MLB Roundup: Athletics run rampant vs. Phillies with 18 runs in win

PHILADELPHIA — Lawrence Butler hit three home runs, Brent Rooker and Seth Brown each had two homers, and Oakland routed first-placed Philadelphia 18-3.

Butler had six RBIs. Rooker tied his career high with five RBIs for Oakland, which entered with the fourth-fewest wins in baseball and trailing Seattle by 16 games in the AL West. The Athletics’ eight home runs were estimated at a combined 3,340 feet.

Zack Gelof hit a grand slam off Phillies catcher Garrett Stubbs in the ninth inning.

Trea Turner homered for the Phillies. Philadelphia began play with the most wins in baseball and was ahead of the Braves by 9 1/2 games in the NL East. The Phillies were trying to extend their club record of 62 victories before the All-Star Game and match the 1973 and ’74 Dodgers for the most NL wins before the break.

Alec Bohm had a pair of doubles for the Phillies to up his MLB-leading total to 33. Turner and Bohm are two of Philadelphia’s franchise-record eight All-Stars.

Joey Estes (4-4) allowed two earned runs on four hits in six strong innings.

ORIOLES 6, YANKEES 5

BALTIMORE — Cedric Mullins hit a two-run double in the ninth inning to give the Baltimore Orioles a 6-5 victory over the New York Yankees on Sunday — after an error by shortstop Anthony Volpe kept the two-out rally going.

The Yankees actually made two defensive misplays in the ninth. Mullins’ liner appeared catchable, but left fielder Alex Verdugo started in at first and couldn’t recover well enough to prevent the ball from going over him.

Ben Rice hit a three-run homer in the top of the ninth off Craig Kimbrel (6-2) to put the Yankees up 5-3, but New York’s closer couldn’t hold a lead either. Clay Holmes (1-4) allowed the Orioles to load the bases with two out. Then Ryan Mountcastle’s grounder should have ended it, but Volpe’s error made it 5-4 and kept the bases loaded.

Mullins, who came on as a pinch-runner the previous inning, delivered the big hit that snapped Baltimore’s five-game winning streak and enabled the Orioles to take a one-game lead over the Yankees in the AL East into the All-Star break.

Baltimore went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position and 2 for 22 in the series, but Mullins enabled the Orioles to avoid a three-game sweep at home. Anthony Santander and Gunnar Henderson homered for Baltimore. Trent Grisham went deep for New York.

RAYS 2, GUARDIANS 0

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Ryan Pepiot allowed two hits in six scoreless innings, Jose Siri and Brandon Lowe homered, and Tampa Bay beat struggling AL Central-leading Cleveland.

Despite losing 11 of 18, the Guardians (58-37) have the AL’s best record at the All-Star break for the first time since 1999. Cleveland was outscored 6-4 in dropping two of three to the Rays.

Tampa Bay was hitless in six at-bats with runners in scoring position, and finished 1 for 33 in the series. Cleveland was 0 for 5 on Sunday and 1 for 20 overall in the series.

Pepiot struck out four. Colin Poche and Jason Adam both went one hitless inning before Pete Fairbanks worked out of a two-on, no-jam in the ninth to get 17th save in 19 chances and complete a four-hitter.

Steven Kwan went 1 for 4 and is hitting .352. The Cleveland outfielder, who had two hits in 12 at-bats during the series, is the first Cleveland player to lead the majors in hitting at the All-Star break since Hall of Famer Lou Boudreau in 1947.

RED SOX 5, ROYALS 4

BOSTON — Rafael Devers hit a two-run homer that broke a seat deep in right field at Fenway Park, Dominic Smith also had a two-run shot and Boston beat Kansas City to take the series.

The Red Sox won their second straight after losing the opener. Boston improved to a major league-best 9-3 in July and is 20-8 since June 12.

All-Star Devers sent a first-inning slider from Brady Singer (5-6) with an estimated exit velocity of 114.7 mph a projected 439 feet, crashing into the top of a seat and loosening up the top support. The Red Sox posted a “Fenway Facilities Incident Report” that had a picture of the broken red seat on their social media sites.

Adam Frazier opened the game with a homer into the Royals’ bullpen and All-Star Salvador Perez, who was selected for his ninth Midsummer Classic, added a solo shot into the Green Monster seats for Kansas City.

First-time All-Star Jarren Duren had four hits for the Red Sox, who improved to a majors’ best 15-1 on Sundays. Boston enters the All-Star break surprisingly 4 1/2 games out of first in the AL East after finishing in the basement three of the last four years.

