Hurricane Harvey relocates Rangers-Astros series
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Shin-Soo Choo homered and drove in four runs, helping Texas routed Houston 12-2 on Tuesday in the opener of a series relocated to Florida due to flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey.
Adrian Beltre of the Rangers drove in three runs to pass Hall of Famer Ernie Banks for 28th on the career RBI list with 1,637, and Joey Gallo hit a two-run homer off Mike Fiers (8-9) before an announced crowd of 3,485 at Tropicana Field, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays.
The three-game series that concludes Thursday was moved from Minute Maid Park because of flooding in the Houston area, with the Astros serving as the home team after the Rangers declined a proposal to play the games in Arlington, Texas.
It’s only the fourth time in major league history that games have been relocated to neutral sites because of weather.
• Diamondbacks 7, Dodgers 6 — At Phoenix: A.J. Pollock hit a two-run homer and the Arizona Diamondbacks roughed up Rich Hill in his follow-up to a near no-hitter for a win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Hill (9-6) pitched nine no-hit innings against Pittsburgh on Wednesday, losing the no-hitter and the game on Josh Harrison’s walk-off homer in the 10th.
• Nationals 8, Marlins 3 — At Washington: Giancarlo Stanton tied a major league record with his 18th home run in August, but Anthony Rendon had four RBIs and the Washington Nationals beat the Miami Marlins.
Stanton hit a long homer in the first inning off Edwin Jackson (5-3), his 51st this season, to open the scoring following a 26-minute rain delay. His August output matched the mark set by Rudy York with the Detroit Tigers in 1937. Sammy Sosa set the record for homers in a month when he hit 20 in June 1998, and Stanton has two games left this month to catch the former Cubs slugger.
• Red Sox 3, Blue Jays 0 — At Toronto: Chris Sale and two relievers combined on a four-hitter, Hanley Ramirez hit a solo home run and Boston beat Toronto.
Sale (15-6) fanned 11 in his major league-best 17th double-digit strikeout game, raising his league-leading total to 264. His 15 wins lead the AL.
• Orioles 4, Mariners 0 — At Baltimore: Dylan Bundy threw a one-hitter for his first career shutout, Manny Machado hit two of Baltimore’s four solo homers, and the Orioles extended their winning streak to six games.
Bundy (13-8) allowed just a bunt single to Kyle Seager in the fourth inning and set a career high with 12 strikeouts. The right-hander has a 2.00 ERA in August and has struck out 10 or more in three of his last four starts.
• Royals 6, Rays 2 — At Kansas City, Mo.: Whit Merrifield, Jorge Bonifacio and Eric Hosmer homered as Kansas City snapped a 45-inning scoreless streak on the way to a victory over Tampa Bay.
Merrifield’s 16th home run with two outs in the third ended the Royals’ drought, three innings shy of the major league record. The 1906 Philadelphia Athletics and 1968 Chicago Cubs share the mark with 48 scoreless innings.
• Cubs 4, Pirates 1 — At Chicago: Jake Arrieta continued his dominant second half with six innings of two-hit ball, Ben Zobrist homered and Chicago beat Pittsburgh.
Anthony Rizzo went 3 for 4 with an RBI, Alex Avila had an RBI single and Jason Heyward added a sacrifice fly for NL Central-leading Chicago.
• Cardinals 10, Brewers 2 — At Milwaukee: Matt Carpenter hit a two-run homer and Luke Voit drove in four runs, backing Luke Weaver’s 10-strikeout night in a 10-2 win Tuesday over the Milwaukee Brewers.
Carpenter’s shot to right in the fifth had added importance for the third baseman after he had pledged $10,000 for every home run that he hit the rest of the season to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. The Galveston, Texas native looked up and pointed two fingers toward the night sky as he touched the plate to extend the Cardinals’ lead to 9-1.
• Twins 6, White Sox 4 — At Minneapolis: Jorge Polanco homered twice and Ervin Santana struck out seven while pitching into the seventh inning, leading Minnesota past Chicago.
Eduardo Escobar drove in two runs for the Twins, who started the day with a one-game lead over the Los Angeles Angels in the crowded race for the second AL wild card. Santana (14-7) matched his highest total for wins since he was a 17-game winner 2010 with the Angels.
• Rockies 7, Tigers 3 — At Denver: Nolan Arenado capped a four-run seventh inning with his 30th homer, and Colorado beat Detroit.
Arenado’s three-run shot broke open a close game and helped the Rockies win for the fourth time in six tries. Colorado increased its lead to four games over Milwaukee for the second NL wild card.
• Reds 14, Mets 4 — At Cincinnati: Scott Schebler hit his first career grand slam, and Cincinnati ended its 14-game losing streak against New York.
The Reds hadn’t beaten the Mets since Sept. 6, 2014. They’d dropped their last eight to New York at Great American Ball Park, where the Mets are 30-16 all-time — the best winning percentage by any NL team.