Record-setting Acuna hits 2 more HRs
Cards outlast Nationals for 7th straight win
ATLANTA: Rookie Ronald Acuna Jr hit two home runs, one of them to lead off the game on the first pitch, sending the Atlanta Braves to a 10-6 win over the visiting Miami Marlins on Tuesday. Acuna hit a leadoff home run for the third straight game, and he became the youngest player in baseball history to go deep in five consecutive games. The Venezuelan phenom was 3-for-5 with four RBIs. He has 19 homers in his rookie season, including eight in his past eight games. Acuna, 20 years, 239 days old, already had become the youngest player ever to homer four games in a row, accomplishing that feat when he blasted long balls to open both ends of a Monday doubleheader against the Marlins. The Braves have won four in a row. They improved to 11-3 against Miami and 39-19 against the National League East, which Atlanta leads by two games over the second-place Philadelphia Phillies.
RED SOX 2, PHILLIES 1
Brock Holt, pinch-hitting for right-hander Rick Porcello, made the starting pitcher a winner by hitting the tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning as visiting Boston beat Philadelphia in the opener of a two-game interleague series. The scorching Red Sox have won five in a row and 11 of 12. Boston is on pace for 115 wins, one shy of the single-season record shared by the 1906 Chicago Cubs and 2001 Seattle Mariners. Philadelphia has lost four of five. The Phillies fell into sole possession of the second wild card in the NL, one game behind the Milwaukee Brewers.
CARDINALS 6, NATIONALS 4
Kolten Wong homered and had three RBIs to back the solid pitching of John Gant, who also hit a home run for his first career hit, as St. Louis handled visiting Washington at Busch Stadium. The victory was the seventh in a row and ninth in the last 10 games for the Cardinals, who are now a season-best 10 games over .500. St. Louis has scored six or more runs in its past six games. Meanwhile, stumbling Washington has lost three straight and four of its past five games and have fallen back to .500.
ROCKIES 5, ASTROS 1
Nolan Arenado clubbed his 30th home run, and visiting Colorado extended its winning streak to four games with a victory at Houston. Arenado, starting as the designated hitter because of his sore right shoulder, drilled a 96 mph fastball from Justin Verlander (11-8) the opposite way to right field with one on and two outs in the sixth inning. The struggling Astros had claimed a 1-0 lead a half-inning earlier only to surrender it in short order and extend their home losing skid to nine games. Colorado improved to 125 on the season in interleague play.
BLUE JAYS 6, ROYALS 5
Kevin Pillar hit a two-run home run with two outs in the eighth inning and had three RBIs to help Toronto come back for a win at Kansas City, Mo. Pillar went 2-for-4 for Toronto. Catcher Danny Jansen also hit a solo shot for the Blue Jays, his first career homer in his second major league game. Ken Giles struck out two in a perfect ninth to earn his second save for the Blue Jays after recording 12 saves for the Astros. Adalberto Mondesi had a career-best four hits, including two doubles, plus an RBI and three stolen bases for the Royals. Kansas City completed a franchiserecord 14th straight errorless game.
INDIANS 8, REDS 1
Corey Kluber cruised to his major league co-leading 15th victory and Jose Ramirez hit his 36th homer as Cleveland rolled past host Cincinnati. Kluber (15-6) pitched seven innings of one-run ball, allowing five hits and two walks while striking out seven. Ramirez continued to torment the Reds this season, going 3-for-5 with a solo homer, two RBIs and three runs. In the five games against Cincinnati this year, Ramirez is 10-for-23 with five homers and 11 RBIs.
TWINS 5, PIRATES 2
Jake Cave drove in the go-ahead run in the fourth inning, and Miguel Sano added a late two-run home run as Minnesota downed Pittsburgh in Minneapolis. Jorge Polanco was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs for the Twins, who had lost four of their previous five games. Minnesota’s Jake Odorizzi (5-7) struck out nine in 5 2/3 innings. He gave up two runs and four hits, and he walked two. David Freese was 3-for-4 with a run for Pittsburgh, which lost its second straight and fell for the third time in four games.
YANKEES 4, RAYS 1
J.A. Happ allowed a career-low one hit in seven scoreless innings and won his third consecutive start as host New York recorded a victory over Tampa Bay. Happ (136) allowed only a fourth-inning single to C.J. Cron while striking out four and walking four. The veteran left-hander improved to 3-0 with a 1.89 ERA since being acquired from Toronto for Brandon Drury and Billy McKinney on July 26. Austin Romine hit a two-run homer, Aaron Hicks hit an RBI single, and Greg Bird added insurance in the eighth with a run-scoring double as the Yankees won for the seventh time in nine games since getting swept in a four-game series at Boston.—Reuters