Ohtani hits 43rd HR as Dodgers edge D-backs
Will Smith hit a three-run homer, Freddie Freeman belted a two-run shot and Shohei Ohtani hit a solo blast to help the Los Angeles Dodgers record a wild 10-9 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night at Phoenix.
Freeman finished with three RBIs as Los Angeles won the opener of the fourgame series between National League West rivals. The Dodgers have won three straight and nine of 11 and lead the Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres by five games in the division race.
Ohtani’s blast was his 43rd of the season. He also stole his 43rd base as he bids to become the first 50-50 man in major league history.
Corbin Carroll and Eugenio Suarez homered for the Diamondbacks, who have lost three of their past four games. Arizona fell into a virtual tie with the Padres for the NL’s top wild-card berth.
Los Angeles ace Clayton Kershaw departed in the second inning due to pain in his left big toe. Kershaw allowed three runs, three hits and one walk while recording three outs.
Reynaldo Lopez threw six quality innings and Orlando Arcia hit a pair of home runs, helping lead visiting Atlanta to a win over Philadelphia.
Lopez (8-4) allowed just one run on four hits, while striking out six and walking one, guiding the Braves to their 10th win in 13 tries. Sean Murphy hit a solo home run and Matt Olson and Marcell Ozuna each tallied two hits as Atlanta evened the four-game series and cut Philadelphia’s National League East lead to five.
Bryce Harper finished 3-for-4 for the Phillies while Bryson Stott and J.T. Realmuto each had solo homers. Philadelphia has lost two of three games following a four-game winning streak.
Arcia led off the top of the third with his 14th home run of the year to left-center, immediately followed by Murphy’s eighth of the season to left to give Atlanta a 2-0 lead off Phillies starter Ranger Suarez.
Lopez then worked around Harper’s two-out double in the bottom of the third by retiring Nick Castellanos.
Manny Machado homered among his three hits and drove in four runs, fueling San Diego to a victory over Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg, Fla.
David Peralta belted a two-run homer, Xander Bogaerts also went deep and Donovan Solano had a two-run single and drove in three to highlight San Diego’s 13-hit attack.
The Padres scored eight runs on eight hits in the first three innings after being limited to three hits in a 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday.
The offense was more than enough for San Diego starter Martin Perez (4-5). The veteran left-hander overcame a rocky beginning to pick up the win after allowing four runs on seven hits in five innings. He walked three and struck out four.
Tampa Bay’s Yandy Diaz belted a two-run homer among his two hits before exiting in the fourth inning due to left knee patellar tendinitis. Taylor Walls had a two-run single and scored on Jonathan Aranda’s groundout in the eighth inning for the Rays, who fell for the sixth time in their past eight games.
Austin Wells hit a tiebreaking tworun homer with two outs in the third inning, belted another two-run drive in the eighth and Marcus Stroman pitched seven innings for his third straight win as host New York beat St. Louis.
Juan Soto hit a game-tying double in the three-run third off St. Louis starter Erick Fedde before Wells hit his 11th homer of the season to give New York a 4-2 lead. Wells added his second homer with two outs in the eighth for a 6-3 lead.
Stroman allowed two runs and survived tying a season high by allowing nine hits while completing seven innings for the first time since May 31 at San Francisco. The right-hander struck out five, walked none, and got seven groundouts, including double plays on Pedro Pages and Lars Nootbaar in the fourth and sixth, respectively.
Soto tied the score when he hit a double to the bottom of the center field wall with one out in the third to score Gleyber Torres from first base. After Fedde retired Aaron Judge, Wells hit an 0-1 changeup into the right-center field seats just over the leaping try of right fielder Jordan Walker.
Soto also potentially prevented a run in the fifth with an outfield assist. Astros 3, Royals 2
Jose Altuve socked a walk-off double with two outs in the ninth inning as t
Jose Altuve socked a walk-off double with two outs in the ninth inning as Houston recovered from a gut punch in the top of that frame to beat visiting Kansas City.
Altuve notched his sixth career walkoff hit in the regular season (1 postseason), and his first since July 11, 2021, vs. the Yankees. It was a shot off Royals reliever James McArthur (5-6), who surrendered a one-out, opposite-field single to Jake Meyers that set the table for Altuve. Meyers scored from first when the ball caromed off the left-field wall and rolled away from left fielder MJ Melendez.
