CINCINNATI — Sal Stewart hit a two-run homer, had four RBIs, and scored the winning run as the Cincinnati Reds rallied to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-7 on Friday night.
Stewart’s two-run single off Wilber Dotel (1-4) in the eighth tied the score 7-7. Stewart scored the go-ahead run from third on Brandon Lowe’s fielding error.
Emilio Pagán (4-1) struck out one in one inning for Cincinnati.
The Pirates trailed 5-4 with two outs in the eighth, but three straight RBI singles by Henry Davis, Jake Mangum and Lowe put them ahead 7-5.
Reds right-hander Hunter Greene, who’s been mentioned in trade speculation, made his fifth start since coming off the injured list and allowed four earned runs on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts.
Nick Gonzales’ first-inning single with the bases loaded drove in two runs to put Pittsburgh ahead 2-0.
Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes was 5-0 with a 1.38 ERA in seven career starts against Cincinnati, but he struggled on Friday. Skenes allowed five earned runs on seven hits with a season-high four walks and seven strikeouts.
YANKEES 2, CUBS 0
CHICAGO — Will Warren pitched four-hit ball into the seventh inning, Amed Rosario and rookie Spencer Jones each homered and the New York Yankees edged the Chicago Cubs.
The Yankees rebounded from a pair of consecutive extra-inning losses against the White Sox on Chicago’s South Side and have won six of nine overall.
Warren (8-5) struck out seven, walked none and retired 12 in a row before allowing consecutive singles with two outs in the seventh and being relieved by Paul Blackburn. Warren’s sharp effort followed a loss at Philadelphia last Sunday when he gave up six runs and six hits in three innings.
David Bednar worked around Pedro Ramirez’s single in the ninth for his 23rd save to complete a five-hitter.
The homers by Rosario and Jones were the first two hits off Cubs starter Shota Imanaga (7-9), who gave up four hits total, struck out six and walked none over 6 2/3 innings in a sixth straight solid outing.
WHITE SOX 6, RAYS 1
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Miguel Vargas, Andrew Benintendi, Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery homered and Chicago beat the American League-leading Tampa Bay.
Vargas, Murakami and Montgomery have all homered in the same game five times this season, becoming the first trio to accomplish that feat since Cody Bellinger, Corey Seager and Joc Pederson for the Dodgers in 2019.
Vargas opened the scoring in the first inning with the longest home run of his career at 433 feet, and Benintendi made it 2-0 in the second.
Murakami tied Kazuma Okamoto for the Japanese rookie home run record with his 24th in the third, and Montgomery gave the AL Central-leading White Sox a 6-1 lead in the sixth with a two-run shot over the Tropicana Field wall.
DIAMONDBACKS 4, GUARDIANS 1
CLEVELAND — Geraldo Perdomo and Gabriel Moreno had back-to-back RBI singles off Erik Sabrowski in a four-run eighth inning, lifting Arizona to a victory over Cleveland.
Ketel Marte also singled home a run in the eighth as the Diamondbacks won their third straight game and moved into sole possession of the second wild-card spot in the National League. Arizona, which didn’t advance a runner past second base in the first seven innings, is an NL-best 13-5 since July 9.
Jonathan Loaisiga (3-3) pitched a scoreless seventh for the win. Brandyn Garcia worked the ninth for his third save, wrapping up a combined three-hitter that began with rookie Mitch Bratt throwing five innings.
Guardians starter Tanner Bibee (4-11) allowed two runs and three hits in 7 1/3 innings. Sabrowski entered with two runners aboard and issued a walk to Corbin Carroll before Perdomo and Moreno both delivered.
Carroll scored on Moreno’s base hit when right fielder Angel Martínez committed a fielding error.
ORIOLES 6, PHILLIES 4
BALTIMORE — Gunnar Henderson hit a two-run triple in a four-run seventh inning and Baltimore rallied again, this time to a victory over Philadelphia.
Pinch-hitter Christian Encarnacion-Strand added a two-run double in the rally off Orion Kerkering (6-1) before Henderson found the gap off Tim Mayza as the Orioles overcame a two-run deficit two days after coming from seven down in a 10-9, 12-inning victory at Detroit.
