BALTIMORE — Michael Busch and Ian Happ homered, and Jameson Taillon and three relievers combined for a five-hitter as the Chicago Cubs beat the Baltimore Orioles 9-2 on Tuesday night.
Taillon (6-4) allowed two runs and four hits with seven strikeouts and a walk over six innings. The 32-year-old right-hander retired the last 11 batters he faced.
The Cubs improved to 10-4 against the Orioles since 2014, and have won four of the last five games since Aug. 18, 2022.
Happ’s three-run homer gave Chicago a 7-2 lead in the fourth inning. With his 395-blast to right field, Happ joined Jason Heyward (July 14, 2017) as the only Cubs players to have a homer land on Eutaw Street. Happ, who entering the game with a .171 average on the road — the lowest in the majors among qualifying hitters, according to STATS — finished 2 for 4 with a walk.
PHILLIES 10, DODGERS 1
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Trea Turner hit his sixth career grand slam, Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh also went deep and Philadelphia welcomed back Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber from injuries with a win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Phillies lost ace Zack Wheeler on a steamy night with left low back tightness after five innings. A 2024 All-Star, Wheeler (10-4) joined Aaron Nola and Ranger Suárez as a trio of Phillies pitchers with 10 wins before the All-Star break. It’s the first time in franchise history the Phillies have three pitchers with 10 wins before the break.
After a modest 5-4 mark with Harper and Schwarber sidelined — that included dropping two of three over the weekend in Atlanta — the Phillies flexed their muscle early against the Dodgers in a matchup of NL division leaders.
Schwarber hit a two-RBI single in the second inning for a 3-0 lead.
RAYS 5, YANKEES 3
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — All-Star Isaac Paredes hit a three-run homer and Tampa Bay held on to beat struggling AL East rival New York — the Yankees’ 17th loss in 23 games.
Paredes went deep during a four-run first inning against Carlos Rodón (9-7). Right-hander Ryan Pepiot (5-5) limited one of baseball’s best offenses to one run and four hits over 5 2/3 innings, and Tampa Bay won despite only having two hits after the third inning.
Three days after becoming the first Yankees rookie to homer three times in a game, Ben Rice hit a two-run shot that trimmed Tampa Bay’s lead to 4-3 in the seventh inning. The Rays scored on Johnny DeLuca’s double for a two-run cushion before things got dicey again in the ninth.
DJ Mahieu singled with one out, bringing Rice to the plate as the potential tying run. But Pete Fairbanks met the challenge, striking out Rice and getting Juan Soto to fly out to the warning track in centre field for his 15th save in 17 opportunities.
RED SOX 12, ATHLETICS 9
BOSTON (AP) — Brayan Bello fanned a career-high 11 batters – getting each of his first 10 outs by strikeout – and Wilyer Abreu and Dominic Smith homered on back-to-back pitches in an eight-run second inning Tuesday night to help Boston beat Oakland.
On the day he was scratched from the All-Star Game with a sore shoulder, Rafael Devers had two hits and a walk, driving in three runs and scoring twice as the Red Sox won for the seventh time in eight games and improved to a season-high 10 games over .500.
Bello (9-5) is the first Red Sox pitcher since at least 1961 – and the first in the majors this year – to record his first 10 outs by strikeout. Even as he struggled in the first inning, when the A’s took a 2-0 lead on three hits and a wild pitch, Bello got all three outs on K’s.
ASTROS 4, MARLINS 3
HOUSTON (AP) — Alex Bregman had three RBIs and his tiebreaking two-run home run in the seventh inning lifted Houston to a win over Miami.
The game was tied at 2 with one out in the seventh when Chas McCormick reached on a throwing error by rookie shortstop Xavier Edwards. There were two outs in the inning when Bregman sent an off-speed pitch from Huascar Brazobán (1-2) into the seats in left field to make it 4-2.
The victory was Houston’s seventh straight at home and comes after the Astros dropped the final two games of a series at Minnesota last weekend.
Ronel Blanco (9-3) allowed four hits and two runs with seven strikeouts in seven innings for the win.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a leadoff homer for the Marlins and Jesús Sánchez’s solo homer tied it in the seventh before Bregman’s go-ahead shot.
METS 7, NATIONALS 5
NEW YORK (AP) — Jose Quintana permitted one hit in seven shutout innings, Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor both homered and drove in three runs, and the New York Mets beat Washington.
Harrison Bader had three hits and scored twice from the bottom of the batting order for the Mets, who moved back to .500 at 45-45. Lindor also had three hits and scored two runs in the leadoff spot.
Pinch-hitter Ildemaro Vargas put the Nationals on the board with a two-run homer in the eighth against reliever Adam Ottavino, booed off the mound by the Citi Field crowd of 31,243.
Keibert Ruiz added a two-run homer off Reed Garrett in the ninth, and Jacob Young scored from second base on a wild pitch by Edwin Díaz before the closer struck out All-Star CJ Abrams for his ninth save in 14 opportunities.
GUARDIANS 9, TIGERS 8, 10 INNINGS
DETROIT (AP) — Jose Ramirez became the second player to get intentionally walked three times and to have three hits in a game since Major League Baseball began tracking free passes in 1955 as Cleveland held on to beat Detroit Tigers in 10 innings.
Ramirez joined Paul Goldschmidt, who pulled off the feat for Arizona against Milwaukee in 2015, according to Sportradar. The Home Run Derby participant is also the first to have three intentional walks in a game since San Diego’s Jake Cronenworth did it nearly three years ago, according to Sportradar.
