Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Rangers walk off with another win against Royals
ARLINGTON, Texas — Elvis Andrus hit an RBI single with one out in the ninth inning and the Texas Rangers beat the Kansas City Royals 2-1 on Saturday night.
It was the second time in three games that the Rangers won in their final at-bat against Kansas City.
Rougned Odor led off the ninth with a sharp single off Travis Wood (0-2), who didn't face another batter before Peter Moylan took over. After Odor stole second base, Andrus hit a sharp single to left field.
Matt Bush (1-0) threw a scoreless ninth with a strikeout.
Mike Napoli homered for the Rangers, who have won three straight games for the first time this season. They go for a four-game sweep on Sunday.
Wood was also the loser in the series opener Thursday night when the Rangers won 1-0 in 13 innings. Up until then, Wood had made 105 consecutive appearances without a loss and was tied with Moylan for the longest active streak in the majors. Moylan is now at 107 consecutive appearances without being charged with a loss.
Both starting pitchers, Ian Kennedy for Kansas City and Nick Martinez for the Rangers, allowed one run on four hits over seven innings.
Martinez was called up from Triple-A Round Rock for a spot start after A.J. Griffin was put on the 10day disabled list because of gout in his left ankle. Martinez matched his longest appearance in 51 major league starts, and took a no-hitter into the sixth.
Kansas City's first hit was on No. 9 hitter Drew Butera's single through the left side of the infield with one out in the sixth. The ball ricocheted off the glove of diving third baseman Joey Gallo and then a diving Andrus at shortstop. That was the first of three singles in a four-batter stretch, including Mike Moustakas driving home Butera .
Napoli led off the second with his third homer of the season, an opposite-field shot that barely cleared the wall in the right-field corner.
Andrus had a defensive gem in the fifth inning. He went way to his right to backhand a grounder, then made the throw with his body falling away from first base to get Whit Merrifield by a step.
TIGERS 5, TWINS 4 Twins slugger Miguel Sano punched Tigers catcher and former Arkansas Razorback James McCann in the mask Saturday during a bench-clearing scrap in the fifth inning of Detroit’s 5-4 victory over Minnesota. Two innings after Tigers outfielder JaCoby Jones was hit in the face by a pitch, Detroit starter Matthew Boyd threw behind Sano, who pointed his bat toward Boyd and yelled out at the mound. McCann intervened and appeared to put his mitt in the face of Sano, who reacted immediately with a right hand. There was plenty of pushing and shoving as both benches and bullpens emptied, but there did not appear to be any other punches thrown. Sano and Boyd were both ejected. Jones took a 90 mph fastball from Twins reliever Justin Haley to the face in the third. Jones sprang to his feet and ran up the third base line, in the direction of the Tigers’
dugout, where he was met by a trainer and manager Brad Ausmus. RAYS 6, ASTROS 3 Tim Beckham’s third straight hit came during a four-run sixth inning that helped carry the Tampa Bay Rays to a 6-3 win over the AL-West leading Houston Astros on Saturday night..
ORIOLES 4, RED SOX 2 Trey Mancini and Jonathan Schoop homered in succession off knuckleballer Steven Wright, Jayson Aquino won his first big league start and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox 4-2 Saturday night for their fourth straight victory. Baltimore will seek to complete a three-game sweep on Sunday. The Orioles have not lost a series this year and own the best record in the majors (124). Aquino (1-0) allowed two runs and six hits over six innings to earn his first career victory.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
CUBS 12, REDS 8 Wilson Contreras hit his first career grand slam and Anthony Rizzo and Jason Heyward added three-run shots on Saturday, powering the Chicago Cubs to a 12-8 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. Jake Arrieta (3-0) returned to the mound where he threw his second career no-hitter last April 21 and struggled mightily at the outset, giving up two homers in the first inning. Chicago’s offense pulled him through with another homer-heavy game at Great American Ball Park. Arrieta helped with an RBI triple.
CARDINALS 4, BREWERS 1 Aledmys Diaz hit a go-ahead pinch-homer in the seventh inning, Lance Lynn pitched six strong innings and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-1 Saturday night. Diaz, who didn’t start at shortstop due to back stiffness and a sore shoulder, homered leading off the seventh against reliever Carlos Torres (0-2). Lynn (2-1) gave up a run and three hits in six innings. He struck out seven and walked two.
INTERLEAGUE
YANKEES 11, PIRATES 5 Pinch-hitter Chris Carter drilled a three-run homer in the eighth inning off reliever Felipe Rivero to lift the New York Yankees to an 11-5 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday. Carter sent the first pitch he saw from Rivero (1-1) into the bullpen beyond the center field fence for his first homer with the Yankees. Starlin Castro added a three-run shot of his own and Aaron Judge hit his team-high sixth home run for New York.