ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jake Burger homered twice and the playoff-chasing Texas Rangers beat Milwaukee 6-3 on Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep of the Brewers, who still have the best record in the majors.
Milwaukee, on the verge of being the first team to clinch a playoff spot, hadn’t been swept since this season at the New York Yankees.
The Brewers quickly led 2-0 after Brice Turang and Jackson Chourio opened the game with back-to-back homers. They didn’t score again until Rhys Hoskins’ pinch-hit RBI single in the sixth that chased Merrill Kelly (12-7), the trade deadline acquisition from Arizona who scattered 10 hits and struck out six.
Freddy Peralta (16-6) missed a chance to be the first MLB pitcher to 17 wins. The All-Star right-hander struck out nine, but allowed five runs on a season-high 113 pitches in five innings.
Burger homered leading off the second to end Peralta’s streak of 30 consecutive scoreless innings, two short of Teddy Higuera’s franchise record set in 1987. Burger’s 16th homer of the season was a two-run shot in the fifth for a 5-2 lead.
DIAMONDBACKS 5, GIANTS 3
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Eduardo Rodriguez allowed one hit over 6 1/3 innings and Arizona beat San Francisco to avoid a series sweep.
The victory kept Arizona in the hunt for a postseason berth. The Diamondbacks entered the day 4 1/2 games behind the New York Mets for the third and final NL wild card.
Rodriguez (8-8) had six strikeouts and walked two in a mostly dominant outing. Jake Woodford and Andrew Saalfrank each retired four batters to finish the game.
Geraldo Perdomo had two hits including the first leadoff home run of his career to help the Diamondbacks end a three-game skid. Alex Thomas, Tim Tawa and Gabriel Moreno also had two hits apiece.
Perdomo homered on the fourth pitch off Carson Seymour (1-3) and added an RBI single in the second inning. McCarthy and Ketel Marte also drove in runs during the second to help Arizona take a 4-0 lead.
Rafael Devers hit a two-run double in the eighth for the Giants.
Seymour retired only four batters and allowed four runs and six hits.
ATHLETICS 5, RED SOX 4
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Nick Kurtz joined Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire as the only Athletics rookies to hit 30 home runs and Lawrence Butler hit a ninth-inning walk-off single in a win over Boston and Aroldis Chapman, whose seven-week hitless streak ended.
with a 357-foot shot to left field off Payton Tolle to give the A’s a 2-1 lead. He is the 32nd player to hit 30 homers as a rookie. Canseco hit 33 in 1986 and McGwire hit 49 the following season.
Shea Langeliers led off the ninth with a double off Chapman (4-3), who hadn’t surrendered a hit since July 23, a span of 50 batters and a franchise-record 17 appearances, the third-longest streak in MLB history since 1901. Langeliers advanced on a flyout and scored on Butler’s single to left.
A’s rookie Jacob Wilson went 1 for 4 and is hitting .319, just behind major league leader Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees, who started the night at .321.
homer, a solo shot in the first. That run snapped a 19-inning scoreless streak for the A’s, who were blanked in the first two games of the series.
ANGELS 4, TWINS 3
ANAHEIM, Calif (AP) — Zach Neto hit a two-run homer, Mike Trout drove in two runs and Los Angeles beat Minnesota.
Trout’s sacrifice fly in the eighth inning brought home Bryce Teodosio to give the Angels a 4-3 lead. Teodosio tripled off the top of the center-field wall, over the head of James Outman.
Trout also hit an RBI single in the third and scored on Neto’s homer off starter Taj Bradley to put Los Angeles ahead 3-1. It was Neto’s 26th home run of the year.
Byron Buxton tied it with a two-run shot in the sixth, his 31st homer this season.
Outman also homered, doubled and made a pair of leaping catches for the Twins. But they fell to 64-82 and were assured their first losing record since 2022.
Robert Stephenson (2-0), the fifth Angels reliever, got one out for the win. Kenley Jansen struck out two in a perfect ninth to earn his 27th save.
ROYALS 4, GUARDIANS 3
CLEVELAND (AP) — Nick Loftin singled in the tying run and scored on Maikel Garcia’s double in the seventh inning, sending Kansas City to a victory over Cleveland.
Kansas City snapped a three-game losing streak and moved within 3 1/2 games of Seattle, which holds the third and final American League wild-card position. The Guardians are three behind the Mariners.
Cleveland led 3-2 after six before Loftin drove in Tyler Tolbert, then came around on Garcia’s liner off the wall in left against Hunter Gaddis. Tim Herrin (5-4) was charged with both runs.
Luinder Avila (1-0) worked two scoreless innings for his first career win and Carlos Estévez pitched the ninth for his major league-leading 39th save.