Josh Naylor hit a tiebreaking single in the 10th for his fourth RBI and Brayan Rocchio added a sacrifice fly in the extra inning for the AL Central-leading Guardians, who blew a 6-0 lead early in the game.
Scott Barlow (3-3) gave up a walk in the ninth for the win and Emmanuel Clase closed the game for his 28th save in 31 chances.
REDS 12, ROCKIES 6
CINCINNATI (AP) — Will Benson hit a three-run homer in a five-run second inning, rookie Rece Hinds crushed a 458-foot shot and Cincinnati cruised to a win over Colorado.
The 23-year-old Hinds hit a long homer for the second time in as many nights. He had a 421-foot shot in his major league debut on Monday, before teeing off on Colorado reliever Justin Lawrence as part of a four-run Cincinnati seventh. He came up a single short of hitting for the cycle.
Tyler Stephenson and Spencer Steer also homered as the Reds downed the Rockies for the second night in row.
PIRATES 12, BREWERS 2
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Joey Bart hit a grand slam and the Pittsburgh scored six runs in the sixth inning to storm past Milwaukee.
All-Star Bryan Reynolds, Rowdy Tellez, Jack Suwinski and Joshua Palacios also homered for the Pirates, who won in Milwaukee for just the 12th time in 42 games since 2019. The five home runs were a season-high surrendered by Brewers pitching.
Quinn Priester (1-5) pitched six innings in relief to get the win, giving up one earned run and four hits with eight strikeouts.
RANGERS 5, ANGELS 4
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Adolis García broke out of a 1-for-19 slump with a solo homer in the eighth inning and Texas extended their winning streak to a season-high five games, defeating the Los Angeles Angels.
The Angels lost for the eighth time in nine games despite two homers and three hits from Logan O’Hoppe.
Los Angeles had a chance to take the lead in the seventh inning. The Angels had the bases loaded with two outs after Anthony Rendon drew a walk off José Leclerc (4-4), but Nolan Schanuel grounded out to first baseman Nathaniel Lowe.
García was batting .115 in July (3 for 26) before he drove a sinker from Luis García (3-1) into the elevated stands in right-centre. Despite the struggles at the plate, García has reached base in 17 of his last 18 games.
Josh Smith, a surprise omission off the All-Star Game roster, had three hits, including a home run in the second inning.
Kirby Yates allowed a two-out single to Zach Neto in the ninth, but struck out Jo Adell to earn his 14th save.
MARINERS 8, PADRES 3
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Julio Rodríguez went 4 for 4 with a 411-foot home run into the second deck in left field, Cal Raleigh had a pair of two-run homers among his three hits and All-Star Logan Gilbert was brilliant for the AL West-leading Seattle, who beat San Diego Padres 8-3.
Rodríguez also drove in two runs and scored three times in his biggest game of the year. The 2022 AL Rookie of the Year has been in a slump since mid-June, although he homered and doubled in a 7-3 win against Baltimore on Thursday. That homer was his first since June 15. It was his second four-hit game of the season and 10th of his career.
Rodríguez’s ninth homer, off rookie Adam Mazur (1-3) with one out in the fifth, was such a no-doubter that All-Star left fielder Jurickson Profar just turned and watched it sail into the stands for a 5-0 lead.
Rodriguez, who hit an RBI single in the first, was aboard for both of Raleigh’s shots. He singled ahead of Raleigh’s homer to right with one out in the third and doubled ahead of Raleigh’s line shot to left with one out in the seventh. Raleigh extended his team lead to 17. Raleigh also doubled in the ninth.
Gilbert (6-5) took a one-hit shutout into the seventh before allowing Jake Cronenworth’s homer with one out. The tall right-hander allowed Kyle Higashioka’s two-run homer with two outs in the eighth and was pulled. He allowed four hits in 7 2/3 innings, struck out seven and walked one.
GIANTS 4, BLUE JAYS 3
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Brett Wisely hit a tying RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning and Trevor Fitzgerald scored the winning run moments later on a wild pitch by Trevor Richards, rallying San Francisco past Toronto Blue Jays.
Richards (1-1) allowed Patrick Bailey’s single and walked Fitzgerald to put the tying and go-ahead runs aboard in the ninth before Wisely’s single got through between first and second.
Yusei Kikuchi struck out a career-high 13 pitching into the eighth inning and Ernie Clement’s three-run homer in the seventh put the Blue Jays in good position — denying Blake Snell a chance at his first victory of the year.
BRAVES 6, DIAMONDBACKS 2
PHOENIX (AP) — Chris Sale outdueled Zac Gallen with 5 1/3 solid innings, Adam Duvall hit a three-run homer and Atlanta beat Arizona for their fourth straight win.
Duvall connected for his three-run shot in the sixth, extending Atlanta’s lead to 5-0. The 441-foot homer was launched deep into the left field seats, ending Gallen’s night in frustration.
It was a good moment in a tough season for Duvall, who came into the game hitting just .184 with seven homers.
The 35-year-old has bounced back from several injury-riddled seasons to be one of the best pitchers in the big leagues this year. He’ll represent the Braves on the NL All-Star team on July 16.
Gallen (6-5) gave up five runs, including four earned, over 5 1/3 innings. The right-hander gave up seven hits and a walk while striking out four.
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