This story was originally published by Dead Spin
In his homecoming, Manny Machado drove in three runs — including two in the decisive 10th inning — as the San Diego Padres defeated the host Miami Marlins 6-2 on Friday night.
San Diego has won six straight games, the longest active streak in the majors.
Padres rookie Jackson Merrill nearly upstaged Machado by going 3-for-4 and finishing a double shy of the cycle. Merrill, who also had two steals, two RBIs and a stellar catch in center, led off the ninth with a homer to send the game to extra innings.
Miami reliever George Soriano blew a save chance in the ninth. Brett de Geus (0-1) took the loss in his Marlins debut, allowing four runs (three earned) in the 10th. San Diego’s Jason Adam (7-4) earned the win with a scoreless ninth.
Dodgers 9, Pirates 5
Right-hander Jack Flaherty had 10 strikeouts in his home debut and was backed by three home runs as Los Angeles earned a victory over visiting Pittsburgh in the opener of a three-game series.
In his second start since he was traded from the Detroit Tigers to his hometown team, Flaherty (9-5) gave up four runs on nine hits over 5 2/3 innings and threw 110 pitches. Four Dodgers pitchers combined for 16 strikeouts. Freddie Freeman, Shohei Ohtani and Enrique Hernandez each hit home runs as the Dodgers won for the fourth time in their past six games.
Oneil Cruz and Joey Bart each hit home runs for the Pirates, who lost their fifth consecutive game. Right-hander Mitch Keller (10-6) gave up seven runs on seven hits in four innings for Pittsburgh. Right-hander Domingo German made his Pirates debut and gave up two runs in four relief innings.
Twins 4, Guardians 2 (Game 1)
Carlos Santana and Ryan Jeffers each homered for host Minnesota in the first game of a doubleheader.
Twins right-hander Bailey Ober (12-5) fired six scoreless innings and struck out nine. He held Cleveland to two hits and two walks.
Joey Cantillo (0-2) took the loss and Brayan Rocchio hit a two-run homer.
Twins 6, Guardians 3 (Game 2)
Matt Wallner went 1-for-3 with a three-run homer, and Minnesota pulled away for a win over Cleveland in the second game of a doubleheader in Minneapolis.
Willi Castro stole home for the Twins, who won both games of the day-night doubleheader. Minnesota moved within 1 1/2 games of Cleveland for first place in the American League Central.
Josh Naylor hit a three-run homer to lead Cleveland at the plate. The Guardians lost their seventh game in a row, extending their worst streak of the season.
Orioles 4, Rays 1
Former Tampa Bay pitcher Zach Eflin (8-7) scattered four hits over seven shutout innings, and Colton Cowser and Cedric Mullins each homered for visiting Baltimore.
Eflin, who was traded on July 26, walked one and struck out seven.
Dylan Carlson homered for Tampa Bay. Zack Littell (5-8) allowed three runs on eight hits over five innings. He walked one and struck out five.
Blue Jays 3, Athletics 1
Right-hander Jose Berrios struck out eight in seven innings, George Springer and Spencer Horwitz homered and Toronto defeated Oakland.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. extended his hit streak to 21 games with two singles and Ernie Clement had three singles in the opener of a three-game series. Berrios (10-9) allowed one run, six hits and one walk.
Darell Hernaiz had a homer and single for the Athletics. Oakland right-hander Mitch Spence (7-8) allowed two runs and eight hits with two strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.
Nationals 3, Angels 2 (10 innings)
Alex Call’s one-out RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning lifted host Washington to a victory over Los Angeles.
With Angels left-hander Matt Moore (5-3) on the mound to start the 10th, the Nationals’ Nasim Nunez bunted automatic runner Jacob Young to third. Call hit a 99-mph fastball from reliever Ben Joyce past second baseman Luis Guillorme and into shallow center field, driving home Young for the game-winning run.
Nationals reliever Kyle Finnegan (3-5) got the win as the Nationals overcame the return of third baseman Anthony Rendon, who led the Angels’ offense with three hits. It was Rendon’s first trip to Washington since he left the team via free agency after the Nationals’ 2019 World Series championship.
Astros 8, Red Sox 4
Jose Altuve’s two-run home run was part of a four-run seventh inning that carried visiting Houston past Boston in the first meeting between the teams this season.
The Red Sox led 3-1 when Altuve hit his 15th homer of the season against reliever Lucas Sims. Jon Singleton and Jeremy Pena followed with RBI singles that extended the lead to 5-3. The Astros collected seven hits in the inning.
Jarren Duran and Nick Sogard each had a double and a single for the Red Sox.