Kyle Manzardo hit a two-run homer in the first and Bo Naylor had an RBI single in the fourth for Cleveland, which had won five straight. Manzardo’s 432-foot shot off Jonathan Bowlan was the longest of his career and his 26th homer of the season.
Vinnie Pasquantino and Jonathan India both singled in runs for Kansas City. Pasquantino reached 100 RBIs for the first time.
Guardians starter Logan Allen gave up two runs in five innings, remaining winless in seven outings since July 29.
ORIOLES 2, PIRATES 1, 10 INNINGS
BALTIMORE (AP) — Paul Skenes struck out eight in five two-hit innings to surpass 200 strikeouts before leaving after a season-low 64 pitches in Pittsburgh’s 10-inning loss to Baltimore.
The 23-year-old Skenes has a majors-best 1.92 ERA over 178 innings in his first full season, and could make as many as three more starts. He pushed the strikeout total to 203, getting Samuel Basallo looking and Dylan Carlson swinging to complete the fifth.
Rookie Dylan Beavers hit a winning single — his first walk-off hit — off Kyle Nicolas (1-1) to give Baltimore its seventh victory in eight games. Jackson Holliday pulled the Orioles even in the eighth with a single off Isaac Mattson.
was the only hit in 6 2/3 innings off Tyler Wells in his second start for Baltimore after missing more than a year recovering from arm surgery.
ASTROS 3, BLUE JAYS 2
TORONTO (AP) — Yainer Diaz drilled a tiebreaking home run in the ninth inning, Carlos Correa hit his 200th career homer and Houston beat Toronto.
After Houston’s bullpen gave up a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the eighth, Diaz restored the lead with a one-out homer off º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøcloser Jeff Hoffman.
Hoffman (9-7) leads all MLB relievers with 15 home runs allowed this season.
Enyel De Los Santos (6-3) got two outs for the win and Bryan Abreu finished for his fifth save in 10 chances.
Astros right-hander Jason Alexander matched a career high by pitching seven shutout innings. He allowed just three hits, walked one and struck out three.
Diaz opened the scoring with an RBI double in the second and Correa hit a solo home run in the sixth, but the Astros couldn’t hold the lead.
Steven Okert relieved Alexander in the eighth and gave up singles to three of the four batters he faced. Okert exited after an RBI hit by Andrés Giménez.
De Los Santos entered with runners at the corners and struck out George Springer for the second out, but Nathan Lukes tied it with a ground ball single on a full count pitch.
De Los Santos ended the inning by getting Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to ground out.
PHILLIES 11, METS 3
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Max Kepler homered and drove in five runs, Bryce Harper also went deep and Philadelphia moved closer to repeating as NL East champions by routing New York.
Cristopher Sánchez (13-5) allowed one run and four hits in six innings as the Phillies opened a 10-game lead over the second-place Mets with 16 to play. Philadelphia, which lowered its magic number to seven for clinching the division title, will try for a four-game sweep Thursday night.
Juan Soto homered and had three hits for the skidding Mets (76-70), who lost their fifth straight. They remained two games ahead of San Francisco for the final National League wild card.
Kepler went 3 for 4 and matched his RBI total for the entire month of July in one night. It was the most RBIs he’s had in one game since 2016.
Harper launched his 25th homer off reliever Ryne Stanek. Brandon Marsh, who also had three hits, knocked in two runs and scored two more.
MARLINS 8, NATIONALS 3
MIAMI (AP) — Eric Wagaman hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the sixth inning, Xavier Edwards had a three-run homer among his three hits and Otto Lopez drove in two runs as Miami overcame an early three-run deficit and beat Washington.
Robert Hassell III had an RBI single in the third inning and Daylen Lile and Luis Garcia Jr. knocked in runs in the sixth as the Nationals built a 3-0 lead.
Miami started its comeback in the bottom of the sixth as Jakob Marsee (four hits), Lopez, Agustin Ramirez drove in runs before Wagaman’s run-scoring hit gave the Marlins a 4-3 lead. Lopez added an RBI single in the seventh and Edwards added his third homer of the year in the eighth.
Miami starter Eury Perez allowed three earned runs and seven hits with seven strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings, but didn’t figure in the decision. Lake Bachar (6-2) worked two-thirds of an inning and earned the victory.
Jake Irvin (8-12) took the loss for the Nationals.
CUBS 3, BRAVES 2
ATLANTA (AP) — Carson Kelly homered for the first of three runs against reigning NL Triple Crown winner Chris Sale and Chicago outlasted Atlanta to win the series.
In the fourth inning, Kelly homered and Justin Turner had an RBI double. Chicago made it 3-1 in the fifth on Seiya Suzuki’s sacrifice fly.
Nico Hoerner went 3 for 4 and scored the final run for the Cubs. They have won six of 10 to hold onto the first National League wild-card spot.
