MLB Capsules: Los Angeles Dodgers move into first place in NL West
ST. LOUIS – Chase Utley, Logan Forsythe and Chris Taylor combined to reach base 11 times and totaled six runs, helping the streaking Los Angeles Dodgers rally past the St. Louis Cardinals 9-4 on Tuesday night.
Utley finished a homer shy of the cycle as the Dodgers won their season-high sixth straight game. Forsythe reached five times, including three walks, and Taylor reached three times.
Adrian Gonzalez’s sacrifice fly and Utley’s RBI double started the Dodgers comeback in the third. Enrique Hernandez tied it at 3 with a single, and Paul DeJong’s throwing error on the same play scored Utley to give the Dodgers a 4-3 lead.
Brandon Morrow (1-0) pitched a scoreless inning for the win.
Michael Wacha (2-3) needed 77 pitches to get through three innings, the shortest outing for a St. Louis starter this season. The Cardinals have dropped 10 of 13.
INDIANS 9, ATHLETICS 4
CLEVELAND – Trevor Bauer struck out an A.L.-best 14 in seven innings, leading Cleveland to the win.
Bauer’s career-best strikeout total was one shy of this season’s major league-high of 15 by Washington’s Stephen Strasburg against San Diego on Saturday.
Bauer (5-4) allowed three runs and seven hits with one walk. Four Cleveland pitchers combined to strike out 19, tying a franchise record for a nine-inning game.
Rookie Bradley Zimmer had a career-high four RBIs for the Indians, hitting a two-run double in the fourth and a two-run homer in the eighth.
Sonny Gray (2-2) allowed seven runs in 4 2/3 innings for Oakland, which dropped a season-high seven games below .500.
YANKEES 8, ORIOLES 3
BALTIMORE – Brett Gardner and Matt Holliday each homered twice, Aaron Judge drove in two runs and the Yankees received a solid pitching performance from Luis Severino.
Gardner set the tone for the A.L. East leaders by connecting on the third pitch from Chris Tillman (1-2), who had not allowed a home run in his previous four starts this season.
Holliday went deep in the first inning and again in the third for his 22nd career multihomer game. Gardner’s second solo shot sparked a three-run fourth that made it 8-0.
Severino (4-2) gave up one run and seven hits over 6 1/3 innings.
Trey Mancini had three hits and an RBI for the Orioles, who have lost eight of nine and 14 of 18.
MARLINS 7, PHILLIES 2
MIAMI – Giancarlo Stanton hit his third homer since moving into the No. 2 spot in the batting order, a change that has revived Miami, which won its third game in a row.
Marcell Ozuna also homered for the Marlins, whose modest winning streak is their longest since mid-April.
Stanton hit a two-run homer, his 14th, in a five-run third. Since he moved up to the No. 2 spot, Stanton is 12 for 29 (.414) with three homers and seven RBIs in seven games, and the Marlins are 5-2 while outscoring opponents 48-22.
Both starting pitchers departed with injuries. Phillies right-hander Vince Velasquez (2-5) left in the second inning because of a right elbow flexor strain, and Marlins left-hander Justin Nicolino exited after three scoreless innings due to a bruised left index finger.
Dustin McGowan (2-0) replaced Nicolino and allowed one run in three innings.
DIAMONDBACKS 3, PIRATES 0
PITTSBURGH – Arizona left-hander Robbie Ray pitched a four-hitter in his first career complete game.
Ray (5-3) struck out 10, walked none and threw 115 pitches. The left-hander set a career high by winning his third straight start and has pitched 23 2/3 scoreless innings during that run, all on the road, while also beating the San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers.
Chris Owings snapped a scoreless tie with a double in the sixth inning, and the Diamondbacks ended a three-game losing streak.
Ivan Nova (5-4) allowed three runs in seven innings, losing for the just the second time in nine starts.
ROYALS 1, TIGERS 0
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Eric Skoglund pitched 6 1/3 innings of two-hit ball in his major league debut, helping the Royals beat Justin Verlander and the Tigers.
Skoglund, a 2014 third-round draft pick out of Central Florida, struck out five and walked one. The left-hander was promoted from Triple-A Omaha when the Royals placed Danny Duffy on the disabled list Monday with an oblique strain.
Verlander (4-4) left after seven innings, allowing one run and six hits. He struck out five and walked one.
Eric Hosmer hit a two-out RBI single in the sixth for Kansas City, and Kelvin Herrera pitched the ninth for his 12th save in 14 opportunities.
