Baseball Capsules – News & Observer

Coming off a four-game sweep of Texas, the Orioles hoped to continue their surge against baseball’s other team from the Lone Star State. Instead, Baltimore fell behind 5-0 in the second inning and dropped four games under .500.

Ubaldo Jimenez (4-6) gave up six runs and 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings. Houston finished with 16 hits, at least one from every starter.

YANKEES 5, MARINERS 1

SEATTLE (AP) — Aaron Judge hit a colossal three-run homer that nearly soared out of Safeco Field, and CC Sabathia won on his 37th birthday as New York beat Seattle.

Judge’s 31st home run in the fifth inning was memorable and nearly historic. The big slugger clobbered a hanging curveball from starter Andrew Moore (1-2) into the second deck in left field, with the ball landing three rows from the top of the stadium. No one has hit one out of Safeco during a game since the ballpark opened midway through the 1999 season.

Judge came close and continued to emerge from a post-All-Star break slump thanks to his first home run since July 7. He finished with four RBIs, including a sacrifice fly that gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead.

Clint Frazier had an RBI double and a diving catch for New York. Sabathia (9-3) allowed one run in five-plus innings.

BRAVES 12, DODGERS 3

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Braves pitcher Jaime Garcia hit a grand slam off previously unbeaten Alex Wood to highlight Atlanta’s victory over Los Angeles.

The subject of trade talk lately, Garcia (4-7) allowed three runs over seven innings as the Braves won their second straight at Dodger Stadium. The NL West leaders hadn’t lost two in a row since June 5-6 against Washington. They’ve been outscored 18-6 in the first two games of the series.

It was the Dodgers’ most lopsided defeat of the season.

Wood (11-1) got knocked around by his former team. The All-Star left-hander gave up nine runs — seven earned — and nine hits in 4 2/3 innings, tying his shortest start since joining the rotation April 21.

Tyler Flowers hit a three-run homer and had four RBIs for the Braves.

DIAMONDBACKS 6, NATIONALS 5

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona opened the game with three straight home runs off Washington ace Max Scherzer and ended it with Brandon Drury’s bases-loaded single in the bottom of the ninth inning.

The home runs by David Peralta, A.J. Pollock and Jake Lamb started the Diamondbacks on the way to a 5-0 lead. The feat was the first in the majors since Baltimore did it against Texas on May 10, 2012.

It was the first time in Nationals history (2005 to present) that an opposing team hit back-to-back-to-back home runs.

The Diamondbacks last hit three straight homers on Aug. 11, 2010, when they had four in a row at Milwaukee.

It was the most runs allowed by Scherzer in a first inning since July 2, 2011, against San Francisco, when he gave up five. Scherzer’s five runs allowed tied for the most he’s given up in a start this season, and the five innings tied for his shortest outing of the year.

Fernando Rodney (4-3) pitched an inning for the win. Pollock tripled in the ninth off Enny Romero (2-4).

RED SOX 6, ANGELS 2

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Chris Sale pitched six scoreless innings and Boston rode its five-run first to a victory over Los Angeles.

Sale (12-4) allowed four hits and struck out nine to push his major league-leading total to 200. He walked one and lowered his AL-best ERA to 2.48. He has won 11 of his last 13 decisions.

Sale improved to 6-0 against the Angels with a 1.23 ERA in nine games (seven starts).

The Red Sox jumped on erratic starter Ricky Nolasco (4-11), with six of their first seven batters getting a hit. Nolasco went four innings and gave up six runs.

Martin Maldonado homered for the Angels, who have dropped nine of 12.

CARDINALS 11, CUBS 4

CHICAGO (AP) — Paul DeJong hit a tiebreaking, two-run double in St. Louis’ nine-run eighth inning, and the Cardinals cooled off Chicago.

The Cubs carried a 3-2 lead into the eighth, looking for their seventh consecutive win. But St. Louis sent 14 batters to the plate in its highest-scoring inning of the season, taking advantage of a combined six walks by three relievers while improving to 4-4 since the All-Star break.