Cubs starter Jameson Taillon was reinstated from the 15-day injured list ahead of the game. He allowed two runs on six hits with two walks and two strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.
Taylor Rogers (3-2) got the next four outs for the victory, and Andrew Kittredge pitched the ninth for his third save of the season.
Sale (5-5) allowed the three runs on seven hits with nine strikeouts over five innings. He gave up more than one earned run for the first time since May 11.
TIGERS 11, YANKEES 1
NEW YORK (AP) — Gleyber Torres hit a go-ahead, two-run single in the fifth inning and had three RBIs against his former team, leading Detroit over New York for its first season-series win against the Yankees since 2011.
Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter and Colt Keith added late two-run homers against a Yankees bullpen that has given up 18 earned runs over two games, raising its ERA since the All-Star break to 5.37. Greene had three RBIs.
New York has lost consecutive games by 10 or more runs for the third time. The others came in September 1908 and August 1988.
Detroit has outscored New York 23-3 over the past two nights and won four of five against the Yankees this year with one meeting left. The Tigers (84-62) moved past º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍø(83-62) for the best record in the American League and opened a 9 1/2-game AL Central lead.
Yankees star Aaron Judge went 0 for 3 and hit into a pair of double plays, dropping his batting average to .319. His major league batting lead, which he has held since April 16, was cut to less than a percentage point over Athletics rookie Jacob Wilson.
WHITE SOX 6, RAYS 5
CHICAGO (AP) — Mike Tauchman and Lenyn Sosa hit two-run doubles and Michael A. Taylor had an RBI double during a five-run second inning, and Chicago beat Tampa.
Taylor started the second-inning scoring with an RBI double and Tauchman followed with a two-run double. After Kyle Teel walked, Sosa hit another two-run double.
Andrew Benintendi hit a third-inning home run for Chicago.
Yandy DÃaz hit a solo home run for the Rays in the first inning.
Carson Williams hit a solo home run in the fifth and Junior Caminero added a two-run home run later in the inning. He now has 43 this season, sixth most in the majors.
Hunter Feduccia added the Rays’ last run of the night on an RBI single in the sixth.
Jordan Leasure (5-6), the fourth of eight White Sox pitchers, threw one inning. Tyler Gilbert struck out Brandon Lowe to secure his first career save.
Mason Montgomery (1-3) gave up five runs on five hits and a walk in two-thirds of an inning.
REDS 2, PADRES 1
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Elly De La Cruz and pinch-hitter Miguel Andujar delivered RBI singles in the eighth inning as Cincinnati beat San Diego to take two of three games in a series between National League playoff contenders.
Andrew Abbott (9-6) threw eight sparkling innings to help Cincinnati pull even with San Francisco in the wild-card standings, two games behind the New York Mets for the NL’s final postseason berth.
Nick Pivetta pitched four-hit ball for seven scoreless innings and the Padres had a 1-0 lead on Fernando Tatis Jr.‘s home run before the Reds broke through against relievers Kyle Hart and Adrian Morejon in the eighth.
Hart allowed TJ Friedl’s one-out bunt single before Morejon came on with two outs and gave up De La Cruz’s single to right to bring in Friedl, who beat Tatis’ throw with a headfirst slide to score the tying run from second base.
De La Cruz stole second before Morejon (11-5) walked Austin Hays and yielded Andujar’s single that dropped in front of left fielder Ramón Laureano to bring in De La Cruz with the go-ahead run.
DODGERS 9, ROCKIES 0
LOS ANGELES (AP) — struck out a season-high 11 in six innings, Mookie Betts hit a grand slam in the eighth and Los Angeles defeated Colorado for its fourth straight win.
Helped by their third series sweep of the Rockies this season, the Dodgers increased their NL West lead to three games over San Diego, which lost 2-1 at home to Cincinnati.
Betts went 4 for 5 with five RBIs, capped by his seventh career slam on a 3-0 pitch from reliever Anthony Molina to make it 8-0. Andy Pages and Ben Rortvedt singled and Shohei Ohtani reached on catcher’s interference to load the bases.
Teoscar Hernández followed with a solo shot off Angel Chivilli, his third homer in two games.
Betts’ two-out RBI double highlighted a four-run second against Rockies starter Kyle Freeland (4-15). The left-hander gave up four runs and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings with five strikeouts.
Snell (4-4) allowed singles to Tyler Freeman and Hunter Goodman plus two walks in ending a personal three-game skid with his first win since Aug. 16. It was a big bounceback from the left-hander’s last start in which he gave up nine hits and five runs over five innings at Pittsburgh last week. The two-time Cy Young Award winner has 124 strikeouts in 14 career starts against the Rockies.
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