This story was originally published by Dead Spin
J.D. Martinez, Mark Vientos and Francisco Alvarez homered in the third inning Friday night for the host New York Mets, who continued their surge with an 8-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves in the second game of a four-game series.
The Mets extended their winning streak to five games and improved to 15-7 this month as they moved ahead of the Braves in the race for the National League’s first wild-card berth. The Braves took their season-high sixth straight loss and fell to 8-12 in July.
Mets starter Kodai Senga (1-0), making his season debut after sustaining a shoulder injury in February, allowed two runs on two hits and one walk while striking out nine over 5 1/3 innings. He exited after sustaining a left calf strain and will undergo an MRI exam Saturday.
The Mets sent 10 batters to the plate in the third against Braves starter Charlie Morton (5-6) and Daysbel Hernandez and scored seven runs.
Red Sox 9, Yankees 7
Masataka Yoshida’s two-run single up the middle highlighted a three-run eighth inning that helped Boston to a series-opening victory over visiting New York.
The Red Sox rallied after back-to-back home runs by Aaron Judge and Austin Wells in the seventh gave the Yankees a 7-4 lead in the seventh inning. Judge bashed a go-ahead, three-run shot to deep center.
With the Yankees up 7-6 in the eighth, Boston put two on against reliever Luke Weaver (4-2) before Wilyer Abreu greeted reliever Clay Holmes with a game-tying single. That set up Yoshida for the game-deciding hit.
Guardians 3, Phillies 1
Ben Lively allowed one run and three hits over six innings to fuel visiting Cleveland to a victory over Philadelphia. Lively (9-6), who made his major league debut with the Phillies in 2017, struck out six batters and walked two while snapping a three-start winless streak.
David Fry and Angel Martinez each had an RBI single and Bo Naylor added a run-scoring sacrifice bunt to send Cleveland to its third win in four games.
Philadelphia’s Bryson Stott homered to lead off the fifth inning, cutting the hosts’ deficit to 3-1. Stott added a single in both the seventh and the ninth for the Phillies, who mustered just six hits and committed two errors en route to losing for the seventh time in 10 games.
Astros 5, Dodgers 0
Framber Valdez pitched 6 1/3 shutout innings while Alex Bregman and Jon Singleton slugged home runs as Houston blanked visiting Los Angeles.
Valdez (9-5) matched his season high of 10 strikeouts and allowed four hits and two walks. Jake Meyers had three hits for the Astros, who won their second game in a row.
Shohei Ohtani and Gavin Lux each collected two hits for the Dodgers, who have lost two of three. Gavin Stone (9-4) permitted four runs in six innings.
Padres 6, Orioles 4
Jurickson Profar’s second two-run homer of the game broke a ninth-inning tie and sparked San Diego’s victory over host Baltimore for its sixth straight win.
The two-out blast was Profar’s 18th homer of the season and came off Orioles closer Craig Kimbrel (6-3), who was roughed up for the second day in a row. Padres reliever Robert Suarez (5-1) was the winner, working the final 1 2/3 innings despite blowing a save opportunity in the eighth.
Jordan Westburg and Anthony Santander homered for the Orioles, who lost for the fourth time in five games.
Mariners 10, White Sox 0
Josh Rojas, Dylan Moore and Victor Robles smacked successive home runs in a first-inning barrage and George Kirby delivered seven solid innings as Seattle routed host Chicago.
Seattle snapped a three-game losing streak while sending Chicago to its 12th straight defeat. The outcome was all but decided after the Mariners amassed eight runs in the first inning against White Sox rookie right-hander Drew Thorpe.
Kirby (8-7) cruised behind the early support, limiting the White Sox to six hits and a walk while striking out seven. The result ended his four-start winless streak.
Twins 9, Tigers 3
Pablo Lopez pitched seven strong innings, Minnesota batters backed him with four homers and the Twins cruised past host Detroit.
Lopez (9-7) gave up two runs and six hits while notching seven strikeouts. Byron Buxton and Christian Vazquez homered and drove in two runs apiece. Matt Wallner and Trevor Larnach had solo shots and Willi Castro added two RBIs for the Twins.
Javier Baez homered for the second straight game for Detroit. Keider Montero (1-4) allowed six runs (five earned) and eight hits in five innings. Prior to the game, Detroit’s All-Star outfielder Riley Greene was placed on the 10-day injured list due to a right hamstring strain.
Royals 6, Cubs 0
Salvador Perez homered and Brady Singer threw seven strong innings as Kansas City beat visiting Chicago.
