MLB capsules: Jose Ramirez hits two more HRs, leads Cleveland Indians to 13th straight win
CHICAGO – Jose Ramirez hit two more homers, Austin Jackson also connected and the Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox 9-4 on Tuesday night for their 13th straight victory, the longest run by a major league team this season.
Danny Salazar got just two outs in his return from right elbow inflammation, but Cleveland’s deep bullpen took over from there. Seven relievers combined for 8 1/3 scoreless innings as the Indians moved within one of their franchise-record 14-game win streak last year.
Jackson and Ramirez hit back-to-back homers during a three-run first against David Holmberg (2-4). Ramirez added another solo shot in the second, and the AL Central leaders went ahead to stay on Greg Allen’s tiebreaking, two-run double in the third. Yan Gomes tacked on a three-run shot in the ninth.
Ramirez has five homers in his last three games. He is batting .500 (17 for 34) with seven homers and nine RBIs on Cleveland’s 11-game road trip.
Matt Davidson hit a three-run drive for last-place Chicago, which has dropped six of eight. Top prospect Yoan Moncada went 1 for 5 in his return from a bruised right shin.
When the White Sox led 4-3 in the first, it was the first time the Indians had trailed since they were down by one against the Yankees on Aug. 28.
Dan Otero (3-0) pitched two scoreless innings for the win.
PIRATES 4, CUBS 3
PITTSBURGH – Max Moroff and David Freese each hit an RBI single off Carl Edwards Jr. in the eighth inning as Pittsburgh rallied past Chicago.
Pinch-hitter John Jaso led off the eighth with a walk and scored when Moroff hit a bloop single off Edwards (3-4) to tie the game. Freese drove home Moroff three batters later after the Cubs intentionally walked rookie Josh Bell.
Jordan Luplow hit the second home run of his career for Pittsburgh. Wade LeBlanc (5-2) earned the win in relief. Felipe Rivero worked a perfect ninth for his 18th save. The Pirates ran their winning streak to four on the same day the club announced contract extensions for manager Clint Hurdle and general manager Neal Huntington.
Chicago, which leads the NL Central, has dropped three straight.
REDS 9, BREWERS 3
CINCINNATI – Robert Stephenson escaped threats while pitching into the seventh, and Scooter Gennett hit a three-run homer during Cincinnati’s five-run rally in the bottom of the inning against Milwaukee.
The last-place Reds have taken the first two games in the series from Milwaukee, which is trying to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2011. The Brewers remained 3 1/2 games behind Chicago in the NL Central. They also trail Arizona and Colorado in the wild-card race.
Stephenson (4-4) wriggled out of a bases-loaded, none-out threat in the fourth inning, fanning the next three. The Reds turned three double plays behind the rookie to scuttle rallies.
Raisel Iglesias got six outs for his 25th save in 26 chances.
Zach Davies (16-8) allowed two runs – one earned – in 5 2/3 innings. He dropped to 8-2 in 15 road starts.
NATIONALS 2, MARLINS 1
MIAMI – Stephen Strasburg pitched six solid innings to help Washington edge Miami.
Daniel Murphy hit his 22nd homer and Pedro Severino also drove in a run for the Nationals, who have won seven straight against the Marlins.
Sean Doolittle worked the ninth for his 18th save in 19 chances. Doolittle allowed a bloop single to Marcell Ozuna, who scored on a sacrifice fly by Derek Dietrich, but got Brian Anderson to line out to end the game.
Strasburg (12-4) gave up a single in each of his six innings, but was able to keep the Marlins from getting into scoring position. He struck out eight and did not walk a batter, lowering his ERA to 2.78.
Miami slugger Giancarlo Stanton went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts and did not add to his home run total of 53, but did take a home run away from Murphy when he leaped above the right-center field wall to make a catch in the third.
Odrisamer Despaigne (0-3) permitted one run and five hits in seven innings.
The Marlins have lost eight of nine.
RAYS 2, TWINS 1
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Jake Odorizzi took a no-hitter into the seventh inning in front of a tiny home crowd, and Tampa Bay topped Minnesota.
Lucas Duda homered off Bartolo Colon (6-11) and hit an RBI double for the Rays (70-70), who moved within two games of Minnesota for the second AL wild card.
Joe Mauer got the Twins’ first hit – and extended his hitting streak to 14 games – with a grounder that caromed off second base with one out in the seventh. Odorizzi (8-7) was lifted for reliever Dan Jennings after striking out the next batter.
The only other hitter to reach base against Odorizzi was Eddie Rosario, who walked leading off the fifth.
The announced attendance of 6,509 was the smallest ever for a Rays home game.
Robbie Grossman homered in the ninth off Alex Colome, who earned his AL-leading 42nd save in 47 opportunities.
ROCKIES 9, GIANTS 6
DENVER – Trevor Story homered and Colorado beat San Francisco for its 10th straight win over the Giants at Coors Field.
The Rockies held off a late rally by San Francisco to increase their lead to 2 1/2 games over Milwaukee for the second NL wild card. Nolan Arenado doubled in a four-run sixth for his 112th RBI, tying Miami slugger Giancarlo Stanton for most in the majors.
After spot starter Tyler Chatwood lasted three innings, Colorado used eight relievers. Chris Rusin (4-0) earned the win and Greg Holland pitched a perfect ninth for his 37th save.