RANGERS 4, ASTROS 2

HOUSTON — Josh Smith homered twice with four RBIs to lead Texas to a win over Houston.

Smith had a two-run shot in the first and added another one with two outs in the eighth to push the lead to 4-1. It’s the first multi-homer game of the 26-year-old’s career.

The Rangers won the last two games of the series after dropping Friday’s opener 6-3. They also got a 2-1 victory Saturday thanks to Nathaniel Lowe’s RBI single in the 10th inning.

Jake Meyers cut the lead to 1 with a solo home run in the third but the Astros went 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position to fall to 50-46 entering the All-Star break.

Texas starter Max Scherzer allowed four hits and a run with six strikeouts in four-plus innings in his fifth start of the season.

ROCKIES 8, METS 5

NEW YORK — Michael Toglia became the first Colorado switch-hitter to homer three times in a game, leading them to a victory over New York.

Ezequiel Tovar homered twice and red-hot Brennan Doyle homered again as the Rockies hit a season-high six home runs to finish the three-game series with 10.

Toglia connected for three solo home runs, two off New York starter Jose Quintana (4-6), to become the first Rockies player with a three-homer game since Brendan Rodgers in a 13-12 victory over Miami in the second game of a doubleheader on June 1, 2022.

Toglia hit his final homer in the eighth off reliever Adrian Houser. He is the sixth Colorado hitter to achieve the feat in a road game.

All-Star Pete Alonso also homered and Jose Iglesias reached base five times and scored two runs for New York, which had its five-game winning streak snapped. The Mets fell for just the second time in nine games and go into the All-Star break 49-46, just missing reaching 50 wins before the break for just the ninth time in franchise history.

CUBS 8, CARDINALS 3

ST. LOUIS — Pete Crow-Armstrong and Christopher Morel each homered twice to lead Chicago to a victory over St. Louis.

Tomas Nido and Ian Happ also homered for the Cubs, who split the four-game set against their NL Central rivals.

Alec Burleson homered for St. Louis.

Crow-Armstrong hit solo homers in the third and fifth innings. Nido snapped a 2-all tie with his fourth of the season in the fifth.

Crow-Armstrong entered the game with a .194 average and only one home run. He also stole his 17th base of the season.

Morel, who has 18 homers, hit a two-run shot in the sixth and a solo home run in the eighth.

Chicago, which has won six of eight, recorded back-to-back homers in the fifth and eighth innings.

MARLINS 3, REDS 2

CINCINNATI — Xavier Edwards’ RBI single in the eighth inning gave Miami a victory over Cincinnati.

Edwards’ two-out hit drove in Jake Burger for the Marlins, who salvaged the series finale.

Fernando Cruz (3-7) struck out the first two batters in the inning before Burger doubled into the left-field corner.

All-Star Tanner Scott made his first appearance of the series and earned his 14th save by getting the last four outs.

A.J. Puk (3-8) earned the win with a scoreless inning in relief.

The Reds finished 5-5 on their 10-game homestand.

TIGERS 4, DODGERS 3

DETROIT — Yohan Ramírez had two consecutive errors in the ninth inning, paving the way for Detroit to beat Los Angeles for their second straight comeback win over the NL West leaders.

Wenceel Pérez had a sacrifice bunt to advance runners in the final at-bat and Ramírez made a wide throw to third, allowing Justyn-Henry Malloy to score the second run of the inning for the victory. The right-hander failed to field Ryan Vilade’s sacrifice bunt in the previous at-bat, advancing Malloy to second.

Zach McKinstry hit a leadoff triple in the ninth and scored on Malloy’s single after manager A.J. Hinch made him a pinch-hitter.

Ramírez (0-5) gave up three hits and two runs in an inning a day after he gave up Gio Urshela’s two-run homer in the 10th inning of an 11-9 loss in which the Dodgers gave up seven runs in the last two innings.

Alex Faedo (4-1) picked up the win after getting the last out in the top of the ninth.

Los Angeles is 48-2 when leading after eight innings, losing both games in that situation in Detroit.

PIRATES 9, WHITE SOX 4

CHICAGO — Joey Bart and Bryan Reynolds homered, Ke’Bryan Hayes had three hits and Pittsburgh won their fourth straight game, beating Chicago.

Nick Gonzales tripled and drove in two runs for the Pirates, who have won six of seven and reached .500 for the first time since April 27.

Andrew Benintendi and Luis Robert Jr. each had three hits for the White Sox, who have lost four straight and 10 of 13.