Singer (7-6) allowed two singles and two walks and also hit a batter while striking out five. The Royals did all of their scoring in the fifth inning on Adam Frazier’s two-run single, Vinnie Pasquantino’s RBI hit and Perez’s three-run homer.
Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks (2-9) allowed six runs on eight hits in five innings. Seiya Suzuki had two of Chicago’s four hits.
Diamondbacks 4, Pirates 3
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had three hits and scored the tiebreaking run on a wild pitch to help Arizona edge Pittsburgh in Phoenix.
Joc Pederson homered and Eugenio Suarez had two hits to help Arizona win for the ninth time in its past 12 games. Arizona starter Zac Gallen (8-5) gave up three runs and five hits in six-plus innings. He struck out six and walked three.
Joshua Palacios had a two-run single for Pittsburgh, which fell for just the fourth time in its past 14 games. Andrew McCutchen drove in one run and scored another for the Pirates, who were just 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
Reds 3, Rays 2 (10 innings)
Stuart Fairchild doubled home the tiebreaking run in the 10th inning as Cincinnati opened a three-game interleague series against Tampa Bay with a win in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Automatic runner Jeimer Candelario began the 10th inning at second base and was replaced by Austin Slater after moving to third on Tyler Stephenson’s groundout. Fairchild followed with a run-scoring double to left field against Manuel Rodriguez (1-2).
Nick Martinez (4-5) pitched two scoreless innings for the victory. Alexis Diaz retired Jonny DeLuca with runners at the corners in the 10th inning for his 20th save. Cincinnati has won three straight following a four-game losing streak.
Nationals 10, Cardinals 8 (10 innings)
Jacob Young tripled home three runs in the 10th inning and visiting Washington beat St. Louis to end a three-game losing streak.
Luis Garcia Jr. drove in three runs and Juan Yepez was 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs for the Nationals. Washington starter MacKenzie Gore allowed six runs on nine hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out three.
Paul Goldschmidt reached the 2,000-hit milestone with two hits, including a two-run homer, for the Cardinals. Nolan Arenado hit a three-run homer, and Masyn Winn hit a two-run shot and an RBI single.
Blue Jays 6, Rangers 5
Ernie Clement hit a walk-off single in the ninth and Toronto defeated visiting Texas in the opener of a three-game series.
Adolis Garcia had a two-run home run and three RBIs for the Rangers, who had a five-game winning streak end. Clement, George Springer and Justin Turner each had two hits and combined for two runs and two RBIs.
Toronto left-hander Yusei Kikuchi allowed five runs, eight hits and two walks in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out five. Texas left-hander Andrew Heaney allowed four runs, seven hits and one walk with four strikeouts in five innings.
Marlins 6, Brewers 2
Bryan De La Cruz and Jake Burger homered during a three-run first inning on as visiting Miami beat Milwaukee in the opener of a three-game series.
Josh Bell added a solo shot leading off the ninth for Miami, which holds the worst record in the National League but has won three of their past four games. Miami left-hander Trevor Rogers (2-9) limited Milwaukee to two runs on six hits over 5 1/3 innings.
Rhys Hoskins hit a solo home run for the NL Central-leading Brewers, who fell to 4-2 since the All-Star break.
Athletics 5, Angels 4
Seth Brown went 3-for-4 with a homer, and his sixth-inning RBI single on an overturned umpire’s call snapped a tie and lifted Oakland over Los Angeles in Anaheim, Calif.
The A’s entered the top of the sixth down 4-2, but Brent Rooker’s two-out, two-run homer tied the game. Later in the inning, Brown came to the plate with two on against Angels reliever Hans Crouse (4-1). Brown’s liner to right was ruled foul initially but overturned on review for an RBI single.
After allowing a pair of two-run home runs by the Angels’ Taylor Ward and Nolan Schanuel in the first inning, the Oakland pitching staff shut out the Angels the rest of the way. Starter Paul Blackburn (4-2) gave up the four runs on five hits in five innings, striking out two and walking one.
Giants 11, Rockies 4
Tyler Fitzgerald hit two home runs, Kyle Harrison struck out 11 and San Francisco opened a four-game home series with a blowout win over Colorado.
Jorge Soler began a big night by hitting Kyle Freeland’s sixth pitch of the game for his 12th homer of the season, helping the Giants win for just the sixth time in their last 16 games. Soler had three hits, four runs and three RBIs.
Fitzgerald, who began the night with just eight career homers, connected again after Soler walked in the sixth, capping off his first multiple-homer game. The blasts gave him eight for the season. Seven have come in his last eight games, a stretch that included two in two games against the Rockies in Colorado last week.
–Field Level Media