Pete Alonso connected on his 23rd home run early for Baltimore, which began Friday 2 1/2 games behind Cleveland for the final AL wild-card place and finished July with a 15-8 record.
Josh Walker, Anthony Nunez (3-2) and Yennier Cano combined for 2 2/3 scoreless relief innings before Tyler Wells worked a perfect ninth for his fourth save.
J.T. Realmuto and Trea Turner hit solo homers for Philadelphia, which lost its fourth straight and sank to 3-10 since the All-Star break.
BLUE JAYS 3, CARDINALS 1
TORONTO — Pinch-hitter Luis Urías broke an eighth-inning tie with a two-run single and Toronto beat St. Louis.
Cardinals reliever Peter Strzelecki (0-1) exited after one-out walks to George Springer and Daulton Varsho. Gordon Graceffo came on and walked Ernie Clement to load the bases for Urías, who grounded a two-run single through the left side.
Jeff Hoffman (6-7) worked one inning for the win and Louis Varland finished for his 24th save in 24 opportunities as Toronto extended its home winning streak over St. Louis to seven games.
The Blue Jays have won five of their past eight games after losing the previous four.
St. Louis lost for the fifth time in six games. The Cardinals went 10-18 in July.
Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker opened the scoring with a two-out RBI single off Dylan Cease in the fifth.
MARLINS 5, METS 2
NEW YORK — Jakob Marsee snapped a scoreless tie with a two-run double in the fifth inning and Kyle Stowers homered for the second straight night Friday, powering Miami to a win over New York.
Marsee and Stowers, both of whom homered Thursday, have combined for five of the Marlins’ seven RBIs in the first two games of the series. Stowers has gone deep four times in Miami’s last six games.
Joe Mack and Xavier Edwards added RBI singles later in the fifth for the Marlins, who began the day 2 1/2 games behind Philadelphia and Arizona for the final two NL playoff spots.
Janson Junk (5-6) earned the win after giving up an unearned run while striking out four over five innings. Pete Fairbanks, the Marlins’ fifth pitcher, threw just seven pitches while earning his 16th save with a perfect ninth.
A.J. Ewing laced an RBI single and Francisco Lindor hit a 392-foot homer — his 150th round-tripper in a Mets uniform — for New York, which began dismantling a last-place team by trading reliever A.J. Minter to the Minnesota Twins earlier Friday.
BRAVES 6, NATIONALS 2
ATLANTA — Michael Harris II and Matt Olson hit long home runs and Atlanta pulled away from Washington in a victory.
Olson was 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored and Jim Jarvis was 3 for 3 with 2 RBIs. Mauricio Dubón had two hits and two runs scored for the first-place Braves, who are 10-5 since the All-Star break.
Nationals starter Foster Griffin (12-3) struggled in what could have been his final start for the Nationals. Trade speculation has surrounded the 30-year-old left-handed rookie, who entered with a 2.76 ERA in 21 starts. Griffin gave up six runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings, including the home runs to Olson and Harris.
Bryce Elder (7-6) recorded his 12th quality start of the season, allowing one run in six innings. He gave up four hits and three walks. Elieser Hernández threw three scoreless innings for his first career save.
Harris broke the game open with a 421-foot three-run homer in the sixth inning that landed inside the Chop House restaurant in right field and gave the Braves a 5-1 lead. It was his 20th home run of the season, matching his career high.
Atlanta native C.J. Abrams hit a solo home run in the fourth inning, his 28th. Andrés Chaparro hit a ninth inning home run, which gave the Nationals a franchise-record 50 home runs in the month of July.
ASTROS 11, RANGERS 2
HOUSTON — Yainer Diaz homered and tied a career high with four hits and Isaac Paredes and Christian Walker also went deep to lead the Houston Astros to an 11-2 rout of the Texas Rangers Friday night that put them in first place in the AL West.
Jeremy Peña had three RBIs and Yordan Alvarez added two as the Astros tied a season high with 18 hits for their ninth win in 10 games to move a half-game ahead of Texas atop the division.
Joc Pederson homered and Corey Seager doubled and had two hits for the Rangers in his return after missing 23 games with inflammation in his lower back as they dropped a third straight.
