Betts helps Dodgers top Brewers
Mookie Betts went deep in his return from the injured list and Shohei Ohtani took over the National League home run lead to lift the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers to a 5-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday in the opener of a four-game series.
Clayton Kershaw (1-2), in his fourth start since coming off the IL after recovering from offseason surgery on his left shoulder, allowed three hits before departing with two outs and one on in the sixth.
William Contreras greeted reliever Joe Kelly with his 14th homer of the year to pull Milwaukee within 4-2. Kelly then gave up back-to-back singles but escaped the jam by fanning Rhys Hoskins.
White Sox 12, Yankees 2
Gavin Sheets went 4-for-5 with four RBIs, Andrew Vaughn added four hits and Korey Lee and Brooks Baldwin homered to lead the host Chicago White Sox to a rout of the New York Yankees.
The White Sox out-hit the Yankees 18-9 as Chicago interim manager Grady Sizemore earned his first win since assuming the role after the team fired manager Pedro Grifol last Thursday. Chicago collected a season-high 10 extra-base hits en route to its first home win since July 10.
New York stranded 16 runners and finished 2-for-18 with men in scoring position. The Yankees fell a half-game behind the idle Baltimore Orioles for the American League East lead.
Guardians 9, Cubs 8
Josh Naylor chopped a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning and Jhonkensy Noel homered twice as the host Cleveland Guardians cooled off the surging Chicago Cubs..
In a wild affair, Cleveland trailed 3-0 early, then rallied for an 8-3 lead, only to see the Cubs score five runs between the seventh and eighth innings to tie it.
Ian Happ hit a two-run homer in the third off Cleveland starter Ben Lively, who lasted just 32⁄3 innings, and Pete Crow-Armstrong went deep against him in the fourth. However, Shota Imanaga allowed seven runs – three earned – and seven hits over five innings as Chicago lost for just the third time in 11 games.
Astros 6, Rays 1
Yainer Diaz’s three-run homer to cap a four-run third inning helped the Houston Astros win their sixth straight game, topping the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Alex Bregman popped a solo homer, while Yordan Alvarez went 2-for-5 with a double, two runs and an RBI. Jeremy Pena (hit by pitch) and Jose Altuve (run) had two hits apiece as the Astros improved to 6-1 on their nine-game road trip.
Tampa Bay’s Taylor Walls went 2for-3 with a triple, double and a run, but the Rays produced just four hits and lost for the fifth time in the past seven games.
Reds 6, Cardinals 1
Spencer Steer hit two home runs and drove in a career-high five runs and Elly De La Cruz homered and doubled to lead the host Cincinnati Reds to a victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in the opener of a three-game series.
It was the first multi-homer game of Steer’s career. Jake Fraley singled, walked and stole two bases and also scored twice for Cincinnati, which won its second straight game.
Paul Goldschmidt doubled and singled for St. Louis, which lost its second game in a row. Sonny Gray (11-7), who struck out five of the first six batters he faced, would up permitting six runs, tying a season-high, on five hits over five innings. He walked two and fanned nine.
Twins 8, Royals 3
Willi Castro hit a three-run homer, Royce Lewis hit a two-run shot, and the Minnesota Twins pulled away for a win over the Kansas City Royals in Minneapolis.
Austin Martin, Matt Wallner and Manuel Margot chipped in one RBI apiece for Minnesota, which won the opener of a three-game series.
Bobby Witt Jr. homered for the Royals. Kyle Isbel and Adam Frazier added one RBI apiece for the Royals, who dropped to 2-6 against the Twins this season.
Red Sox 5, Rangers 4, 10 innings
Rob Refsnyder hit a walk-off single to center field with the bases loaded in the 10th inning as the Boston Red Sox beat the visiting Texas Rangers.
Boston overcame leaving 15 runners on base, striking out 15 times and going just 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position to break a four-game losing skid.
Corey Seager went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer for Texas, which has lost five of its past six games.
Blue Jays 4, Angels 2
Bowden Francis retired 21 of the 22 batters he faced in seven innings and Will Wagner had a sparkling major league debut, leading the Toronto Blue
Jays to a victory over the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, Calif.
Outside of allowing a third-inning solo shot by Mickey Moniak, Francis (5-3) was perfect, striking out eight without issuing a walk in an 81-pitch outing.
The Angels finished with just two hits in the game, both solo home runs. Jo Adell hit his team-leading 18th homer of the season in the ninth inning against Toronto closer Chad Green.
Padres 2, Pirates 1
Xander Bogaerts knocked in the goahead run in the seventh inning and five San Diego pitchers teamed up for a win as the Padres edged the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates.
Jeremiah Estrada (4-2), the third Padres pitcher, worked out of a two-on, two-out jam in the top of the seventh for the win. Tanner Scott struck out three in a row after Oneil Cruz’s leadoff double in the eighth, and Robert Suarez allowed a run the ninth but still logged his 26th save in 29 chances.
Pirates starter Jake Woodford (0-4) lasted six-plus innings, the longest outing of his 86 major league games, but absorbed a tough-luck loss. The righthander allowed just three hits and a run with no walks and two strikeouts.
Diamondbacks 5, Rockies 4
Corbin Carroll and Kevin Newman scored on consecutive wild pitches in the seventh inning as the Arizona Diamondbacks rallied from a three-run deficit to beat the Colorado Rockies in Phoenix.
Jake McCarthy had two hits and two RBIs for Arizona, which won its fourth straight and moved a season-high 14 games over .500.
Brendan Rodgers hit a two-run homer for Colorado, which lost for the fourth time in its last six games.
Braves 1, Giants 0, 10 innings
Pinch hitter Travis d’Arnaud drove in the game’s only run with a 10th-inning sacrifice fly and the Atlanta Braves pulled out a road win over the San Francisco Giants.
The contest began with a brilliant pitchers’ duel featuring left-handers Chris Sale of Atlanta and Blake Snell of San Francisco.
Rafael Iglesias (2-1), who threw a 12-3 ninth to force extra innings, retired the Giants in order with a runner at second in the bottom of the 10th to complete the shutout.
With an eighth win in 12 extra-inning games, the Braves moved 2 1/2 games ahead of the Giants in the race for the final National League wild-card spot. San Francisco dropped its second straight game.
Sale and Snell set the tone for the low-scoring affair with double-digit strikeout performances in which neither got a decision. Sale was a mirror image of his old self. He allowed just three hits and no walks in seven scoreless innings this time, once again striking out 12. Meanwhile, 10 days after nohitting the Cincinnati Reds, Snell held the Braves without a hit for six innings before Marcell Ozuna lined a leadoff double down the left field line in the seventh.