Manny Machado hit a two-run home run in the eighth Sunday afternoon to break a 3-3 tie and lead the streaking San Diego Padres to a 5-3 win over the visiting Houston Astros at Petco Park.
The Padres’ seventh straight win completed a three-game sweep of the Astros. It is the Padres’ longest winning streak since 2013. Shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr., who had made a sensational catch of a George Springer pop fly in left in the top of the inning, hit a bloop single to open the bottom of the eighth off Enoli Paredes.
Machado then drove his eighth homer of the season — and his second in two games — over the fence in right-center. San Diego used the equivalent of a bullpen start to out-duel Padres nemesis Zack Greinke. Right-hander Craig Stammen (3-1), the fifth of six Padres pitchers, retired all four Astros he faced to earn the win. Emilio Pagan picked up his second save of the season — and his second of the series — with a perfect ninth.
Houston had won eight straight games coming into the series.
Phillies 5, Braves 4
Philadelphia hit three home runs and its beleaguered bullpen was able to hang on — with the potential tying run thrown out at home to end the game — to beat host Atlanta and snap a five-game losing streak.
Alec Bohm hit his first major league homer in the second inning, with Rhys Hoskins delivering a two-run shot and Didi Gregorius hitting a solo homer, both in the third for the Phillies. Freddie Freeman hit two doubles and drove in three runs, one on the game’s last play before the second runner was thrown out.
Philadelphia starter Zach Eflin (1-1) threw 5 1/3 innings and allowed three runs on six hits with three walks and six strikeouts to pick up the win. Just-acquired closer Brandon Workman survived for his fifth save, and his first for Philadelphia. Atlanta starter Josh Tomlin (1-1) went three innings and allowed four runs on six hits with five strikeouts.
Athletics 5, Angels 4 (10 innings)
Mark Canha’s sacrifice fly scored Franklin Barreto from third in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift host Oakland over Los Angeles to win the series and improve to 13-4 at home.
Barreto, pinch running for Matt Olson, began the inning on second base as the designated runner, and went to third on a leadoff single by Matt Chapman. Canha followed with a fly ball to right-center field off Angels reliever Ty Buttrey (1-1).
A’s reliever Liam Hendriks (2-0) pitched a scoreless inning in the top of the 10th to get the victory. The Angels’ Shohei Ohtani hit his fifth home run of the season.
Cubs 2, White Sox 1
Kyle Schwarber hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning and the host Cubs were able to salvage a game in the three-game series with their Chicago rivals.
Right-hander Yu Darvish (5-1) gave up one run on six hits over seven innings with a walk and 10 strikeouts as the Cubs were finally able to slow down the home run attack of the White Sox.
Jose Abreu did hit a second-inning homer for the White Sox, but that was the only drive to clear the Wrigley Field ivy after the visitors hit 11 homers in the first two games of the series. The White Sox had their winning streak halted at seven games. In all, Abreu went deep six times against the Cubs over the weekend — the most home runs ever in a three-game series by a White Sox player.
Cardinals 6, Reds 2
Yadier Molina smacked four hits and drove in two runs to lead host St. Louis past Cincinnati to take three out of four in the series.
Five Cardinals pitchers combined to hold the Reds to three hits. Genesis Cabrera (2-1) earned the victory with two scoreless innings of middle relief. Harrison Bader and Dylan Carlson hit two-run homers for the Cardinals, who won three times in the four-game series.
Losing pitcher Tyler Mahle (0-1) allowed three runs on five hits and two walks in three innings. The Reds’ runs scored on Eugenio Suarez’s fourth home run of the season.
Dodgers 11, Rockies 3
In a game that gave the appearances it was being played in the thin air of the Rocky Mountains, Los Angeles drilled seven home runs to finish a three-game sweep of Colorado at Dodger Stadium.
Mookie Betts hit two home runs, while Corey Seager, Enrique Hernandez, Cody Bellinger, Will Smith and Max Muncy also went deep as the Dodgers won for the 11th time in their past 12 games. Los Angeles improved to 22-8 at the midway point of its abbreviated 60-game schedule.
On a hot and humid afternoon, the Dodgers took over the major league lead in home runs with 59 and became the first National League team with seven home runs in a game this season. Dodgers left-hander Victor Gonzalez (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings in relief of starter Ross Stripling to earn his first career victory in just his third major league outing. Stripling gave up two runs on six hits over four innings.
Twins 5, Royals 4
Nelson Cruz blasted his 10th home run of the season as Minnesota defeated host Kansas City to close out the regular-season series between the teams at 5-5.
Cruz has six home runs against Kansas City this season and 15 in the last two seasons. Miguel Sano was 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored for the Twins. Tyler Clippard (1-0) picked up the win with a perfect inning for the Twins on a bullpen day. Taylor Rogers earned his sixth save in eight chances.
