ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jose Altuve homered his first three times up, starting with a pair off All-Star right-hander Nathan Eovaldi in his return from the injured list, and the Houston Astros pummeled the Texas Rangers 14-1 on Tuesday night.
Altuve greeted Eovaldi with a leadoff homer, then ended the pitcher’s first outing since July 18 with another drive into the seats in left field on the 35th pitch with one out in the second.
The third homer — and 15th of the season for Altuve — was to center field off Dane Dunning, a starter who came out of the bullpen so the Rangers could get Eovaldi back on the mound without a rehab appearance coming off a right forearm strain.
Martín Maldonado hit two homers and slugger Yordan Alvarez connected for his 24th as the defending World Series champion Astros set a Globe Life Field record with six long balls while wrapping up a third consecutive series win over the Rangers.
Texas, which hasn’t had a winning season since 2016, has lost 14 of 18 games and is two back in the AL West for the second time since a run of 140 consecutive days atop the division ended in late August.
Altuve homered in four consecutive at-bats going back to Houston’s 13-6 win in the series opener Monday. The run ended with a groundout against Dunning in the fifth. Altuve struck out in the seventh.
Houston’s star second baseman homered twice in the series opener, giving him consecutive multi-homer games for the first time in his career. He was the first Astro to do that since Richard Hidalgo in 2000.
The Astros had back-to-back homers from the No. 9 and leadoff spots twice in the series opener with Mauricio Dubón and Altuve. They did it again in the third inning with Maldonado’s two-run shot and the third solo blast from Altuve, which put Houston up 9-0 and capped a third consecutive three-run inning.
Framber Valdez (11-9) allowed one run on six hits with four walks and four strikeouts in seven innings. The All-Star left-hander ended a three-game losing streak against the Rangers.
Eovaldi (11-4) allowed four runs while getting four outs, with José Abreu and Chas McCormick driving in a run apiece in the first inning. It was expected to be a short outing since Eovaldi hadn’t faced live hitters since Aug. 21.
Eovaldi was leading the AL in ERA and tied for the league lead in wins when he went on the injured list following a victory in a start against Tampa Bay seven weeks ago.
BLUE JAYS 7, ATHLETICS 1
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Former Athletics ace Chris Bassitt allowed one run in eight strong innings and the Toronto Blue Jays took sole possession of the third American League wild-card berth with a 7-1 win over Oakland on Tuesday night.
Toronto’s fifth win in six games moved the Blue Jays past the Rangers in the crowded AL playoff race. Texas lost to Houston 14-1 earlier in the day.
The Blue Jays did it behind plenty of offence and a superb outing from Bassitt (14-7), who was 30-24 over six seasons with the A’s and was an All-Star in his final season with Oakland in 2021. The 6-foot-5 right-hander allowed seven hits and didn’t walk anyone while striking out seven. He tied Roger Clemens’ single-season franchise record with his ninth game of at least six scoreless innings, tops in the majors this season.
The A’s traded Bassitt to the Mets on March 12, 2022, before the right-hander signed with the Blue Jays as a free agent nine months later.
Bowden Francis recorded three consecutive strikeouts in the ninth for Toronto in front of another small crowd of 4,751 at the Oakland Coliseum.
Kevin Kiermaier hit an RBI single to break a scoreless tie as part of a six-run seventh inning for Toronto after Oakland reliever Zach Neal (1-1) walked the bases loaded.
George Springer followed with a two-run single and Whit Merrifield added a sacrifice fly. Cavan Biggio drew a bases-loaded walk, his second free pass of the inning, to force in a run and make it 5-0.
Neal, who retired one batter in relief after starter Ken Waldichuk pitched six scoreless innings, suffered his first loss since Sept. 2, 2016 against the Red Sox.
Kiermaier finished with three hits and two RBIs for Toronto. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled and has reached base in his last 21 games, the longest active streak in the majors.
Zack Gelof and Seth Brown each had two hits for the last-place A’s. Jordan Diaz drove in the team’s only run with a two-out single off Bassitt in the seventh.
Waldichuk had one of his most efficient starts of the season but left without a decision for his sixth consecutive outing. He allowed four hits in six scoreless innings and raised his season strikeout total to 117, ninth-most by an Oakland rookie.
REDS 7, MARINERS 6
CINCINNATI (AP) — Nick Martini came off the bench to hit a game-tying three-run homer run in the eighth inning and Christian Encarnación-Strand drove in Elly De La Cruz in the ninth and the Cincinnati Reds came from behind for a 7-6 win over the AL West-leading Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night.
