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MLB roundup: Mets score nine runs in eighth to rally past Nationals

Mets slugger Yoenis Cespedes celebrates with teammates in the dugout after hitting a grand slam to cap a nine-run eighth inning as New York rallied to beat Washington on Wednesday in New York. (Kathy Willens / AP)
Associated Press

Yoenis Cespedes launched a grand slam during a nine-run outburst in the eighth inning that rallied the New York Mets past the Washington Nationals 11-5 on Wednesday night in New York, preventing a three-game sweep.

Todd Frazier tied it at 4 with a two-run single and pinch-hitter Juan Lagares put New York ahead for the first time with a two-run double off ineffective setup man Ryan Madson (0-2).

Shut down by Tanner Roark for seven innings, the first-place Mets broke loose in the eighth and improved to 13-4 with a stirring victory against their N.L. East rivals.

Ryan Zimmerman homered twice, tripled and drove in four runs for the Nationals, who pulled off their own big comeback in the eighth inning of the series opener.

AJ Ramos (1-1) worked a perfect inning for his first win with the Mets since being acquired from Miami last July.

Athletics 12, White Sox 11 (14): In Oakland, California, Matt Olson singled over left fielder Nicky Delmonico to drive in Marcus Semien with two outs in the 14th inning and Oakland beat Chicago in a wild game that lasted nearly six hours.

The A’s trailed 6-1, 9-4 and 10-8, then gave up a tying run in the ninth before scoring the winning run off James Shields (1-1) five innings later.

The teams combined for 33 hits and 18 walks –12 by Chicago pitchers – in a game that lasted 5 hours and 48 minutes. It was the third-longest game by time in Oakland Athletics history.

Semien singled with two outs in the 14th and stole second. After Shields walked Jed Lowrie and Khris Davis, Olson lined an 0-1 pitch deep to left, and Delmonico watched it go over his head.

Lou Trivino (1-0) pitched three innings for his first major league win.

Tigers 6, Orioles 5: In Detroit, Dixon Machado led off the bottom of the ninth with a home run, capping a wild final two innings and lifting Detroit over Baltimore.

Detroit led 2-1 before each team scored three runs in the eighth and one in the ninth. Baltimore’s Luis Sardinas tied it with a solo shot off Shane Greene (1-0) in the top of the ninth, but then Machado hit a line drive off Pedro Araujo (1-2) that cleared the fence in left field for only the second homer of the infielder’s big league career.

Miguel Cabrera went deep on his 35th birthday, and Jeimer Candelario and John Hicks also homered for Detroit. Hicks hit a three-run shot in the eighth that put the Tigers up 5-4.

Brewers 2, Reds 0: In Milwuakee, center fielder Christian Yelich returned from the disabled list and made a snazzy sliding catch on a fly ball that deflected off the glove of left fielder Hernan Perez, and the Brewers beat Cincinnati.

Zach Davies allowed three hits over 6 1/3 innings to win for the first time in four starts this season, and Eric Thames hit a two-run homer.

Davies (1-2) struck out two, walked two and hit a batter, lowering his ERA from 6.75 to 4.84. Jacob Barnes finished with two hitless innings for his second save as the Brewers won consecutive home games for the first time this season.

Thames homered on a slider from Tyler Mahle (1-3) in the third inning, his team-leading seventh home run and 12th against the Reds in two seasons.

Blue Jays 15, Royals 5: In Toronto, Teoscar Hernandez had four hits, including a two-run home run, Curtis Granderson hit his ninth career grand slam and Toronto routed Kansas City to complete a three-game sweep of the Royals, losers of eight straight.

Granderson’s slam, which came off Justin Grimm, was the big blow in a six-run eighth. Toronto set season highs with 15 runs and 15 hits.

Toronto (12-5) is off to its best start since 2009.

J.A. Happ (3-1) allowed five hits and four runs in six innings to win his third straight start as the Blue Jays won their fourth straight and eighth of nine.

After losing its first two home games of the season, Toronto has won seven of eight at Rogers Centre. The Jays have outscored opponents 67-40 in 10 home games.

Toronto has won 12 of its past 15 home meetings with Kansas City.

Kansas City’s Ian Kennedy (1-2) allowed six runs, four earned, and eight hits in five innings.

Braves 7, Phillies 3: In Atlanta, Ryan Flaherty homered and drove in four runs, Brandon McCarthy outpitched Vince Velasquez and Atlanta beat Philadelphia.

McCarthy (3-0) allowed one run and five hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings.

Flaherty’s three-run homer off Velasquez (1-2) in the fifth gave Atlanta a 3-1 lead. The Phillies got within one in the seventh before Dansby Swanson’s homer off Edubray Ramos in the bottom of the inning put Atlanta ahead 4-2. Flaherty added a run-scoring single in the Braves’ three-run eighth.

Velasquez allowed three runs in six innings.

Rays 4, Rangers 2: In St. Petersburg, Florida, Jake Faria won for the first time since last July 25, allowing one run over six innings to lead Tampa Bay over the Cole Hamels and Texas.

