“Fire Tony!” chants emerge
Manager under scrutiny as White Sox suffer late loss
Loud chants of “Fire Tony!” broke out at Guaranteed Rate Field as manager Tony La Russa and the Chicago White Sox blew a five-run lead and lost to the Texas Rangers 11-9 in 10 innings on Saturday.
La Russa has been under increased scrutiny this week since ordering an unconventional intentional walk in a loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The White Sox won the AL Central last season, but now are just 27-30 under their 77-year-old Hall of Fame manager.
Chicago has lost three of four. Texas won for just the fourth time in its last 11 games.
Jake Burger hit a threerun homer off AL ERA leader Martin Perez, helping Chicago take a 5-0 lead into the fifth.
The Rangers clawed back. Adolis Garcia hit a three-run homer in the fifth and Texas tied it at 7 on Jonah Heim’s sacrifice fly in the seventh, prompting the crowd of 30,221 to begin chanting at La Russa.
Nathaniel Lowe’s second double of the game started a four-run 10th for Texas. A passed ball by Reese McGuire scored another run and Marcus Semien hit a two-run single.
Chicago closed within two runs in the bottom half before Joe Barlow retired Luis Robert and Jose Abreu.
Texas reliever Matt Moore (3-0) fanned five in two scoreless innings. Matt Foster (1-1) took the loss.
Giants 3, Dodgers 2: Clayton Kershaw gave up a go-ahead home run to Thairo Estrada in a two-run second inning as the three-time Cy Young Award winner returned from the injured list, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2.
Phillies 4, Diamondbacks 0: Zack Wheeler struck out eight over six innings, Bryson Stott hit a two-run homer and Philadelphia won its ninth straight game, matching its longest streak in 11 years. The Phillies have won nine straight for the first time July 29-Aug. 6, 2011. Phillies interim manager Rob Thomson improved to 8-0 since taking over for the fired Joe Girardi. Braves 10, Pirates 4: Dansby Swanson blooped a three-run single and Ozzie Albies added a grand slam in an eight-run seventh inning as Atlanta extending its winning streak to 10 games. Ronald Acuna Jr. and Austin Riley also homered for the Braves, on their longest winning streak since 14 in a row from July 26 to Aug. 9, 2013. Trailing 4-2, the Braves batted around in the seventh against Duane Underwood Jr. (0-2) and Chris Stratton. Albies’ fifth career slam put the Braves ahead 10-4. Jesse Chavez (1-1) allowed one hit in two scoreless innings. The Pirates have struck out at least 10 times in five straight games and lost their season-worst fifth straight.
Athletics 10, Guardians 5:
Seth Brown’s grand slam capped a five-run seventh inning, and Oakland stopped a 10-game skid — its longest in 11 years — by beating Cleveland. Steven Vogt, Christian Bethancourt and Sean Murphy also homered for Oakland, and Vogt had three hits and was hit by a pitch. The A’s lost 10 in a row from May 30 to June 9, 2011. Oakland lost nine straight this year from April 29 to May 8, giving the A’s a pair of losing streaks of nine or more games in the same season for the first time since 1978. Frankie Montas (3-6) allowed five runs and eight hits in six innings to win for the first time since April 18 against Baltimore. Eli Morgan (2-2) took the loss.
Cardinals 5, Reds 4: Tommy Edman hit a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning for the first walkoff RBI of his major league career as St. Louis rallied past Cincinnati. Cincinnati led 4-1 in the eighth but blew a save for the seventh time in 17 chances despite outhitting the Cards 12-7.
Tigers 3, Blue Jays 1: Rookie Beau Brieske pitched into the sixth inning and earned his first major league victory, Victor Reyes came off the injured list and had three hits and Detroit beat Toronto.
Twins 6, Rays 5: MLB batting leader Luis Arraez hit his first career grand slam and Minnesota spoiled Shane Baz’s season debut, beating Tampa Bay. Arraez got at least three hits for the seventh time this season, raising his average to .367.
Nationals 8, Brewers 6: Juan Soto, Nelson Cruz and Josh Bell hit consecutive homers and Washington sent Milwaukee to its eighth consecutive loss.
Orioles 6, Royals 4: Tyler Nevin hit a three-run home run and Cedric Mullins and Austin Hays each added an RBI, leading Baltimore over Kansas City.
Padres 2, Rockies 1 (10): Automatic runner Manny Machado hustled home when a two-out wild pitch in the 10th inning led to a throwing error by catcher Elias Diaz, lifting San Diego to the win in the opener of a doubleheader with Colorado.
Marlins 5, Astros 1: Rookie Braxton Garrett pitched six strong innings, Jon Berti drove in two runs and Miami extended its winning streak to five games. Garrett (1-1) allowed six hits and an unearned run with five strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings for the win in his second start this season. The Marlins scored three runs in the second inning with the help of a costly error by rookie shortstop Jeremy Pena. Framber Valdez (6-3) allowed four hits and four runs, two earned, with three walks in six innings and had his five-game winning streak halted.