Bobby Witt Jr. and Nate Eaton homered and Edward Olivares had three hits and an RBI as the depleted Kansas City Royals defeated the host Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 on Thursday night.
The Royals won despite having to leave 10 players home because they did not meet Canada’s COVID-19 vaccine requirements. Eaton was one of eight players added to replace the regulars. His homer was the first hit of his major league career and came in his debut.
Royals left-hander Angel Zerpa (2-0), making his second career major league start and third appearance, allowed one run in five innings. He gave up four hits and two walks with two strikeouts.
Matt Chapman hit a home run for the Blue Jays in the opener of a four-game series.
Mariners 6, Rangers 5
Ty France’s two-run single in a three-run eighth inning rallied Seattle to an 11th straight victory, in Arlington, Texas.
The Mariners, who last lost on July 1, entered the eighth inning trailing by two runs. With the bases loaded, Julio Rodriguez was hit by a pitch from Dennis Santana, making it a one-run game. Left-hander Brock Burke was brought in to face France and surrendered the two-run single.
Seattle’s Sam Haggerty went 3-for-4 and had an inside-the-park home run in the fourth inning. Corey Seager drove in two runs for Texas.
Brewers 3, Giants 2 (10 innings)
Jonathan Davis’ two-out, two-strike chopper down the third-base line resulted in an RBI single that broke a 10th-inning tie and sent visiting Milwaukee over San Francisco.
Trevor Gott (2-2), who struck out the last two Giants in the bottom of the ninth, was credited with the win. Devin Williams worked a hitless bottom of the 10th for his sixth save, stranding Mike Yastrzemski at third after he had stolen the base with one out.
Giants All-Star Carlos Rodon left with a 2-1 lead after five innings, having held down the Brewers despite giving up eight hits and three walks. Rodon struck out seven.
Astros 3, Angels 2 (10 innings)
Jeremy Pena’s RBI single in the top of the 10th inning drove home the go-ahead run to lift Houston over Los Angeles in Anaheim, Calif.
Korey Lee pinch-ran for Martin Maldonado as the designated baserunner on second base to begin the 10th. He tagged and went to third on Mauricio Dubon’s flyout to right field, then scored when Pena laced a single to right field off Angels reliever Aaron Loup (0-3).
Pena led the Astros’ offense with two hits while Taylor Ward had two hits for the Angels.
Dodgers 4, Cardinals 0
Tyler Anderson and three relievers combined for a five-hitter as visiting Los Angeles shut out St. Louis.
Gavin Lux hit a two-run homer for the Dodgers, who won for the 13th time in 15 games. Will Smith went 2-for-3 with an RBI double, and Freddie Freeman went 2-for-3 with a walk and a run. Freeman is 13-for-16 with two walks, a hit by pitch, two homers, four doubles, four RBIs and five runs in his past four games.
Anderson (10-1) breezed through six scoreless innings while allowing just three hits and two walks. He struck out four. Yency Almonte, Evan Phillips and Craig Kimbrel worked an inning each to complete the shutout.
White Sox 12, Twins 2
Luis Robert belted a grand slam to highlight his third straight three-hit performance as Chicago cruised to an easy win over Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Robert added an RBI single, Seby Zavala launched a three-run homer and Andrew Vaughn and Jose Abreu each drove in two runs to propel the White Sox to their third straight win. Johnny Cueto (4-4) improved to 4-0 in his career against Minnesota. He allowed one run on seven hits and two walks with five strikeouts in six innings.
Gio Urshela had an RBI double in the second inning and Kyle Garlick added a solo homer in the ninth for the Twins, who have lost five of their past seven games.
Mets 8, Cubs 0
Brandon Nimmo finished a triple shy of the cycle and Carlos Carrasco threw six solid innings as visiting New York handed Chicago a seventh consecutive loss.
Pete Alonso clubbed a late two-run homer while Starling Marte and Eduardo Escobar each had two hits with an RBI for the Mets. Carrasco (10-4) yielded five hits and two walks while striking out six.
Nico Hoerner and Seiya Suzuki each had two hits for the scuffling Cubs, who totaled eight hits — all singles. Keegan Thompson (7-4) yielded five runs in 4 1/3 innings.
Reds 7, Yankees 6 (10 innings)
Joey Votto hit a tiebreaking double with one out in the 10th inning as visiting Cincinnati recovered from blowing a three-run lead to beat New York.
Votto also hit an RBI single and Kyle Farmer added a two-run single off Jonathan Loaisiga in the eighth to give the Reds a short-lived 4-1 lead.
The Reds won for the sixth time in seven games after Jeff Hoffman allowed Aaron Judge’s major-league-leading 31st homer and a tying two-run homer to Gleyber Torres.
Guardians 4, Tigers 0
Right-hander Triston McKenzie dominated Detroit and Josh Naylor and Andres Gimenez hit home runs as host Cleveland ended a five-game losing streak to the Tigers.
McKenzie (7-6) did not give up a run over eight innings, with a career-best 12 strikeouts. He allowed five hits with no walks. McKenzie’s 109 pitches were a career high, and he matched his career high in innings pitched. The third-year starter has won his last three starts heading into the All-Star break.
Guardians All-Star Jose Ramirez drove in his AL-leading 69th run.
Marlins 3, Pirates 2 (11 innings)
Brian Anderson delivered a two-run, walk-off triple in the 11th inning to lift Miami to a win against visiting Pittsburgh in the finale of their four-game series.
The Pirates took a 2-1 lead in the top of the 11th, but Avisail Garcia opened the bottom of the inning with a single that moved automatic runner Jesus Aguilar to third, and Anderson followed through with a hit to the gap in right-center.
Wil Crowe (3-6) pitched the 11th for Pittsburgh. Richard Bleier (2-1) pitched the 11th for the Marlins, who won the final two games of the series to earn the split.
Rays 5, Red Sox 4
Taylor Walls and Yandy Diaz each drove in two runs during a five-run seventh inning as Tampa Bay rallied to complete a four-game sweep of Boston in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Tampa Bay trailed 3-0 before sending nine batters to the plate and scoring five runs on six hits in the seventh. The Rays have won their last six meetings against the Red Sox and are 9-1 in their last 10 games vs. AL East opponents.
Rafael Devers homered among his two hits for Boston, which has dropped 12 of its last 17 games and was swept for the second time this season.
Rockies 8, Padres 5
Randal Grichuk doubled twice and drove in three runs, C.J. Cron and Yonathan Daza had two hits apiece and Colorado beat visiting San Diego.
Nabil Crismatt (5-2) earned the loss, allowing three runs on three hits with one walk and a strikeout. Colorado’s Jhoulys Chacin (4-2) tossed two innings of scoreless relief and Carlos Estevez worked the ninth for his first save.
San Diego is now 1-6 in Colorado and 2-9 this season against the Rockies.
Braves 5, Nationals 4
Kyle Wright pitched seven solid innings and Atlanta smacked three home runs to beat host Washington.
The Braves spoiled Anibal Sanchez’s first appearance in the majors since 2020. After sitting out the 2021 season, he signed with the Nationals but sustained a nerve impingement in his neck at the end of spring training. Sanchez (0-1) gave up four runs on four hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out five.
Wright (11-4) yielded two runs on seven hits while walking one and striking out four. Dansby Jansen allowed a homer and a single in the ninth before securing his 21st save and Atlanta’s seventh straight win against Washington.
–Field Level Media