Ventura plunk, Machado punch lead to melee
Pirates sweep Mets in doubleheader • Phillies edge Cubs • Beltran leads Yankees past Angels again
For one night only, the Baltimore Orioles’ home runs flying out of Camden Yards at a near-record rate weren’t the biggest blows dealt.
That honor went to shortstop Manny Machado and Kansas City Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura, who brawled after the latter plunked the former with a pitch in the fourth inning of the Orioles’ eventual 9-1 rout of Kansas City before a lively midweek crowd of 28,110.
Both were ejected at the time of the scrum, which saw the benches and bullpens empty. The Orioles led 5-1 at the time, well on their way to securing a series win over the defending World Series champions, who have lost five straight. The Orioles have won four in a row, and improved to 6-3 on their current homestand.
In the first inning, the Orioles did all of their damage keeping the ball in the park. Five of the first six batters they sent up reached on hits, and four scored. Third baseman Ryan Flaherty’s first home run of the season made it 5-0 after two innings.
Immediately after the fight, right fielder Mark Trumbo and first baseman Chris Davis hit back-to-back home runs off reliever Chien-Ming Wang, and center fielder Adam Jones homered in the sixth to seal it.
Baltimore moved into the major league lead with 88 home runs on the season. Trumbo drove in four runs and extended his major-league lead with his 20th home run.
Despite allowing 12 baserunners over five innings, Orioles right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez yielded just one run, the fewest he’s allowed since his first start of the season on April 7.
Jimenez, who entered the night having allowed five or more runs in three of his last four starts, allowed nine hits and walked three, but still earned his first win since May 7.
He performed his best escape act in the fourth, when Jimenez walked in a run after loading the bases on three straight singles to open the inning. After that, he faced the bases loaded with no outs with the top of the Kansas City batting order looming.
But Jimenez retired the next three hitters to end the threat, getting Alcides Escobar to line out to first, then striking out Whit Merrifield and inducing a fly out to center from Lorenzo Cain.
The Royals put at least two baserunners on base in each of Jimenez’s five innings, but stranded five baserunners in scoring position.
The Royals were 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position on the night. (Baltimore Sun/TNS)
Pirates 3, Mets 1 (1st) Pirates 3, Mets 1 (2nd)
Juan Nicasio limited the struggling Mets to one run over five innings, backup catcher Chris Stewart had two key hits and Pittsburgh completed a doubleheader sweep of New York.
The Pirates had lost five of six before taking the opener, also 3-1, as left-hander Jonathon Niese gave up four hits over seven shutout innings in his first start against the team that traded him last winter. Jordy Mercer hit his first homer in PNC Park in 22 months.
Mets left-hander Steven Matz (7-2) had lost only once previously in the majors before dropping the first game, while Mets right-hander Jacob deGrom (3-2) had lost only once this season before giving up three runs over six innings in the second.
Phillies 3, Cubs 2
Jerad Eickhoff snapped a personal two-game losing streak and reliever Jeanmar Gomez escaped jams in the final two innings as Philadelphia beat Chicago.
Ryan Howard homered for Philadelphia, which won for just the third time in 12 games.
Eickhoff (3-8) went seven innings, allowing one run and two hits while striking out eight and walking two. He retired 10 straight hitters between the first and fourth -- six via strikeout.
Yankees 6, Angels 3
Carlos Beltran hit a two-run home run, Michael Pineda pitched a season-high seven innings, and New York defeated Los Angeles at Yankee Stadium.
Beltran homered for the second night in a row, and Starlin Castro also went deep for the Yankees, who have 22 homers in their past 11 home games. Austin Romine and Alex Rodriguez added RBI singles, and Rob Refsnyder contributed a sacrifice fly as New York beat the Angels for the seventh consecutive time at home.
Pineda (3-6) took a shutout into the fifth inning. He wound up allowing three runs and four hits while finishing seven innings for the first time since July 4 against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Tigers 3, Blue Jays 2 (10)
Ian Kinsler’s bases-loaded single in the 10th inning completed a late rally as Detroit won its fifth straight by stunning Toronto.
Justin Upton led off the bottom of the 10th with a single up the middle against Joe Biagini (3-2). Jarrod Saltalamacchia walked on a 3-2 pitch. Upton beat the throw to third base on Jose Iglesias’ sacrifice bunt, loading the bases.
Kinsler followed with a bouncer over the head of third baseman Josh Donaldson.
Reds 7, Cardinals 6
Joey Votto’s solo home run with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted Cincinnati to a wild victory over St. Louis at Great American Ball Park.
Adam Duvall hit a three-run home run and Billy Hamilton added a rare solo shot for the Reds, who won for the seventh time in 10 games since snapping an 11-game losing streak.
Votto’s homer was his 11th of the season. It came on a 2-0 pitch from Kevin Siegrist, giving him five walk-off homers in his career.
Rangers 4, Astros 3
Ian Desmond hit a two-run homer in the eighth off Dallas Keuchel to send Texas over Houston.
With the victory, Texas is 8-0 against Houston this year and has won 12 consecutive games over the Astros in Arlington.
Red Sox 5, Giants 3 (10)
Xander Bogaerts blooped a two-run single to center field with one out in the 10th inning, delivering Boston a victory over San Francisco in the opener of a two-game interleague series.
The win was Boston’s eighth in its last 10 matchups with the Giants and improved its all-time interleague record to 203-148, the second-best in baseball.