Phillies beat up on Hamels, make Manuel's return a big hit
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — J.T. Realmuto hit a grand slam, Bryce Harper went deep twice and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs 11-1 in Charlie Manuel's first game as hitting coach, ruining Cole Hamels' return home Wednesday night.
Manuel was back in red pinstripes in his old dugout exactly six years to the day the franchise icon managed his last game for the Phillies. He heard "Charlie! Charlie! Charlie!" chants after Realmuto connected to make it 10-0 in the third.
Hamels, the 2008 NLCS and World Series MVP with Manuel's Phillies, was roughed up in his first game in Philadelphia since he was traded to Texas in July 2015. Hamels (6-4) gave up eight runs and nine hits in two-plus innings.
Aaron Nola (11-3) benefited from the offense's rare outburst. He allowed three hits, including Kris Bryant's homer, and struck out seven in seven innings.
Hamels received the loudest applause during pregame introductions and got a standing ovation when he came to the plate already trailing 4-0 in the third. He wore longtime Phillies executive David Montgomery's initials on a uniform patch. Montgomery, who died in May after a five-year fight with cancer, had a close relationship with Hamels.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Anthony Rendon, Kurt Suzuki and Adam Eaton hit homers in a 10-run fifth that included an RBI single from Stephen Strasburg (15-5), and Washington tacked on another six runs in the next inning to complete a three-game series sweep.
This marked the first time since the Nationals moved from Montreal in 2005 that every member of the team's lineup scored in a single inning. The NL wild-card leaders broke loose against Trevor Bauer (1-1) for their biggest inning of the season; they scored 11 in an inning at Colorado in 2017.
The sixth Wednesday wasn't too shabby, either, as Washington batted around again, much to the delight of a crowd of 23,596 that showed up for the unusual 4:05 p.m. weekday start.
By the time that inning was done, the club's eight position players each had scored twice and the score was 17-4. The Nationals were well on their way to improving to 65-55, pushing them 10 games above .500 for the first time since June 2018.
MIAMI (AP) — Clayton Kershaw struck out the first seven batters he faced and matched a season high with 10 strikeouts in seven shutout innings as Los Angeles beat Miami.
Kershaw (12-2) allowed two hits and retired the first 14 Miami batters before Harold Ramirez's two-out single to right in the fifth. The three-time Cy Young Award winner left after 90 pitches.
Rookie Edwin Rios hit his first two major league homers. Justin Turner went 3 for 5 with a home run and Corey Seager homered and had three RBIs for the Dodgers, who have outscored Miami 34-2 in the last three games.
Rios' second blast off Marlins starter Elieser Hernandez (2-5), a two-run shot that landed on the upper deck seats in right field, gave the Dodgers a 6-0 lead.
NEW YORK (AP) — Gary Sanchez hit a three-run homer and New York beat Baltimore for the 16th straight time this season.
The Yankees went 17-2 against the O's, their most wins versus any opponent in a season since going 17-5 over the Kansas City Athletics in 1959.
Sanchez's 10th homer against the Orioles this year capped a four-run burst in the first inning.
Didi Gregorius hit an RBI single and Mike Ford hit a two-run single as the Yankees won their fifth straight.
Renato Nunez had five hits, including a two-run double. Jonathan Villar drove in two runs for the last-place Orioles, who lost for the ninth time in 10 games.
J.A. Happ (10-7) allowed two runs and six hits in five innings, striking out six and walking two. Aroldis Chapman converted his 33rd save in 38 chances.
Dylan Bundy (5-13) allowed six runs and five hits in 5 2/3 innings.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Rafael Devers homered and singled, extending his hit streak to eight straight at-bats, and Xander Bogaerts connected twice to lead Boston over Cleveland.
Devers went 6 for 6 with four doubles Tuesday night. A day later, he singled in the first inning and hit a solo home run in the third before being retired on a comebacker in the fifth.
Bogaerts hit a solo drive in the third — his 100th career homer — and a three-run shot in the seventh.
Shane Bieber (12-5) allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings, losing for the second time in 10 starts since June 25.
Boston right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (1-0) working two innings for his first win since last Sept. 24.
ATLANTA (AP) — Tyler Flowers drove in a tiebreaking run with an infield hit, and Atlanta scored five runs off Seth Lugo in the seventh and survived a ninth-inning scare in a win over New York.
The Mets have lost three straight, including the first two of the three-game series with Atlanta, after winning 15 of 16 to move up in the NL wild-card chase.
J.D. Davis gave New York a 2-1 lead with a two-run single in the seventh, when Steven Matz had his second bloop single to right field.
After he was left in the game to hit, Matz was removed by manager Mickey Callaway after throwing only 79 pitches and allowing only two hits in six innings. Matz retired 14 consecutive batters before being lifted.
The move backfired when the NL East-leading Braves scored five runs on six singles off Lugo and Luis Avilán in the seventh. All five runs were charged to Lugo (5-3), who recorded only one out.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Cardinals rookie Dakota Hudson tossed six innings of five-hit ball, Royals counterpart Brad Keller allowed a no-hit bid to crumble in spectacular fashion, and St. Louis went on to beat Kansas City for a two-game sweep.
Hudson (11-6) allowed runners to reach every inning but the third, but the 24-year-old right-hander kept getting timely double-plays, groundballs and fly outs. Hudson struck out five and walked two as the Cardinals won for the 13th time in his last 16 starts.
They also won their eighth straight against their cross-state rival at Kauffman Stadium.
