Twins break season homer record during 10-7 loss to Tigers
DETROIT (AP) — The Minnesota Twins capped a night of sensational slugging by breaking the major league record for home runs in a season, but that wasn't enough to overcome Detroit's seven-run third inning in the Tigers' 10-7 victory Saturday.
The Twins homered six times to bring their season total to 268, one more than the New York Yankees managed last year. Minnesota broke the mark when Mitch Garver led off the ninth with a drive to left for his second homer of the game.
Max Kepler, Jorge Polanco, C.J. Cron and Nelson Cruz also went deep for Minnesota, which passed the 1997 Mariners (264 homers) during the game. Martín Perez (9-6) got the loss.
Ronny Rodriguez hit a pair of two-run homers for the Tigers, who snapped a six-game skid and halted a six-game winning streak by the AL Central-leading Twins. Matthew Boyd (7-10) earned the win.
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Albert Pujols homered in a seven-run eighth inning, Mike Trout became the youngest player to reach at least 275 home runs and 200 stolen bases and Los Angeles rallied for a victory over Boston.
Pujols' three-run shot to right-center off Josh Smith is the 3,184th hit of his career, tying him with Cal Ripken Jr. for 14th all-time. It was also his 20th homer of the season, making him the fifth player with at least 17 seasons of 20 or more homers.
Los Angeles trailed 4-3 going into the bottom of the eighth before blowing it open with six runs and five hits off Ryan Brasier (2-4).
Trout — who was 1 for 3 with an RBI — stole his 200th base during the second inning, becoming the first player to have at least 275 home runs and 200 stolen bases before their age-28 season. Trout turned 28 on Aug. 7, but age-season is defined by how old they are on June 30.
Luis Garcia (2-1) worked a scoreless eighth to get the win.
Boston's J.D. Martinez extended his hitting streak to eight games with two hits along with two RBIs. Mookie Betts added three hits.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Stephen Strasburg struck out 14 in eight crisp innings and Anthony Rendon homered twice, powering the Nationals to the victory.
Strasburg (16-6) retired 22 straight after allowing two first-inning singles. The right-hander did not walk a batter while throwing 107 pitches, and he also contributed an RBI single at the plate.
Juan Soto and Kurt Suzuki also homered for the NL wild card leaders, who have won three straight and eight of nine.
The Marlins extended the franchise record with their 14th consecutive road loss.
Miami's Pablo López (5-7) allowed six runs and six hits in three innings.
YANKEES 4, ATHLETICS 3, 11 INNINGS
NEW YORK (AP) — DJ LeMahieu homered on the first pitch in the bottom of the 11th inning, handing the Yankees their first victory in five tries against the Athletics this season.
Aaron Judge hit a tying homer for New York with two outs in the eighth, his 19th of the season. The 6-foot-7 Judge also took a potential home run away from Matt Chapman in the 10th, barely needing to leave his feet for a grab at the right field wall.
Gary Sánchez went deep twice for the AL East leaders, and Cory Gearrin (1-2) got his first win with New York.
Lou Trivino (4-6) was beginning his third inning of work when he surrendered LeMahieu's 24th homer.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Wilson Ramos matched his career high with four hits and extended his hitting streak to 24 games, helping the Mets to the road win.
Todd Frazier had three hits and two RBIs for the Mets, who pulled within four games of the Cubs for the second NL wild card. Frazier also made a stellar run-saving catch in the sixth inning.
Ramos had three singles and a double, upping his average to .446 (41 for 92) during the streak.
Bryce Harper homered for Philadelphia, which remained 3½ games behind the Cubs. Former Mets left-hander Jason Vargas (6-7) gave up five runs in four-plus innings.
Steven Matz (9-8) pitched five-plus innings for the win, and Seth Lugo got six outs for his fourth save.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Tommy Pham, Avisail Garcia, Ji-Man Choi and Travis d'Arnaud homered, powering Tampa Bay to the victory.
The Rays have won the first two games of the three-game set to tighten the AL wild-card race. Cleveland holds a half-game lead over Tampa Bay and Oakland for the first wild card.
Carlos Santana and Francisco Lindor went deep for the Indians. Zach Plesac (7-5) got the loss.
Cleveland second baseman Jason Kipnis left in the seventh with right wrist discomfort.
Jalen Beeks (6-3) pitched three scoreless innings for the win, and Emilio Pagán got two outs for his 16th save.
CARDINALS 3, REDS 2, GAME 2
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Matt Carpenter and Harrison Bader hit run-scoring singles during St. Louis' two-run ninth inning, sending the Cardinals to a sweep of the day-night doubleheader.
Each of St. Louis' four batters reached in the ninth. Tommy Edman singled and Yadier Molina was hit by a pitch from Raisel Iglesias (2-11) before Bader tied it at 2 with a single to left.
Kevin Gausman then came in, and Carpenter's pinch-hit single drove in Molina for the dramatic victory.
St. Louis (75-59) improved to 8-1 in its last nine games and moved 2½ games ahead of the second-place Chicago Cubs in the NL Central.
Dakota Hudson (14-6) led the Cardinals to the win in the opener, striking out eight in a career-high 7 2/3 innings. Dexter Fowler and Yadier Molina homered.
St. Louis and Cincinnati will play another doubleheader on Sunday.
John Gant (10-0) got the win in the second game after he escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth.
Cincinnati wasted a terrific performance in the nightcap by Sonny Gray, who allowed an unearned run and five hits in 6 2/3 innings. Trevor Bauer (10-12) pitched just four innings in the opener.
