Make that 20 victories for Cleveland
CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Indians share a record with a team celebrated by Hollywood. “Moneyball” has its sequel. Following a familiar script of scoring first, playing strong defense and riding dominant pitching, the Indians extended their winning streak to 20 games and matched the AL mark held by the 2002 Oakland Athletics, beating the Detroit Tigers 2-0 on Tuesday night.
Cleveland’s streak, which began on Aug. 24 in Boston, is tied for the majors’ second-longest in 82 years — and the Indians show no signs of stopping.
• Astros 1, Angels 0 — At Anaheim: Justin Verlander pitched eight innings of one-hit ball in a stellar second start for Houston, and the Astros snapped their four-game skid.
Yuli Gurriel’s second-inning single drove in the only run for the Astros (8757), who lowered their magic number for clinching the AL West title to five by blanking the second-place Angels (7371).
• Twins 16, Padres 0 — At. Minneapolis: Jason Castro homered twice and Brian Dozier was a double from the cycle as Minnesota routed San Diego.
The Twins hit a season-high seven home runs, setting a Target Field record for most homers in a game, to back another strong start from Kyle Gibson. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Twins set a major league record by homering in each of the first seven innings with Jorge Polanco, Eddie Rosario, Eduardo Escobar and Kennys Vargas adding to the total.
• Brewers 5, Pirates 2 — At MIlwaukee: Eric Thames hit his 29th home run, Domingo Santana went 3 for 4 with two RBIs and Milwaukee beat Pittsburgh.
The Brewers pulled within two games of the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs who were playing the New York Mets.
• Braves 8, Nationals 0 — At Washington: Freddie Freeman hit a three-run home run off Gio Gonzalez and Julio Teheran threw seven shutout innings as Atlanta cruised past Washington.
Gonzalez (14-7) allowed five earned runs and seven hits in five innings and struck out eight. The left-hander did guarantee his $12 million option for next season with his first out of the game as he reached 180 innings this season.
• Mariners 10, Rangers 3 — At Arlington, Texas: Ben Gamel and Kyle Seager both hit three-run homers to lead Seattle past Texas in a matchup of wild card hopefuls.
• Blue Jays 3, Orioles 2 — At Toronto: Richard Urena singled home the winning run in the ninth inning and Toronto handed slumping Baltimore its sixth straight loss.
• Rays 2, Yankees 1 — At New York: Adeiny Hechavarria hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning off Sonny Gray and Tampa Bay, playing as the home team in a series relocated to Citi Field because of Hurricane Irma, beat the Yankees.
• Royals 4, White Sox 3 — At Kansas City, Mo.: Brandon Moss hit a grand slam in the first inning for his third consecutive game with a homer, powering Kansas City past Chicago.
• Rockies 4, Diamondbacks 2 — At Phoenix: Carlos Gonzalez, heating up for the stretch run after a subpar season at the plate, homered twice and the Colorado Rockies won their sixth game in a row, beating the Arizona Diamondbacks to tighten the race for the National League’s top wild card.
• Phillies 9, Marlins 8 in 15 innings — At Philadelphia: Nick Williams hit a walk-off, two-out double in the bottom of the 15th inning, scoring Aaron Altherr as Philadelphia came from behind to defeat the Miami Marlins.
• Cubs 8, Mets 3 — At Chicago: Kris Bryant hit a three-run homer, Jose Quintana pitched seven effective innings and the Chicago Cubs beat the New York Mets for a sorely needed victory.
• Cardinals 13, Reds 4 — At St. Louis: Paul DeJong homered, Yadier Molina drove in three runs and the streaking St. Louis Cardinals outslugged the Cincinnati Reds.