Verlander sharp again, records MLB-best 12th win
Justin Verlander struck out 10 in six sharp innings to post his MLB-leading 12th win and the Houston Astros beat the Oakland A's 5-0 Saturday.
Martín Maldonado hit a second-inning grand slam off rookie Jared Koenig (13) for his third career grand slam on a shot to center field to give the AL Westleading Astros a four-run lead.
Verlander (12-3) allowed six hits without a walk and lowered his ERA to 1.89, which ranks third in the majors. Phil Maton, Hector Neris and Bryan Abreu each pitched a scoreless inning to complete the shutout against the team with the AL's worst record.
The 39-year-old Verlander, who leads all active players in strikeouts, now has 3,121 in his career, moving past Curt Schilling (3,116) and Bob Gibson (3,117) into 14th place on the all-time list.
CARDINALS 11, REDS 3 >> Paul Goldschmidt hit his 300th
Astros starter Justin Verlander won his MLB-leading 12th win with six strong innings against Oakland on Saturday.
career homer and drove in three runs and Albert Pujols reached another milestone as St. Louis beat Cincinnati.
Goldschmidt's two-run homer in the second inning was his 20th this season, becoming the 153rd player to reach 300 homers. He has 997 RBIs.
The 42-year-old Pujols scored twice. He tied Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig for 12th place all-time with 1,889
runs scored.
Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas (7-7) gave up a home run to Jonathan India to start the game, then allowed just two hits in the next six innings in his seven-inning outing. The 33-year-old starter has permitted no more than three runs in 17 of 19 starts this season.
PHILLIES 10, MARLINS 0 >> Kyle Schwarber hit his NLleading 29th homer, J.T.
Realmuto had a homer and a double and Philadelphia spoiled the major league debut of touted Miami pitcher Max Meyer.
Activated from the injured list Saturday,, Philadelphia starter Ranger Suárez pitched five scoreless innings of four-hit ball.
Meanwhile, the 23-yearold Meyer, the third overall selection in the 2020 draft, was lifted after Realmuto's one-out double in the sixth. Meyer (0-1) allowed five runs, seven hits, walked one and struck out five. ROCKIES 2, PIRATES 0 >> Kris Bryant had three hits and an RBI, Charlie Blackmon extended his hitting streak to seven games with an RBI single, and Jose Urena pitched six scoreless innings to pace Colorado over the Pittsburgh.
METS 2-4, CUBS 1-3 >> Pete Alonso hit a sacrifice fly in the 11th inning after Adam Ottavino worked out of a tricky jam, helping the New York beat Chicago in the opener of a day-night doubleheader.
The Mets made it a sweep behind runs by Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor in the top of the 10th, sending the Cubs to their ninth straight loss.
TWINS 6, WHITE SOX 3 >>
Jorge Polanco hit a threerun homer, one of three for Minnesota against Lance Lynn, in a five-run third inning and the Twins held on to beat Chicago.
MARINERS 3, RANGERS 2 (10) >> J.P. Crawford hit an RBI single in the 10th inning and the Seattle stretched its winning streak to 13 games.
The Mariners moved closer to the club-record 15-game winning streak set in their last playoff season in 2001. They could match the longest winning streak in the majors this year with a victory in the series finale today.
BLUE JAYS 6, ROYALS 5 (10) >>
Teoscar Hernández singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th as Toronto rallied to beat Kansas City.
Royals DH Vinnie Pasquantino hit a tie-breaking homer in the top of the 10th to put Kansas City up 5-3 only to see Toronto rally.
BRAVES 6, NATIONALS 3 >> Matt Olson and Austin Riley hit consecutive home runs in the third inning, and Atlanta dealt Washington its ninth loss in a row.
YANKEES 14, RED SOX 1 >> Aaron Judge homered twice to match Roger Maris' franchise record of 33 before the All-Star break, Matt Carpenter also connected twice and drove in seven runs as New York routed Boston.
GUARDIANS 10, TIGERS 0 >> José Ramírez tuned up for the Home Run Derby by homering in his first two at-bats and driving in five runs, powering Cleveland past Detroit.
ORIOLES 6, RAYS 4 (11) >> Ryan Mountcastle hit a two-run single in the 11th inning as Baltimore bested Tampa Bay.
GIANTS 2, BREWERS 1 >> Milwaukee reliever Jandel Gustave's balk with the bases loaded allowed Wilmer Flores to score the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as San Francisco won for the sixth time in eight games.