Keller (7-13) issued three walks and was victimized by an early error, but he didn't allow a hit until Marcell Ozuna's sharp single leading off the seventh. It began a run of five consecutive base hits that not only knocked Keller from the game but ultimately resulted in a five-run frame.
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Albert Pujols had two hits and three RBIs and set the major league record for career hits by a foreign-born player, leading Los Angeles over Pittsburgh.
Pujols had an RBI single in the 4th inning. His 3,167th hit moved him past fellow Dominican Republic native Adrian Beltre (3,166) and into sole possession of 15th place for career hits.
Luis Rengifo also drove in two runs for the Angels, who snapped a three-game home losing streak. Dillon Peters (3-1) allowed two runs in six innings while striking out six after an erratic start.
Chris Archer (3-9) allowed four runs, three earned, in five innings, and his streak of starts without a win reached 12 games. It is the longest such span in Archer's eight-year career.
ROCKIES 7, DIAMONDBACKS 6
DENVER (AP) — Nolan Arenado hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning to give Colorado the victory.
After Trevor Story was hit by a pitch, Arenado launched a fastball from Archie Bradley (3-5) over the fence in left. It was Arenado's third career walk-off homer and first since June 18, 2017, against San Francisco.
Arenado was doused with Powerade soon after crossing home plate and mobbed by teammates. Colorado ended a string of five straight losses to Arizona. The Rockies are 14-33 since June 21, one of the worst marks by winning percentage in the majors over the stretch.
CHICAGO (AP) — James McCann hit a tiebreaking grand slam in the eighth inning and Chicago outlasted Houston to win the season series from the runaway AL West leaders.
Rookie Eloy Jiménez hit his 20th homer and doubled, and Tim Anderson doubled twice among four hits for the White Sox. Following a doubleheader split on Tuesday, Chicago (54-65) took two of three games from the Astros in a little over 24 hours and finished 4-3 against them this year. Houston has lost three of four following an eight-game winning streak.
McCann lined his 13th homer on an 0-2 pitch from Ryan Pressly (2-3) with two outs into the right field bullpen to end a 16-game drought. The All-Star catcher hadn't gone deep since July 22, but connected for his fourth career grand slam.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Matt Chapman homered twice, including a pivotal drive in the ninth inning that followed a late collapse by Oakland's bullpen, and the Athletics held on to beat San Francisco.
Homer Bailey (10-8) pitched seven scoreless innings and singled twice. Robbie Grossman also went deep and made a sliding catch in left, and Matt Olson added a two-run double to help the A's earn a split of the two-game series between Bay Area rivals.
Mike Yastrzemski homered for San Francisco, which had won three straight.
Chapman homered off Tyler Beede (3-7) in the first and added another solo shot off Trevor Gott in the ninth after the Giants had trimmed a 7-0 lead to 7-5.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Rookie Trent Grisham hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning, and Milwaukee rallied to beat Minnesota.
The Brewers trailed 5-3 when Grisham, batting leadoff in his 11th game in the majors, blasted a 2-2 fastball from Sergio Romo (2-1) into the right-field stands. Ryan Braun reached on a throwing error by shortstop Jorge Polanco and Hernán Pérez singled before Grisham went deep.
Junior Guerra (6-3) worked two scoreless innings for Milwaukee.
Mitch Garver, Eddie Rosario and Miguel Sanó each hit solo homers for the Twins, who have a major league-leading 233 home runs this season. The record is 267, set last year by the Yankees.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Cal Quantrill contributed with his arm and bat as San Diego beat Tampa Bay for the first time in over nine years.
San Diego had lost nine in a row to the Rays overall since June 23, 2010, in an interleague matchup that hasn't occurred too often. The Padres also posted their first home win over Tampa Bay — they were 0-3 against the Rays in 2004 when Petco Park opened, and had dropped the first two games of this series.
Eric Hosmer homered to help San Diego stop a three-game losing streak. Tampa Bay had won five in row, along with nine straight on the road.
Quantrill (6-3) gave up a two-run homer to Tommy Pham in the first inning, but little else before leaving with one out in the sixth. He allowed three hits and walked one, striking out six.
Rays starter Jalen Beeks (5-2) allowed five runs on eight hits in five innings.
DETROIT (AP) — Victor Reyes hit a two-run single in the second inning and Detroit held on to beat Seattle.
Harold Castro had three hits for Detroit while catcher Jake Rogers threw out two baserunners to end innings.
The Tigers improved to 4-6 with one game left in an 11-game homestand. Seattle has lost nine of 11.
Edwin Jackson (3-5) allowed two runs on four hits and a walk in five innings. He struck out four and allowed two homers while winning his second straight start.
Marco Gonzales (12-6) gave up three runs on 11 hits in six innings.
TORONTO (AP) — Kolby Allard pitched 5 2/3 innings to win for the first time with Texas, Elvis Andrus had four hits and two RBIs and the Rangers beat Toronto to avoid a three-game sweep.
Nomar Mazara and Danny Santana hit solo home runs as the Rangers wrapped up a three-city trip by scoring more than five runs for the first time in that stretch of road games. The Rangers went 3-6 against Cleveland, Milwaukee, and Toronto, winning once against each opponent.
Texas came in with two hits in its previous 40 at-bats with runners in scoring position, then went 4 for 12 in such situations Wednesday.
Making his second start for the Rangers after being acquired from Atlanta last month, Allard (1-0) allowed three runs and four hits. The 22-year-old left-hander walked three and struck out five.
