MLB trade roundup
WASHINGTON—Josh Donaldson homered against Sean Doolittle in the top of the 10th, and the Atlanta Braves pulled out a 5-4 victory over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday to take two of three in the series and pad their NL East lead to 6 1/2 games.
After the Nationals scored twice in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game, Donaldson swatted a fastball from Doolittle over the center-field wall for his 25th homer of the season.
Adam Duvall homered for the fourth time in five games. Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies and Tyler Flowers also drove in runs for the Braves, who won consecutive series in Washington for the first time since 2013. They also won two of three in late June.
Atlanta got another quality road start from Mike Soroka (10-2), who pitched seven innings and allowed just three hits, including a leadoff homer to Juan Soto in the second.
That caused his road ERA to climb to 1.20 in 11 starts this season. That’s still the best by a Braves pitcher since Greg Maddux posted a 1.12 mark over 15 starts in 1995.
Washington starter Aníbal Sanchez (6-6) could not keep pace, allowing four runs on 10 hits in five innings of work.
The Nationals rallied against the Braves’ bullpen. Matt Adams hit a pinch-hit home run against Anthony Swarzak in the eighth to pull within 4-2. In the ninth, Kurt Suzuki and Gerardo Parra drove in runs against the combination of Luke Jackson and Sean Newcomb.
Duvall homered off of Sañchez with one out in the second to continue a torrid surge at the plate.
Since being recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett on July 27 after Nick Markakis broke his left wrist, Duvall is batting .578 with four homers and six RBIs over five games.
Soto’s home run to lead off the second marked the sixth consecutive game he has driven in a run, the longest such streak of his career.
Newcomb (5-1) earned the win after working out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth for the Braves. Josh Tomlin pitched a scoreless inning in the 10th for Atlanta.
Doolittle (6-3) took the loss for the Nationals.
Yankees 7, Diamondbacks 5
NEW YORK—Austin Romine hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh inning and the New York Yankees beat Arizona 7-5 Wednesday while the Diamondbacks completed a deal to send ace Zack Greinke to the Houston Astros.
The Yankees had been shopping for pitching and may have eyed Greinke ahead of the 4 p.m. trade deadline. The veteran right-hander gave them an impressive first-hand look, striking out seven and pitching five innings of two-run ball. He was in line for the win before Romine’s shot off Yoshihisa Hirano (3-5).
Instead, the 35-year-old Greinke is off to Houston, where he’ll play for a rival AL pennant contender. The Diamondbacks got a quartet of prospects in return: right-handers Corbin Martin and J.B. Bukauskas, outfielder Seth Beer, and utilityman Joshua Rojas.
Romine’s homer brought a spark to the Bronx on a gray, rainy day that started with the AL East leaders placing slugger Luke Voit on the injured list with a sports hernia that could require surgery. New York had lost four of five, and its only deadline move was to acquire Class A left-hander Alfredo Garcia from the Rockies for reliever Joseph Harvey. The rival Boston Red Sox come to town for a four-game series starting Friday.
Greinke allowed a two-run homer to Mike Tauchman in the second inning but settled after that. He got slick when rain began coming down in the fifth, throwing a 64 mph eephus curveball to Aaron Judge before striking him out with a 92 mph slider. A 36-minute rain delay followed, and that was Greinke’s last batter faced for the Diamondbacks.
Arizona took a 3-2 lead when Jake Lamb hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly off reliever Chad Green in the fifth and center fielder Aaron Hicks airmailed his throw to third base. The ball bounced into the visiting dugout, allowing a second run to score. Yankees third baseman Gio Urshela was shaken up on the play but remained in the game.
Green ended the inning when Nick Ahmed hit a ball to the warning track in left.
Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka made his first start since allowing 12 runs in 3 1/3 innings against Boston last Thursday. He said he would tweak the grip on his splitfinger fastball, and that pitch was more effective against Arizona. The rest of his repertoire fell flat, though, and he was charged with three runs in four-plus innings. He allowed two singles to start the fifth before handing off to Green.
Reds 4, Pirates 1
CINCINNATI—Clint Hurdle and David Bell had little interaction while exchanging lineup cards one day after their teams fought on the field, and the Pirates and Reds were on good behavior Wednesday during Cincinnati’s 4-1 victory over Pittsburgh behind a strong performance from Luis Castillo.
Bell and three Reds, including now-traded Yasiel Puig, were ejected for a ninth-inning brawl during the Pirates’ 11-4 win on Tuesday night. Four Pirates also were ejected. Major League Baseball was reviewing video of the fight Wednesday and was expected to hand down suspensions over the second fracas between the NL Central rivals this season.
Bell went after Hurdle during the fight and was restrained in a headlock by batting coach Rick Eckstein. Bell repeatedly cursed Hurdle as he left the field. A day later, the two managers didn’t say much while handing lineup cards to the umpires.
They’re not done with each other. They meet again at PNC Park on Aug. 23, and wrap up the season together with three games in Pittsburgh Sept. 27-29.
The series matched two teams that have faded from the NL Central race, but only one of them is already looking to next year.
Puig went to Cleveland as part of a three-team deal for pitcher Trevor Bauer even though Cincinnati had slid to 7½ games out. Puig can be a free agent at the end of the season, while Bauer is under contract control for another year. The Reds also dealt starter Tanner Roark to Oakland on Wednesday for an outfield prospect.
The Pirates have gone 3-16 since the All-Star break, prompting them to deal starter Jordan Lyles to Milwaukee at the start of the series. They couldn’t muster much against Castillo (10-4), who recovered from his worst start of the season. The AllStar allowed a career-high six runs in a 12-2 loss to the Rockies on Friday.
Castillo gave up six hits and a run while pitching into the eighth inning on Wednesday. Raisel Iglesias retired the side in the ninth for his 20th save in 23 chances.
Dodgers 5, Rockies 1
DENVER—Will Smith hit a threerun home run in the ninth inning to break open a scoreless game and lead the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Colorado Rockies 5-1 on Wednesday.
Kristopher Negrón also went deep during the rally and Alex Verdugo had four hits. Joe Kelly (5-3) pitched the eighth inning to earn the win.
Rockies starter German Márquez was helped off the field at the start of the seventh inning with what the team said was full-body cramping. The right-hander fanned 10 through six innings, the ninth time in his career with double-digit strikeouts.
The trade deadline hit during the fourth inning with each team making two deals. The Dodgers acquired infielder Jedd Gyorko from St. Louis for reliever Tony Cingrani and minor league right-hander Jeffry Abreu. They also traded for Tampa Bay reliever Adam Kolarek, sending minor league pitcher Niko Hulsizer to the Rays.
Gyorko, who is recovering from wrist surgery and hasn’t played since June 7, was transferred to the 60-day injured list on Tuesday. He is eligible to come off late next week.