Chicago entered the day as the first team in MLB history with 70 losses before the All-Star break.

Quinn Priester (2-5) allowed a run in two innings for Pittsburgh.

Bart hit a three-run homer off Chad Kuhl (0-1) to put the Pirates ahead 4-2 in the fourth.

BREWERS 9, NATIONALS 3

MILWAUKEE — Willy Adames had a homer and four RBIs, Garrett Mitchell homered for the first time in more than a year and Milwaukee avoided a series sweep with a victory over Washington.

Adames hit his 15th homer off Amos Willingham with two outs in the eighth to put Milwaukee up 9-3. He also doubled and singled twice.

Mitchell, who missed the first 84 games this season with a fractured finger, put the Brewers up 6-2 in the fourth with his homer. Adames capped the inning with an RBI single.

Colin Rea (9-3) allowed two runs on five hits in 5 2/3 innings after coming on for opener Rob Zastryzny. Rea struck out seven and walked one.

Jake Irvin (7-8) allowed seven runs, six earned, on nine hits in four innings for the Nationals.

GIANTS 3, TWINS 2

SAN FRANCISCO — Mike Yastrzemski tripled and scored in the bottom of the ninth when the relay throw skipped past Minnesota third baseman Diego Castillo, giving San Francisco a win.

After San Francisco closer Camilo Doval blew a save in the top of the ninth, Yastrzemski laced a 2-1 splitter from Jhoan Duran (5-4) into the gap in right-center. Twins center fielder Manuel Margot fell while chasing the ball, allowing Yastrzemski to take third.

Minnesota second baseman Brooks Lee got the relay throw and fired the ball to third, but Castillo failed to make the play as the Oracle Park crowd roared.

Ryan Walker (6-3) retired two batters to win.

San Francisco’s walk-off victory came on a day when reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell had his best showing of the season.

Snell retired the first 18 batters he faced in order before Margot laced a 2-2 fastball into left field to break up the bid for perfection. He finished with eight strikeouts and didn’t walk anyone for the first time this year.

BRAVES 6, PADRES 3

SAN DIEGO — Travis d’Arnaud had two home runs and four RBIs, Chris Sale pitched five solid innings for his major league-leading 13th win and Atlanta beat San Diego in the final game before the All-Star break.

Atlanta has won six of its last nine games and took two of three from San Diego, which ended the first half losing by losing six of its last seven.

The Braves finished the first half 53-42 and in second place in the NL East, 8 1/2 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Padres concluded the first half 50-49 and tied for second place in the NL West with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Both teams trail the Dodgers by 6 1/2 games.

Sale (13-3), an All-Star, gave up one run and four hits. He has won five of his last six starts.

San Diego starter Randy Vásquez (2-5) lasted five innings, giving up two runs and four hits.

BLUE JAYS 8, DIAMONDBACKS 7

PHOENIX — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a go-ahead solo homer, Kevin Kiermaier added a grand slam and Toronto Blue recovered from blowing a seven-run lead to beat Arizona.

Guerrero’s homer in the seventh came off reliever Kevin Ginkel (6-2), who had his scoreless streak of 10 2/3 innings snapped. The Blue Jays avoided a sweep after dropping the first two games of the series.

Guerrero and Ernie Clement each had three hits. Genesis Cabrera, Trevor Richards (2-1), Ryan Burr, Brendon Little and Chad Green combined to throw 4 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.

Green earned his sixth save, working around Christian Walker’s two-out single.

The D-backs trailed 7-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth before a seven-run eruption, highlighted by Ketel Marte’s grand slam and Eugenio Suarez’s tying, two-run single. Toronto’s Yusei Kikuchi gave up all seven runs.

ANGELS 3, MARINERS 2

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Jo Adell hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning and Carson Fulmer threw four hitless innings to lead Los Angeles to a win over Seattle.

Adell, who pumped his first around the bases, hit his 15th home run of the season off Austin Voth (2-4), who had just come in to replace injured Ryne Stanek.

Fulmer opened the game for the Angels and breezed through the lineup, retiring 14 in a row until the fifth inning when the Mariners reached base on a fielding error by rookie second baseman Keston Hiura. Fulmer then hit Victor Robles to load the bases and manager Ron Washington went to the bullpen. Fulmer finished with seven strikeouts.

J.P. Crawford hit a solo home run to break up the Angels’ combined no-hitter in the sixth inning.

Hans Crouse (3-0) pitched the eighth inning and got the win.

Roansy Contreras retired the side in the ninth for his first save of the season.