Tampa Bay’s Drew Rasmussen pitched a perfect game for eight innings and Randy Arozarena hit a three-run home run as the Rays defeated the Baltimore Orioles 4-1 on Sunday afternoon in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Rasmussen (7-4), who struck out seven and didn’t allow a walk on 87 pitches, was flawless until Jorge Mateo doubled in the ninth inning. Mateo then scored on a wild pitch by Rasmussen.
Prior to Mateo’s hit, Rasmussen did not allow a runner to come close to reaching base. Only two Baltimore hitters were able to work three-ball counts, with both coming in the second inning. Rasmussen went 8 1/3 innings and was charged with the one earned run.
Arozarena provided all the offense the Rays really needed when he smacked his 15th homer of the season. The longball marked the 15th time he has homered off a Baltimore pitcher. The Rays won two of three games in the series and improved to 10-9 against Baltimore this season.
Royals 4, Dodgers 0
Brady Singer allowed just one hit over six shutout innings and Vinnie Pasquantino homered and drove in two runs as host Kansas City defeated Los Angeles to end its 12-game winning streak.
Singer (6-4) struck out seven and walked three in helping the Royals avoid a three-game sweep. The Dodgers were shut out for the fifth time this season and their two hits matched a season low. Pasquantino finished with three hits and two runs, and his solo shot in the eighth inning iced the win.
Dodgers left-hander Tyler Anderson (13-2), a first-time All-Star this season, gave up three runs on seven hits in six innings. He walked one and fanned four in taking his first loss since June 27.
Red Sox 3, Yankees 0
Tommy Pham and Rafael Devers combined for five of Boston’s six hits and Michael Wacha allowed just two hits through seven shutout innings as the Red Sox blanked visiting New York.
Pham went 3-for-4 with a double and scored two runs, while Devers hit a two-run home run as part of his 2-for-4 effort. Xander Bogaerts drove in Boston’s first run in the first inning. Pham has hit safely in seven straight games and scored a run in eight of 12 since joining the Red Sox from Cincinnati on Aug. 1.
Andrew Benintendi and Miguel Andujar had the only hits for the Yankees, who were shut out for the ninth time this season and fell to 3-9 in August. New York starter Jameson Taillon (11-3) suffered his first loss since July 5 despite scattering just six hits and three runs through seven innings.
Giants 8, Pirates 7
Thairo Estrada crushed a two-run, walk-off home run to center field with one out in the ninth inning, allowing host San Francisco to overcome a huge game by Pittsburgh’s Bryan Reynolds and earn a three-game sweep.
Reynolds had a two-run double and a three-run homer in a Pirates comeback, then raced home from second base on Evan Longoria’s throwing error with one out in the top of the ninth to put Pittsburgh up 7-6.
But Longoria led off the bottom of the ninth with a single and, after Mike Yastrzemski forced his teammate at second with a fielder’s choice grounder, Estrada launched his 11th home run of the season off Wil Crowe (4-7) for the Giants’ sixth walk-off win of the season.
Padres 6, Nationals 0
Blake Snell struck out 10 batters across six shutout innings as visiting San Diego beat Washington. Wil Myers had three hits, two of them driving in a run. Manny Machado also had two RBIs to go with two hits as the Padres took two games of the three-game series.
Snell (5-6) allowed three singles — two of them by Nationals rookie Joey Meneses — and didn’t issue a walk. Snell has won five of his last six decisions.
Paolo Espino (0-5) took the loss, lasting 5 2/3 innings and allowing four runs on seven hits and two walks. Washington lost for the ninth time in their last 11 games.
Mets 6, Phillies 0
Chris Bassitt danced out of trouble over five innings and combined with four relievers on a nine-hit shutout as host New York beat Philadelphia in the rubber game of a three-game series.
Every starter had at least one hit for the National League East-leading Mets, who have won 17 of their last 20. New York posted back-to-back shutouts to close out the series and allowed just two runs overall in the set — including the tie-breaking run the Phillies scored with the benefit of the automatic runner in the 10th inning of Philadelphia’s 2-1 victory Friday.
The Phillies, who are 1 1/2 games ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers in the race for the third and final wild-card spot in the NL, have lost three of four. Nick Castellanos had two hits.
Braves 3, Marlins 1
Michael Harris II homered and Vaughn Grissom scored from second on an infield single as Atlanta scored all of its runs in the ninth inning and rallied to beat host Miami.
Miami led 1-0 entering the ninth, but Tanner Scott (4-5) blew a save chance for the fifth time in 21 tries this year. On the first pitch of the ninth, Harris homered off Scott’s 99-mph fastball. With two outs and the score tied 1-1, William Contreras’ single scored Grissom as Atlanta won its sixth straight game.
The Marlins scored three runs or less for the 15th straight game, the longest such streak since the 1979 Chicago Cubs, according to the Bally Sports broadcast. Miami has lost 13 of its past 14 home games.
White Sox 5, Tigers 3
AJ Pollock doubled, homered and scored twice to help host Chicago to a win against Detroit and a three-game sweep.
