Gray leads Yankees past Orioles 5-1 for doubleheader sweep
BALTIMORE (AP) — Sonny Gray made the most of a foray into the starting rotation by taking a three-hitter into the seventh inning, and the New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-1 Saturday night for a doubleheader sweep.
In the opener, rookie Miguel Andujar homered and had four RBIs, J.A. Happ (15-6) won his fifth straight start and New York rolled to a 10-3 victory.
Gray (10-8) gave up three hits, a walk and struck out seven in 6 1/3 innings. The right-hander had been exiled to the bullpen after yielding seven runs in a loss to Baltimore on Aug. 1.
Gray allowed only one runner past second base in helping the Yankees notch their seventh win in eight games to pull seven games behind first-place Boston in the AL East.
Austin Romine homered, had three hits and scored three runs for the Yankees, who led 4-0 after four innings against Andrew Cashner (4-12).
Andujar had two hits in each game to raise his batting average to .300. He leads AL rookies in batting, multihit games (43) and RBIs (70).
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Kevin Kiermaier tripled to key a two-run sixth inning, Tommy Pham homered and Tampa Bay won its seventh straight game by beating major league-leading Boston.
The surprising Rays will try to become the first team this season to sweep the Red Sox in a series when the teams complete a three-game set Sunday.
Tampa Bay is a season-high eight games over .500 (69-61). The Rays have allowed three or fewer runs in seven consecutive games.
J.D. Martinez had two doubles in four at-bats for the Red Sox, who have lost five of seven. Martinez (.337) jumped ahead of teammate Mookie Betts (.335) for the best batting average in the majors. Martinez also leads in RBIs (110) and is second in the AL in homers (38).
Tampa Bay chased Rick Porcello (15-7) in the sixth.
Rays starter Ryan Yarbrough allowed one run and five hits in five-plus innings. Ryne Stanek (2-3) worked a scoreless inning for the win.
DENVER (AP) — Pinch-hitter Matt Holliday launched his first home run of the season in the seventh inning, Carlos Gonzalez sparked an eight-run eighth with a tiebreaking double and Colorado beat St. Louis in a matchup of NL playoff contenders.
The loss snapped St. Louis' nine-game road winning streak. The surging Cardinals had won four straight and eight of 10 overall.
Holliday, out of baseball before signing a minor league contract last month, was called up this week by the Rockies — his original team. His homer broke up a scoreless game and marked his first with Colorado since 2008.
A seven-time All-Star who also played for the Cardinals, Holliday connected off starter John Gant.
St. Louis tied it in the eighth, but Adam Ottavino (6-2) stranded two runners.
After making little headway against Gant, the Rockies broke loose against the St. Louis bullpen in the eighth. They sent 14 batters to the plate against four relievers, collecting 10 hits — five of them doubles.
Dakota Hudson (4-1) took the loss.
DODGERS 5, PADRES 4, 12 INNINGS
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Justin Turner blooped an RBI double to drive in Matt Kemp from second base on the first pitch after a 20-minute power outage in the 12th inning, lifting Los Angeles past San Diego.
Manny Machado and Max Muncy each hit their 30th home run of the season for the Dodgers as they overcame another blown save from closer Kenley Jansen.
Robert Stock (0-1) walked Kemp in the bottom of the 12th. He advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Enrique Hernandez before the power went out. When it was restored, Turner delivered the game-winner.
Rookie Caleb Ferguson (4-2) earned the win two innings of scoreless relief.
Jansen surrendered the lead in for the third straight time since coming off the disabled list with an irregular heart when he allowed a solo home run to Austin Hedges in the ninth. In blowing three consecutive saves, Jansen has allowed four home runs.
Clayton Kershaw went eight strong innings for the Dodgers. He allowed seven hits and struck out nine with no walks.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jonathan Lucroy homered and drove in four runs, Mike Fiers pitched effectively into the sixth inning, and Oakland maintained its hold on the second wild-card spot.
Lucroy had an RBI single in the first and a three-run homer in the fourth as the Athletics kept at least a four-game lead over Seattle in the wild-card chase. The Mariners were playing at Arizona on Saturday night. Oakland entered 1 1/2 games behind front-running Houston in the American League West.
