Verlander gets 13th win, leads Astros over Mariners 3-1
SEATTLE (AP) — Justin Verlander became the major leagues’ first 13-game winner, striking out nine and topping 99 mph in his final inning to lead the Houston Astros over the Seattle Mariners 3-1 on Saturday.
Verlander (13-3) allowed four hits in seven innings to win his fifth straight start. He retired 15 straight before Carlos Santana’s seven-inning homer.
Bryan Abreu got three straight outs to finish the four-hitter for his second big league save.
Kyle Tucker and Yuli Gurriel hit RBI doubles in the fourth off Logan Gilbert (10-4) to help the Astros to their fourth consecutive win and send Seattle to its second straight loss after a 14-game winning streak.
BLUE JAYS 4, RED SOX 1
BOSTON (AP) — Alek Manoah (11-4) allowed one run and six hits in six innings as he lowered his ERA to 2.24 and sent Boston to its eighth loss in nine games.
Toronto got seven hits a day after pounding out 29 in a 28-5 romp and improved to 9-3 against the Red Sox this year. The Blue Jays are 3 1/2 games ahead of Boston for the AL’s final wild-card spot.
Jordan Romano pitched a scoreless ninth for his AL-leading 21st save.
Santiago Espinal and George Springer hit RBI singles off Kutter Crawford (2-3) in a three-run third, and Alejandro Kirk had a sacrifice fly.
Boston put All-Star third baseman Rafael Devers on the 10-day injured list because of right hamstring inflammation.
DODGERS 4, GIANTS 2
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mookie Betts hit his 200th career home run, Julio Urías tossed six innings of two-hit ball and Los Angeles beat San Francisco Giants to extend its winning streak to seven games.
Trea Turner and Freddie Freeman also homered for the Dodgers, who have won 14 of their last 15. Gavin Lux added an RBI triple in the sixth.
It was the first time this season Betts, Turner and Freeman have homered in the same game.
Urías (9-6) struck out five to improve to 6-0 in his last seven starts. David Price came on late in the ninth inning for his second career save.
Giants starter Alex Wood (6-8) struck out five straight Dodger hitters before Betts and Turner hit back-to-back solo shots in the third inning. Both came on sinkers with a full count and marked the fifth time this season the Dodgers had hit consecutive homers.
GUARDIANS 7, WHITE SOX 4, GAME 1
WHITE SOX 5, GUARDIANS 4, GAME 2
CHICAGO (AP) — AJ Pollock hit a two-run single with two outs in the eighth inning and Chicago beat Cleveland to split their day-night doubleheader.
Eloy Jiménez homered and Yoán Moncada drove in two runs as Chicago improved to 9-9 in a stretch of 19 straight games against AL Central opponents. The White Sox won the division last year, but they are going to need a strong second half to secure a third straight postseason appearance.
The Guardians had their five-game winning streak snapped.
In the opener, Josh Naylor snapped a ninth-inning tie with a pinch-hit single. Steven Kwan had three hits and José Ramírez drove in two runs with a pair of sacrifice flies.
Chicago blew a 3-0 lead in the second game, but Pollock’s bases-loaded single against Nick Sandlin drove in Andrew Vaughn and José Abreu. Joe Kelly (1-2) got three outs for the win, and Matt Foster worked the ninth for his second career save.
In the first game, rookie Nolan Jones doubled to begin the ninth and Naylor, batting for catcher Austin Hedges, gave Cleveland a 5-4 lead when he singled to center against All-Star closer Liam Hendriks (1-3). Kwan singled in pinch-runner Alex Call and scored on Ramírez’s sac fly.
Trevor Stephan (4-3) got four outs, and Emmanuel Clase pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 20th save.
PADRES 2, METS 1
NEW YORK (AP) — Manny Machado hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning off Chris Bassitt, and San Diego held off slumping New York.
Taylor Rogers allowed a bloop RBI single to J.D. Davis in the ninth before retiring Tomás Nido on a popup with runners at the corners for his major league-leading 28th save in 33 opportunities.
New York’s lead in the NL East is down to a half-game over the defending World Series champion Braves, its smallest since April 12. The Mets had a 10 1/2-game cushion on June 1.
