Verlander first to reach 12 wins
HOUSTON — Justin Verlander struck out 10 in six sharp innings to post his MLB-leading 12th win and the Houston Astros beat the Oakland Athletics 5-0 Saturday.
Martín Maldonado hit a second-inning grand slam off rookie Jared Koenig (1-3) for his third career grand slam on a shot to center field to give the AL West-leading Astros a four-run lead.
Verlander (12-3) allowed six hits without a walk and lowered his ERA to 1.89, which ranks third in the majors. Phil Maton, Hector Neris and Bryan Abreu each pitched a scoreless inning to complete the shutout against the team with the AL’s worst record.
The 39-year-old Verlander, who leads all active players in strikeouts, now has 3,121 in his career, moving past Curt Schilling (3,116) and Bob Gibson (3,117) into 14th place on the all-time list.
Five of the six hits Verlander allowed were singles and the only time the Athletics got more than one hit in an inning came when Dermis Garcia and Nick Allen hit consecutive singles to start the fifth.
YANKEES 14, RED SOX 1
In New York, Aaron Judge homered twice to match Roger Maris’ franchise record of 33 before the All-Star break, Matt Carpenter also connected twice and drove in seven runs as the Yankees routed Boston.
The major league-leading Yankees had lost five of six, and they seemed to be stumbling again when Boston’s Rafael Devers hit a first-inning homer.
Jameson Taillon steadied himself, retiring his final 17 batters while pitching one-run ball over six innings. Ryan Weber closed out New York’s three-hitter with a three-inning save — the first of his career — and the Yankees earned their big league-best 28th comeback win.
MARINERS 3, RANGERS 2 10 INNINGS
In Arlington, Texas, J.P. Crawford hit an RBI single in the 10th inning and Seattle stretched its winning streak to 13 games.
Carlos Santana homered as the Mariners (50-42) moved closer to the club-record 15-game winning streak set in their last playoff season in 2001. They have won 21 of their last 24 games overall to take eight series in a row, their most since winning 14 straight sets during that 116-win season 21 years ago.
Crawford chopped a one-out single down the line past first base off Brett Martin (0-5) , scoring automatic runner Sam Haggerty, who came on as a pinch-runner for Santana, who had an inning-ending groundout in the ninth.
GUARDIANS 10, TIGERS 0
In Cleveland, José Ramírez tuned up for the Home Run Derby by homering in his first two at-bats and driving in five runs, powering the Guardians past Detroit.
Ramírez hit a three-run shot off Michael Pineda (2-5) in the first inning and connected for a tworun homer in the second for his 19th career multi-homer.
BRAVES 6, NATIONALS 3
In Washington, Matt Olson and Austin Riley hit consecutive home runs in the third inning, and Atlanta sent the Nationals to their ninth straight loss.
Atlanta has won nine consecutive games against Washington and is 10-2 against the Nationals this season. The Braves have also won 14 in a row in Washington, dating to last year.
The Braves took the lead in the third against Washington starter Paolo Espino (0-3). With two men on, Olson poked an opposite-field shot just over the fence in left for his 17th homer of the season. Riley, selected to his first AllStar team earlier Saturday, then blasted his 27th home run to
ORIOLES 6, RAYS 4 11 INNINGS
In St. Petersburg, Fla., Ryan Mountcastle hit a two-run single in the 11th inning, rookie catcher Adley Rutschman produced a pair of key swings and Baltimore beat Tampa Bay.
Rutschman had his first pinchhit homer and added a 10th-inning sacrifice fly for the Orioles, who had lost their previous 10 games at Tropicana Field.
PHILLIES 10, MARLINS 0
In Miami, Kyle Schwarber hit his NL-leading 29th homer, J.T. Realmuto had a homer and a double and Philadelphia spoiled the major league debut of touted Miami pitcher Max Meyer.
Didi Gregorius (four RBIs) and Rhys Hoskins also went deep for the Phillies. Starter Ranger Suárez pitched five scoreless innings of four-hit ball, striking out four.
METS 2, CUBS 1 11 INNINGS, GAME 1
In Chicago, Pete Alonso hit a sacrifice fly in the 11th inning after Adam Ottavino worked out of a tricky jam, helping New York deal the Cubs their eighth straight loss in the opener of a day-night doubleheader.
Alonso, who leads the majors with 75 RBIs, drove in New York’s first run in the fourth and came up with runners on the corners and no outs in the 11th. He lofted a medium flyball to right against Mychal Givens (5-1), and Luis Guillorme scampered home with the go-ahead run.
TWINS 6, WHITE SOX 3
In Minneapolis, Jorge Polanco’s three-run blast was one of three Minnesota homers against Chicago’s Lance Lynn in a five-run third inning in the Twins’ win over the White Sox.
First-time All-Star Luis Arraez led off the bottom of the first with a homer and Carlos Correa added a two-run shot in the third.
CARDINALS 11, REDS 3
In St. Louis, Paul Goldschmidt hit his 300th career homer and drove in three runs, Albert Pujols reached another milestone and the Cardinals beat Cincinnati.
Goldschmidt’s two-run homer in the second inning was his 20th this season. He became the 153rd player to reach 300 homers. He has 997 RBIs.
The 42-year-old Pujols scored twice and tied Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig for 12th place all-time with 1,889 runs scored.
BLUE JAYS 6, ROYALS 5 10 INNINGS
In Toronto, Teoscar Hernández singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning and the Blue Jays rallied past Kansas City.
Royals designated hitter Vinnie Pasquantino hit a tie-breaking home run in the top of the 10th inning to put Kansas City up 5-3, but Toronto countered in the bottom half against former Blue Jays reliever Joel Payamps (2-3).
ROCKIES 2,PIRATES 0
In Denver, Kris Bryant had three hits and an RBI, Charlie Blackmon extended his hitting streak to seven games with an RBI single, and Jose Urena pitched six scoreless innings in Colorado’s win over Pittsburgh.
Bryant singled in an unearned run with two outs in the fifth inning and Blackmon drove in an insurance run with a two-out single in the seventh as the Rockies extended their winning streak to a season-best five games.
GIANTS 2, BREWERS 1
In San Francisco, Milwaukee reliever Jandel Gustave’s balk with the bases loaded allowed Wilmer Flores to score the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as the Giants won for the sixth time in eight games.
Gustave replaced Brent Suter (1-3) with two on and two outs. After hitting Evan Longoria with a pitch to load the bases, Gustave got ahead of Mike Yastrzemski and had a 1-2 count when home plate umpire Pat Hoberg called a balk.
PADRES 4, DIAMONDBACKS 3
In San Diego, Luke Voit hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning and Sean Manaea pitched six strong innings as San Diego rallied past Arizona.
The victory ensures the Padres’ first series win since a threegame sweep of the Diamondbacks on June 20-23.