Denver native Ty Blach (8-12) allowed five runs over 5 1/3 innings for the Giants on the anniversary of his big league debut at Coors Field.
Joe Panik had four hits for San Francisco. Pablo Sandoval went 0 for 4 and is hitless in his last 37 at-bats.
TIGERS 13, ROYALS 2
DETROIT – JaCoby Jones and John Hicks each hit two of Detroit’s six homers in a rout of Kansas City.
Tigers starter Anibal Sanchez threw only five pitches and was knocked out of the game in the first inning after getting hit in the right leg by Whit Merrifield’s single. Sanchez exited with a bruised calf.
Myles Jaye (1-0) replaced Sanchez and pitched 2 1/3 innings for the win.
Jason Vargas (14-10) allowed seven earned runs and six hits in two innings.
Mikie Mahtook and Jose Iglesias also homered for the Tigers.
PHILLIES 9, METS 1
NEW YORK – Ben Lively homered and drove in four runs off Mets ace Jacob deGrom, and also pitched seven strong innings to lead Philadelphia over New York.
A day after falling behind the Mets 10-0 by the fourth inning, it was the Phillies’ turn to answer back.
DeGrom (14-9) struck out the side in the first, but wound up allowing a career-worst nine runs – six earned – and 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings.
Lively (3-5) hit a two-run single in the second that made it 3-1. The rookie, who homered in his last start against Miami, hit a two-run drive in a six-run fourth.
Lively is 6 for 21 (.286) with two home runs and eight RBIs in his first major league season.
Odubel Herrera extended his hitting streak to 19 games and Nick Williams drove in three runs for Philadelphia. Highly touted Phillies prospect J.P. Crawford got a hit in his first big league game.
ORIOLES 7, YANKEES 6
BALTIMORE – Manny Machado hit a two-run homer off Dellin Betances with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, capping a comeback that lifted the Baltimore Orioles past the New York Yankees.
Betances (3-6) retired the first two batters in the ninth before Tim Beckham walked. Machado then drove a 1-0 pitch far over the center-field wall to provide the Orioles an unlikely victory after New York scored six runs in the third.
It was Machado’s second homer of the game and team-high 32nd of the season. Jonathan Schoop and Mark Trumbo also went deep for the Orioles, who closed within a half-game of Minnesota for the second AL wild card.
Zach Britton (2-0), Baltimore’s sixth reliever, worked the ninth.
ASTROS 3, MARINERS 1
SEATTLE – Justin Verlander pitched six strong innings and won his Astros debut after Cameron Maybin hit a two-run homer with one out in the seventh for Houston’s first hit in a victory over the Seattle Mariners.
With all the attention on Verlander’s first game for a team other than the Detroit Tigers, it was another deadline acquisition that proved the difference for Houston. Maybin was claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Angels on Aug. 31 and hit his second home run since joining the Astros to snap a 1-all tie.
Seattle starter Ariel Miranda threw 112 pitches over six hitless innings that included six walks – three of which led to Houston’s first run in the third on Alex Bregman’s sacrifice fly.
James Pazos (4-5) relieved in the seventh and walked Brian McCann with one out. Pazos was replaced by Emilio Pagan, who left a 3-2 pitch in the middle of the plate and Maybin hit his eighth homer of the season.
RED SOX 3, BLUE JAYS 3 (19)
BOSTON – The Red Sox won their own version of the Boston marathon, beating the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 in the 19th inning on an RBI single by Hanley Ramirez in a game that took six hours.
It was past 1 a.m. when Ramirez blooped a hit to center field that drove in Mookie Betts, who led off with a double.
The AL East-leading Red Sox rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth to tie it. About 700 fans stayed until the end to see Boston win the longest game in the majors since July 2016, when Cleveland beat Toronto 2-1 in 19 innings.
This was the second-longest game ever at Fenway, which opened in 1912. The Red Sox lost to Seattle 8-7 in 20 innings in 1981 – the game was suspended after 19 innings past 1 a.m. because of an American League curfew rule, and resumed about 18 hours later.
Boston used 12 pitchers, tying an American League record set a day earlier by the Los Angeles Angels.
DIAMONDBACKS 3, DODGERS 1 (10)
LOS ANGELES – Brandon Drury hit a grounder to third base that scored the go-ahead runs when Justin Turner’s throw home got away, and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Los Angeles Dodgers for their 12th consecutive victory, tying a franchise record.
Dodgers reliever Pedro Baez (3-4) issued consecutive walks to open the 10th, drawing boos for the second night in a row after he gave up four straight hits that led to four runs in a 13-0 loss to the Diamondbacks on Monday.
Baez retired J.D. Martinez, who tied a major league record with four home runs Monday, on a broken-bat groundout that left runners at second and third.
Drury grounded to Turner just inside the third base line, and he fired home to catcher Yasmani Grandal. The throw appeared to ricochet off pinch-runner Chris Hermann and then Grandal’s shoulder before bouncing away. Hermann and A.J. Pollock scored, Drury was safe at second and Grandal was charged with an error.
ANGELS 8, ATHLETICS 7 (10)
OAKLAND, Calif. – Ben Revere’s pinch-hit RBI single in the 10th inning lifted the Los Angeles Angels over the Oakland Athletics.