Braves rout Nats, trail Phils by half a game
Charlie Culberson homered in a third straight game, Tyler Flowers and Ronald Acuna Jr. added two-run shots and the Atlanta Braves defeated the Washington Nationals 8-3 Wednesday night.
Culberson hit a three-run drive off Tommy Milone (1-1) in the second inning, and it was 7-1 by the fourth. Culberson has eight home runs this season — five against the Nationals.
Atlanta has won eight of 10 to move within a half-game of the first-place Phillies in the NL East. Washington fell six games back following its second consecutive loss to the Braves.
Acuna also made a sensational catch in the fourth inning to rob Matt Adams of a home run. Acuna raced back to the center-field wall, leaped and snagged the ball with his outstretched glove before sprawling on the warning track. Braves starter Mike Foltynewicz waved his cap to show his appreciation.
Bryce Harper hit his 28th home run for the Nationals, who showed their frustration in the sixth inning when rookie Juan Soto and hitting coach Kevin Long were ejected by home plate umpire Greg Gibson. Soto started jawing at Gibson before stepping into the batter’s box, presumably in regard to the third strike call on his previous at-bat.
METS 8, REDS 0» Jacob deGrom struck out 10 in six innings, received rare significant run support and earned his first win in nearly two months as New York beat Cincinnati.
DeGrom (6-7) ended a seven-start winless streak, allowing four hits in a 100-pitch outing
and lowering his major league-leading ERA to 1.77. He won for the first time since June 18 at Colorado. RANGERS 11, MARINERS 7 » Joey Gallo homered twice and drove in four runs, Yovani Gallardo won his fourth straight start and Texas held off Seattle.
Gallardo (7-1) leads the majors with seven wins since June 23. He allowed three hits, two runs and three walks while striking out two in six innings.
PIRATES 4, ROCKIES 3» Adam Frazier had three hits and made a run-saving play in the field in Pittsburgh’s victory over Colorado.
Frazier had two doubles and a single, but made what might have been his biggest contribution in the field. With runners on the corners and two outs in the eighth inning, pinch-hitter Chris Iannetta hit a sharp grounder to the hole at second. Frazier made a diving stop and threw out Iannetta to end the inning and preserve the one-run lead.
ANGELS 6, TIGERS 0 » Justin Upton and Albert Pujols hit back-to-back homers in the fifth inning, and Los Angeles completed a three-game sweep of Detroit.
Kole Calhoun hit a leadoff homer and rookie Jaime Barria (7-7) pitched five-hit ball into the sixth. Los Angeles was in a 1-6 skid before getting back to .500 in the series with the struggling Tigers.
Mike Trout missed his seventh consecutive game with a sore right wrist, but the Angels are hopeful the two-time AL MVP can return against Oakland this weekend.
CARDINALS 7, MARLINS 1 » Matt Carpenter hit
a tiebreaking homer for the second consecutive night, and St. Louis won its fourth series in a row by beating Miami.
Carpenter put St. Louis ahead with a home run leading off the sixth inning, his NL-leading 31st. His eighth-inning homer Tuesday helped St. Louis beat Miami 3-2, and he has homered in five of the past six games.
ORIOLES 5, RAYS 4 » Trey Mancini hit a goahead two-run double in the ninth inning, and Baltimore beat Tampa Bay Rays despite committing five errors.
Sergio Romo (2-3) allowed consecutive hits to Mark Trumbo, Danny Valencia and Mancini in the ninth, the only three batters he faced. It was Romo’s seventh blown save. Tampa Bay has played five straight one-run games and lost four of them.
RED SOX 10, BLUE JAYS 5 » Rafael Devers returned from the disabled list and hit a tworun home run, Brian Johnson pitched a season-high seven innings to win his second straight start and Boston extended its winning streak to six games with a victory over Toronto.
J.D. Martinez had three hits and Xander Bogaerts had three RBIs for the AL Eastleading Red Sox.
INDIANS 5, TWINS 2 » Francisco Lindor connected for a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning as Cleveland again moved 10 games ahead of Minnesota in the AL Central with a win over the Twins.
Lindor, who struck out with the winning run at second base in the ninth in a loss on Tuesday, drove the first pitch from Trevor Hildenberger (2-3) over the wall in right to trigger a wild celebration.
ROYALS 9, CUBS 0 » Heath Fillmyer allowed three singles over seven innings for his first major league win, Adalberto Mondesi and Drew Butera each drove in three, and Kansas City beat Chicago.