CLEVELAND — Salvador Perez hit a grand slam and drove in a career-high six runs as the Kansas City Royals completed a doubleheader sweep of Cleveland, beating the Guardians 9-4 on Monday night to pull within one game of first in the AL Central.
The Royals won the day game 4-3 as Bobby Witt Jr.’s 27th homer — and 11th since July 19 — snapped a tie in the eighth inning.
In Game 2, Perez hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning — after nearly striking out — and then connected for his sixth career slam in the sixth off Pedro Avila.
The nine-time All-Star catcher has 17 career multi-homer games, tying him with Hall of Famer George Brett for the most in Kansas City history.
Kansas City was nine games back in early July, but the Royals have chipped away at Cleveland’s lead by posting an AL-best 22-13 record since the break.
The Guardians, who have led the division since April 14, dropped to 0-8 in doubleheaders this season.
Leading 5-4 in the sixth, the Royals loaded the bases and had a runner forced at the plate before Perez drove his 25th homer 457 feet into the bleachers. Perez’s shot tied him with Frank White for the most slams in Royals history.
José Ramírez had three doubles, giving Cleveland’s star third baseman two or more extra-base hits in 109 games to tie him with Tris Speaker for second in club history behind Earl Averill (135). Ramírez has also reached 30 homers, 30 doubles and 30 steals in a season for the second time.
BLUE JAYS 4, RED SOX 1, 1st game
BLUE JAYS 7, RED SOX 3, 2nd game
BOSTON — Danny Jansen’s former team beat his current one, when George Springer cleared the Green Monster with a 416-foot home run and seven Toronto pitchers combined on a four-hitter to beat Boston in the completion of a game that was suspended by rain in June.
George Springer hit a three-run homer — his second of the day — to key a five-run fifth inning and Toronto took two games by posting a victory to send Boston to their fifth straight loss.
Jansen made history as the first major leaguer to play for both teams in the same game, starting it as the Toronto catcher on June 26, when it was halted — with Jansen about to bat — in the second inning. The backup catcher was traded to Boston on July 27, and he was behind the plate when the game resumed on Monday after a delay of 65 days, 18 hours and 35 minutes.
In the second game with Toronto trailing 1-0, Springer hit a drive off reliever Brad Keller (0-4) that hooked around the Pesky Pole for his 19th homer to make it 3-1. Addison Barger followed with an RBI single and Ernie Clement added a run-scoring double to complete the big inning.
The Red Sox committed four errors and fell to 14-22 since the All-Star break. They’re now 5 1/2 games behind Minnesota for the AL’s third and final wild-card spot after dropping to 29-37 in games at Fenway Park.
José Berríos (13-9) won his fourth straight start, allowing three runs, two earned, on eight hits with six strikeouts and no walks in 7 2/3 innings. The Blue Jays have won six in a row. Brendon Little got the final four outs for his first career save.
YANKEES 5, NATIONALS 2
WASHINGTON — Gleyber Torres hit a leadoff homer, Aaron Judge made a spectacular defensive play and New York beat Washington to spoil the major league debut of prized prospect Dylan Crews.
Judge added his 1,000th career hit as New York won for the fifth time in six games, moving two ahead of idle Baltimore atop the AL East. Austin Wells and Jazz Chisholm Jr. also went deep for the Yankees to back Nestor Cortes (8-10).
Anthony Volpe had a double and two singles, scoring twice on sacrifice flies by DJ LeMahieu. Alex Verdugo also had three hits.
Crews, the third-ranked prospect in baseball, batted second for Washington and went 0 for 3 with a walk. He struck out with two runners in scoring position in the sixth.
CUBS 18, PIRATES 8
PITTSBURGH — Dansby Swanson hit a grand slam to cap an eight-run sixth inning, and Chicago had eight stolen bases – their most in a game in more than 100 years — on the way to an 18-8 victory over Pittsburgh.
Swanson’s slam came off Domingo German, was the third of the shortstop’s nine-year career — and second this season — and pushed the Cubs’ lead to 9-2. Swanson also homered with the bases loaded on April 24 against Houston rookie Spencer Arrighetti.
The Cubs last had eight steals in 1913.
Rookie centre fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong led the way with three stolen bases as the Cubs won for the seventh time in 10 games. That raised his season total to 26 in 93 games. Crow-Armstrong has only been caught once this year.
Ian Happ added two steals and Nico Hoerner, Cody Bellinger and Seiya Suzuki had one each. All eight steals came in eight attempts against catcher Yasmani Grandal. Starter Mitch Keller was on the mound for seven steals during his four innings.
Chicago entered the game eighth in the major leagues in stolen bases with 112.
PHILLIES 3, ASTROS 2, 10 INNINGS
PHILADELPHIA — Bryce Harper hit a game-ending RBI single in the 10th inning off Houston closer Josh Hader, and Philadelphia won in a matchup of division leaders.
Brandon Marsh homered for Philadelphia, which won its third straight. The Phillies entered leading the NL East by six games over Atlanta, while Houston began play 4 1/2 games ahead of Seattle in the AL West.
Shay Whitcomb had a pair of RBIs for Houston, which defeated Philadelphia in the 2022 World Series.
With runners on first and second and no outs, Harper lined the first pitch he saw from Hader (6-7), a 96 mph sinker, to right field to score automatic runner Kyle Schwarber. Hader struck out the side in order in the ninth, finishing the inning by getting Schwarber looking on a sinker.