Hunter Dozier had four hits for the Royals, and Maikel Franco and Jorge Soler each drove in two runs. Kris Bubic (0-4) allowed four runs on nine hits in 3 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out none.
Nationals 9, Marlins 3
Ex-Miami pitcher Anibal Sanchez earned his first win of the season, leading host Washington to an easy victory as shortstop Trea Turner, who has scored at least one run in 12 of his past 13 games, went 3-for-3 and was hit by a pitch, scored twice and had three RBIs.
Sanchez, who entered the game with an 8.50 ERA, earned his first victory since Sept. 25 last year. Sanchez (1-3) allowed one run on five hits with no walks in seven innings to lower his ERA to 6.48. He struck out five and helped the Nationals even this series at two victories apiece. The finale is set for Monday.
Two Marlins rookies made their major league debuts in the game — catcher Brian Navaretto (2-for-3) and reliever Brandon Leibrandt, who pitched four scoreless innings. Fourteen Marlins have made their MLB debuts this season.
Rays 5, Blue Jays 4
Starter Josh Fleming won in his major league debut as Tampa Bay rallied to defeat Toronto in St. Petersburg, Fla.
The left-handed Fleming (1-0) — the Rays’ 11th different starter this season — worked effectively through Toronto’s dangerous lineup over five solid innings in his 72-pitch debut. He allowed two runs on four hits while walking two and striking out three.
In his return to Tampa Bay’s lineup, Yandy Diaz went 2-for-2 with two walks, and Austin Meadows (two RBIs), Brandon Lowe and Jose Martinez drove in runs. Toronto’s Teoscar Hernandez and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. each homered.
Orioles 5, Red Sox 4
Rio Ruiz drove in four runs, and Thomas Eshelman threw 4 1/3 hitless innings in relief as host Baltimore defeated Boston.
Eshelman came on after starter Wade LeBlanc needed to leave after 14 pitches with an apparent left elbow issue. LeBlanc gave up a leadoff home run to Kevin Pillar, got two outs, and walked Sander Bogaerts before Eshelman entered.
The Orioles pulled out a split of the four-game series. Ruiz had a two-run single and a two-run double, and Boston’s Jackie Bradley had a two-run homer off Tanner Scott before Scott finished his first major league save. Baltimore’s Anthony Santander ran his hitting streak to 18 games with a fourth-inning double.
Mariners 4, Rangers 1
Rookie right-hander Justin Dunn allowed just one hit in six scoreless innings as host Seattle completed a three-game sweep of Texas.
Kyle Lewis, Austin Nola and Sam Haggerty homered for the Mariners, who pulled within a half-game of third-place Texas in the American League West. Right-hander Taylor Williams pitched the ninth for his sixth save of the season.
Dunn (2-1), who earned his first major league victory Aug. 10 at Texas, walked one batter and struck out a career-high six. Rangers left-hander Mike Minor (0-5), an All-Star in 2019, allowed just five hits in six innings, but three were home runs. He walked one and struck out four. Jeff Mathis homered for the Rangers, who suffered their eighth consecutive defeat.
Pirates 5, Brewers 4
Gregory Polanco’s two-out, two-run home run in the eighth inning gave host Pittsburgh a sweep of the three-game series against Milwaukee.
Polanco’s fourth homer of the season came against Milwaukee reliever David Phelps (2-3) one out after Cole Tucker’s one-out single.
Adam Frazier, Jarrod Dyson and Bryan Reynolds each added an RBI single for Pittsburgh, which had just four wins entering the three-game series. Justin Smoak hit a two-run homer and an RBI double, and Omar Narvaez added two hits and an RBI for the Brewers.
Tigers 7, Indians 4
Miguel Cabrera drove in a pair of runs and Isaac Paredes had three hits to lead Detroit past host Cleveland to take two out of three after losing 20 straight games to the Indians entering the weekend.
Jorge Bonifacio and Grayson Greiner each hit their first home run of the season for the Tigers, and Daniel Norris (2-1) picked up the win. Jose Cisnero recorded the final two outs for his first major league save.
The Indians formed a rally in the ninth off Detroit closer Joe Jimenez, cutting the lead to 7-4 on a three-run home run to right-center by Greg Allen before Cisnero finished up.
Giants 6, Diamondbacks 1
Alex Dickerson hit a three-run home run and Mike Yastrzemski added a solo shot, leading host San Francisco to a sweep of Arizona at Oracle Park.
Dickerson’s two-out, seventh-inning home run turned a 2-1 game into a runaway win for the sizzling Giants, who have won six straight games and won each of the first three games this season between the National League West rivals.
The Giants, who dropped the D-backs into last place in the division, won on the day they designated outfielder Hunter Pence for assignment, effectively releasing the veteran who won World Series titles with San Francisco in 2012 and ’14. Pence was batting .096 in 17 games for the Giants this season.
–Field Level Media