Fiers (10-6) allowed one run and five hits in 5 2/3 innings, striking out seven and walking two to improve to 3-0 in four starts since being acquired from Detroit on Aug. 6.
Stephen Gonsalves (0-2) gave up four runs on seven hits, walking four and striking out two in his second career start.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Rookie Heath Fillmyer pitched six strong innings, Lucas Duda homered and Kansas City beat Corey Kluber and Cleveland.
Fillmyer (2-1) limited the AL Central leaders to three hits and two walks, striking out three, as the Indians lost their fourth straight, matching their longest skid of the season.
Kansas City pounded out 14 hits, nine against Kluber (16-7), who went 5 1/3 innings, allowing five runs with two walks and six strikeouts.
Duda hit his 12th homer this season and the 150th of his career in the sixth, a solo shot to right-center field. Two batters later, Hunter Dozier drove in Jorge Bonifacio with a single to put the Royals ahead 5-1 and drive Kluber from the game.
MIAMI (AP) — Brian Anderson hit a pinch-hit, two-run home run to help Miami beat Atlanta.
Wei-Yin Chen (5-9) struck out 10 over six innings and Drew Steckenrider pitched the ninth for his second save.
Braves starter Anibal Sanchez (6-5) exited with right hamstring tightness after 5 2/3 innings and 98 pitches. Sanchez allowed four hits and one run.
Dansby Swanson led off the ninth with his 13th home run of the season, cutting the deficit to 3-1 and ending a 21-inning scoreless drought to the Marlins in the series.
After allowing the homer, Steckenrider retired the next three batters to end the game.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Andrew Suarez pitched seven scoreless innings of three-hit ball to lead San Francisco.
Brandon Crawford and Hunter Pence homered. Nick Hundley added two walks and scored for the Giants.
Hours after manager Bruce Bochy confirmed that six-time All-Star catcher Buster Posey is headed for season-ending hip surgery, San Francisco did the bulk of its scoring in the first inning then held on behind Suarez and three relievers for a rare win at AT&T Park.
The Giants have the fourth-best winning percentage in the NL at home but had lost 10 of the previous 13 at their waterfront ballpark before edging the Rangers.
Rougned Odor homered and had three hits for Texas.
Suarez (5-9) struck out five and walked three to win for the first time since July 29. Mark Melancon got pinch-hitter Carlos Perez to fly out with the bases loaded in the ninth for his second save.
Crawford homered off Martin Perez (2-6) in the first, a three-run blast to center.
TORONTO (AP) — Aledmys Diaz hit a go-ahead three-run double in the eighth inning and Toronto handed Philadelphia its sixth loss in seven games.
The Phillies led 6-5 to begin the inning but Seranthony Dominguez (1-5) loaded the bases by giving up a hit, a walk, and hitting a batter. Victor Arano came on and struck out Teoscar Hernandez for the second out before Diaz cleared the bases with a double over the head of center fielder Odubel Herrera.
Toronto won its fifth straight, its longest streak since May 21 to 27, 2017.
Blue Jays designated hitter Kendrys Morales homered for the sixth consecutive game, matching Jose Cruz Jr. (2001) for the franchise record. Morales hit a two-run shot off Nick Pivetta in the fourth, his team-leading 20th.
Billy McKinney added a two-run homer for the Blue Jays, his second in two games. Both home runs came off Pivetta, who allowed five runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings.
Joe Biagini (2-7) worked one inning for the win and Ken Giles finished for his 18th save in 18 opportunities.
METS 3, NATIONALS 0
NEW YORK (AP) — Bryce Harper and the Washington Nationals were shut out for the third game in a row, something that had never happened since the team moved from Montreal.
Amed Rosario and Todd Frazier hit solo home runs to back Zack Wheeler, who pitched seven innings and won his seventh straight decision.
The Nationals fell to 64-66 — they've already lost more games than they dropped last year in going 97-65 to take their second consecutive NL East title.
Not since they were the Montreal Expos and were shut out in three straight by the Florida Marlins in 2004 — all three games were played in Puerto Rico — had the franchise been held down like this. The Expos moved to Washington the next season.
Wheeler (9-6) gave up six hits and set a career-best winning streak. Daniel Zamora retired Harper on a flyball to begin the eighth and rookie Drew Smith got the next three outs.