Eugenio Suárez hit his 39th homer for Cincinnati in Game 1, and Josh VanMeter and Joey Votto connected in Game 2.
BREWERS 2, CUBS 0
CHICAGO (AP) — Manny Piña drove in two runs with a first-inning single and Josh Hader finished a strong performance by Milwaukee's bullpen.
Ben Gamel added three hits as Milwaukee pulled within four games of Chicago for the second NL wild card.
The Brewers used five pitchers in the six-hitter. Junior Guerra (8-4) worked 1 2/3 innings for the win, and Hader earned his 27th save by recording five outs on just 12 pitches.
Chicago wasted a solid performance by Cole Hamels (7-5), who allowed five hits in six innings. The Cubs had won four in a row.
TORONTO (AP) — Cavan Biggio and Teoscar Hernandez each hit a two-run homer, leading Toronto to the victory.
Biggio drove in three runs and scored twice against the team his Hall of Fame father Craig starred with for 20 seasons.
Clay Buchholz (1-3) allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings in his first win since Aug. 22, 2018, for Arizona against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Former Astros closer Ken Giles struck out George Springer, José Altuve and Alex Bregman in the ninth for his 18th save in 19 opportunities.
Houston has lost two of three after winning six straight and nine of the previous 10. Framber Valdez (4-7) was charged with six runs and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Whit Merrifield hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the eighth inning after Kansas City loaded the bases on three bunts.
Bubba Starling hit his first homer at Kauffman Stadium after growing up about 30 miles away, and Hunter Dozier connected for the 24th time this season for Kansas City.
Scott Barlow (3-3) got the win with 1 2/3 perfect innings. Ian Kennedy pitched a perfect ninth for his 24th save.
Anthony Santander went deep twice for the Orioles, who fell apart defensively in the eighth when Kansas City tried to play small ball. Paul Fry (1-6) got the loss.
DIAMONDBACKS 6, DODGERS 5
PHOENIX (AP) — Eduardo Escobar homered for the third straight game and Arizona beat Los Angeles in front of a crowd of 50,180, a single-game attendance record for Chase Field.
Escobar's solo shot was his 10th home run in August and 32nd of the season. The homer came off Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Christian Walker and Wilmer Flores hit back-to-back home runs off Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw (13-4).
Kershaw, who lost his second straight start, was charged with five runs on five hits, six strikeouts and two walks in five innings.
Justin Turner and Will Smith homered for the Dodgers.
Robbie Ray (12-7) earned the win.
ATLANTA (AP) — Dallas Keuchel collected his first RBIs since his rookie season and held Chicago to two runs in six innings in the win for Atlanta.
The Braves knocked Reynaldo López out of the game with a six-run first inning that included Keuchel's two-run single up the middle.
The White Sox have lost five straight and allowed a combined 21 runs in losing the first two games of the interleague series with Atlanta.
Josh Donaldson hit his 33rd homer in the eighth off Kelvin Herrera, Chicago's sixth pitcher.
Keuchel (6-5) earned his third straight win. He allowed nine hits but no walks.
Lopez (8-12) recorded only two outs in his shortest start of the season. He was pulled after giving up Keuchel's single on his 42nd pitch of the inning.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit a walk-off single in the ninth inning after Texas rallied with the help of a video review and beat Texas.
Elvis Andrus scored the tying run in the ninth after he was originally ruled out by home plate umpire Jansen Visconti. The play was overturned via replay review.
Andrus led off the ninth against Matt Magill (4-2) with his second double of the game. After he went to third on Willie Calhoun's ground out, Nick Solak grounded to short. Andrus broke on contact and beat Dylan Moore's throw with a headfirst slide. Visconti ruled out, but crew chief Jerry Meals called for a review that overturned the play.
Solak reached first, then went to third when Dee Gordon misplayed Rougned Odor's grounder for a two-base error. Danny Santana was intentionally walked, and Kiner-Falefa stroked the winning single to right-center.
Emmanuel Clase (2-2) pitched out of a jam in the top of the ninth to get the win.
DENVER (AP) — Josh Bell hit his 35th homer, Kevin Newman homered on the first pitch of the game and Pittsburgh beat Colorado.
Newman has nine hits, including three homers, in 14 at-bats in the series, and this was his second leadoff shot. Jose Osuna also connected, and the Pirates won for the 14th time in 18 games at Coors Field. Pittsburgh will try for a sweep Sunday.
Ryan McMahon and Daniel Murphy homered for the Rockies, who have lost five in a row and 11 of 13. A loss Sunday would be the second time in a week Colorado has been swept in a four-game series.
Tim Melville (1-1) took the loss.
Joe Musgrove (9-12) went six innings to get his first win in six starts.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Wil Myers homered, Manny Machado was 2 for 3 with a triple and Joey Lucchesi pitched six strong innings as San Diego defeated San Francisco.
Machado tripled off reliever Tony Watson (2-2) to lead off the eighth inning of a 1-1 game. Josh Naylor singled through the left side of a drawn-in infield off Watson, scoring Machado with one out.
Myers hit a two-run homer off Will Smith in the ninth to make the score 4-1.
Craig Stammen (7-6) pitched two shutout innings for the Padres, who have won two of three after losing six of eight.
Austin Slater homered for the Giants, who have lost four of their last five games and eight of 11.
Padres closer Kirby Yates worked the ninth for his 39th save in 42 chances.