Marlins win again, improve to 6-1 despite outbreak

Updated Aug. 7, 2020 12:31 a.m. ET

Associated Press

BALTIMORE (AP) — Jonathan Villar hit a first-pitch leadoff homer to spark a robust offensive performance by the Miami Marlins, who beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-7 Thursday night to complete a startling four-game sweep and make Don Mattingly the winningest manager in franchise history.

Villar had three hits and Brian Anderson drove in three runs for the upstart Marlins, who emerged from a team-wide coronavirus outbreak to dominate the Orioles and forge the best winning percentage in the big leagues.

Miami is 6-1 and in first place in the NL East despite putting 18 players on the injured list before the series opener Tuesday.

The Marlins were the “home” team because this was a makeup of a July 28 game that was to be held in Miami but postponed in the wake of the Marlins’ COVID-19 outbreak.

Batting in the bottom of the seventh, the Marlins broke a 6-6 tie with a sacrifice fly by Jesús Aguilar off Evan Phillips (1-1) and an RBI triple by Anderson.

Mike Morin (1-0) pitched two shutout innings and Brandon Kintzler worked the ninth for his third save.

ANGELS 6, MARINERS 1

SEATTLE (AP) — Shohei Ohtani homered in his first plate appearance since being shut down as a pitcher, Dylan Bundy struck out 10 in the third complete game of his career and Los Angeles beat Seattle.

Ohtani drove a 1-0 pitch from Seattle starter Taijuan Walker (1-2) to the opposite field just beyond the leap of left fielder Dee Gordon leading off the second inning.

Max Stassi added a two-run homer in the eighth inning, his fourth of the season.

Bundy (2-1) has been superb since his offseason arrival from Baltimore via trade. The right-hander has pitched at least six innings in all three of his starts, with 25 strikeouts and two walks in 21 2/3 innings.

Bundy allowed four hits and picked up his 10th strikeout getting Kyle Seager leading off the ninth. His only mistake was an elevated changeup that Daniel Vogelbach lined into the right field seats for a solo home run in the fourth inning.

BREWERS 8, WHITE SOX 3

CHICAGO (AP) — Christian Yelich hit his first career inside-the-park homer and walked four times, helping the Brewers to the win.

Jedd Gyorko homered and drove in three runs for Milwaukee, and Mark Mathias had two hits and two RBIs. Josh Lindblom (1-0) struck out seven in five innings.

The Brewers and White Sox split a home-and-home series, with each team winning two games in their opponent’s ballpark.

Rookie phenom Luis Robert went 0 for 4 with four strikeouts as the White Sox dropped their second straight game game after winning six in a row. Gio González (0-1) was charged with five runs, four earned, and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings.

BRAVES 4, BLUE JAYS 3

ATLANTA (AP) — Nick Markakis capped his first start of the season with a game-ending home run in the ninth inning.

A week after opting back into the season after stepping away due to coronavirus concerns, Markakis lined the one-out homer off Wilmer Font (0-1) that carried into the restaurant behind the right-field stands.

Markakis was added to the active roster on Wednesday after changing his mind about sitting out the year. Following the homer, Braves players circled home plate with plenty of distance, waving their hands in the air as Markakis finished his trot.

Mark Melancon (1-0) pitched a perfect ninth.

PIRATES 6, TWINS 5

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Kevin Newman’s two-run pinch-single with one out in the ninth inning lifted Pittsburgh over Minnesota.

Newman ended Pittsburgh’s seven-game losing streak when he took a pitch from Minnesota closer Taylor Rogers (1-1) and laced it up the middle against a drawn-in infield to score Cole Tucker and Bryan Reynolds.

Gregory Polanco hit a three-run home run for the Pirates that bounced into the Allegheny River, and Sam Howard (1-0) picked up the win after pitching 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief.

Miguel Sano hit a three-run home run and Byron Buxton and Eddie Rosario also went deep for the Twins, who saw their six-game winning streak snapped. Minnesota missed a chance to put together the best start in franchise history, falling to 10-3, a start matched by the club five previous times, the last in 2001.

