Mets kept Wheeler, and it’s paying off
Former Giants prospect Zack Wheeler ground up Miami over eight innings, Wilson Ramos and Pete Alonso homered, and the Mets beat Miami 50 Tuesday night at Citi Field for their 12th win in 13 games.
The hardcharging Mets improved to 5856 and remain in the thick of the NL wildcard race. New York has the best record (186) in baseball since the AllStar break despite looking like a deadline seller in midJuly, with Wheeler one of the more visible trade targets being mentioned. Two weeks ago, the Mets trailed every NL team except the Marlins and Pirates.
Wheeler cruised on 99 pitches, allowing eight hits and striking out five with 13 groundball outs.
“We know how good we can be and how good we are,” Wheeler said. “We’re shooting for it.” Dodgers 3, Cardinals 1: In Los Angeles, Clayton Kershaw struck out nine in seven strong innings, Justin Turner had two hits and drove in the game-winning run and the Dodgers won for the seventh time in eight games. St. Louis has lost four straight. Diamondbacks 8, Phillies 4: Eduardo Escobar and Alex Avila each homered with three RBIs as host Arizona rallied to win. Brewers 4, Pirates 3: Yasmani Grandal had two doubles and an RBI and Milwaukee, without Christian Yelich (nagging back injury), beat host Pittsburgh, 4-20 since the All-Star break. Rays 7, Blue Jays 6: Kevin Kiermaier scored on a wild pitch with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning as Tampa Bay came all the way back from a 6-0 deficit. Yankees 9, Orioles 4: New York continued its home run binge in Baltimore, hitting six more and getting three RBIs from Austin Romine in its 14th straight win at Camden Yards. Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres, second on the team with 23 home runs this season, left the game with what the team called “core pain.” Royals 6, Red Sox 2: Jorge Soler hit two long two-run homers over the Green Monster, Jakob Junis pitched six effective innings and Kansas City snapped its seven-game losing streak. Reds 8, Angels 4: Tucker Barnhart hit two of Cincinnati’s five homers, and Aristides Aquino included one among his three hits as Cincinnati swept the two-game interleague series at home. Braves 12, Twins 7: In Minneapolis, Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr. and Freddie Freeman hit first-pitch homers off Jose Berrios. Astros 11, Rockies 6: Zack Greinke labored through six innings but won his Astros debut as host Houston hit four home runs. Padres 9, Mariners 4: Dinelson Lamet took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning for the only major-league team that has never pitched one, leading visiting San Diego over Seattle. Omar Narvaez lined a single with one out in the seventh to break up Lamet’s try. Lamet tied career highs with seven innings and 12 strikeouts. White Sox, Tigers split: Miguel Cabrera had three hits and scored twice as host Detroit won the nightcap 10-6. In the opener, Jose Abreu homered and had three RBIs in Chicago’s 5-3 win. Rangers-Indians, postponed: The game at Progressive Field was postponed because of rain. The teams will play a traditional doubleheader beginning at 10:10 a.m. PDT Wednesday. Briefly: Seattle infielder Tim Beckham was suspended 80 games as part of baseball’s joint drug agreement after testing positive for stanozolol, a banned performance enhancer . ... Alex Verdugo, who leads major-league rookies in batting, was put on the 10-day injured list by the Dodgers because of a right oblique strain. Infielder Edwin Rios was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City . ... Infielder Asdrubal Cabrera reached agreement on a one-year contract for a second stint with the Nationals . ... The Cubs put Brandon Kintzler on the 10-day injured list and activated Pedro Strop from the IL.