This story was originally published by Dead Spin
Top prospect Jackson Holliday hit a fifth-inning grand slam for his first career home run in his return to the major leagues as the Baltimore Orioles defeated the visiting Toronto Blue Jays 10-4 on Wednesday afternoon.
Holliday, who had only two hits across 34 at-bats during a spring promotion, returned from Triple-A Norfolk. He was 0-for-2 on Wednesday before extending Baltimore’s 4-3 lead with the long ball to right off reliever Yerry Rodriguez. It was Holliday’s only hit of the game.
Colton Cowser also homered for the Orioles, who lost All-Star third baseman Jordan Westburg to a fractured right hand after he was hit by a Rodriguez fastball in the fifth inning.
Grayson Rodriguez (13-4) allowed four runs (three earned) and tallied six strikeouts over six innings as Baltimore won for the fourth time in five games. Paolo Espino (0-1), in his third outing of the season, took the loss by giving up four runs in four innings for Toronto, which has lost three of its past four.
Red Sox 3, Mariners 2 (10 innings)
Rafael Devers led off the bottom of the 10th inning with a double that scored Tyler O’Neill and handed Boston a win over visiting Seattle.
Jhonathan Diaz (0-1) took the loss. Devers was the only batter he faced. Zack Kelly (4-1) held the Mariners scoreless in the top half of the 10th to earn the win.
Josh Rojas hit a solo home run — his sixth homer this season — for Seattle. Rojas and Justin Turner each collected two hits for the Mariners.
Cardinals 10, Rangers 1
Tommy Pham, who spent parts of five seasons with St. Louis to start his career, continued his happy homecoming by driving in two runs and scoring twice in a rout of visiting Texas.
Pham hit a grand slam on Tuesday following a trade from the Chicago White Sox and is now 4-for-6 with three runs and six RBIs since his return. Cardinals starting pitcher Michael McGreevy (1-0) won his major league debut while allowing one run on five hits in seven innings. He struck out three and walked one.
Rangers starting pitcher Andrew Heaney (4-11) allowed six runs on six hits in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out two and walked one.
Marlins 6, Rays 2
Jake Burger blasted a two-run homer during a three-run third inning as Miami earned a split of a two-game series with a win over Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg, Fla.
The Marlins rocked red-hot right-hander Taj Bradley (6-5) for four runs on four hits in his five-frame stint. Bradley extended his major-league-best scoreless innings streak to 24 after a clean first before running into trouble.
Miami’s Xavier Edwards produced three RBIs and Jonah Bride was 2-for-4 with a double and a solo homer. Jonny DeLuca notched two triples and an RBI and Christopher Morel homered in his second straight game with the Rays.
Yankees 6, Phillies 5
DJ LeMahieu hit a grand slam and drove in a career-high six runs to help New York complete a three-game sweep of host Philadelphia.
Giancarlo Stanton had two hits and scored a run for the Yankees, who have won five in a row overall. New York starter Nestor Cortes (5-9) allowed three runs and three hits in 5 1/3 innings. The left-hander struck out six and walked two for his first win in his past seven starts.
Weston Wilson homered, Alec Bohm doubled, tripled and scored twice and Nick Castellanos had two hits and three RBIs for the Phillies, who have lost 11 of their past 15 games.
Twins 8, Mets 3
Pablo Lopez tossed six strong innings and Minnesota salvaged the finale of a three-game interleague series with a victory over host New York.
Matt Wallner went 2-for-5 with a two-run homer for the Twins, who lost a series for just the sixth time in 20 tries dating back to May 20. Mark Vientos hit a two-run homer and Francisco Alvarez had an RBI for the Mets, who finished July at 17-10, the second-best record in the National League.
Lopez (10-7) gave up two runs on three hits and three walks while striking out seven. He retired 14 of the final 17 batters he faced, a span in which Lopez did not allow a runner past first base.
Royals 10, White Sox 3
Freddy Fermin smacked a two-run home run among his four hits and Salvador Perez had three hits and two RBIs as visiting Kansas City routed Chicago to cap a three-game series sweep.
Brady Singer (8-6) pitched seven strong innings to earn the win for the Royals. He allowed three runs and six hits.