PHILLIES 5, YANKEES 4

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — J.T. Realmuto hit a three-run homer, Hector Neris struck out Aaron Judge in a big spot and Philadelphia beat New York.

Phillies starter Zach Eflin allowed two unearned runs and four hits, striking out five in four innings in his first start this season. A beleaguered bullpen surrendered two runs the rest of the way on Gary Sanchez’s two-run homer off Nick Pivetta.

Deolis Guerra (1-0) tossed a scoreless fifth for the win and Pivetta went two innings. With Giancarlo Stanton on third, Neris fanned Judge swinging at a splitter.

Yankees starter Jordan Montgomery (1-1) yielded five runs and six hits in four innings.

INDIANS 13, REDS 0

CLEVELAND (AP) — José Ramírez hit a solo homer from the left side of the plate against Luis Castillo (0-2) in the first inning and connected again during Cleveland’s 10-run seventh, belting a two-run drive off left-hander Cody Reed.

Ramírez also homered from both sides of the plate during a 9-2 victory over Kansas City on July 26. According to STATS, he is the first player in major league history to accomplish the feat twice within his team’s first 15 games of the season.

Carlos Carrasco (2-1) allowed one hit over six innings — equaling his longest outing since returning from chronic myeloid leukemia last Sept. 1 — and combined with three relievers to blank Cincinnati for the second night in a row.

Castillo (0-2) struck out nine in five innings, allowing three runs and walking four.

ATHLETICS 6, RANGERS 4

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Matt Olson homered to back Mike Fiers’ first win of the season and Oakland beat Texas for its sixth straight victory and a series sweep.

Khris Davis added a two-run single, Mark Canha had an RBI single and Stephen Piscotty a sacrifice fly as the balanced, first-place A’s kept rolling at the right time with the rival Houston Astros coming to town next.

Anderson Tejeda hit a two-run homer in his major league debut, chasing Fiers (1-0) in the seventh inning and pulling the Rangers within 5-4. Liam Hendriks finished for his fourth save.

Rangers lefty Mike Minor (0-3) struck out six over five innings but was tagged for five runs and four hits.

DIAMONDBACKS 5, ASTROS 4

PHOENIX (AP) — Kole Calhoun lined a two-run single in the ninth inning and Arizona rallied to beat Houston and win its first series of the season.

Arizona trailed 4-3 after Alex Bregman hit a two-run homer off Stefan Crichton in the eighth inning. Junior Guerra (1-0) worked around an error in the ninth inning and the Diamondbacks loaded the bases against Ryan Pressly (0-1) in the bottom half.

Calhoun laid off a couple of pitches after falling into a hole and sent the Diamondbacks charging out of the dugout with a line drive to the corner in right.

Arizona starter Zac Gallen tied an NL record set by Montreal’s Steve Rogers (1973-74) by allowing three earned runs or less in his first 18 career starts. Gallen allowed two runs and six hits and struck out six in six innings.

ROCKIES 6, GIANTS 4

DENVER (AP) — Daniel Murphy hit a two-run, pinch-homer during a five-run seventh inning to lead Colorado over San Francisco.

Trevor Story and Charlie Blackmon also homered for the Rockies to spoil Tyler Anderson’s return to Coors Field. Anderson was Colorado’s opening day starter in 2019.

Mauricio Dubon hit a three-run homer with two outs in the seventh to put the Giants ahead, but reliever Rico Garcia (0-1) couldn’t hold it.

Jairo Diaz got the last four outs for his third save in three chances, and Yency Almonte (1-0) allowed a run in an inning of relief.

ROYALS 13, CUBS 2

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Whit Merrifield, Maikel Franco and Jorge Soler homered, and Kansas City stopped a six-game slide.

Soler and Salvador Pérez each had three hits and two RBIs, helping Brad Keller to the win in his first major league appearance in nearly a year. Keller (1-0), who opened the season on the injured list after testing positive for the coronavirus, struck out seven in five scoreless innings.

Chicago had won six in a row. Tyler Chatwood (2-1) allowed eight runs and 11 hits in 2 1/3 inning after winning each of his two starts this year in impressive fashion.

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