WASHINGTON (AP) — Chris Sale failed to get through the fifth inning in his second start back from a shoulder injury, and the Boston Red Sox suffered another blow to its playoff hopes in a 10-7 loss to the Washington Nationals on Thursday.
Luis Urias hit his first grand slam in the seventh as Boston tried to rally from eight runs down. Rafael Devers added a two-run homer later in the inning, getting the Red Sox within 9-7, but the rally failed as Kyle Finnegan earned his 19th save in 26 chances.
Sale (5-3) was lifted with one out in the fifth. Josh Winckowski entered and gave up a tiebreaking two-run double to Joey Meneses, the first of four straight hits by the Nationals, who scored five times in the inning.
Meneses drove in five runs and Patrick Corbin (8-11) pitched six sharp innings for rebuilding Washington. Keibert Ruiz went 3 for 3.
Rookie Triston Casas hit his 20th homer of the season for the Red Sox, who slipped 3.5 games behind AL East rival Toronto for the final wild-card spot and are fourth in the AL East.
MARINERS 6, ROYALS 4
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Julio Rodriguez had a career-high five hits to go with five RBIs, including a go-ahead three-run homer in the eighth inning, and the Seattle Mariners escaped Kansas City with a victory over the Royals.
Rodriguez, who had four hits a night earlier, had three singles and a triple to go with his home run while joining Alex Rodriguez, Mike Cameron and Ruppert Jones in select company. The homer was the 20th of the season for Rodriguez, who already had stolen 30 bases, making the 22-year-old phenom just the fourth Mariners player in the 20-30 club.
Cal Raleigh added a homer in the ninth inning. Isaiah Campbell (3-0) earned the win for the Mariners with a scoreless seventh inning. Trent Thornton tossed a perfect eighth and Matt Brash picked up his fourth save.
Carlos Hernandez (1-8) took the loss. Nelson Velazquez homered for the fourth time in seven games for Kansas City, and MJ Melendez, Michael Massey and Freddy Fermin also drove in runs.
METS 4, CARDINALS 2
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Pete Alonso hit a two-run homer. Jose Quintana won for the first time this season and New York opened its four-game series against St. Louis with its fourth win in five games.
Quintana (1-4) beat his former team by pitching into the seventh inning. He gave up three hits, including a homer in the seventh to Tyler O’Neill, and two runs. Trevor Gott pitched the ninth for his first save.
Tim Locastro led off the ninth with a pinch-hit home run, his first this season for New York. It was the third one of his career.
The loss denied Adam Wainwright (3-8) a chance to pick up career win No. 199. He allowed three runs on four hits in his third-longest outing this season.
DIAMONDBACKS 3, PADRES 1
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Top NL Cy Young Award contender Zac Gallen beat San Diego for the second straight start and Tommy Pham and Gabriel Moreno homered for Arizona in the opener of a four-game series between teams trying to keep their wild-card hopes from slipping away.
Each team had just three hits. The Diamondbacks won their third straight and the Padres lost for the eighth time in 11 games.
Gallen (13-5) held the Padres to one run and three hits in 6 1/3 innings while striking out three and walking one.
Rookie reliever Justin Martinez, pitching in just his fifth game, earned a four-out save, his first. He walked two in the ninth before punching out Jake Cronenworth to end it.
Rich Hill (7-13), a 34-year-old lefty acquired from Pittsburgh at the trade deadline, lost his third straight start for the Padres. He retired the first 10 Diamondbacks batters before walking Corbin Carroll with one out in the fourth. Pham then drove the next pitch to center field, his 12th homer.
DODGERS 1, BREWERS 0
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Austin Barnes hit a solo homer in the eighth inning, helping Los Angeles beat Milwaukee for its 11th in a row.
The NL West-leading Dodgers swept the NL Central leaders, outscoring them 14-3 in three games. The Dodgers had their 12th shutout of the season.
Lance Lynn dueled 2021 Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes, who retired 10 in a row, including six on strikeouts, although neither figured in the decision.
Lynn allowed four hits in seven innings, struck out three and walked one. Burnes gave up two hits in seven innings. The right-hander struck out nine and walked two.
Caleb Ferguson (7-3) got the win with an inning of relief. Evan Phillips pitched the ninth for his 18th save.
NATIONALS 10, RED SOX 7
WASHINGTON (AP) — Chris Sale failed to get through the fifth inning in his second start back from a shoulder injury, and Boston suffered another blow to its playoff hopes in a loss to Washington.
Luis Urías hit his first grand slam in the seventh as Boston tried to rally from eight runs down. Rafael Devers added a two-run homer later in the inning, getting the Red Sox within 9-7, but the rally failed as Kyle Finnegan earned his 19th save in 26 chances.
Sale (5-3) was lifted with one out in the fifth. Josh Winckowski entered and gave up a tiebreaking two-run double to Joey Meneses, the first of four straight hits by the Nationals, who scored five times in the inning.
Meneses drove in five runs and Patrick Corbin (8-11) pitched six sharp innings for rebuilding Washington. Keibert Ruiz went 3 for 3.
Rookie Triston Casas hit his 20th homer of the season for the Red Sox, who slipped 3 1/2 games behind AL East rival Toronto for the final wild-card spot and are fourth in the AL East.