MLB roundup: Pirates Josh Harrison spoils Rich Hill’s bid for perfection

Dodgers lefty Rich Hill lost his perfect game on an error in the ninth inning, then lost his no-hitter on a leadoff home run in the 10th by Josh Harrison that sent the Pittsburgh Pirates over Los Angeles 1-0 on Wednesday night in Pittsburgh.

The Pirates didn’t have a runner until Jordy Mercer led off the ninth with a sharp grounder that smacked off third baseman Logan Forsythe’s glove for an error. Hill retired the next three batters.

Hill (9-5) came back out for the 10th and Harrison sent his 99th pitch of the night into the first row of seats in left field, just out of the reach of left fielder Curtis Granderson. Hill struck out 10 without a walk.

Hill became the first pitcher since Pedro Martinez in 1995 to take a no-hit try into extra innings. Martinez, then with Montreal, lost his perfect game in the 10th at San Diego.

After Mercer reached in the ninth, Hill quickly retired the next three batters. Chris Stewart laid down a sacrifice bunt, Jose Osuna grounded out to Forsythe and when shortstop Corey Seager gobbled up a grounder by Starling Marte, Hill had held the Pirates hitless for nine innings.

Juan Nicasio (2-5) picked up the win after working the top of the 10th.

Orioles 8, Athletics 7 (12): In Baltimore, Zach Britton’s A.L.-record run of converting 60 straight save attempts ended amid the evening shadows of Camden Yards, when the Baltimore closer blew a two-run lead and failed to get out of the ninth inning in a game the Orioles ultimately won in the 12th.

Baltimore led 7-5 heading into the ninth when Britton entered to seal the victory, just as he had been doing successfully since the final days of the 2015 season. On this occasion, however, the left-hander gave up three straight hits before a sacrifice fly by Matt Joyce tied it.

Following a walk to Khris Davis, Britton was replaced by Miguel Castro (3-1), who quelled the uprising.

Manny Machado led off the 12th with a home run off Simon Castro (1-2) to end a game that lasted 4 hours, 20 minutes.

Britton’s streak began on Oct. 1, 2015, extended through all of last season and went for 11 more saves this year. He had not blown a save since Sept. 20, 2015, at Tampa Bay.

Britton finished well short of Eric Gagne’s major league mark of 84, set from 2002-04.

Astros 6, Nationals 1: In Houston, Alex Bregman hit a three-run homer and Jake Marisnick and Max Stassi added solo shots to help Houston beat Washington.

The victory snaps a nine-game losing streak to the Nationals and is just Houston’s second win in the last 15 games against Washington.

Houston starter Mike Fiers (8-8) yielded four hits and one run in seven strong innings to get his first win since July 21. Fiers was in command from the start of this one, looking much better than he had in his last four starts when he allowed a combined 24 hits and 20 runs.

The game was tied at 1 with one out in the fifth when Marisnick sent a curveball from Edwin Jackson (4-3) into left-center field for his 15th homer.

Red Sox 6, Indians 1: In Cleveland, Mitch Moreland hit a fifth-inning home run, and Drew Pomeranz and three relievers bested Corey Kluber as Boston topped Cleveland.

Moreland homered to right on a 1-0 pitch from Kluber (12-4), who allowed two runs over 7 2/3 innings.

Mookie Betts’ RBI single with two outs in the eighth ended the night for Cleveland’s ace, who allowed four hits and struck out 12 – the 13th time this season he’s reached double figures in strikeouts.

Four pitchers held Cleveland’s injury-depleted lineup to three hits, a night after Doug Fister pitched a one-hitter.

Edwin Encarnacion hit a two-out homer in the eighth off Addison Reed.

Pomeranz (13-4) gave up two hits and struck out nine in 5 1/3 innings in winning his seventh straight decision.

Royals 6, Rockies 4: In Kansas City, Missouri, Eric Hosmer hit a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning off former Kansas City teammate Greg Holland, lifting the Royals over Colorado.

Hosmer’s 21st home run of the season was the first game-ending shot of his career.

Holland (2-5) fell to 0-4 with one save in four opportunities in his past six games, allowing 10 hits, three home runs and 12 runs over five innings. The former Royals closer issued a leadoff walk in the ninth, gave up a two-out single to Melky Cabrera and then was tagged by Hosmer on a 1-1 pitch.

Brandon Maurer (2-1) pitched the ninth.

Yankees 10, Tigers 2: In Detroit, Gary Sanchez homered and drove in three runs, and Luis Severino pitched impressively into the seventh inning to lead New York to another lopsided win over Detroit.

Didi Gregorius and Chase Headley also homered for the Yankees, who have taken the first two games of this series by a combined score of 23-6. Severino (11-5) allowed a run and six hits in 6 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out eight.

Jordan Zimmermann (7-11) allowed seven runs for a third straight start. New York broke the game open with five runs off him in the third.

Ian Kinsler and Jose Iglesias went deep for Detroit’s only runs. The Tigers have lost eight of nine.

Cubs 9, Reds 3: In Cincinnati, Kyle Schwarber hit a three-run homer in the ballpark near his home, Tommy La Stella added a two-run shot while subbing for Kris Bryant, and Chicago kept its second-half surge going with a victory over Cincinnati.

The defending World Series champions have won eight of 10. They are 11 games over .500 for the first time this season and have their biggest lead in the N.L. Central, 3 1/2 games ahead of Milwaukee.