Jerry Blevins recorded the last two outs, completing the combined seven-hitter.
Tanner Roark (8-13) limited the Mets to four hits in six innings, striking out seven without a walk.
CHICAGO (AP) — Daniel Murphy and Kyle Schwarber each hit a two-run homer, Javier Baez added a solo shot and Chicago won its fourth straight.
Murphy homered for a second straight day and is batting .407 (48 for 118) with nine homers in 31 career regular-season games at Wrigley Field — all but three of them before he joined the Cubs in a trade this week.
Baez was 2 for 4 with a walk and three RBIs. The homer was his 28th and he leads the NL with 97 RBIs.
NL-Central leading Chicago has gone deep in 10 consecutive games, amassing a total of 17 homers during that stretch.
Curt Casali homered and had four RBIs, and Preston Tucker added a pinch-hit homer for Cincinnati, which has dropped four straight.
Jose Quintana (11-9) allowed two runs on six hits in five-plus innings — walking three and striking out two — to get his first win since Aug. 3.
Reds starter Luis Castillo (7-11) allowed five runs on five hits in 3 1/3 innings.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Adam Frazier hit a three-run homer and Jameson Taillon pitched six strong innings as Pittsburgh defeated Milwaukee.
Frazier's drive in the eighth off reliever Taylor Williams give the Pirates a five-run cushion after Gregory Polanco broke a seventh-inning tie with a two-run single.
Taillon (10-9) gave up one run and five hits in six innings. He struck out eight and didn't walk a batter.
Colin Moran had four hits for Pittsburgh.
Christian Yelich homered early for the Brewers. Jhoulys Chacin (13-5), who didn't allow a run in his previous two starts, permitted three runs and eight hits in six innings.
DETROIT (AP) — Lucas Giolito pitched seven sharp innings and Chicago defeated Detroit.
Giolito (10-9) allowed a run and three hits, lowering his ERA to 5.85. It's still the worst mark in the major leagues of anyone who qualifies for the ERA title, but the 23-year-old right-hander has been a bit better since the All-Star break.
Kevan Smith hit a two-run homer for the White Sox, and Mikie Mahtook went deep for the Tigers.
Ryan Carpenter (1-2) gave up six runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings.
MARINERS 4, DIAMONDBACKS 3, 10 INNINGS
PHOENIX (AP) — Denard Span hit a solo home run in the 10th inning and Seattle scored two in the ninth to rally for a win over Arizona.
Jake Diekman (0-1) got the first out of the 10th before Span sent a drive onto the pool deck in right-center for the go-ahead run.
Arizona had runners at the corners after a pair of singles off Edwin Diaz in the 10th, but Paul Goldschmidt got caught in a rundown trying to score on David Peralta's grounder to third. Diaz got Nick Ahmed and Ketel Marte to fly out, becoming the 17th pitcher in big league history with 50 saves in a season.
Arizona took a 3-1 lead in the seventh on A.J. Pollock's broken-bat, two-run single, but the Diamondbacks couldn't hold it.
Brad Boxberger walked a batter and gave up a single to put runners at the corners in the ninth. Kyle Seager hit a two-run double to tie it.
Alex Colome (5-5) worked around Pollock's two-out infield single in the ninth and Mitch Haniger led off the game with a long homer for the Mariners.
Eduardo Escobar hit a solo homer for the Diamondbacks, who lost their second straight and fell into a tie with Colorado atop the NL West.
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Marwin Gonzalez homered for the second consecutive game and Justin Verlander did just enough to lead Houston past Los Angeles.
Gonzalez hit a solo home run to left-center field off reliever Williams Jerez to lead off the four-run eighth inning. Gonzalez has 14 home runs this season, including eight in August. The Astros had been clinging to a one-run lead before he opened the eighth with that homer.
The Astros (79-50) are in first place in the AL West and have won four consecutive games and five of their last six. The Angels have lost five consecutive games.
Verlander (13-8) allowed three runs and six hits in six innings. He struck out six. The right-hander had thrown 26 consecutive scoreless innings against the Angels this season before Shohei Ohtani homered against him in the fourth inning on the first pitch of the at-bat.
Jaime Barria (8-8) had a rough outing, lasting just three innings after he gave up four runs on five hits.
