Kepler, Twins rally to dispose of Orioles
Rookie Max Kepler continued his midseason surge with a game-tying home run among two hits and two RBI as the Minnesota Twins rallied to beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-2, last night in Minneapolis.
The teams were squeezing in a make-up game from a May 9 postponement with Minnesota in the middle of a homestand and Baltimore heading for a weekend series at Toronto.
Kepler hit his 11th home run off reliever Odrisamer Despaigne (0-2) leading off the sixth inning to tie the game 2-2 after Baltimore starter Ubaldo Jimenez lasted five innings in his first start since July 8. Kepler had an RBI double as part of a four-run seventh.
Minnesota’s Ryan Pressly (5-5) combined with two other relievers to allow just two hits the final three innings.
Kepler played in nine April games, hitting .167 before being sent back to Triple A. He was recalled
on June 1 and has 38 RBI in his past 49 games. Kepler has eight home runs in 22 July games.
Rangers 3, Royals 2 — In Arlington, Texas, Mitch Moreland’s second home run of the game broke a tie in the eighth inning and Cole Hamels earned his 12th win of the season as Texas trimmed Kansas City.
Hamels (12-2) allowed two runs and six hits in eight innings, matching his longest start of the season. His 123 pitches were 10 more than his previous high for the year. He didn’t allow an earned run in his previous two starts, totaling 131⁄3 innings.
Sam Dyson earned his 21st save in 23 opportunities, stranding the tying run at third base.
Both homers by the lefthanded-hitting Moreland were to the opposite field and came off Yordano Ventura (6-9). It was Moreland’s 10th career multihomer game and second of the season.
National League
Cardinals 5, Marlins 4 — Aledmys Diaz homered, doubled and drove in three runs against childhood pal Jose Fernandez, helping visiting St. Louis edge Miami.
Fernandez gave up five runs in five innings and fell to 26-2 at Marlins Park.
Miami’s Dee Gordon, the 2015 NL batting and stolen bases champion, returned from an 80-game suspension for failing a drug test and went 0-for-4. Ichiro Suzuki doubled as a pinch hitter in the seventh for Miami and needs two hits for 3,000.
Diaz and Matt Holliday homered in the third inning against Fernandez (12-5), who had never previously given up more than one homer in a home game. His only other loss at Marlins Park came on opening day this year against Detroit.
Michael Wacha (6-7) allowed three runs in six innings, and three relievers completed an eight-hitter. Rockies 2, Mets 1— Steady New York closer Jeurys Familia stumbled for a second straight game, allowing two runs in the ninth inning as visiting Colorado edged the Mets for its seventh win in eight games.
Less than 24 hours after Familia’s streak of 52 consecutive regular-season saves was snapped, the right-hander entered in the top of the ninth with a 1-0 lead, and couldn’t hold it.
Trevor Story had a leadoff single and stole second. After fellow rookie David Dahl walked, Daniel Descalso bunted up the first base line. Mets catcher Rene Rivera watched as the ball spun toward foul territory but it stopped fair, loading the bases with no out.
After an infield error tied the game, Familia then threw a wild pitch to allow Dahl to cross the plate with the go-ahead run. Brewers 6, Diamondbacks
4— Hernan Perez hit a two-run homer, singled and scored the go-ahead run in the sixth, Zach Davies pitched 61⁄3 innings and host Milwaukee topped Arizona.
Perez, who started at shortstop for benched Jonathan Villar, crushed Robbie Ray’s first pitch 458 feet off the facing of the scoreboard in deep center for the tworun homer in the third.
Davies (8-4) allowed three runs —two earned— on six hits. Facing the Diamondbacks for the first time, he walked one and struck out five.
Jeremy Jeffress pitched the ninth for his 24th save in 25 chances. Phillies 7, Braves 5 — Aaron Altherr and Maikel Franco homered, Aaron Nola won for the first time in eight starts and visiting Philadelphia beat Atlanta.
Altherr returned to the lineup after missing the first 103 games of the season with a broken left wrist. He went 3-for-4 with two RBI.