RANGERS 9, RAYS 5
ARLINGTON, Texas – Elvis Andrus had a career-high five RBIs for Texas, including a tying three-run homer in the seventh inning.
Andrus’ two-out drive deep into the visiting bullpen ended a stretch of five scoreless innings from the Tampa Bay bullpen after Matt Andriese left in the second with a mild groin strain.
Jared Hoying’s liner off the top of the wall in right came with the bases loaded and one out in a four-run eighth against Chase Whitley (1-1), breaking a 5-5 tie. After a sacrifice fly from Shin-Soo Choo, Andrus’ single to left scored two more.
Keone Kela (2-1) pitched a scoreless eighth, and closer Matt Bush had a perfect ninth in a non-save situation.
BLUE JAYS 6, REDS 4
TORONTO – Kendrys Morales hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning for Toronto, and Josh Donaldson belted an upper-deck drive.
All six Toronto runs came on homers. Jose Bautista and Russell Martin also connected for the Blue Jays, who have hit 47 homers in May.
Cincinnati’s Zack Cozart hit two solo home runs and Joey Votto had a third.
Morales broke a 4-all tie with a two-run blast off Blake Wood (0-3), his 10th.
Joe Smith (1-0) worked one inning for the win and Roberto Osuna finished for his 10th save. Toronto has won seven of eight.
ASTROS 7, TWINS 2
MINNEAPOLIS – Jose Altuve had four hits and two RBIs, Mike Fiers struck out eight over six innings in his bid to retain a spot in Houston’s banged-up rotation, and the major league-leading Astros earned their sixth straight victory.
Alex Bregman homered and drove in two runs, providing further support for Fiers (2-2) in his best of 10 starts this season.
Fiers fell behind 2-0 in the first when Eddie Rosario drew a bases-loaded walk and Byron Buxton followed with an infield single, but Astros hacked their way back against Jose Berrios (3-1).
Buxton had two hits and drove in a run. Berrios gave up five hits and four walks in five innings, the shortest of his four starts this year.
METS 5, BREWERS 4 (12)
NEW YORK – Jay Bruce lined a game-ending single in the 12th inning and New York rebounded to beat Milwaukee after shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera allowed the tying runs to score in the seventh when he flubbed a bases-loaded popup with two outs.
Wily Peralta (5-4) pitched a perfect 11th in his fourth relief outing since he was dropped from the rotation in mid-May, but then allowed a single to pinch-hitter T.J. Rivera leading off the 12th. Michael Conforto walked and Jose Reyes grounded into a forceout that left runners at the corners.
With the infield at double-play depth, Bruce singled up the middle to end a game that that lasted 4 hours, 24 minutes. The Mets extended a winning streak to three for the first time since May 3-6 by winning for just the second time in seven extra-inning games. The N.L. Central-leading Brewers lost for the seventh time in nine games.
RED SOX 13, WHITE SOX 7
Chris Sale made a shaky return to his former home, but Deven Marrero hit two of Boston’s season-high six home runs and the Red Sox beat Chicago.
Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr., Xander Bogaerts and Mitch Moreland also went deep. The Red Sox won for the seventh time in nine games after an anticipated duel between aces never materialized.
Sale got a warm reception from the crowd and a rude welcome from his old team. The five-time All-Star gave up six runs and 10 hits – both season highs – over five innings in his first appearance against the White Sox.
ANGELS 9, BRAVES 3
Albert Pujols hit his 599th career homer during Los Angeles’ nine-run third inning in a victory over struggling Bartolo Colon and visiting Atlanta.
Pujols moved to the brink of his latest milestone with a three-run homer off Colon early in the Angels’ biggest one-inning rally of the season.
The 37-year-old slugger has homered in back-to-back games for the first time this season. He will be the ninth player in baseball history, and the fourth-youngest, to reach 600 homers with his next shot.
PADRES 6, CUBS 2
Austin Hedges had a home run and four RBIs, rookie Dinelson Lamet produced another strong outing and host San Diego beat the Cubs, giving Chicago its fifth straight loss.
Hedges hit a two-run homer and a two-run double as the Padres clinched the three-game series against the struggling Cubs.
Lamet, one of Padres’ top prospects, was making his Petco Park debut and looking to build on his stellar first start. Against the New York Mets on Thursday, the right-hander threw five innings of one-run ball, allowing three hits.
He was nearly as good against the world champion Cubs, limiting them to two runs, five hits and a walk over five innings. For the second straight start, he struck out eight.