Astros left-hander Framber Valdez twirled seven no-hit innings and flirted with a second no-hitter for the second time this season. He logged 82⁄3 no-hit innings against the Texas Rangers on Aug. 6 and tossed his first career no-hitter against the Cleveland Guardians on Aug. 1, 2023.
Valdez had to walk a tightrope throughout after Royals right-hander Seth Lugo allowed just one run on six hits and one walk with nine strikeouts over seven innings. The lone run came in the bottom of the third inning when Astros left fielder Ben Gamel popped his first home run since Oct. 2, 2022, a 356foot drive to left-center field that gave the Astros a 1-0 lead.
Houston added an insurance in the eighth when Jeremy Pena followed back-to-back hits against Royals reliever Carlos Hernandez with a sacrifice fly that drove home Yainer Diaz.
Josh Naylor had three hits and four RBIs before leaving late with an injury, Jhonkensy Noel and Andres Gimenez hit back-to-back homers in the fifth inning and Cleveland defeated visiting Pittsburgh.
Cleveland blew a 4-0 lead and trailed 6-4 in the fifth inning.
Facing Pittsburgh reliever Carmen Mlodzinski (2-5), Jose Ramirez singled, stole second and scored on Naylor’s one-out single.
Noel followed with a no-doubt drive into the left field seats for his 13th homer and a 7-6 Cleveland lead. Right behind, Gimenez lined a drive over the right field wall, his sixth.
Left-hander DL Hall tossed seven shutout innings as an emergency starter and visiting Milwaukee belted four homers in a victory over Cincinnati, completing a sweep of a day-night doubleheader.
William Contreras and Willy Adames homered in a 10-run ninth inning to blow open the game and lead Milwaukee to its fourth straight win. Garrett Mitchell and Rhys Hoskins also homered in the lopsided victory.
Position player Luke Maile was called on with one out in the ninth to record the final two outs and surrendered six runs on six hits as boos rained down on manager David Bell and the Reds.
Adames and Contreras homered in the first game to help the Brewers to a 5-4 win in 10 innings. With the two wins Friday, Milwaukee has claimed eight of the 11 meetings between the two clubs this season.
In the early game, Sal Frelick grounded into a double play to score automatic runner Eric Haase with the go-ahead run as the Brewers edged the Reds in 10 innings.
Trevor McGill (1-3) allowed one hit in a scoreless ninth to earn the win while Devin Williams pitched a scoreless 10th for his seventh save in eight chances.
Cincinnati closer Alexis Diaz (1-5) gave up a bunt single to Brice Turang to open the 10th that moved Haase to third before Frelick’s double-play grounder.
It’s been a miserable week for Diaz, who lost the game Sunday in Pittsburgh on a walk-off two-run homer and surrendered three runs in the ninth Thursday against Oakland while protecting a one-run lead. The Reds still won by scoring three runs in the bottom of the ninth.
Emmanuel Rivera homered, singled and finished with three RBIs as Baltimore beat Colorado in Denver.
Ramon Urias and Eloy Jimenez had two hits each to back a strong outing by starter Albert Suarez.
Suarez (7-4) scattered eight hits and allowed two runs in seven innings. Seranthony Dominguez got the final three outs for his eighth save for Baltimore, which snapped a two-game skid.
Brendan Rodgers homered among his two hits and Ryan McMahon also contributed two hits for the Rockies, who have dropped two straight and three of their last four.
The Orioles took an early lead when Colton Cowers doubled with one out in the second and scored on Rivera’s single. It stayed that way until the third when Colorado got some help from a fan.
The Seattle Mariners benefited from an error that led to five unearned runs in the first inning and cruised to a victory over Los Angeles in Anaheim, Calif.
Julio Rodriguez reached base four times with a home run and three walks, and Victor Robles had three hits from the No. 9 spot, but an error by Angels shortstop Zach Neto in the first inning sparked the Mariners’ win.
Angels starter Samuel Aldegheri made history when he threw the first pitch of the game in the top of the first inning, becoming the first pitcher born and raised in Italy to pitch in a major league game.
