Stanton hits No. 50 as Marlins down Padres 6-2
MIAMI: Giancarlo Stanton hit his 50th home run to break an eighth-inning tie, helping the Miami Marlins sweep the San Diego Padres with a 6-2 victory on Sunday.
Stanton became the first National League player to reach 50 homers since Prince Fielder hit 50 for Milwaukee in 2007. Stanton’s 17th homer in August tied him for the second-most in MLB history in the month, behind Rudy York’s 18 in 1937.
With the score 2-all, Dee Gordon singled to lead off the eighth. Stanton then drove a 2-1 pitch from Clayton Richard (6-13) into the hedge in center field.
The All-Star slugger also walked, doubled home a run and singled in four plate appearances, hiking his average to .296. He increased his RBI total to 108, a career high.
Dan Straily, Kyle Barraclough (5-1) and two other pitchers combined on a seven-hitter. The Marlins’ three-game sweep and fourth consecutive victory overall gave them 13 wins in the past 16 games.
Twins 7 Blue Jays 2: In Toronto, Byron Buxton homered three times and set a career high with five RBIs, powering the Twins to the win.
Buxton had four hits, scored four runs and stole a base in his first career multihomer game. Kyle Gibson (8-10) pitched into the seventh inning as Minnesota earned a rare series victory north of the border.
Coming into the day, the Twins had a halfgame lead over the Angels and Mariners in the race for the second AL wild card. Minnesota has won a major league-best 15 games since Aug. 6.
Nori Aoki homered for the Blue Jays, who have dropped seven of nine. Joe Biagini (3-9) allowed five runs and nine hits in 3 2/3 innings.
Indians 12 Royals 0: In Cleveland, Yan Gomes hit a grand slam to highlight Cleveland’s nine-run second inning, and the AL Central-leading Indians completed a three-game shutout sweep.
Carlos Carrasco (13-6) allowed six hits in seven innings, and the Indians, who haven’t given up a run in 28 innings, outscored the Royals 20-0 in the series.
It’s the first time Cleveland has posted three straight shutouts since 1956.
Kansas City hasn’t scored in 34 consecutive innings, a team record and the longest drought in the majors this season.
Phillies 6 Cubs 3: In Philadelphia, rookie Rhys Hoskins homered for the fifth straight game and made a diving catch to start a game-changing triple play in the fifth inning, leading Philadelphia to the victory.
Nick Williams also connected for the Phillies, who have gone deep in nine straight games, hitting 20 homers over that span.
Hoskins led off the eighth with a drive to left-center to give him 11 home runs in his first 18 games, becoming the fastest in major league history to reach 11 homers. Hoskins, who has 24 RBIs, was called up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Aug. 10.
Brewers 3 Dodgers 2: In Los Angeles, Jimmy Nelson took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning and the Brewers beat Yu Darvish in his return from the disabled list.
Hernan Perez homered and Domingo Santana had two hits and an RBI for Milwaukee, which took two of three at Dodger Stadium. The Brewers pulled within two games of the first-place Cubs in the NL Central.
Los Angeles had gone 19-0-3 in series since dropping two of three games at home against Washington from June 5-7.
Nelson (10-6) was charged with two runs in 6 2/3 innings. Corey Knebel worked the ninth for his 29th save.
Yankees 10 Mariners 1: In New York, Masahiro Tanaka finally flourished under the sun, Starlin Castro had four hits and the Yankees took advantage of a record five errors by the Mariners in the first inning.
Mariners shortstop Jean Segura committed three early miscues — two on one play. Third baseman Kyle Seager and left fielder Ben Gamel also botched balls as the Yankees scored six runs, one earned, in the first inning against Andrew Albers (2-1).
That made it an unusually easy afternoon for Tanaka (10-10), who entered 0-6 with an 11.81 ERA in seven starts during the day this season. He struck out 10 while pitching seven innings of one-run ball.
New York took two of three in the series and moved within 2 1/2 games of first-place Boston in the AL East after Baltimore completed a three-game sweep at Fenway Park with a 2-1 victory.