Brewers unable to gain on Cubs
Jesus Aguilar and Domingo Santana hit back-toback home runs to start the ninth inning, but the Brewers couldn’t complete the rally and lost to the visiting Pirates 3-2 on Sunday.
The result kept the Brewers 2½ games behind the Cubs, who lost to the Reds 2-1, in the battle for first place in the National League Central.
The Brewers hadn’t scored in 16 innings before Aguilar homered against Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez to lead off the ninth. Santana followed with a homer on the next pitch.
But Vazquez settled down from there to convert his 24th consecutive save opportunity and his 34th overall this season.
Red Sox’ Sale, Mets’ deGrom in rare matchup
The Red Sox’ Chris Sale (1.92 ERA) allowed one hit in three scoreless innings and the Mets’ Jacob deGrom (1.78) yielded three runs and five hits and struck out 12 in seven innings at Fenway Park in the first matchup between starting pitchers with sub2.00 ERAs and at least 100 innings pitched in more than 33 years. The Red Sox won 4-3.
The last such matchup between starting pitchers came when the Mets’ Dwight Gooden (1.74) faced the Cardinals’ John Tudor (1.95) on Sept. 11, 1985, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Mattingly: Limit roster sizes in September
Marlins manager Don Mattingly said Major League Baseball should consider limiting roster sizes in the last month of the regular season, suggesting that it require teams to name 25 active players for each game and relegate inactive ones to a designated ‘‘taxi squad.’’
‘‘The game you play for five months is not the game you play in September,’’ he said.
Yanks’ Judge might be back in lineup this week
Manager Aaron Boone said slugger Aaron Judge might return to the Yankees’ lineup during a threegame series this week against the Red Sox. Judge has not batted in a game since suffering a broken right wrist when he was hit by a pitch July 26.