Carl Edwards Jr. (3-2) was pulled after the first three batters reached. Hector Rondon then walked Jedd Gyorko, tying it at 3, and DeJong followed with a drive into the ivy in right-center for a ground-rule double.

Carson Kelly hit a two-run double in his first game since being recalled from Triple-A Memphis. Tommy Pham’s two-run single made it 11-3 as 11 consecutive batters reached safely to begin the inning.

Willson Contreras hit a two-run homer for Chicago, and Jake Arrieta pitched six effective innings. Third baseman Kris Bryant sat out with a sprained left little finger.

Randal Grichuk homered for the Cardinals in his return from a lower back injury. Matt Bowman (2-3) got the final out of the seventh.

PIRATES 13, ROCKIES 5

DENVER (AP) — Pittsburgh rookie Josh Bell had a career-high four hits, Andrew McCutchen had three hits and reached base five times, and the surging Pirates beat Colorado.

Rookie starter Trevor Williams (4-4) overcame a rough first to pitch 6 2/3 solid innings for his first win in more than a month. Pittsburgh has won a season-best six straight and 12 of 14 to move a game above .500 for the first time since opening 3-2.

The Pirates (49-48), who tied a season high with 18 hits, are within two games of first-place Milwaukee in the NL Central.

Pittsburgh jumped on Rockies starter Jeff Hoffman (6-2) and chased him three batters into the fourth. Bell had an RBI single in the first and a three-run double in the second to finish with a season-high four RBIs.

ROYALS 7, WHITE SOX 6, 10 INNINGS

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Whit Merrifield’s sacrifice fly in the 10th inning lifted Kansas City over skidding Chicago.

Merrifield’s game-ending fly scored Alcides Escobar, who led off the inning with a single.

The Royals, who trailed 5-1 after two innings, got their third walk-off victory in five days. The White Sox have lost seven straight and 10 of 11.

Alex Gordon had three hits and drove in three Royals runs, while Merrifield also had a two-run double in the fourth. Mike Moustakas hit his 26th home run.

Neftali Feliz (1-0), the seventh Kansas City pitcher, threw seven pitches in a scoreless 10th.

Tyler Clippard (1-6), acquired in a trade Tuesday with the New York Yankees, took the loss in his White Sox debut. Top prospect Yoan Moncada had four RBIs in his second game with Chicago, including a bases-loaded triple.

PHILLIES 6, BREWERS 1

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Aaron Nola tied a career high with nine strikeouts in seven sharp innings, Freddy Galvis hit a two-run homer and Philadelphia beat reeling Milwaukee.

Nola (7-6) allowed one run and five hits. He has six straight quality starts, going 4-1 and lowering his ERA from 4.76 to 3.38 in that span.

The NL Central-leading Brewers have lost six in a row and their lead over the World Series champion Cubs is only one game.

The Phillies have won three straight for only the third time this season but still have the worst record in the majors.

Brewers starter Matt Garza (4-5) gave up two runs and three hits in five innings.

INDIANS 13, BLUE JAYS 3

CLEVELAND (AP) — Edwin Encarnacion homered and drove in four runs against his former team, and Cleveland broke open a close game with an eight-run seventh inning to pull away from Toronto.

Encarnacion, who played the last six seasons with the Blue Jays before signing a three-year, $60 million contract with Cleveland in January, hit a leadoff homer in the second, broke a 3-all tie in the fifth with a two-run double and added an RBI single in the seventh.

Abraham Almonte hit a three-run homer and rookie Bradley Zimmer added a two-run single in the seventh as the Indians won for just the second time in eight games.

Trevor Bauer (8-8) allowed three runs in five innings following a dreadful outing in his previous start.

Marco Estrada (4-7) gave up five runs in 4 2/3 innings and hasn’t won since May 27.

METS 7, ATHLETICS 5

NEW YORK (AP) — Michael Conforto hit a pair of two-run homers and Jerry Blevins rescued the Mets’ bullpen with a five-out save as New York held off Oakland for its third straight victory.

