Late HR burns NY’s Chapman
Yonder Alonso homered on a 100-mph fastball from demoted closer Aroldis Chapman in the 11th inning, and the Seattle Mariners outpitched the Yankees for a 2-1 victory last night in New York.
Mike Zunino homered and had three hits for the Mariners, right in the middle of a crowded race for the second AL wild card. They used seven pitchers to hold down the Yankees, who lead the wild card chase but trail the Red Sox by 41⁄2 games in the AL East.
Alonso entered as a pinch hitter in the ninth and sent a drive to center field with two outs in the 11th against Chapman (4-3), the $86 million reliever who recently lost his job as closer. The lefty was booed as he walked off the mound after the inning.
Alonso became the third left-handed batter to homer against Chapman in his eight-year career. Just 12 days before, 20-year-old Red Sox rookie Rafael Devers became the second.
Indians 4, Royals 0 — Rookie Ryan Merritt pitched a career-high 62⁄3 innings and host Cleveland recorded its AL-leading 13th shutout with a win over Kansas City.
All-Star reliever Andrew Miller will be shut down from throwing for 5-7 days because of tendinitis in his right knee.
Twins 6, Blue Jays 1 — Bartolo Colon pitched 62⁄3 innings for his second straight win, Byron Buxton had three hits as visiting Minnesota beat Toronto.
Athletics 3, Rangers 1 — Khris Davis hit a go-ahead homer leading off the seventh after his tying solo shot in the fourth, and host Oakland beat Texas.
Astros 2, Angels 1 — In Anaheim, Calif., rookie J.D. Davis homered and George Springer scored the winning run on a wild pitch in support of a strong six innings from Collin McHugh in Houston’s win over Los Angeles.
White Sox 3, Tigers 2 — Tim Anderson led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a double and Yolmer Sanchez followed with an RBI single that sent host Chicago over Detroit for its third straight win.
National League
Marlins 8, Padres 6 — Giancarlo Stanton homered twice, increasing his major league-leading total to 49 to help host Miami climb above .500 by beating San Diego.
Mets 4, Nationals 2 — Jacob deGrom had 10 strikeouts in 72⁄3 innings and visiting New York topped Washington.
Phillies 7, Cubs 1 — Rhys Hoskins hit another homer and Cesar Hernandez ripped a three-run triple to help host Philadelphia past Chicago.
Reds 9, Pirates 5 — Rookie Robert Stephenson fanned a career-high 11 as host Cincinnati beat Pittsburgh.
Diamondbacks 4, Giants 3 — In Phoenix, Paul Goldschmidt hit a three-run home run and Arizona held on to beat San Francisco and give Zack Greinke his 15th win of the season.
Dodgers 3, Brewers 1 — Yasmani Grandal hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the fifth, Yasiel Puig and Logan Forsythe homered and host Los Angeles held off Milwaukee.
Braves 5, Rockies 2 — Matt Kemp and Kurt Suzuki hit home runs as Atlanta defeated Colorado.
Interleague
Rays 7, Cardinals 3 — Corey Dickerson had four hits, including two doubles, and visiting Tampa Bay beat St. Louis. Adeiny Hechavarria added three hits and two RBI for the Rays.
Elsewhere in baseball — Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera was suspended seven games and Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez got banned four games for their actions on a fight-filled day at Comerica Park. Also suspended were Tigers reliever Alex Wilson (four games), New York catcher Austin Romine (two games) and Detroit manager Brad Ausmus (one game).