Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Royals gain split
AMERICAN LEAGUE ROYALS 7-9, BLUE JAYS 8-1
Kansas City Royals rookie starting pitcher Jakob Junis throws during the second inning of the second baseball game in a doubleheader against the Seattle Mariners Sunday. Junis pitched eight strong innings in the Royals’ 9-1 win. He retired 19 in a row at one point. Seattle won the first game 8-7.
Rookie Jakob Junis pitched eight sharp innings and the Kansas City Royals beat the Seattle Mariners 9-1 to split their doubleheader Sunday.
Nelson Cruz homered twice and drove in four runs as the Mariners held off the Royals 8-7 in the first game. Whit Merrifield homered in both games for the Royals.
Junis (4-2), who was added to Kansas City’s roster as the extra 26th man for the twinbill, allowed one run. He retired his final 19 batters after giving up an RBI double to Danny Espinosa in the second inning. Junis walked none and struck out a career-high seven.
Melky Cabrera hit a three-run homer off Erasmo Ramirez (4-4) during a four-run third inning. It was Cabrera’s first home run since the Royals acquired him in a July 30 trade with the Chicago White Sox. Cabrera also had an RBI double. Eric Hosmer homered and drove in three runs for the Royals.
MARINERS 8, ROYALS 7 (GAME 1) Nelson Cruz homered twice and drove in four runs as the Mariners held off the Kansas City Royals 8-7 Sunday in the first game of a doubleheader. Cruz, Danny Valencia and Kyle Seager homered in the first two innings as the Mariners took a 7-0 lead off Danny Duffy (7-7). Seattle wound up using eight pitchers. Cruz, who leads the American League with 84 RBIs, hit a three-run drive in a four-run second. He hit his 24th home run in the seventh off Scott Alexander, a shot estimated at 465 feet to center. It was Cruz’s 22nd multihomer game, his first this season. Duffy could have been out of the second inning with Robinson Cano striking out, but catcher Drew Butera was charged with a passed ball, allowing Cano to reach first and for Jean Segura to score from second base. Four pitches later, Cruz homered. Marco Gonzalez, who was making his Mariners’ debut since being acquired in a July 21 with St. Louis, failed to make it through the fifth inning. Whit Merrifield hit a two-run homer in the third for the Royals. Mike Moustakas hit his 31st homer.
ASTROS 7, BLUE JAYS 6 Juan Centeno hit an RBI single with two outs that capped a fourrun rally in the ninth inning, lifting the host Astros over the Blue Jays. Nori Aoki had a two-run home run, his first hit since being traded from Houston to Toronto last Monday, during a four-run seventh that gave the Blue Jays a 6-3 lead.
RED SOX 6, WHITE SOX 3 Chris Young hit two home runs, including a tiebreaking three-run shot after the batter in front was walked intentionally, to lift the host Red Sox over the White Sox.
Sunday’s games AMERICAN LEAGUE Seattle 8, Kansas City 7 (1st game) Kansas City 9, Seattle 1 (2nd game) N.Y. Yankees 8, Cleveland 1 Boston 6, Chicago White Sox 3 Baltimore 12, Detroit 3 Minnesota 6, Texas 5 Houston 7, Toronto 6 Oakland 11, L.A. Angels 10 NATIONAL LEAGUE
St. Louis 13, Cincinnati 4
Miami 4, Atlanta 1 Pittsburgh 5, San Diego 4 (12 innings) Washington 9, Chicago Cubs 4 Philadelphia 3, Colorado 2
San Francisco 6, Arizona 3
L.A. Dodgers at N.Y. Mets (n) INTERLEAGUE
Tampa Bay 2, Milwaukee 1
Young added an RBI double and had a solo home run to help the AL East-leading Red Sox complete a four-game sweep of the White Sox.
ORIOLES 12, TIGERS 3 Jonathan Schoop, Chris Davis and Trey Mancini hit home runs in succession during a four-run first inning that sent the host Orioles past the Tigers. Joey Rickard and Manny Machado also connected for the Orioles, who led 8-0 after four innings and cruised to their seventh victory in nine games.
TWINS 6, RANGERS 5 Max Kepler, Brian Dozier and Eddie Rosario hit home runs to help
host Minnesota dig out of a five-run hole and beat the Rangers.
ATHLETICS 11, ANGELS 10 Bruce Maxwell’s two-run single completed a dramatic fiverun, two-out comeback in the eighth inning, and the visiting Athletics stunned the Angels. NATIONAL LEAGUE
CARDINALS 13, REDS 4 Jose Martinez hit his first grand slam during a nine-run fourth inning and St. Louis overcame Adam Wainwright’s rough return from the disabled list, beating the Cincinnati Reds 13-4 on Sunday. The Cardinals took two of three in the series, moving them to 55-56. They’ve been stuck near the break-even point for since the start of July, unable to get on a streak in large part because of poor clutch hitting. St. Louis matched its season highs with 16 hits and eight extra-base hits. Every starter except Wainwright had a hit, and seven players drove in a run. St. Louis sent 13 batters to the plate for nine runs in the fourth, matching its biggest inning of the season. Martinez connected off Homer Homer Bailey (3-6). NATIONALS 9, CUBS 4 In a span of two pitches, the Washington Nationals turned what could’ve been a tight loss into an uplifting win. Bryce Harper and company are one dangerous bunch on the road. Matt Wieters hit a tiebreaking grand slam off Carl Edwards Jr. in Washington’s five-run eighth inning, helping the Nationals beat the Chicago Cubs 9-4 on Sunday. Harper started the go-ahead rally with a one-out infield single against Mike Montgomery. Ryan Zimmerman doubled against Edwards (3-3) and Daniel Murphy was walked intentionally to load the bases. Edwards’ next pitch hit Anthony Rendon, tying it at 4, and Wieters followed with a drive over the wall in center for his third career grand slam. Edwards (3-3) has allowed at least one run in each of his last three appearances. Wieters tied a career high with five RBIs and Rendon also had a run-scoring double for Washington.
MARLINS 4, BRAVES 1 Jose Urena pitched six strong innings, Marcell Ozuna hit a three-run home run and the visiting Marlins avoided a three-game sweep with a victory over the Braves.
PIRATES 5, PADRES 4 (12) Sean Rodriquez hit a home run in the 12th inning to give the host Pirates a victory over the Padres. Rodriguez, acquired from Atlanta a day earlier, lifted a 1-1 pitch off Padres reliever Buddy Baumann (0-1) over the left-field wall.
PHILLIES 3, ROCKIES 2 Cameron Rupp hit a two-run double in the ninth inning, and the visiting Phillies rallied to beat the Rockies. Rupp, who had been thrown out at home an inning earlier, drove the first pitch he saw from closer Greg Holland (2-2) into the gap in left-center field, scoring Maikel Franco and Hyun Soo Kim. It was the second blown save in 36 chances for Holland.
GIANTS 6, DIAMONDBACKS 3 Jeff Samardzija pitched into the seventh inning to win his third consecutive start and the host Giants beat the Diamondbacks. Samardzija (7-11) allowed three runs on five hits before leaving after giving up a one-out single to Katel Marte then walking Chris Hermann in the seventh.