Nationals fall back to .500, lose to Phillies
Starling Marte hit a two-run home run and Washington lost for the 11th time in 16 games.
PITTSBURGH — Starling Marte hit a two-run home run and Trevor Williams combined with four relievers on a five-hitter as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Washington Nationals 2-0 on Wednesday.
Williams (7-7) won for just the second time in his past 10 starts, giving up four hits with three strikeouts and three walks.
Gio Gonzalez (6-6) remained winless since May 28 despite allowing just two runs, six hits and one walk while striking out four.
Washington lost for the 11th time in 16 games and fell back to .500.
Richard Rodriguez, Edgar Santana, Kyle Crick and Felipe Vazquez followed Williams with one scoreless inning each. Vazquez earned his 20th save in 24 opportunities.
TWINS 8, ROYALS 5
In Minneapolis, Brian Dozier hit a two-run home run, going deep for the second straight game to give Minnesota a boost on its way to a win over Kansas City.
Lance Lynn (7-7) recovered from a three-run homer by Salvador Perez in the first inning to win his second straight start for the Twins, who used the bottom third of their lineup to launch rallies in the second and the fourth against Royals starter Burch Smith (0-1).
Mike Moustakas homered twice for the Royals, who have the fewest home runs in MLB, but took the Twins deep five times over the last two games of this series. Kansas City has lost 23 of its past 27 games.
RAYS 4, TIGERS 2
In St. Petersburg, Fla., C.J. Cron’s three-run home run in the seventh inning carried the Rays to its fifth straight win, a victory over Detroit.
Cron’s 18th homer came off Jordan Zimmermann after singles by Kevin Kiermaier and Matt Duffy.
The Tigers, who struck out 14 times against five Tampa Bay pitchers, have lost four straight and 18 of 22.
GIANTS 5, CUBS 4 (13 INNINGS)
In San Francisco, Buster Posey singled off the right-field wall in the 13th inning for his fifth career game-ending hit, sending the Giants past Chicago.
Brandon Belt drew a two-out walk from James Norwood (0-1). Andrew McCutchen then singled to bring up Posey, who ended the 4-hour, 30-minute game with San Francisco’s first run since scoring four in the first.
Dereck Rodriguez (4-1) pitched three scoreless innings for the win. He also had three of San Francisco’s 16 strikeouts.
RED SOX 4, RANGERS 2
In Boston, Chris Sale struck out 12 in seven innings of shutout ball in his final start before the All-Star Game, and major league batting leader Mookie Betts had two more hits to lead the Red Sox to their ninth straight victory over Texas.
Sale (10-4) allowed six hits and walked one to win his fifth straight decision and move the Red Sox 36 games above .500 for the first time since Bucky Dent homered into the net above the Green Monster in a one-game playoff to settle the 1978 AL East title.
YANKEES 9, ORIOLES 0
In Baltimore, Greg Bird hit his first career grand slam to back a dominating pitching performance by Sonny Gray, and New York beat the Orioles for a split of the fourgame series.
Rookie Tyler Wade and Austin Romine also homered for the Yankees, and Giancarlo Stanton had four hits.
METS 3, PHILLIES 0 (10 INNINGS)
In New York, pinch-hitter Brandon Nimmo launched a three-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning and the Mets got another dominant outing from All-Star Jacob deGrom in a 3-0 victory over Philadelphia.
In his final scheduled start before heading to the All-Star Game next Tuesday in Washington, deGrom scattered five hits and matched his longest outing of the season. He struck out seven and lowered his major league-leading ERA to 1.68.
WHITE SOX 4, CARDINALS 0
In Chicago, Carlos Rodon pitched three-hit, shutout ball into the eighth inning to outduel Luke Weaver and lead the White Sox to a victory over St. Louis.
Rodon (2-3) allowed only two singles and a double while walking two and striking out a season-high seven though 7⅓ innings. The 25-year-old left-hander, who spent the first two months of 2018 on the disabled list rehabbing from shoulder surgery, sparkled in just his seventh start this season.
BRAVES 9, BLUE JAYS 5
In Atlanta, Ozzie Albies snapped Atlanta’s power drought with two homers, and the Braves beat Toronto to move back into a tie for the NL East lead.
Coupled with Philadelphia’s loss to the New York Mets, the Braves moved into a tie with the Phillies for the division lead.
INDIANS 19, REDS 4
In Cleveland, Jose Ramirez homered twice and drove in five runs as the Indians took out some frustrations following a brutal loss with a thumping of Cincinnati.
It was a much-needed rebound by the AL Central leaders, who squandered a 4-0 lead in the ninth on Tuesday night, when Francona’s miscommunication with pitching coach Carl Willis on a choice of relievers helped the Reds rally for seven runs and stun the Indians.
ATHLETICS 8, ASTROS 3
In Houston, Chad Pinder hit a three-run homer and Khris Davis added three RBIs as Oakland jumped on Lance McCullers Jr. early and cruised to a win over the Astros.
Davis, who extended his careerbest hitting streak to 13 games, put the A’s up 2-0 with a double in a three-run first. Pinder made it 6-0 when he connected off McCullers (10-4) for his ninth homer in the fourth.