Brewers 8, Reds 3
Willy Adames hit a three-run homer and Brice Turang added a two-run shot as Milwaukee continued its offensive surge with a victory over visiting Cincinnati in the opener of the three-game series.
Milwaukee jumped out to an 8-0 lead after three innings against Carson Spiers (4-4), who allowed eight runs on seven hits. Aaron Civale (3-8) allowed two runs on five hits in 6 1/3 innings to win for the first time in six starts with Milwaukee since being acquired from Tampa Bay in early July.
Civale took a shutout into the seventh before surrendering Spencer Steer’s 16th homer of the year to open the inning. Jeimer Candelario singled, but was thrown out at home trying to score on Ty France’s double. Nick Mears came on in relief and gave up a two-run homer to Stuart Fairchild, his eighth, to make it 8-3.
Cubs 7, White Sox 6
Ian Happ, Cody Bellinger, Isaac Paredes and Nico Hoerner each homered to boost the visiting Cubs to a victory against the slumping White Sox.
Losers of 23 of 24, the White Sox surrendered seven runs in the first three innings in the debut of interim manager Grady Sizemore, who took the reins after manager Pedro Grifol was fired Thursday. The White Sox loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth, but Hector Neris recovered to retire Andrew Vaughn on a flyout for his 16th save.
Happ hit a leadoff homer, the first of four given up by White Sox starter Garrett Crochet (6-9), who allowed nine runs and seven hits in 2 1/3 innings. Crochet, the lone White Sox All-Star, remained winless since June 7, a span of 10 starts. Andrew Benintendi hit two solo shots and Andrew Vaughn added a solo homer for the White Sox.
Cardinals 8, Royals 5
Willson Contreras belted a pair of two-run homers to fuel visiting St. Louis over Kansas City.
Contreras opened the scoring with a blast off Michael Lorenzen in the first inning and capped his three-hit performance with a mammoth homer to left field off Angel Zerpa in the ninth.
Michael Massey (3-for-4) drove in two runs and Kyle Isbel, Salvador Perez and Maikel Garcia each added an RBI for the Royals, who have lost three of their past four games.
Diamondbacks 3, Phillies 2
Adrian Del Castillo belted the first pitch of the bottom of the ninth inning over the wall in right to give Arizona a dramatic victory over Philadelphia in Phoenix.
Del Castillo had three hits and two RBIs in his second major league game, including the winning 416-foot blast off a fastball from Philadelphia’s Jeff Hoffman (3-2). He became the first player in Diamondbacks history to have his first career homer be a walk-off shot.
Bryce Harper homered for the Phillies, who lost for just the second time in six games. Alec Bohm and Johan Rojas each had two hits, with Rojas’ second hit being a game-tying double in the eighth.
Mariners 6, Mets 0
Bryce Miller pitched six scoreless innings as Seattle defeated visiting New York in the opener of a three-game interleague series.
Ryan Bliss, recalled from Triple-A Tacoma on Wednesday, hit a two-run homer as the Mariners remained tied with the Houston Astros atop the American League West. Miller (9-7) allowed just three hits, walked one and struck out six.
The Mets, who had won three of four, remained a half-game ahead of the Atlanta Braves in the race for the National League’s third and final wild-card berth. Jose Quintana (6-8) allowed five runs on four hits in 6 2/3 innings.
Rockies 6, Braves 5
Brenton Doyle homered among his two hits, Ryan McMahon and Charlie Blackmon also had two hits, and Colorado beat Atlanta in Denver.
Jorge Soler, Marcell Ozuna and Ramon Laureano homered, Jarred Kelenic had three hits and Sean Murphy had two hits for the Braves, who have now dropped six straight. Their seven-game winning streak in Denver came to an end.
Colorado starter Tanner Gordon was in line for his first career win when the bullpen coughed up a 5-2 lead in the seventh. Laureano led off with his fourth home run of the season and Kelenic singled.
Giants 3, Tigers 2
Mark Canha beat his old team with a walk-off sacrifice fly in the ninth inning as San Francisco, held hitless for six innings, rallied for a victory over visiting Detroit.
After the Giants scored single runs in the seventh and eighth to draw even, Canha drilled a deep fly to left to score Michael Conforto. Tyler Rogers (2-4), who pitched a 1-2-3 top of the ninth, got the win in San Francisco’s 10th walk-off victory of 2024.
For Detroit, Ryan Vilade opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the second, before Javier Baez made it 2-0 in the fifth when he raced home on a throwing error. Beau Briske and Kenta Maeda no-hit the Giants for three innings apiece.
–Field Level Media