T.J. Rivera put the Mets ahead in the sixth inning with a two-run single that turned into a Little League home run. Rivera came all the way around to score on the play after third baseman Matt Chapman, trying to get Rivera at second, threw the ball away into right field for a costly error that made it 5-3.

Conforto’s second homer made it 7-3 in the seventh. Oakland rallied for two in the eighth, but Blevins replaced closer Addison Reed with the bases loaded and got five straight outs against his former team for his fifth major league save and first this season.

Blevins went at least 1 2/3 innings in a game for the first time since 2014 with Washington. He retired All-Star slugger Yonder Alonso on a foul popup and struck out Khris Davis to escape the eighth-inning jam.

Yoenis Cespedes had three hits and Hansel Robles (5-1) struck out two in a scoreless inning.

Marcus Semien had four hits and two RBIs for the Athletics. Rookie starter Paul Blackburn (1-1) gave up four runs over 5 1/3 innings.

RANGERS 4, RAYS 3, 10 INNINGS

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Elvis Andrus homered early and snapped a 10th-inning tie with a two-out infield single that gave struggling Texas a comeback victory over Tampa Bay.

Andrus hit a sharp grounder off Brad Boxberger (2-1) that forced Evan Longoria to make a diving stop. Pinch-runner Delino DeShields scored when the third baseman was unable to complete the throw to first base.

Alex Claudio (2-0) pitched two innings in relief of Yu Darvish to help the Rangers stop a five-game skid.

Rays starter Alex Cobb took a three-hitter and a 3-1 lead into the ninth, but couldn’t finish off the Rangers, who erased their deficit with Joey Gallo’s double and Shin-Soo Choo’s 14th homer within a three-pitch span.

Darvish struck out 12 over eight innings but allowed solo homers to Brad Miller, Corey Dickerson and Mallex Smith.

TIGERS 6, TWINS 3

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Victor Martinez hit two homers and Detroit topped Minnesota.

Anibal Sanchez (2-0) gave up three runs in 5 2/3 innings for the Tigers, who lost star slugger Miguel Cabrera to a bruised right clavicle in the fourth. Cabrera had X-rays that were negative and he is day to day.

Justin Wilson pitched the ninth for his 11th save. The Tigers are 14-1 in their last 15 games at Target Field.

All-Star Ervin Santana (11-7) had his shortest outing of the season for the Twins. He gave up five runs and seven hits in 3 1/3 innings.

Minnesota fell 1 1/2 games behind first-place Cleveland in the AL Central.

MARLINS 3, REDS 1

CINCINNATI (AP) — Jose Urena pitched three-hit ball into the seventh inning, Christian Yelich drove in two runs and Miami opened a six-game road trip with a rain-delayed victory over Cincinnati.

The Reds managed just four hits while falling to 1-7 on their 10-game homestand. The Marlins were coming off a 1-5 homestand.

After the start was delayed nearly two hours, Urena (8-4) allowed one run and struck out four. He and three relievers limited the Reds to one extra-base hit: Scooter Gennett’s double.

AJ Ramos worked the ninth for his 18th save.

Homer Bailey (2-4) turned in five shutout innings after Miami scored two in the first.

PADRES 12, GIANTS 9, 11 INNINGS

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Matt Szczur blooped a tiebreaking single in the 11th inning, his fourth hit of the game after coming off the bench, and San Diego outlasted San Francisco.

The Padres blew a three-run lead with two outs in the ninth when Giants pinch-hitter Conor Gillaspie homered off closer Brandon Maurer, but San Diego won in extra innings after scoring off George Kontos (0-4).

Jose Pirela and Carlos Asuaje added consecutive RBI singles for insurance.

Szczur entered as part of a double switch in the fourth and set a career high for hits. Hector Sanchez homered and had three hits against his former team.

Wil Myers hit his 18th home run, Pirela added four hits and two RBIs, and San Diego won for the 16th time in the last 21 games against San Francisco. Phil Maton (2-0) retired six batters in a game that ended after midnight on the West Coast.