San Diego was held without a hit for 4 1/3 innings by Bassitt (7-7) until Eric Hosmer singled.
Blake Snell (2-5) dodged trouble and allowed four hits in five scoreless innings.
BRAVES 7, ANGELS 2
ATLANTA (AP) — Austin Riley homered among his three hits, Kyle Wright won his 12th game to take the NL lead, and Atlanta beat Los Angeles.
Riley, an NL All-Star reserve earlier this week, has a 15-game hitting streak and is batting .439 over his last 20 games.
The Braves, who moved one-half game behind the New York Mets for the lead in the NL East, are 35-11 since June 1 — the best record in the majors over that span. They are 19-6 at home during the stretch and have outscored opponents 131-78 in those 25 games.
Wright (12-4) has won five straight decisions over a six-start stretch and moved one victory shy of Houston’s Justin Verlander for the major league lead. Wright gave up two runs and seven hits with no walks and eight strikeouts in six innings.
Shohei Ohtani homered in the fifth to trim Atlanta’s lead to 7-2. The homer was Ohtani’s 20th.
Angels starter Patrick Sandoval (3-6) gave up five runs and eight hits in three innings. The Angels have lost 14 of 16 and are a season-worst 16 games under .500.
ORIOLES 6, YANKEES 3
BALTIMORE (AP) — Gerrit Cole failed to hold a three-run lead, reliever Albert Abreu’s wild pickoff throw led to Cedric Mullins’ go-ahead sacrifice fly and Baltimore rallied past New York.
Ramón Urías added a two-run homer in the eighth inning off Shane Greene, who made his first appearance for the Yankees since he was a rookie in 2014.
New York went 1 for 14 with runners in scoring position. The Yankees have lost three of four and eight of 12 in their poorest stretch this year and at 65-31 dropped just behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (63-30) for best record in the majors.
Aaron Judge tied a career high with four hits and had two RBIs. Matt Carpenter hit his 14th home run in 89 at-bats for the Yankees this season.
Urías went 3 for 4 and has six multi-hit games since being reinstated from the injured list on July 4.
Cionel Pérez (5-1) pitched a scoreless seventh and Jorge López got his 18th save in 22 chances.
Cole (9-3) allowed four runs — three earned — and nine hits in six innings.
ROYALS 6, RAYS 3
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Brady Singer struck out a career-high 12, Michael A. Taylor and Bobby Witt Jr. homered off Ryan Yarbrough in a three-run eighth inning and Kansas City defeated Tampa Bay.
Singer, a 25-year-old right-hander in his third major league season, allowed two runs — one earned — and three hits in six innings. Scott Barlow (4-2) tossed two scoreless innings for the win.
With the score 3-all, Taylor hit his sixth home run this season and first since June 25. Witt added a two-run drive off Yarbrough (0-5).
Witt had three RBIs for the Royals, who stopped a four-game losing streak. Whit Merrifield hit a two-run double.
The Rays lost for the second time in eight games.
TWINS 8, TIGERS 4
DETROIT (AP) — Luis Arraez had three hits to raise his major league-leading batting average to .342, Carlos Correa homered and Minnesota scored six late runs to beat Detroit for just its fourth win in 12 games.
Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera had a run-scoring single in a three-run eighth inning and with 1,839 RBIs passed Ted Williams on the career list and tied Al Simmons for 13th place.
Joe Ryan (7-3) gave up one run in 5 2/3 innings for the AL Central leaders, striking out seven.
Detroit has lost 10 of 12 and dropped a season-worst 19 games under .500 at 38-57.
Michael Pineda (2-7) lost his third straight start, allowing two runs and four hits in three innings. He threw 55 pitches and left with right triceps tightness.
BREWERS 9, ROCKIES 4
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Brandon Woodruff pitched six strong innings, Hunter Renfroe hit a three-run homer and Milwaukee beat Colorado.
Woodruff (8-3) improved to 3-0 with a 2.20 ERA in five starts since coming off the injured list June 27. The right-hander allowed a run on six hits, struck out eight and walked one to help the Brewers extend their winning streak against the Rockies to a franchise-best seven games.
Colorado has not won in Milwaukee since May 2, 2019.
Renfroe and the Brewers got to Rockies starter and former teammate José Ureña (1-2) in the fourth. Milwaukee then broke it open with five runs in the sixth.