TIGERS 13, ATHLETICS 1
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Dillon Dingler hit a grand slam in Detroit's seven-run eighth inning and the Tigers opened their longest trip of the season with a 13-1 victory over the Athletics on Friday night.
Kevin McGonigle homered and drove in two runs, and fellow 2023 draft pick Max Clark had three hits, including an RBI double in the big eighth inning to help Detroit get the win in his big-league debut.
The Tigers got a strong performance from their bullpen after deciding to scratch scheduled starter Casey Mize in case a trade develops before Monday’s deadline. Tyler Holton started and allowed one run in two innings. Ty Madden (1-0) allowed two hits in three scoreless innings to get the win.
The Tigers won for just the second time in six games to start a three-city West Coast swing and moved within 3 1/2 games of the final wild-card spot in the American League.
RED SOX 9, DODGERS 4
LOS ANGELES — Ceddane Rafaela's go-ahead two-run homer highlighted a five-run seventh inning and the Boston Red Sox rallied after blowing an early lead to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-4 on Friday night in the series opener.
The Red Sox led 3-0 in the third before the Dodgers scored a run in the fourth and three more in the fifth on Shohei Ohtani's two-run, two-out blast to take a 4-3 lead.
Ohtani was 2 for 5 with two runs and two RBIs a night after sitting out because of lingering soreness in his left knee that has kept the two-way superstar off the mound since July 3.
Dodgers reliever Cole Irvin (0-1) gave up a leadoff walk to Nick Sogard in the fifth. Rafaela followed with a 405-foot shot to left that put the Red Sox back in front, 5-4.
TWINS 5, MARINERS 3
SEATTLE — Royce Lewis hit a tying home run in the seventh inning and Luke Keaschall smacked a go-ahead double as the surging Minnesota Twins beat the Seattle Mariners 5-3 on Friday night.
Minnesota’s seventh victory in nine games gave the Twins (56-55) a winning record for the first time since April 21, when they were 12-11. They are tied with Cleveland for the final American League playoff spot, and both teams are three games behind the first-place Chicago White Sox in the AL Central.
The skidding Mariners (53-58) have lost three straight and eight of 10 to fall three games behind AL West-leading Houston.
PADRES 7, GIANTS 0
SAN DIEGO — Jase Bowen hit his first major league homer, Ty France drove in three runs and three San Diego Padres pitchers combined on a two-hitter Friday night in a 7-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants.
San Diego (56-54) sits a game behind the Philadelphia Phillies for the third and final National League wild card.
In the fourth inning, the 25-year-old Bowen launched a 384-foot solo drive to left field that put the Padres up 4-0. France added a two-run single later in the inning before capping the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the sixth.
BREWERS 6, ANGELS 2
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Brice Turang and Jake Bauers powered a five-run fifth inning with home runs, Shane Drohan struck out seven in six innings, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-2 on Friday night.
Drohan (6-4) allowed two runs on four hits and walked one while delivering his fifth straight start of six innings or more for the NL Central-leading Brewers, who have won nine of 13 games.
Milwaukee reliever Grant Anderson threw a one-two-three seventh and got the first out of the eighth, Abner Uribe retired two batters in the eighth, and closer Trevor Megill retired the side in order with a strikeout in the ninth.
Starter Ryan Johnson (2-6) gave up five runs and six hits in 4 1/3 innings for the Angels, who have lost four straight, seven of eight and 19 of 24.
ROCKIES 3, ROYALS 1
DENVER — Tomoyuki Sugano allowed a run over 6 2/3 innings to win for the seventh time in his last eight starts and the Colorado Rockies beat the Kansas City Royals 3-1 on Friday night after a hailstorm delayed the start an hour.
Sugano (11-4) gave up five hits and matched his longest outing this season to help the Rockies end a four-game skid. He left after 83 pitches with Salvador Perez on first base, and Johnny Rave greeted Antonio Senzatela with a single to put runners on the corners. Josh Rojas flied out to left field to keep it 3-1.
Senzatela and Brennan Bernardino each got two outs and Jordan Romano pitched the ninth for his fifth save in five opportunities with Colorado.
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