Left-hander Mike Montgomery (4-6) allowed four hits in six shutout innings, filling in for Jon Lester in the rotation. Joey Votto, Eugenio Suarez and Scott Schebler homered in the ninth for the Reds.

Schwarber provided an opposite-field shot in the fourth inning off Asher Wojciechowski (3-3), his ninth since he returned from a stint in the minors.

Mariners 9, Braves 6: In Atlanta, Taylor Motter replaced an injured Robinson Cano and gave Seattle the lead with a two-run single in the eighth inning.

Cano had two doubles before leaving with tightness in his left hamstring in the third.

Kyle Seager added a three-run homer in the eighth inning off Dan Winkler.

After blowing a 4-3 lead in the seventh, the Mariners rallied against Jim Johnson (6-3) in the eighth. Motter’s single to center field drove in Jean Segura, who doubled, and Yonder Alonso, who walked.

David Phelps (4-5, 2-1 AL) recorded two outs in the seventh after coming off the disabled list. Edwin Diaz recorded the final four outs – including three strikeouts in the ninth – for his 29th save in 33 chances.

Cardinals 6, Padres 2: In St. Louis, rookie Luke Weaver struck out 10 in seven scoreless innings, and Kolten Wong had three hits and three runs to help St. Louis beat San Diego.

The Cardinals had lost three straight and six of eight following an eight-game winning streak, and had allowed at least five runs in each of the last 12 games.

Weaver (2-1), the right-hander who turned 24 on Monday, allowed three hits in his longest career outing and matched his career best with 10 strikeouts.

San Diego’s Jhoulys Chacin (11-9) allowed five runs – four earned – on six hits in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out three, walked three and hit four batters.

Blue Jays 7, Rays 6: In St. Petersburg, Florida, Kevin Pillar hit Toronto’s sixth home run of the game in the eighth inning, lifting the Blue Jays over Tampa Bay.

Pillar snapped a 6-6 tie with a homer off Tommy Hunter (2-5) to help the Blue Jays end a four-game losing streak. It was Pillar’s 13th homer of the season.

Kevin Keirmaier hit two home runs and scored three times for the Rays, who came back from 5-0 down to the tie it before losing for the ninth time in 12 games.

Ryan Tepera (7-1) got the win and Roberto Osuna got the final four outs for his 33rd save.

Mets 4, Diamondbacks 2: In New York, Chris Flexen pitched six effective innings, rookie Dominic Smith homered and New York ended a three-game skid. The Mets won for just the second time in 10 games.

Making his sixth big league start, Flexen (3-2) gave up two runs and six hits. He walked four and struck out five.

AJ Ramos worked around a two-out walk for his 23rd save in 25 chances. He has converted all three save opportunities with the Mets.

Zack Godley (5-7) pitched five innings.

White Sox 4, Twins 3: In Chicago, Tim Anderson singled with one out in the ninth inning to score Avisail Garcia from second base and give Chicago a comeback victory.

Chicago tied it at 3 in the eighth on back-to-back one-out doubles by Leury Garcia and Yoan Moncada.

Avisail Garcia led off the ninth with a single and was sacrificed to second. Following an intentional walk to Yolmer Sanchez, Anderson produced the first walk-off hit of his career.

Jorge Polanco homered for the fourth straight game and drove in two runs for the Twins.

Danny Farquhar (3-2) pitched a scoreless ninth for the win. Trevor Hildenberger (2-2) took the loss.

Phillies 8, Marlins 0: In Philadelphia, Mark Leiter Jr. allowed one hit over seven innings, Rhys Hoskins homered and drove in five runs and Philadelphia rode that rookie tandem to a victory over Miami.

Leiter (2-3) didn’t allow a hit until Miguel Rojas doubled to lead off the sixth with a hard chopper that bounded over the head of drawn-in third baseman Maikel Franco. He struck out five and walked two to help the Phillies rebound from a doubleheader sweep Tuesday in which the Marlins homered six times while scoring 19 runs.

Hoskins has clubbed seven homers in 14 games since his call-up from Triple-A earlier this month. He has 16 RBIs during that time.

Justin Nicolino (2-2) lasted just 2 1/3 innings, giving up six runs on eight hits.

Giants 4, Brewers 2: In San Francisco, Jarrett Parker hit a go-ahead two-run double in the seventh, Buster Posey hit a sacrifice fly and San Francisco beat contending Milwaukee.

Hunter Strickland (3-3) pitched the seventh for the victory as San Francisco took the series against a Milwaukee club that had hoped to grab some momentum going into a tough weekend ahead on the road against baseball’s best the Dodgers. The Brewers began the day 2 1/2 games behind the first-place Cubs in the N.L. Central, having won six of seven games before arriving at AT&T Park.

Carlos Moncrief added a sacrifice fly in the eighth before Sam Dyson, San Francisco’s third reliever after Mark Melancon tossed a 1-2-3 eighth, closed it out for his 12th save in 13 opportunities.

Jacob Barnes (3-4) took the loss.

Rangers 7, Angels 5: In Anaheim, California, – Adrian Beltre hit two early homers and Texas pushed three runs across in the 10th inning to beat Los Angeles.

Rougned Odor hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the 10th and Robinson Chirinos and Drew Robinson followed with RBI singles off Eduardo Paredes (0-1).

After Jose Leclerc walked the first two batters in the Angels 10th, Tony Barnette relieved. He got Albert Pujols to ground into a double play, gave up an RBI single to Kole Calhoun and then got the last out for his first major league save.

Alex Claudio (3-1) pitched two innings for the win.

Luis Valbuena homered and drove in four runs for the Angels.