C.J. Cron and Yonathan Daza homered in the ninth for Colorado.
PIRATES 1, MARLINS 0
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jose Quintana pitched seven strong innings and combined with two relievers on a five-hitter to lead Pittsburgh over Miami.
Yoshi Tsutsugo knocked in the lone run with a sixth-inning single off Tanner Scott (4-4) as the Pirates won for just the second time in seven games.
Quintana (3-5) allowed four hits while matching his season high in innings. He had four strikeouts and no walks. Wil Crowe and All-Star David Bednar followed with one inning apiece. Bednar notched his 17th save in 21 opportunities while finishing the Pirates’ third shutout of the season.
The slumping Marlins were blanked for the fourth time in their last five games.
Highly touted Marlins rookie pitcher Max Meyer left in the first inning with right elbow discomfort. Miami wound up using six pitchers as it lost for the fifth time in six games.
DIAMONDBACKS 7, NATIONALS 2
PHOENIX (AP) — Madison Bumgarner pitched eight effective innings, Carson Kelly hit a solo homer and Arizona handed Washington its 17th loss in 19 games.
Bumgarner (6-9) gave up two runs and four hits. He threw 98 pitches, including 68 strikes, and walked none while striking out nine.
Diamondbacks rookie Alek Thomas had three hits, including a two-run double.
It was another quiet day for Washington’s offense, which finished with four hits. Victor Robles connected for a solo homer. Juan Soto was hitless in four at-bats and had his on-base streak snapped at 28 games.
Aníbal Sánchez (0-2) gave up three runs and six hits over five innings in his second start of the season.
CUBS 6, PHILLIES 2, 10 INNINGS
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Nico Hoerner homered early and scored the tiebreaking run in a five-run 10th inning as Chicago defeated Philadelphia.
Hoerner began the 10th as the automatic runner on second base. He stole third with one out and scored on Frank Schwindel’s fielder’s choice. Schwindel hit a high chopper off José Alvarado (3-2), and third baseman Alec Bohm’s throw home was off target.
The Cubs went up by two on Christopher Morel’s RBI single. Bohm’s fielding error on Nelson Velázquez’s hard-hit grounder allowed two more runs to score before Willson Contreras added an RBI double to make it 6-1.
David Robertson (3-0) tossed a perfect ninth and the Cubs won their third straight. They improved to 4-11 in extra innings.
Zack Wheeler threw seven strong innings for the Phillies.
ATHLETICS 3, RANGERS 1
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Vimael Machin scored on first baseman Nathaniel Lowe’s fielding error to snap a scoreless tie in the sixth inning of Oakland’s victory over Texas.
On a night when neither team did much offensively, the A’s broke through after Rangers reliever Dennis Santana (3-6) walked the bases loaded.
Machin and Chad Pinder each had a sacrifice fly for the Athletics, who took advantage of three Texas errors and scored two unearned runs.
Domingo Acevedo (3-2) pitched out a bases-loaded jam and retired four batters as the A’s won their third straight to match their season high. Zach Jackson worked the ninth for his second save.
Former A’s star Marcus Semien had an RBI double for the Rangers, who have lost 14 of 20.
CARDINALS 6, REDS 3
CINCINNATI (AP) — Paul Goldschmidt drove in three runs to reach 1,002 career RBIs, combining with Tyler O’Neill to hit consecutive fourth-inning homers and lead St. Louis over Cincinnati.
Nolan Arenado had three hits, including two of the Cardinals’ six doubles. St. Louis tied its season high with eight extra-base hits and won for the sixth time in nine games.
Albert Pujols got two hits, increasing his total to 3,335.
O’Neill broke a 2-all tie with a two-run shot in the fourth inning off Mike Minor (1-7), who lost his fifth straight decision. Goldschmidt followed with his team-high 22nd homer.
Steven Matz (4-3) won for the first time since May 2, returning from a shoulder impingement that had sidelined him since May 22. But the left-hander exited after straining his left knee in the sixth. Matz allowed two runs and three hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Ryan Helsley got four outs, striking out the side in the ninth for his ninth save.
Cincinnati has lost four of six following a season-best five-game winning streak.
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