Faria (1-1) struck out six and walked one. He had been 0-4 in eight starts and two relief appearances since beating Baltimore.

Hamels (1-3) gave up two hits through five scoreless innings before the Rays rallied to take a 3-1 in the sixth. Denard Span’s RBI double with one out in the seventh chased Hamels, who allowed four runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings.

Alex Colome got his fourth save despite allowing Drew Robinson’s RBI single in the ninth.

Pirates 10, Rockies 2: In Pittsburgh, Sean Rodriguez hit a two-run home run that backed Chad Kuhl and helped Pittsburgh beat Colorado to avoid a three-game sweep.

Josh Bell drove in three runs and David Freese added a two-run double as Pittsburgh improved to 8-0 in day games. Adam Frazier had three of Pittsburgh’s 13 hits and backup catcher Elias Diaz added two hits.

Kyle Freeland (0-3) cruised through the first three innings but ran into trouble in the fourth. He was charged with five runs, six hits and two walks in four-plus innings.

Kuhl (2-1) allowed Chris Iannetta’s solo home run in the third but otherwise kept Colorado’s struggling offense in check. Kuhl struck out four and walked three while giving up four hits.

Astros 7, Mariners 1: In Seattle, Gerrit Cole pitched seven strong innings and the Houston Astros scored six runs in the seventh to beat the Seattle Mariners 7-1 on Wednesday night.

Cole (2-0) struck out five, ending a string of double-digit strikeout games at three. He gave up just an unearned run.

The Astros sent 11 batters to the plate in their biggest-scoring inning of the season off Mariners starter Mike Leake and relievers Nick Vincent and James Pazos.

The first five Houston batters reached against Leake (2-1), starting with Josh Reddick’s leadoff walk. After Yuli Gurriel hit a double in the left-field corner, Marwin Gonzalez followed by lining Leake’s first pitch to center field for a two-run single that gave the Astros a 3-1 lead.

Brian McCann doubled to deep right center, and Houston grabbed a 4-1 lead on a fielding error by right fielder Mitch Haniger, who got a late jump on Evan Gattis’ shallow fly ball.

Two batters later, George Springer hit a two-run double off Vincent that caromed off the right-center wall, and Houston had a 6-1 lead.

Twins 2, Indians 1 (16): In San Juan, Puerto Rico, Eddie Rosario scored the winning run in his homeland in the bottom of the 16th inning, coming around on Ryan LaMarre’s single to lift Minnesota over Cleveland to split a two-game series in Puerto Rico.

Rosario led off the 16th with a single and went to third when Logan Morrison’s grounder – which could have been a double-play ball – got past second baseman Jason Kipnis.

Eduardo Escobar was intentionally walked to load the bases with none out, and LaMarre finally ended the 5-hour, 13-minute marathon with a sharp liner to center.

The game took so long that Minnesota’s Joe Mauer and Zach Duke both aged a year – they turn 35 on Thursday, which meant their birthdays started around the 16th inning.

The teams were scoreless until trading solo homers in the 14th. Edwin Encarnacion got his off the left-field foul pole for Cleveland, and Miguel Sano tied it for the Twins leading off the bottom half against former Minnesota pitcher Matt Belisle.

Red Sox 9, Angels 0: In Anaheim, California, Rafael Devers hit his first career grand slam, Rick Porcello threw six scoreless innings and Bostonextended its best start in franchise history with a win over Los Angeles.

Mitch Moreland had four RBIs, including a two-run homer in the ninth, and J.D Martinez hit a solo shot in the seventh to help the Red Sox to their sixth consecutive win. Boston is 15-1 since losing on opening day.

Devers hit a home run for the second game in a row, putting his third of the season off the wall in right field just over the yellow line to make it 6-0 after Moreland singled to score Mookie Betts.

After getting out of an early jam in the first, Porcello (4-0) cruised to his league-leading fourth win. He gave up six hits and struck out six without issuing a walk.

Tyler Skaggs (2-1) gave up six runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings for the Angels, who have lost two straight following a seven-game winning streak.

Giants 4, Diamondbacks 3: In Phoenix, Brandon Belt hit a two-run homer with two out in the 10th inning, and San Francisco beat Arizona to stop a four-game slide.

Andrew McCutchen opened the 14th with a leadoff single against Brad Boxberger. Buster Posey then struck out swinging and Evan Longoria flied to center before Belt a hit a towering drive into the seats in right for his second homer of the season.

Boxberger (0-1) had opened the season with seven scoreless appearances of an inning apiece. Hunter Strickland (2-0) got the win despite blowing a save chance.

Dodgers 13, Padres 4: In San Diego, Max Muncy homered for the first time since 2016, Corey Seager had four hits and three RBIs and Kenta Maeda struck out 10 as Los Angeles completed a three-game sweep of San Diego.

The Dodgers extended their season-high winning streak to four.

The Padres struck out 13 times. On Tuesday night, they struck out 20 times in a 7-3, 12-inning loss, tying the club record set in a 15-inning game in 2001.

The Dodgers outscored the Padres 30-10 in the series.