Reds top Rays when balk ends game
Mark Kolozsvary scored on a game-ending balk by Matt Wisler in the 10th inning, lifting the Cincinnati Reds to a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night in Cincinnati.
Kolozsvary opened the 10th on second as a pinch-runner for Mike Moustakas. He advanced on Nick Senzel's sacrifice bunt against Wisler (2-3). Albert Almora Jr. walked before Wisler's balk with pinch-hitter Tyler Naquin
at the plate.
“I have no idea what he (Wisler) did,” Kolozsvary said. “I was kind of focused on other things. It was a really good feeling to celebrate with the guys.”
“I didn't see the balk at all, but we'll take it,” Reds manager David Bell said.
Wisler was called for tapping his left thigh, a move he said he often uses to get a new pitch signal.
“It's a move I've made lots of times,” he said. “I tap my leg when I want a sign. I feel like I've done that lots of times. I'm a big legtapper.
“I would like to have had a chance to make pitches instead of losing it that way.”
It was the majors' first gameending balk since Dylan Floro for the Dodgers in a 5-4 loss at Seattle on Aug. 18, 2018. It was the first such loss for the Rays in franchise history.
Josh Donaldson hit a three-run homer during New York's four-run first inning, Matt Carpenter homered among three hits in his first start in left field in a decade, and the visiting Yankees beat Boston for their 10th win in their last 11 games against the Red Sox. Joey Gallo hit a two-run triple on a fly that Boston right fielder Christian Arroyo lost in the twilight. Gallo was thrown out at the plate trying for an inside-the-park home run.
Ronald Acuña Jr., Matt Olson and William Contreras homered against Erick Fedde (5-6), leading host Atlanta to the victory. Rookie Michael
Harris II went 4 for 4 as the Braves improved to an NL-best 27-8 since June 1.
Corey Seager hit a tiebreaking three-run homer and host Texas snapped a four-game losing streak by beating Minnesota. Seager's 17th homer capped a six-run outburst in the fifth for the Rangers after they had only two baserunners in the first four innings against Sonny Gray (4-2). Seager greeted Caleb Thielbar by pulling a 396-foot drive into the right-field seats.