HRs stymie Cards
St. Louis Cardinals reliever Roel Ramirez (above) allowed four consecutive home runs in his major-league debut as the Chicago White Sox tied a major-league record in a 7-2 victory Sunday.
INTERLEAGUE
WHITE SOX 7, CARDINALS 2
CHICAGO — St. Louis Cardinals reliever Roel Ramirez helped set a record in his debut — just not the kind any pitcher wants.
The Chicago White Sox tied a major-league mark with four consecutive home runs, all against Ramirez, and went on to beat the Cardinals 7-2 on Sunday.
Yoan Moncada, Yasmani Grandal, Jose Abreu and Eloy Jimenez connected during a six-run fifth inning.
It was the 10th time in major-league history a team hit four straight home runs. The last team to do so was the Washington Nationals on June 9, 2019.
“Clearly, it gets you on your heels,” Cardinals Manager Mike Shildt said. “One of the reasons we liked Roel in spring training … was the fact that he was not afraid to go after guys. He’d get after it.”
Ramirez took the mound in the fifth with Chicago leading 1-0. He struck out Luis Robert to start, but things went south quickly. After two singles, a caught stealing and a walk, Moncada smacked a three-run home run to right.
Grandal followed with another drive into the right-field seats, and then Abreu and Jimenez each homered to left.
Shildt replaced Ramirez with the debuting Seth Elledge, and he struck out Edwin Encarnacion on three consecutive pitches to end the inning.
Ramirez was among the players promoted by the Cardinals after a covid-19 outbreak that stalled St. Louis’ season for 21/2 weeks.
Ramirez, a 25-year-old righthander, split last season between Class AA and Class AAA.
The White Sox got another solid start from former University of
NATIONAL LEAGUE Philadelphia 6, N.Y. Mets 2
Atlanta 4, Miami0
Milwaukee 6, Chicago Cubs 5 Arizona 5, San Diego 4 Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, ppd., coronavirus
AMERICAN LEAGUE Cleveland 8, Detroit 5 Minnesota 4, Kansas City 2 Houston 3, Seattle 2
Tampa Bay 3-7, Toronto 2-5 NY Yankees 4, Boston 2
INTERLEAGUE Washington 6, Baltimore 5 Chicago White Sox 7, St. Louis 2 Colorado 10, Texas 6 Oakland 15, San Francisco 3 L.A. Dodgers 8, L.A. Angels 3
Arkansas pitcher Dallas Keuchel (32). He gave up 2 runs and 4 hits in 52/3 innings. The 2015 AL Cy Young Award winner exited after Matt Carpenter hit a two-run single.
Stephen Piscotty, Chad Pinder and Marcus Semien homered during Oakland’s nine-run fifth inning, powering the A’s to their fourth consecutive win.
Keibert Ruiz homered in his first major-league at-bat, Corey Seager hit a three-run home run and the Dodgers swept the Freeway Series in Anaheim, Calif.
In Baltimore, Max Scherzer struck out 10 over seven innings, and Washington went ahead to stay with an unearned run in the eighth.
Colorado’s Jon Gray (1-2) struck out 7 over a season-high 7 innings and was backed by a 14-hit attack.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
In Houston, Kyle Tucker hit a game-ending home run in the ninth inning, lifting the Astros to their fourth win in a row.
In Detroit, Franmil Reyes homered twice, and the Indians beat the Tigers for the 20th consecutive time. Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez and Sandy Leon also homered for Cleveland. Oliver Perez (1-0) got the win.
Willy Adames hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning, and Tampa Bay earned its second win of the day against the Blue Jays in Buffalo, N.Y. Earlier, in the finish of a game suspended Saturday night because of rain, Brandon Lowe hit a home run off Jordan Romano (1-1) in the ninth.
J.A. Happ won in his return to New York’s rotation after being skipped for a turn, Mike Ford drove in three runs and the Yankees beat visiting Boston for their ninth consecutive victory over the Red Sox.
Max Kepler hit a tworun homer to support another strong start by Minnesota’s Randy Dobnak (4-1).
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Nick Markakis drove in three runs for visiting Atlanta, and five pitchers combined on a two-hitter.
Keston Hiura and Orlando Arcia homered, and the Brewers earned their third win in a row against the NL Central leaders.
Eduardo Escobar hit a three-run home run in the eighth inning, and the Diamondbacks completed the three-game sweep in Phoenix.
Andrew McCutchen entered as a midgame replacement and hit a two-run home run to help Philadelphia complete a three-game sweep.