Julio Rodríguez hit two home runs for the Mariners (77-71), who have lost three straight for the first time since August 12-14.
De La Cruz led off the ninth with an infield hit, stole second and scored with a head-first slide on Encarnación-Strand’s single to right.
The comeback win was the Reds’ (73-68) major league-leading 44th of the season. Alexis Diaz (8-4) pitched the ninth for the win. Andres Munoz (3-7) took the loss.
The Reds overcame four runs batted in by Rodríguez and Teoscar Hernández’s two-run homer in the first inning for their fourth win in their last five games.
Hernández’s homer was his sixth in his last 10 games and extended his season-high hitting streak to 14 games, one short of matching Rodríguez’s team season-high 15-game streak that was stopped on Sunday.
Rodríguez’s three-run opposite-field drive to right off former Seattle prospect Connor Phillips was one of four Mariner hits in the fifth inning and gave them a 5-1 lead. Rodríguez added a solo homer in the seventh.
Seattle went into the game tied with the Astros for first place. The Reds were third in the NL Central behind first-place Milwaukee and the Cubs.
Mariners’ rookie Bryce Miller overcame hitting three batters and giving up seven hits to finish five innings. He allowed one run and a walk with two strikeouts. He got help from left fielder Dominic Canzone’s lunging grab of De La Cruz’s bases-loaded liner to end the fifth.
Encarnación-Strand and Noelvi Marte each hit solo homers off Dominic Leone in the sixth. Marte’s was the first of his career.
Phillips allowed six hits and five runs with two walks and seven strikeouts in 4 2/3innings.
YANKEES 5, TIGERS 1
NEW YORK (AP) — Giancarlo Stanton smashed his 400th home run, Gerrit Cole burnished his Cy Young Award credentials and the New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers 5-1 on Tuesday night.
DJ LeMahieu hit his second leadoff homer in four games and Gleyber Torres had a two-run double for the last-place Yankees (69-69), who have won four straight and seven of eight to get back to .500 for the first time since Aug. 15.
Stanton’s two-run homer off reliever José Cisnero broke a 1-all tie in the sixth inning. The slugger reached 400 homers in 1,520 career games — fourth-fastest in major league history behind Mark McGwire (1,412), Babe Ruth (1,475) and Alex Rodriguez (1,489). Albert Pujols is fifth at 1,523.
Stanton’s 451-foot laser to left-center was caught by a fan with a glove in the front row of the elevated bleachers above Detroit’s bullpen. The large videoboard displayed the No. 400 milestone and Stanton — often the target of boos at Yankee Stadium since arriving in 2018 — came out of the dugout for a curtain call, doffing his helmet to the crowd of 31,553.
The 2017 NL MVP with Miami, Stanton became the 58th big league player to reach 400 home runs and 10th to do it with the Yankees.
The drive made a winner of Cole (13-4), who struck out seven in six innings of one-run ball and took over the American League lead in ERA at 2.90. He gave up eight hits but walked none, throwing 104 pitches on a steamy, 87-degree night.
The right-hander beat Detroit for the second time in a week and improved to 9-1 in 13 career starts against the Tigers, who had won four in a row following a five-game slide.
Miguel Cabrera had an RBI single off Cole in the opener of his final series at Yankee Stadium. The 40-year-old Cabrera, presented with farewell gifts by the Yankees in a ceremony on the field before the game, plans to retire after this season.
Javier Báez broke out of an 0-for-14 slump with three hits for the Tigers. But he struck out swinging with a runner on in the sixth as Cole threw a 98 mph fastball on his final pitch.
Tommy Kahnle, Jonathan Loáisiga and Clay Holmes combined for three innings of one-hit relief.
Joey Wentz (2-11) took the loss after issuing a leadoff walk to Aaron Judge in the sixth. Stanton connected with two outs, and Torres added his two-run double in the eighth.
Prized rookie Jasson Domínguez went 1 for 4 with an eighth-inning double for New York in his Yankee Stadium debut. The 20-year-old Domínguez had an impressive start to his career last weekend in Houston, where he homered twice in three games — including a two-run shot off three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander in his first big league at-bat.
TWINS 8, GUARDIANS 3
CLEVELAND (AP) — For months, the AL Central was the butt of jokes.
The Minnesota Twins may get the last laugh.