White Sox starter Lance Lynn (3-5) allowed two runs and five hits in six innings. He struck out seven and didn’t walk a batter. Andrew Vaughn also homered and drove in two runs, and Eloy Jimenez and Jose Abreu had two hits each for the White Sox.
Tigers starter Tyler Alexander (2-7) lost his fourth consecutive start after allowing three runs and six hits in five innings. He struck out two and walked three. Harold Castro homered and Javier Baez had two hits for the Tigers, who have lost seven in a row.
Astros 6, Athletics 3
Cristian Javier snapped a six-start winless streak by working six scoreless innings and Alex Bregman homered for a second consecutive game as Houston completed a three-game series sweep of visiting Oakland.
Javier (7-8) was 0-5 with a 4.40 ERA over his prior six starts but allowed just one baserunner to reach scoring position against him on Sunday. Oakland second baseman Jonah Bride recorded the lone hit against Javier, who closed his outing by retiring 13 of the final 15 batters he faced.
Alex Bregman had two hits, including his 16th homer of the season off Cole Irvin (6-10), who last allowed more than two earned runs on June 29. Oakland has dropped eight consecutive games.
Guardians 7, Blue Jays 2
Right-hander Shane Bieber pitched seven strong innings, Amed Rosario hit a solo home run and visiting Cleveland defeated Toronto.
Rosario also had an RBI single among his three hits. Austin Hedges had two hits and two RBIs for the Guardians, who took the rubber match of a three-game series. Cleveland won the season series between the teams by winning five of the seven games.
Toronto first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was 0-for-4 to end his career-best 22-game hit streak. Blue Jays right-hander Kevin Gausman (8-9) allowed five runs, nine hits and one walk with five strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.
Reds 8, Cubs 5
Aristides Aquino bombed a three-run homer and Alexis Diaz pitched out of eighth- and ninth-inning jams, helping Cincinnati salvage one win in its three-game series against visiting Chicago.
A series that began without a home run at the hitter-friendly Field of Dreams park in Iowa concluded with four, including three by the Cubs. Aquino helped ignite the power display with his fourth homer of the season in the second inning for a 3-2 lead.
The Cubs’ Patrick Wisdom hit a two-run shot, his 21st of the season, in the top of the second off Reds starter Justin Dunn. Yan Gomes and Christopher Morel went back-to-back off Dunn in the fourth, the latter giving Chicago its last lead at 5-4.
Cardinals 6, Brewers 3
Albert Pujols hit two homers and drove in four runs to power St. Louis past Milwaukee.
The home runs were the 688th and 689th in Pujols’ career. Tyler O’Neill and Dylan Carlson also hit homers for the Cardinals, who won two of three games in the weekend series to boost their National League Central lead to 1 1/2 games over the Brewers.
Brewers starting pitcher Aaron Ashby allowed two runs on three hits in six innings. He struck out five batters and walked two. Matt Bush relieved Ashby and pitched a scoreless seventh inning. Taylor Rogers (1-6) took the loss by allowing four runs in the eighth inning.
Rangers 5, Mariners 3
Adolis Garcia and Nathaniel Lowe each had RBI hits in a two-run seventh inning that pushed Texas past Seattle in Arlington, Texas.
With the score even at 3 in the seventh inning, the Rangers broke the deadlock by scoring a pair of runs off Brash. Corey Seager doubled and scored on Garcia’s single. Texas tacked on an insurance run when Lowe delivered an RBI double off Erik Swanson, with the run attributed to Brash.
In relief, Josh Sborz (1-0) picked up the win, with Jose Leclerc claiming his first save since July 2020. Seattle reliever Matt Brash (3-4) suffered the loss. Both starters worked six innings, and neither was as sharp as normal. Martin Perez of the Rangers allowed three runs (one earned), striking out seven while walking five. Seattle’s Logan Gilbert yielded three runs with five strikeouts and four walks.
Diamondbacks 7, Rockies 4
Christian Walker hit his 27th homer, drove in four runs and finished with four hits, Josh Rojas had two hits and Arizona beat Colorado in Denver.
Tommy Henry (2-1) pitched 5 1/3 innings in his third career start and Ian Kennedy picked up his eighth save for Arizona. Ketel Marte left the game in the ninth for an undisclosed reason after running from first to third on Walker’s double.
Ryan McMahon had three hits and Randal Grichuk finished with two for the Rockies.
Angels 4, Twins 2
Tucker Davidson tossed six strong innings and Luis Rengifo drove in two runs as Los Angeles beat Minnesota in the rubber match of a three-game series in Anaheim, Calif.
Davidson (2-3) allowed two runs in his second start since being acquired from the Atlanta Braves. The Angels won for the fifth time in their last six games. Jaime Barria pitched two scoreless innings before Jose Quijada retired the Twins in order in the ninth for his third save.
Minnesota jumped on Davidson in the first inning when Carlos Correa drew a one-out walk and scored on Byron Buxton’s opposite-field homer to right field. The Angels pulled even in the third when David Fletcher extended his hit streak to eight games with a two-out single and moved to second on Shohei Ohtani’s five-pitch walk. Rengifo then drove both runners in with a double to the left field corner.
–Field Level Media