Two more homers, but Astros fall in 11
Mitch Garver homered early and Josh Donaldson had an RBI single in the 11th inning in the Minnesota Twins’ 54 victory over the host Houston Astros on Friday night.
Donaldson laced a ball to right field off Rafael Montero (54) with no outs in the 11th to score the runner who started the inning on second base.
There were two outs in the bottom of the inning when Jason Castro reached on a fielding error by Garver that left a runner at third. But Juan Minaya (20) retired Jose Altuve on a bunt to secure the victory.
Rookies Taylor Jones and Chas McCormick put the Astros up early after Jones hit a tworun homer in the second and McCormick slugged a solo shot in the fourth. Houston has homered in 16 straight games, dating to July 19, which is tied for the longest streak in the majors this season.
Andrelton Simmons singled to start the 10th and send Rob Refsnyder, who started the inning on second, to third base. The Twins took a 43 lead when Max Kepler hit a sacrifice fly to center field.
Altuve opened Houston’s 10th on second and took third on a groundout by Michael Brantley. The Astros tied it again when Yordan Alvarez hit an RBI single to left center off Danny Coulombe.
There were two outs in the inning when Coulombe walked Kyle Tucker and was replaced by Minaya, who struck out Aledmys Diaz to sent it to the 11th.
Braves 8, Nationals 4: Adam Duvall drove in three runs with two hits and host Atlanta turned a catcher’s interference call into a three-run rally to beat Washington for its fourth consecutive victory. The Braves matched their longest winning streak of the season and are one game behind NL East-leading Philadelphia. Rockies 14, Marlins 2: C.J. Cron hit two home runs, including a three-run drive in Colorado’s nine-run fourth inning, and the host Rockies routed Miami.
Reds 10, Pirates 0: Mike Moustakas went 3-for-4 with three doubles and two RBIs in his return from the injured list to help Cincinnati rout visiting Pittsburgh.
Indians 6, Tigers 1: Cal Quantrill kept Miguel Cabrera in the ballpark as he nears 500 home runs and shut down the rest of Detroit’s lineup for seven innings, leading host Cleveland. Cabrera went 1-for-3 with a walk and remained at 498 career homers, two shy of becoming the 28th player to reach the hallowed milestone.
Phillies 4, Mets 2: Bryce Harper homered, Kyle Gibson pitched six strong innings and drove in the go-ahead run, and host Philadelphia won its sixth straight game to take over first place in the NL East with a victory over New York.
Rays 10, Orioles 6: Nelson Cruz homered and drove in five runs to to help visiting Tampa Bay beat Baltimore for its sixth victory in eight games. Manuel Margot had three hits and an RBI for Tampa Bay. Blue Jays 12, Red Sox 4: Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a tworun homer, Teoscar Hernandez had three hits and three RBIs and host Toronto used a nine-run fifth inning to hand Boston its seventh loss in eight games.
Cardinals 4, Royals 2: Tyler O’Neill had a career-high four hits, including a solo home run, and Adam Wainwright threw seven effective innings as host St. Louis beat Kansas City.
Yankees 3, Mariners 2: Brett Gardner singled home the winning run with two outs in the 11th inning and surging New York staged two late comebacks before beating visiting Seattle for its fourth straight victory.