White Sox bash four straight HRs
Yoan Moncada, Yasmani Grandal, Jose Abreu and Eloy Jimenez hit consecutive home runs in the fifth inning Sunday for the Chicago White Sox in a 7-2 victory against the St. Louis Cardinals at Guaranteed Rate Field.
All four of Sunday’s home runs came off reliever Roel Ramirez, who was making his major-league debut.
Moncada started the home run derby with a three-run blast to right, his fourth of the season.
Grandal was next. The solo home run, also to right field, was his first as a Sox player.
Abreu then homered to left, his fourth of the season. Jimenez followed with his team-leading seventh, also to left.
Nationals 6, Orioles 5 — Max Scherzer struck out 10 over seven innings, and the Washington Nationals scored an unearned run in the eighth to break a tie and squeeze past the Baltimore Orioles.
With the score 5-all, Juan Soto drew a one-out walk from Travis Lakins (2-1) and took second on a groundout. Kurt Suzuki followed with a two-out grounder to third baseman Rio Ruiz, whose throw bounced past first baseman Renato Núñez, enabling Soto to score.
Rockies 10, Rangers 6 — Jon Gray struck out seven over a season-high seven solid innings and was backed by a 14-hit attack as Colorado beat Texas.
The Rangers had the tying run at the plate in the ninth after two bases-loaded walks by Jairo Diaz but Carlos Estevez came on and got out of the jam for his first save.
Athletics 15, Giants 3 — Stephen Piscotty, Chad Pinder and Marcus Semien all homered during a nine-run burst in the fifth inning and the Oakland Athletics clobbered the San Francisco Giants 15-3 Sunday for their fourth straight win.
Piscotty matched his career high with five RBIs as the A’s, with the best record in the AL, won for the 13th time in 15 games.
Dodgers 8, Angels 3 — Keibert Ruiz homered in his first major league at-bat, Corey Seager hit a three-run homer and the Los Angeles Dodgers swept the Freeway Series with over the Los Angeles Angels .
Max Muncy had a two-run homer, Matt Beaty also homered and Mookie Betts added an RBI single for the NL-leading Dodgers (16-7), who have won a season-best five straight.
American League
Rays sweep Blue Jays — Willy Adames hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning and the Tampa Bay Rays, helped by a huge Toronto error, beat the Blue Jays, 7-5, to win both games completed Sunday.
Earlier, in the finish of a game suspended Saturday night because of rain, Brandon Lowe hit a solo home run in the ninth to lift the Rays to a 3-2 win.
Aaron Loup (3-0) got the win in both games.
Indians 8, Tigers 5 — The Cleveland Indians beat Detroit for the 20th straight time, nearing the major league record for most wins by a team over a single opponent, as Franmil Reyes hit two home runs to defeat the Tigers.
Twins 4, Royals 2 — Max Kepler hit a tworun homer to support another strong start from Randy Dobnak, and the Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals.
Dobnak (4-1) gave up just three hits, while his ERA rose from a majors-best 0.90 to 1.42.
Astros 3, Mariners 2 — Kyle Tucker hit a game-ending homer in the ninth inning, and the Houston Astros beat the Seattle Mariners for their fourth straight win.
Tucker drove a 96-mph fastball from Erik Swanson (0-2) deep to right for his first career game-ending homer.
National League
Phillies 6, Mets 2 — Andrew McCutchen entered as a mid-game injury replacement and hit a go-ahead, two-run home run to help the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets and complete a three-game sweep.
McCutchen was hitting just .180 this season with no homers and got the day off against Mets starter Rick Porcello (1-3).
Braves 4, Marlins 0 — Nick Markakis drove in three runs, and five pitchers combined on a two-hitter to help the Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins and tighten the NL East race.
Atlanta took two of three games from the first-place Marlins and trail them by only percentage points.
Brewers 6, Cubs 5 — Keston Hiura and Orlando Arcia homered, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs for their third straight win against the NL Central leaders.
Arcia had three hits and scored the goahead run on Ryan Braun’s seventh-inning single off Jason Adam (0-1) at Wrigley Field. Hiura belted a tying three-run drive in the third for his fifth homer.
Diamondbacks 5, Padres 4 — Eduardo Escobar hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the eighth inning to push the Arizona Diamondbacks past the San Diego Padres and complete the three-game sweep.
The 31-year-old Escobar connected for a huge hit off Emilio Pagán (0-1), launching a line drive into the right field seats and pumping his first as he rounded first base.