Pirates down Cardinals 5-0
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Martín Pérez pitched six scoreless innings, Rowdy Tellez homered into the Allegheny River and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat St. Louis 5-0 on Wednesday to take two of three games from the Cardinals.
Pérez (2-5) allowed four hits, three in his final two innings, and walked five with two strikeouts. The 33-year-old left-hander entered with a 5.61 ERA after allowing 11 runs in 8 1/3 innings over his last two starts.
Tellez chased Matthew Liberatore (2-3) at the start of the fourth inning by sending a fastball 447 feet into the river beyond the wall in right field, extending the Pirates' lead to five runs.
Liberatore allowed five runs on four hits in three innings, walking three and striking out three.
The Pirates have won eight of their last 10 games. The Cardinals stranded 11 runners and slipped to 3-3 since coming out of the All-Star break.
Connor Joe capped a four-run second inning with a two-out, two-run double to left-center, a liner that center fielder Dylan Carlson failed to bring in on a dive. Joe, batting third, picked up his first RBIs since June 11.
Tellez opened the scoring with an RBI single to center. Liberatore walked Andrew McCutchen with the bases loaded to make it 2-0.
Pedro Pagés and Masyn Winn each hit a two-out single before Alec Burleson walked for St. Louis in the fifth inning. Pérez got Willson Contreras to ground to third, leaving the bases loaded.
Contreras flew out to right in the seventh, ending the inning with runners on second and third.
ASTROS 8, ATHLETICS 1 OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Hunter Brown had eight strikeouts in six innings to
remain one of the hottest pitchers in baseball, helping the Astros beat the Athletics.
Chas McCormick homered for the first time in more than a month and Jose Altuve had three hits and two RBIs as the Astros bounced back to win the last game of the series after losing the first two in likely their final regular-season trip to the Coliseum.
Seth Brown had three hits for the A's. Oakland had won five of six.
Hunter Brown (9-6) pitched around traffic in every inning he worked but limited the damage while winning for the eighth time in his last nine starts. The right-hander struck out the side twice and allowed eight hits with one walk.
During his strong stretch, Brown has lowered his ERA from 6.18 to 4.00.
Bryan Abreu, Taylor Scott and Bryan King retired three batters each to finish the game.
Lawrence Butler and Miguel Andujar got Oakland going early with back-toback doubles in the first inning. Andujar was later thrown out by Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña trying to score on a grounder.
Houston tied it in the second after Jon Singleton reached on a two-base fielding error by Seth Brown at first base, then scored on Alutve's single to left field. Altuve tried to stretch the hit into a double but was thrown out by Andujar.
Peña added an RBI single that deflected off Oakland pitcher JP Sears' foot and bounced into left field in the sixth.
Altuve and Alex Bregman each doubled in a run as part of a four-run seventh.
Sears (7-8), unbeaten in his three previous starts this month, allowed eight runs (seven earned) and nine hits in six innings.
REDS 9, BRAVES 4
ATLANTA (AP) — Spencer Steer drove in three runs with three extrabase hits, Elly De La Cruz also had three hits, including a home run, and the Reds beat the slumping Braves.
The second game of a scheduled split doubleheader was postponed due to inclement weather and has been rescheduled for Sept. 9.
Steer drove in a run with a first-inning triple off Allan Winans (0-2) and had a two-run double in the fourth. Steer added another double and scored two runs. Jake Fraley also had three hits, including a two-run homer in the first.
Cincinnati won both games of the shortened series.
Winans gave up seven runs in only 2 2/3 innings in Atlanta's fourth consecutive loss.
The Braves left the bases loaded in the third and fifth innings and stranded 11 runners overall.
Reds right-hander Frankie Montas allowed four runs on 10 hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings. Montas loaded the bases with one-out walks to Orlando Arcia and Zack Short in the fifth. Left-hander Sam Moll (2-1) struck out Kelenic and Nacho Alvarez Jr. to end the inning.
BREWERS 3, CUBS 2
CHICAGO (AP) — William Contreras hit a tiebreaking double in the ninth inning and the Brewers beat the Cubs.
Blake Perkins singled leading off the ninth against Héctor Neris (8-3). Contreras put Milwaukee on top one out later when he lined a double to left-center, helping the NL Central leaders end a rough day on a winning note.
Before the game, the Brewers placed Christian Yelich on the 10-day injured list because of inflammation in his lower back and they were bracing for the possibility that their All-Star outfielder misses significant time.
Milwaukee reliever Bryse Wilson entered in the second and held Chicago to one run over four innings. Jakob Junis (3-0) then pitched one-hit ball for three innings before Joel Payamps worked the ninth for his fifth save.
Jackson Chourio and Brice Turang each singled in a run, and the Brewers pulled out the win despite stranding 10 runners.
Seiya Suzuki doubled and scored in the first against Milwaukee opener Rob Zastryzny. Suzuki gave Chicago a 2-1 lead in the third with a solo homer against Wilson.
ROCKIES 20, RED SOX 7
DENVER (AP) — Brenton Doyle hit a grand slam, one of four home runs by Colorado, and the Rockies tied a franchise record for runs in a victory over the Red Sox.
Ezequiel Tovar homered and singled twice, extended his hitting streak to 11 games with his homer. Jacob Stallings also homered, Brendan Rodgers had four hits and Kris Bryant singled three times for the Rockies.
Cal Quantrill (7-7) tossed six solid innings as Colorado took two of three from the scuffling Red Sox. Boston has lost five of its first six to begin the second half of the season.
Boston had a season-high four errors that led to six unearned runs. Three of the errors came with Nick Pivetta on the mound. Pivetta (4-7), who entered Wednesday with a 13.85 ERA in four career starts against the Rockies, gave up eight runs – seven earned – in 2 2/3 innings.
Colorado led 5-1 after the second inning, went ahead 8-1 on Stallings' three-run homer in the third, and scored five times in the fourth.