Chicago stumbled to its franchise-worst 17th consecutive defeat while suffering a sweep for the 17th time this season.
Braves 6, Brewers 2
Austin Riley grounded a go-ahead two-run single into left field in the top of the seventh inning to lift visiting Atlanta over Milwaukee in the rubber match of a three-game series.
Matt Olson and Travis d’Arnaud hit back-to-back solo shots in both the fourth and eighth innings for the Braves, who have won four of their past five games. Pierce Johnson (4-2) pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief to secure the win.
Gary Sanchez and Blake Perkins each had an RBI as the Brewers dropped their second straight series. Sanchez and Jackson Chourio had two hits apiece. Jared Koenig (8-3) took the loss, yielding two unearned runs in two-thirds of an inning.
Diamondbacks 5, Nationals 4
Geraldo Perdomo, Corbin Carroll and Jose Herrera had RBI hits during a four-run sixth inning for Arizona, which held off Washington in Phoenix to secure its seventh win in eight games.
Jake McCarthy tallied three hits, including a triple, and one run for the Diamondbacks. McCarthy is batting .545 (12-for-22) over his past five games. Ryan Thompson notched his first save this season to preserve the win for Zac Gallen (9-5), who allowed one run over six innings. Arizona improved to 19-8 since June 29, the most wins in the majors during that span.
Riley Adams and James Wood had two hits apiece for the Nationals, who lost their fourth straight game. Washington starter MacKenzie Gore (6-9) was charged with three runs over 5 1/3 innings.
Giants 1, A’s 0
Logan Webb won a 1-hour, 55-minute pitchers’ duel over Ross Stripling with his second career shutout as host San Francisco salvaged a split of its two-game series against Oakland.
Webb (8-8) allowed just five hits, none for extra bases. He walked one and struck out six. The game’s only run came on Brett Wisely’s fifth-inning sacrifice fly.
A’s starter Ross Stripling (2-10) went 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run on four hits.
Cubs 13, Reds 4
Ian Happ went 3-for-4 with a tape-measure home run and Seiya Suzuki added two doubles and three RBIs as visiting Chicago routed Cincinnati to salvage the finale of a three-game series.
Cody Bellinger added three hits, two runs and two RBIs for the Cubs, who had nine doubles and a season-high 17 hits. Kyle Hendricks (3-9) allowed three runs on four hits over five innings.
The Reds’ Santiago Espinal had two hits and extended his hitting streak to 11 games. Nick Lodolo (8-4) was tagged for 11 hits and eight runs in 5 2/3 innings.
Astros 5, Pirates 4
Mauricio Dubon clubbed his first career pinch-hit home run and Houston topped visiting Pittsburgh to salvage the finale of a three-game series.
Dubon turned on a first-pitch sinker from Pirates reliever Colin Holderman (3-2) with two outs in the sixth inning, capping the Astros’ comeback from an early four-run deficit.
Houston’s Framber Valdez (10-5) allowed four runs on six hits and recorded a season-high-tying 10 strikeouts over six innings. Joey Bart homered for Pittsburgh.
Padres 8, Dodgers 1
Luis Campusano homered while Dylan Cease won his fourth straight start as San Diego earned a two-game sweep of visiting Los Angeles.
In his first outing since no-hitting the Washington Nationals on July 25, Cease (11-8) allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings. Cease has permitted just one run over his past four starts, covering 27 2/3 innings, and he has fanned 36 during that span.
Clayton Kershaw (0-1) lasted only 3 2/3 innings in his second start of the year, giving up six hits and seven runs (three earned). Los Angeles’ lead over San Diego in the National League West fell to 4 1/2 games — the Dodgers’ smallest margin since May 4.
Rockies 2, Angels 1
Brenton Doyle’s eighth-inning home run snapped a tie and lifted Colorado past Los Angeles in Anaheim, Calif.
Doyle’s homer off reliever Hans Crouse (4-2) was his 18th of the season and 11th in July, during which the center fielder hit .333 (30-for-90) with 27 RBIs.
Rockies starter Kyle Freeland (3-4) gave up one run on six hits in seven innings. Victor Vodnik handled the ninth inning for his fourth save as Colorado snapped a five-game losing streak and evened the three-game series.
–Field Level Media