It quickly went south for the 22-yearold left-hander, who was acquired by the Angels just before the trade deadline in a deal that sent closer Carlos Estevez to the Philadelphia Phillies. It wasn’t all Aldegheri’s fault, however. He retired two of the first three Mariners batters of the game, sandwiched around a walk to Rodiguez.
Cody Bellinger’s two-run homer capped a seven-run second inning, Keegan Thompson struck out Dylan Crews with the potential tying and winning runs on base in the ninth and visiting Chicago held on to beat Washington.
After Ildemaro Vargas singled home a run against Tyson Miller with one out in the ninth, Drew Smyly came on with runners on first and third and walked CJ Abrams to load the bases.
Keibert Ruiz struck out, but Jacob Young singled up the middle, scoring two runs to make it 7-6. Thompson came on and struck out Crews to earn his second save.
Michael Busch and Ian Happ each had two hits and an RBI and Pete CrowArmstrong smacked a two-run double for the Cubs, who have won four straight and seven of their past eight as they chase a National League wild-card spot.
Ceddanne Rafaela blasted a two-run homer in the 10th inning as the Boston Red Sox pulled out a 7-5 victory over the host Detroit Tigers on Friday night.
Jarren Duran doubled twice and added a solo homer in the 10th for the Red Sox, and Connor Wong supplied a double and a homer while driving in two runs.
Kenley Jansen (4-2) was credited with the win after failing to record a save in the 9th inning, and Chris Martin notched his second save.
Starter Tanner Houck pitched six scoreless innings, allowing just three hits, and had six strikeouts.
Tylor Megill pitched 51⁄3 strong innings in his return to the rotation, J.D. Martinez homered and Jesse Winker had three hits to lift visiting New York to a win against Chicago.
New York won for the third time in four games to remain three games behind the Braves for the third National League wild-card spot. Atlanta won at Philadelphia earlier on Friday.
Chicago managed just five hits, including one for extra bases, en route to its eighth straight defeat. The White Sox took their 105th loss of the season and are one shy of tying the franchise record set in 1970.
The White Sox must win 12 of their remaining 26 games to avoid matching the 1962 Mets for the most losses in modern major league history (120).
Pablo Lopez pitched 72⁄3 scoreless innings to lead Minnesota to a win over Toronto in Minneapolis.
Carlos Santana and Willi Castro drove in one run apiece for Minnesota, which snapped a four-game losing streak. The Twins entered the series opener against Toronto with eight losses in their past 10 games.
Leo Jimenez and Spencer Horwitz had two hits apiece to lead the Blue Jays at the plate. All seven of Toronto’s hits were singles.
Lopez (13-8) scattered six walked none and struck out three. hits,
JJ Bleday hit a three-run home run and drove in four runs, Brent Rooker added a pair of solo homers and Oakland opened a three-game series against Texas with a win in Arlington, Texas.
Shea Langeliers also homered for Oakland, which has won four of its last five games. JP Sears (11-9) tossed seven strong innings, allowing one run on five hits.
Nathaniel Lowe homered for Texas, which had its three-game win streak snapped. Carson Kelly had two of the Rangers’ seven hits.
Oakland took a 1-0 lead on the second pitch of the game against Jon Gray (5-6). Lawrence Butler grounded out on the first pitch ahead of Rooker’s 416-foot homer.
Matt Chapman lined a two-out, twostrike, bases-clearing double in the eighth inning, rallying San Francisco to a victory over visiting Miami.
The Giants, who began a six-game homestand, snapped a two-game losing streak, reached .500 at 68-68 and remained 61⁄2 games behind the Atlanta Braves in the race for the final National League wild-card playoff spot.
In a game that featured a classic pitchers’ duel between the Giants’ Blake Snell and Marlins’ Adam Oller, Miami used a seventh-inning RBI single by David Hensley to put up the contest’s only run until Chapman’s big hit.
Pinch hitter Jerar Encarnacion led off the eighth with a single off Marlins reliever Mike Baumann (3-1) before consecutive one-out walks to Mike Yastrzemski and Heliot Ramos loaded the bases.