Jorge Polanco hit a sacrifice fly and Donovan Solano added a three-run triple in Minnesota’s five-run eighth inning as the Twins pushed their lead to seven games over second-place Cleveland with an 8-3 win over the Guardians on Tuesday night.
Polanco hit a shot deep enough to right off Trevor Stephan (6-6) to score pinch-runner Joey Gallo and break a 3-3 tie. Later in the inning, Solano’s liner to center skipped past outfielder Myles Straw and rolled to the wall, clearing the bases.
By winning the first two games of the critical three-game series, Minnesota, which has been atop the division since mid-July, moved seven games above .500 for the first time in 2023.
More importantly, they probably put away the defending division champion Guardians with just 23 games left.
Still, the Twins, who improved 4-1 on this road trip and are playing their best ball this season, aren’t taking anything for granted.
“It’s the beginning of September,” said manager Rocco Baldelli. “We play six-month seasons and we have close to a month left. Nothing changes for us right now. We’ve just got to keep playing good.”
Minnesota’s Christian Vázquez, who hit a game-tying homer in the sixth off Guardians reliever Matt Moore, led off the eighth with a single and Willi Castro doubled down the left-field line. Gallo came on for Vázquez and scored easily on Polanco’s fly ahead of Will Brennan’s throw.
Stephan’s wild pitch made it 5-3, and the right-hander walked two and hit a batter to set up Solano’s shot — a potential knockout blow for Cleveland.
As the ball got by Straw, Solano had one thought.
“Run,” he said with laugh.
Bo Naylor hit a two-run homer for the Guardians, who were blown out 20-6 in Monday’s series opener.
Manager Terry Francona understands the challenge his team is facing. He’s also confident the Guardians won’t surrender.
“I’ve never been accused of being a math major,” he said. “We need to win and the best way to is to win tomorrow. We certainly didn’t put our best foot forward the last two nights, and I don’t think you can run from what we haven’t done. But until it’s time they make you go home, we’ll keep playing.”
Griffin Jax (6-8) struck out two in one inning after coming on for starter Sonny Gray, who gave up three runs and six hits in six innings. Caleb Thielbar worked the eighth and Emilio Pagán finished up for Minnesota.
With one out, Vázquez belted Moore’s first pitch down the right-field line, the ball ducking into the seats just inside the foul pole.
The Guardians got a solid outing from rookie Tanner Bibee, who held the Twins to two runs and four hits in five innings one night after Minnesota unloaded on Lucas Giolito — nine runs, three innings — in his Cleveland debut.
Afterward, Bibee expressed the team’s frustration at losing ground to the Twins.
“Good team for sure,” he said. “We’ve shown them we can beat them, shown them we can compete with them.”
RAYS 8, RED SOX 6
ST. PETERSBUG, Fla. (AP) — Brandon Lowe hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the 11th inning and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox 8-6 on Tuesday night.
Lowe won it with his 18th homer off Kenley Jansen (3-6), who had his streak of converting 20 consecutive chances end. Erasmo Ramirez (3-3) got the win.
Luis Urías hit an RBI single in the 11th inning to give Boston a 6-5 lead.
The Rays loaded the bases in the 10th with one out against John Schreiber but failed to score when Josh Lowe was thrown out by right fielder Adam Duvall trying to score from third on Christian Bethancourt’s fly.
Boston started the day 4 1/2 games out of the final AL wild card. The Rays hold the top AL wild-card spot.
Tampa Bay’s Zach Eflin failed to become the AL’s first 14-game winner despite departing with a two-run lead. He gave up three runs and five hits over five-plus innings.
Justin Turner had a RBI infield single in the sixth and drove in another run on a base-hit in a two-run seventh as Boston rallied to tie it at 5. Triston Casas got Boston even and extended his career-high hitting streak to 12 games with his 177-foot pop-up single down the left-field line.
Turner set a career-high with 91 RBIs.
René Pinto hit a two-run homer off Kutter Crawford during a three-run second as the Rays took a 3-0 lead. The Rays went ahead 5-2 in the fourth.
Crawford allowed five runs, three hits and four walks over 3 2/3 innings in a season-high 96-pitch outing. The right-hander was coming off a loss against the Houston Astros last Wednesday in which he gave up six runs in 2 2/3 innings.
Enmanuel Valdez cut the Red Sox deficit to 3-2 on a third-inning two-run homer. Ceddanne Rafaela had three hot for the Red Sox.