Brewers infuse drama into NL wild-card race
Stanton slugs 57th HR for Marlins Yankees, Red Sox both triumph Indians still lead Astros as AL's No. 1
Travis Shaw hit a two-run homer with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning off Wade Davis as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs 4-3 on Saturday evening at Miller Park.
Shaw helped Milwaukee snap a threegame losing streak of losses decided in the final at-bat by lifting 1-0 pitch from Davis (4-2) over the center field wall. It got the Brewers back within 4½ games of first-place Chicago in the National League Central. Milwaukee is one game behind Colorado for the NL’s second wild-card spot.
Ian Happ drew a leadoff walk off Jeremy Jeffress (5-2) in the 10th inning and took second on Jayson Heyward’s sacrifice bunt. Jay followed and worked Jeffress even at 2-2 before sending a single up the middle to score Happ and put Chicago ahead.
Davis came back out for the 10th and struck out Neil Walker to start the inning. Ryan Braun doubled to the right-field corner to set the stage for Shaw to hit his 31st home run of the season.
Padres 5, Rockies 0
Jhoulys Chacin pitched six effective innings as San Diego defeated Colorado.
The Rockies’ lead for the NL’s second wild-card spot was trimmed to one game over Milwaukee and 1½ on St. Louis. Chad Bettis (1-4) lost for the third time in his last four decisions, lasting 42/3 innings and giving up a run and seven hits.
Marlins 12, Diamondbacks 6
Giancarlo Stanton hit his 57th home run to lead Miami over Arizona.
The Marlins slugger went 3-for-6 and was a triple shy of the cycle. Stanton drove in four runs and became Miami’s single-season RBI leader with 124, breaking the previous mark of 120 set by Preston Wilson in 2000.
Yankees 5, Blue Jays 1
Greg Bird hit a three-run homer and Sonny Gray pitched six effective innings as New York clinched an AL wild-card spot with a victory over Toronto.
Todd Frazier also homered for the Yankees, who are 16-6 in their last 22 games. Gray (10-11) won for the fourth time against six losses since joining the Yankees by holding the Blue Jays to one run on four hits.
Red Sox 5, Reds 0
Mitch Moreland hit a three-run homer and Eduardo Rodriguez allowed only three hits through 72/3 innings as Boston shut out Cincinnati.
Rodriguez (6-6) had six strikeouts and walked two in his longest outing since May 21. Rodriguez has made six straight quality starts on the road and four straight starts of two earned runs or fewer. The first-place Red Sox lead the New York Yankees by four games in the AL East.
Indians 11, Mariners 4
Francisco Lindor hit a leadoff homer and Cleveland went deep four times en route to victory over Seattle.
Jose Ramirez and Yan Gomes each had four RBIs. Ramirez went 3-for-3 with a double and a homer, while Gomes went 3-for-5 with two homers as the Indians maintained their 1½-game lead over Houston for the AL’s best record.
Astros 6, Angels 2
Carlos Correa recorded his first threehit game since returning from the disabled list and Evan Gattis hit a three-run homer as Houston handed Los Angeles its sixth straight loss.
Correa finished 3-for-3 with a walk and three RBIs, posting his fifth threehit game and sixth game with three-plus RBIs. Gattis followed Correa’s double in the fifth with a three-run homer for his 12th on the season.
Athletics 1, Rangers 0
Khris Davis hit his 40th home run of the season and Raul Alcantara threw five strong innings as Oakland defeated Texas.
The Athletics won their season-high sixth straight game and beat the Rangers at the Coliseum for the seventh consecutive time.
Giants 2, Dodgers 1
Madison Bumgarner allowed one run in 72/3 innings to end his four-game losing streak as San Francisco defeated Los Angeles.
Bumgarner (4-9) allowed five hits, struck out five and walked one. The Giants won for only the fourth time in his 14 starts this season.
Nationals 4, Mets 3 (10)
Daniel Murphy continued to torment his former team, lacing the tie-breaking homer leading off the 10th inning to lift Washington over New York.
Murphy’s homer off rookie righthander Jacob Rhame (0-1) was his ninth in 37 games against the Mets, with whom he spent the first eight years of his career before signing with the Nationals following the 2015 season. He is batting .393 versus New York.
Rays 9, Orioles 6
Jake Odorizzi struck out a season-high nine batters and Lucas Duda matched his career high with his 30th home run of the season as Tampa Bay eliminated Baltimore from playoff contention.
Odorizzi (10-8) kept the Rays’ longshot playoff hopes alive with his second straight dominant performance. Earlier in the week, he held Boston to a pair of earned runs on one hit to go along with six strikeouts over six innings.
Royals 8, White Sox 2
Danny Duffy pitched six-plus strong innings to finally solve a familiar foe, helping Kansas City defeat Chicago.
Duffy allowed two runs and two hits with two strikeouts and two walks. He was 0-3 with a 9.56 ERA in three earlier starts against the White Sox this season, yielding at least five runs each time.
Whit Merrifield smacked a bases-clearing double in the seventh inning to break things open for the Royals.