Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

MLB capsules: Jurickson Profar powers Athletics’ 8-2 victory over Yankees

Oakland’s Jurickson Profar runs past New York Yankees catcher Austin Romine after hitting a second-inning home run Friday, Aug. 30, 2019, in New York. (Frank Franklin II / Associated Press)
Associated Press

NEW YORK – Jurickson Profar delivered two tiebreaking hits to atone for his role in the double-reversal of a double play, and the Oakland Athletics beat the New York Yankees 8-2 Friday night.

Profar connected in the second for a 1-0 lead and added a two-run double in the sixth for a 4-2 edge. That made up for his flawed footwork as the pivot on a blown double play in the fourth that led to a Yankees run.

Oakland pulled within a half-game of Cleveland for the top AL wild card, and held its one-game edge over Tampa Bay for the second.

New York ended a four-game winning streak hours after placing Gio Urshela on the 10-day injured list, giving the club a record 29 players on the IL this season.

CC Sabathia was pulled after three innings with a recurrence of his on-going knee issues, and Tommy Kahnle (3-1) allowed three runs in the sixth.

Oakland left-hander Brett Anderson (11-9) pitched two-run ball over six innings. He allowed six hits, struck out one and induced 14 groundouts.

Struggling former closer Blake Treinen pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for Oakland. He struck out two, and Profar made a diving stop and two-hop throw on Romine’s grounder to end it.

Rays 4, Indians 0

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Austin Pruitt and three relievers combined on a five-hitter, Jesus Aguilar had a three-run homer during a four-run seventh inning and Tampa Bay beat Cleveland in a matchup of playoff contenders.

Pruitt allowed four hits and struck out six over 5 1/3 innings in his first start since Aug, 28, 2017. Oliver Drake (3-1) gave up one hit in 1 2/3 innings before Colin Poche and Andrew Kittredge each worked an inning.

Austin Meadows singled off Shane Bieber (12-7) leading off the seventh and went to third on a base hit by Travis d’Arnaud. One out later, Avisail Garcia hit an RBI single that ended Bieber’s night. Aguilar made it 4-0 with his three-run blast off Adam Cimber.

Bieber gave up three runs and six hits, and struck out nine over 6 1/3 innings.

Mets 11, Phillies 5

PHILADELPHIA – Todd Frazier hit a pair of three-run homers and tied his career-best with six RBIs, and New York beat Philadelphia, snapping a six-game losing streak.

Michael Conforto also went deep for the Mets, who also snapped a six-game losing streak in Philadelphia.

The Phillies fell 3 1/2 games behind the Cubs for the second wild-card spot in the NL. The Mets are five games back.

Mets starter Zack Wheeler and Phillies ace Aaron Nola pitched well before turning it over to the bullpens. Philadelphia’s imploded, allowing 10 runs while recording eight outs.

Mike Morin (1-1) took the loss.

Justin Wilson (4-1) tossed a scoreless inning for the win after Wheeler gave up one run and seven hits in six innings

J.T. Realmuto had two sacrifice flies for the Phillies.

Astros 7, Blue Jays 4

TORONTO – George Springer homered and drove in four runs as Houston beat Toronto.

The Astros won for the 10th time in 12 games following a five-game losing streak.

Springer’s 29th homer was a three-run drive in the fifth inning, and every Astros starter had at least one hit as Houston finished with 13 hits against five pitchers.

Cavan Biggio, Reese McGuire and Derek Fisher hit solo home runs, but the Blue Jays lost for the ninth time in 11 games.

Toronto rookie Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was ejected by plate umpire Mike Estabrook for arguing balls and strikes in the seventh.

Collin McHugh (4-5) got one out and earned the win.

Trent Thornton (4-9) is winless in five starts since an Aug. 1 victory at Baltimore. The former Astros farmhand allowed four runs, three earned, and six hits in five innings.

Twins 13, Tigers 5

DETROIT – C.J. Cron homered and Jorge Polanco had three hits as Minnesota beat Detroit.

The Twins have won five straight, including the first four of a 10-game road trip, and lead the Cleveland Indians by 4 1/2 games in the AL Central.

Cron hit Minnesota’s 262nd homer in the fourth inning, moving them within five of the major-league record of 267, set last year by the New York Yankees.

John Hicks and Ronny Rodriguez homered for the Tigers, who have lost six in a row. Detroit still needs five wins in its last 16 games at Comerica Park to avoid becoming the first modern major-league team to lose 60 times at home.

Kyle Gibson (13-6) picked up the win despite allowing four runs and 10 hits in five innings.

Tigers starter Edwin Jackson (3-8) allowed eight runs – six earned – with seven hits and three walks in 2 1/3 innings.

Cubs 7, Brewers 1

CHICAGO – Nicholas Castellanos hit a pair of two-run homers, Jose Quintana took a shutout into the sixth inning, and Chicago cruised to its fourth straight win.

Castellanos went deep off Chase Anderson in each of his first two at-bats.

