Ramirez, Bauer lift Indians past White Sox
CHICAGO » Jose Ramirez homered again, Trevor Bauer earned his eighth straight win and the Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox 5-3 Monday for their 12th victory in a row.
Ramirez connected a day after tying the major league record with five extra-base hits, including two homers.
Bauer (15-8) gave up two runs on three hits, striking out nine in 6 1/3 innings. The AL Central leaders moved closer to the teamrecord 14-game winning streak they posted last season.
James Shields (2-6) kept the White Sox in the game before taking a line drive by Francisco Mejia off the knee in the seventh. Shields limped off the field after his 11th consecutive start without a win, and is considered day-to-day. PIRATES 12, CUBS 0 » Cubs ace Jake Arrieta exited in the third inning with a hamstring cramp, and Pittsburgh routed the NL Central leaders.
Arrieta (14-9) clutched his leg in obvious pain. The 2015 Cy Young Award winner tried to stretch out his right leg during a visit by manager Joe Maddon and the trainers, but a test pitch ended with Arrieta unable to let go of the ball.
Arrieta said he thinks he’ll be able to make his next scheduled start on Saturday against Milwaukee.
Josh Bell broke the NL record for most home runs by a rookie switch-hitter with his 24th. He topped the 23 by Chipper Jones for Atlanta in 1995. ANGELS 11, ATHLETICS 9, 11 INNINGS » Los Angeles employed an American League-record 12 pitchers, and Kole Calhoun hit a tworun triple in the 11th inning to beat Oakland.
Fernando Salas (1-0), the ninth Angels pitcher, tossed a perfect 10th for the victory. Keynan Middleton came in as the third pitcher of the 11th and got his third career save as the Angels tried to move up in the wild-card race. The A’s have lost a season-worst seven in a row.
Three Angels pitchers didn’t record an out. The 12 pitchers overall topped the previous AL mark of 11 done four times, most recently by Tampa Bay in 2013. The Colorado Rockies set a major league record by using 13 pitchers in 2015 during a 16-inning game.
Angels star Mike fouled a ball off his Trout lower right leg in the 11th but stayed in the game after being checked by manager Mike Scioscia and a trainer.
Matt Olson homered twice for Oakland, including a tying, two-run drive with two outs in the ninth against Blake Parker. ASTROS 6, MARINERS 2 » Dallas Keuchel pitched effectively into the eighth inning as Houston won its fifth in a row.
Alex Bregman hit a tiebreaking, two-run double in the seventh inning for the AL West leaders.
Keuchel (12-3) allowed two runs and seven hits in 7 2/3 innings. He struck out five and walked two in his longest outing since April 5. The left-hander started the season 9-0, but was 2-3 with a 5.35 ERA in his seven previous starts since coming off the disabled list July 28. YANKEES 7, ORIOLES 4 » Starlin Castro homered and drove in three runs, Didi Gregorius also went deep and New York fueled its playoff push with a win over Baltimore.
After spotting the Orioles an early lead, New York bounced back for its fourth win in five games. The Yankees enhanced their position atop the AL wild-card race — they began the day 3 ½ games behind AL Eastleading Boston.
Aaron Judge drew a career-high four walks, singled and scored a run to help the Yankees extend their wild-card lead over Baltimore to 4 ½ games.
The Yankees played without catcher Gary Sanchez, who began serving a suspension that was reduced to three games from four. The MLB suspension stemmed from an Aug. 24 brawl during a game against Detroit.
Tim Beckham, Chris Davis and Welington Castillo homered for the Orioles, who have lost three of five following a seven-game winning streak.
Chad Green (3-0) struck out four in 2 1/3 innings after starter Jordan Montgomery got two outs in the fifth.
Dylan Bundy (13-9) gave up five runs, five hits and four walks in four-plus innings. ROCKIES 4, GIANTS 3 » Carlos Gonzalez drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk in the ninth inning, and Colorado halted a four-game skid.
The game at Coors Field was played in hazy conditions because of smoke from the Western wildfires.
San Francisco reliever Steven Okert (1-1) gave the Rockies their walkoff walk. Greg Holland (3-5) pitched a perfect ninth.
Charlie Blackmon hit his 33rd homer as the Rockies increased their lead to 1 ½ games over Milwaukee for the second wild-card spot. Colorado is 8-0 at home against the Giants this season. REDS 5, BREWERS 4 » Billy Hamilton hit a solo home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, lifting Cincinnati over Milwaukee.
Hamilton, who leads the majors with 58 stolen bases, sent a drive into the left-field seats for his fourth homer of the season. He connected off Josh Hader (1-3).
The last-place Reds opened a three-game series by stopping the playoffcontending Brewers. Raisel Iglesias (3-2) pitched a perfect ninth for the win. CARDINALS 2, PADRES 0 » Carlos Martinez threw a three-hitter and struck out 10, Yadier Molina hit a tworun single and St. Louis beat San Diego for its fourth victory in five games.
The Cardinals remained three games behind Colorado in the race for the NL’s second wild card.
It was the second career shutout and complete game for Martinez (11-10). Luis Perdomo (7-9) took the loss. ROYALS 7, TIGERS 6 » Eric Hosmer, Salvador Perez and Alcides Escobar homered for Kansas City, which denied Detroit with its defense.
Alex Gordon reached well over the left-field fence to rob Mikie Mahtook of a three-run homer, while Lorenzo Cain’s sliding catch took two RBIs away from Jose Iglesias.
Since trading Justin Verlander and Justin Upton on Thursday, the Tigers are 0-5 and have been outscored 36-11.
The Tigers trailed 7-3 going into the ninth, but Nicholas Castellanos hit a three-run homer off Brandon Maurer with one out.
Maurer struck out Efren Navarro before James McCann and Jeimer Candelario singled to put the potential winning run on base. Scott Alexander replaced Maurer and retired Mahtook for his third save in five chances.
Jake Junis (7-2) improved to 5-0 in his last seven starts, giving up three runs on seven hits in five innings. Artie Lewicki (0-1) pitched five innings in his major league debut, allowing five runs on 11 hits and a walk.