Clarke lifts D’backs to win vs. Yankees
Diamondbacks rookie Taylor Clarke was a solid winner in his Yankee Stadium debut, five days after the birth of his daughter, and Arizona got home runs from Christian Walker and Carson Kelly to beat New York, 4-2, last night.
Nick Ahmed hit an RBI single and Adam Jones had an early sacrifice fly for the Diamondbacks (54-54), who have won all three meetings with the AL East-leading Yankees this year. Arizona,
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now 14-5 in interleague games after winning nine of its past 10, will go for a season sweep this afternoon.
J.A. Happ (8-6) allowed three runs in six innings for a struggling New York staff that gave up 79 runs in the previous eight games. General manager Brian Cashman is shopping for pitching help ahead of today’s 4 p.m. trade deadline — but time is running out.
“We know we’re capable of something really special with all the guys we have in that room right now,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Whatever happens or does or doesn’t happen over the next 24 hours, I don’t expect our room to change from a confidence standpoint.”
Orioles 8, Padres 5 — Chris Davis hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning to snap an 0-for-18 slump, and Baltimore rallied from a four-run hole to beat host San Diego.
Davis connected off Matt Strahm (4-8) with one out in the eighth for just his eighth home run this season. Davis is hitting .181 and struck out 14 times during the slide, including three yesterday that raised his season total to 105 in 232 at-bats.
Twins 2, Marlins 1 — Byron Buxton homered and Jake Odorizzi followed his worst big league start by pitching one-run ball into the sixth inning as Minnesota held off host Miami.
Odorizzi (12-5) allowed a run and four hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out five and was lifted after giving up his only walk to Neil Walker with two out in the sixth. The outing comes less than a week after Odorizzi’s fourinning effort against the New York Yankees on July 24, when he gave up nine runs and 10 hits.
American League
Astros 2, Indians 0 — Justin Verlander struck out 13 to reach double figures for the third straight start and sixth time this year, leading Houston past host Cleveland.
In a matchup of All-Stars, Verlander (14-4) outpitched Shane Bieber and won his fourth consecutive start, tying Washington’s Stephen Strasburg for the major league lead in wins. Verlander allowed two hits in seven innings and walked none.
National League
Phillies 4, Giants 2 — Drew Smyly tossed seven shutout innings and Rhys Hoskins homered to lead host Philadelphia past San Francisco.
The Phillies took the first game of a three-game set between teams in the hunt for an NL wild card spot. It was the first of seven games the teams will play against each other in the next two weeks, and they could go a long way toward deciding which play in October. Braves 11 Nationals 8 — Adam Duvall had two home runs, Josh Donaldson added a three-run homer and Atlanta held off host Washington to reopen a 5½-game lead in the NL East.
Julio Teheran (6-7) allowed two runs and seven hits in 6⅔ innings for Atlanta, which burst to an 11-1 lead and held on to split the first two games of the three-game series. Teheran had a 1.48 ERA in July as the Braves won four of his five starts but was just 1-1 those games.
Pirates 11, Reds 4 — Cincinnati reliever Amir Garrett rushed the opposing dugout and threw punches in the ninth inning, starting a brawl prolonged by outfielder Yasiel Puig, and visiting Pittsburgh ended its longest losing streak in eight years.
Reds manager David Bell faces a suspension after running onto the field to join the fracas after being ejected an inning earlier. He was put in a headlock by Pirates hitting coach Rick Eckstein, got himself out, and shouted at Pirates manager Clint Hurdle. In all, five Reds were ejected.
The latest dust-up in the rivalry was sparked when Pittsburgh’s Keone Kela threw up-and-in to Derek Dietrich in the seventh. After the inning, first baseman Joey Votto walked toward the Pirates dugout and exchanged words with Kela, but plate umpire Larry Vanover got in front of Votto. In April, Dietrich admired one of his homers at PNC Park, leading to a benches-clearing clash. Elsewhere in baseball — The Cubs added bullpen depth by acquiring righthander David Phelps from Toronto for minor league righty Thomas Hatch . ...
The Braves added some bullpen help, acquiring hard-throwing reliever Chris
Martin from the Texas Rangers for former first-round draft pick Kolby Allard.
The Pirates suspended bullpen coach Euclides Rojas for two games beginning last night because of what they termed a contract violation, Pittsburgh’s second suspension this month.