Kyle Schwarber added his team-leading 32nd homer, and third in five games, in the eighth.

The Brewers dropped their fourth game in five and fell to five games behind the Cubs, who hold the second wild-card slot.

Quintana (12-8) allowed four hits and walked two before being relieved by David Phelps with two outs in the sixth.

Quintana also drove in a run with a double, the first extra-base hit of his career. Victor Caratini had two hits and an RBI.

Anderson (6-4) allowed five runs and seven hits through four innings.

Braves 10, White Sox 7

ATLANTA – Max Fried pitched six-plus innings and won his sixth straight decision, Tyler Flowers hit a three-run homer and Atlanta beat Chicago.

Freddie Freeman drove in two runs and Ozzie Albies went 4 for 5 to help the NL East-leading Braves, who have won 10 of 12 to stay 5 1/2 games up in the division.

Fried (15-4) faced the minimum before Eloy Jimenez reached with one out in the fifth on a slow-rolling single down the line at third. The 25-year-old lefty allowed five hits and four runs and matched a career high with 11 strikeouts.

Chicago starter Ivan Nova (9-11) allowed eight hits and five runs – four earned – in four innings. Welington Castillo had a pinch-hit, three-run homer.

Nationals 7, Marlins 6

WASHINGTON – Anthony Rendon lined a two-run single with one out in the ninth inning and Washington rallied past Miami for its seventh win in eight games.

Rendon had three hits and drove in three runs, giving him 107 RBIs for the NL wild-card leaders. The Marlins set a franchise record with their 13th straight road loss.

After Starlin Castro hit a two-run homer off Daniel Hudson (8-3, 2-0 with Washington) in the top of the ninth for a 6-5 lead, the Nationals bounced back.

Ryne Stanek (0-3, 0-2 for the Marlins) took the loss.

Harold Ramirez homered and had two singles for the Marlins.

Orioles 14, Royals 2

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Local product John Means won back home with seven strong innings, Hanser Alberto got a career-high five hits and Baltimore defeated Kansas City.

Pedro Severino had four of the Orioles’ 21 hits in their highest-scoring game of the season. Jonathan Villar stole three bases, including a swipe of home when the Royals tried to pick him off third base.

Jorge Soler hit his 38th home run, tying the Royals record set by Mike Moustakas in 2017.

Means (10-9) matched a career high for innings. The All-Star lefty gave up two runs and five hits, walking none and striking out four.

Anthony Santander hit a three-run homer for the Orioles.

Eric Skoglund (0-1) gave up six runs on nine hits and three walks in four innings.

Pirates 9, Rockies 4

DENVER – Dario Agrazal pitched three-run ball into the sixth inning, Melkey Cabrera hit a three-run homer, and Pittsburgh beat Colorado.

Starling Marte had three hits and tied a career-best with four runs scored. Josh Bell also had three hits and drove in a pair of runs, and Bryan Reynolds doubled twice and drove in a run for the Pirates, who guaranteed themselves at least a split of the four-game series.

Trevor Story hit his first career leadoff homer, the seventh by a Rockies player this season and the first since Charlie Blackmon did it July 21 in New York against the Yankees. Ian Desmond had three hits, including a home run, as the Rockies fell to 2-10 in their last 12 games.

Agrazal (4-3) allowed three runs on nine hits, settling down to keep the Rockies in check after Story’s leadoff homer. He walked none and struck out two.

Giants 8, Padres 3

SAN FRANCISCO – Madison Bumgarner allowed one run over seven innings to tie Matt Cain for the most pitching wins at Oracle Park, and San Francisco beat San Diego.

Brandon Belt had three hits, including homering for the second consecutive day, as fading San Francisco won for the third time in 10 games. Mike Yastrzemski also went deep with his 18th home run, the most by a Giants rookie since Buster Posey’s 18 in 2010.

Manny Machado hit his 28th home run and scored twice for the Padres.

Bumgarner (9-8) struck out nine, walked two and gave up four hits while beating San Diego for the second time in four starts this season.

Dinelson Lamet (2-3) took the loss.

Diamondbacks 5, Dodgers 4

PHOENIX – A balk by Dodgers reliever Yimi Garcia sent home the tiebreaking run in the bottom of the eighth inning and helped Arizona beat Los Angeles.

With one out, Garcia (1-4) stepped off the rubber, turned abruptly to check Arizona’s Adam Jones at first base and didn’t throw over. The move was called a balk and allowed Tim Locastro to trot home from third base.

Archie Bradley (4-5) earned the win with 2/3 scoreless innings. Josh Rojas’ first big league home run tied the game at 4-all. Eduardo Escobar also homered for Arizona.

The game ended with a little drama as Escobar nearly booted a hard grounder to third by Justin Turner but recovered and threw out Turner at first base, stranding two runners.

The Diamondbacks stalled the Dodgers’ push to clinch the NL West with their fifth straight win. Arizona remained in contention for an NL wild card.

Los Angeles has lost five of eight.