Matt Strahm (6-2) worked a scoreless 10th for Philadelphia. He got help on the final out from centre fielder Johan Rojas, who made a diving catch to rob Yainer Diaz of a base hit that would have scored the automatic runner.
PADRES 7, CARDINALS 4
ST. LOUIS — Manny Machado homered and drove in three runs, rookie Jackson Merrill also had three RBIs and San Diego defeated St. Louis.
Rookie starter Randy Vásquez (4-6) went six innings for the win, allowing two runs and six hits.
Machado hit a two-run homer in the first and an RBI double in the fifth. He also scored three runs.
Merrill, who launched a game-ending homer Sunday against the New York Mets, delivered a two-run single in the third and an RBI single in the fifth.
The Padres are 25-8 since July 20, a .758 winning percentage. That ties them with Arizona for the best record in the majors during that span. San Diego is a game behind the Diamondbacks for the top National League wild card.
Brendan Donovan, Masyn Winn and Alec Burleson each had three hits for St. Louis.
TIGERS 6, WHITE SOX 3
CHICAGO — Spencer Torkelson hit a three-run homer during a five-run seventh inning, and Detroit beat Chicago to complete a four-game sweep and drop the majors’ worst team to 31-101.
Parker Meadows led off the seventh with a homer off Jared Shuster (1-3) that tied the game at 2-all. Jace Jung hit a go-ahead RBI single before Torkelson greeted Justin Anderson with a 439-foot drive to centre field that made it 6-2.
The White Sox have lost eight of nine and recorded their 31st blown save, the most in the majors.
Torkelson finished 3 for 5, falling a triple short of the cycle.
Detroit right-hander Ty Madden gave up two runs, one earned, in five innings in his major league debut. The 24-year-old allowed four hits and three walks.
Sean Guenther (1-0) worked 1 2/3 scoreless innings for his first career win, and Tyler Holton handled the ninth for his fifth save.
ROCKIES 3, MARLINS 2
DENVER — Ryan McMahon hit a tiebreaking homer in the sixth inning, and Colorado beat Miami in a matchup of the NL’s worst teams.
Colorado (49-83) and Miami (47-84), which entered the majors together in 1993, are both rebuilding and fielded lineups featuring young players. Griffin Conine, the son of former Marlins franchise icon Jeff Conine, made his major league debut as a pinch-hitter in the fifth inning. He struck out.
McMahon led off the sixth against Edward Cabrera (2-6) with a 438-foot drive to centre field, his 17th homer of the season. It was the only extra-base hit of the game.
The Rockies’ bullpen worked four scoreless innings. Jake Bird (2-2) pitched the sixth and Tyler Kinley got the final three outs for his seventh save.
Rockies starter Ryan Feltner, who was forced out of a start after one inning on Aug. 7 and landed on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder strain, held the Marlins scoreless through four innings but yielded Jesus Sanchez’s two-run single in the fifth.
BRAVES 10, TWINS 6
MINNEAPOLIS — Matt Olson hit a three-run homer and a two-run double for Atlanta in the first two innings against Bailey Ober before the game was stopped by a thunderstorm, and the Atlanta Braves beat the sputtering Minnesota Twins.
Max Fried (8-7) endured the 86-minute delay for his first win since June 23, retiring 12 straight batters over a stretch bridging the rain and finishing five innings with one earned run allowed.
Travis d’Arnaud hit a two-run homer and Marcell Ozuna had two runs and two RBIs for the Braves, who emphatically ended Ober’s streak of 11 straight quality starts with four runs before he recorded an out.
Whit Merrifield, subbing in the leadoff spot for injured Michael Harris II, went 5 for 5 and began the game with a single. Three batters later, Ober (12-6) threw an 0-2 cutter that Olson drove 423 feet into the second deck above right-centre field for his 23rd homer.
MARINERS 5, RAYS 1
SEATTLE — Randy Arozarena smacked a three-run homer against his former team, Bryce Miller allowed two hits and tied a career high with 10 strikeouts over seven innings, and Seattle beat Tampa Bay.
Jorge Polanco added a solo home run, his 13th longball of the season, and backup infielder Leo Rivas added a two-out RBI single as the Mariners improved to 3-1 under new manager Dan Wilson.
Miller’s 10 strikeouts matched the mark he’s reached four times in his career, the last coming in April against the Braves. Miller (10-7) retired the side in order in five of his seven innings.
Josh Lowe had the only success against Miller with a solo homer in the second inning and a single in the fifth.
Arozarena was acquired from the Rays in late July ahead of the trade deadline with the hope of adding length to Seattle’s batting order. After a solid start, Arozarena had struggled lately and was in a 4-for-39 slump with just one extra-base hit and one RBI in his previous 11 games entering Monday.
Perhaps seeing old friends helped. Arozarena spent some time in the Rays clubhouse before the game catching up with former teammates and Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash.
Then he delivered the blow that broke open the game.
With two outs in the third, Julio Rodríguez’s routine grounder bounded under the glove of former Mariner Jose Caballero at third base. Cal Raleigh followed with a cue shot off the end of his bat that hit third base for an infield single.
Fans were still chuckling at Raleigh’s hit when Rays starter Ryan Pepiot (7-6) left a cutter on the outer half of the plate and Arozarena drove it out to right field. It was just his second home run since being traded to Seattle and his first since July 29 — his third game with the Mariners.