreaking double and St. Louis beat Kansas City.
Yadier Molina had an early two-run single for the Cardinals (55-55), who reached .500 for the 21st time this season. They have won 16 of their last 22 against Kansas City.
LuÃs GarcÃa (1-0) had three strikeouts in two shutout innings for his first major league win since Aug. 29, 2019, with the Angels against Boston. Ryan Helsley and Génesis Cabrera each tossed a scoreless inning before Giovanny Gallegos worked the ninth for his second save.
Brad Keller (7-11) was the loser.
ROCKIES 7, MARLINS 4
DENVER (AP) - Austin Gomber rebounded from his shortest start of the season to strike out a career-high nine, leading Colorado past Miami.
Gomber (9-6) threw 40 pitches in one inning of work Sunday at San Diego but looked strong in six innings against Miami. He allowed five hits, didn't walk a batter and struck out the last four he faced.
Colorado's Brendan Rodgers doubled to extend his hitting streak to 14 games. He Rodgers left in the sixth after he was hit on the right hand by a pitch from reliever Zach Pop. The team announced he had a bruised right hand and is day-to-day.
Connor Joe drove in a career-high four runs with a sacrifice fly in the second, an RBI double in the fourth and a two-run single in the fifth. Colorado got all its runs off starter Jesús Luzardo (3-5).
TIGERS 2, INDIANS 1
CLEVELAND (AP) - Miguel Cabrera remained two home runs shy of 500, but Tyler Alexander tossed a season-high 5 1/3 scoreless innings to help Detroit beat Cleveland.
Cabrera went 0 for 3 with a walk, keeping his career total at 498 homers. He's trying to become the 28th player in major league history with 500.
Alexander (2-1) allowed four hits without issuing a walk, striking out four in his seventh appearance since moving into the rotation.
Former Tigers catcher Wilson Ramos spoiled the shutout with a leadoff homer in the ninth off Gregory Soto, who picked up his 13th save in 14 opportunities.
Eli Morgan (1-4) was the loser.