Lamet outduels Kershaw, Padres top Dodgers
Moustakas homers as Reds sweep Pirates with 9-4 win
SAN DIEGO, Sept 15, (AP): Dinelson Lamet outpitched Clayton Kershaw, and rookie Jorge Oña hit a go-ahead double in a fiverun seventh inning to lead the San Diego Padres to their eighth straight win, 7-2 against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night in the opener of a series between the NL’s top teams.
The Padres cut the Dodgers’ lead in the NL West to 1½ games. Trent Grisham added some spice to the rivalry when he hit a tying home run off Kershaw in the sixth and said something to the Dodgers’ dugout as he headed for home. The Padres have won 12 of 14.
Lamet (3-1) got the victory thanks to a seventh-inning outburst that chased Kershaw (5-2). Lamet matched his season high with 11 strikeouts while holding the Dodgers to one run and three hits.
White Sox 3, Twins 1
In Chicago, Adam Engel delivered a tie-breaking pinch-hit single in the eighth inning, and the White Sox increased their lead in the AL Central.
Chicago opened their pivotal fourgame set against Minnesota with their ninth win in 10 games. The White Sox (31-16) moved two games ahead of the second-place Twins (30-19).
Twins reliever Taylor Rogers (1-3) walked Yoán Moncada and Luis Robert with no outs in the eighth. Engel then made it 2-1 with a single to center. After Nick Madrigal lined out, Tim Anderson added an RBI double off the fence in left.
Alex Colomé (2-0) got four outs for the win.
Minnesota went 2 for 16 with runners in scoring position and left 15 runners on base. They had won three in a row.
Mariners 6, Athletics 5, 7 Innings,
Game 1 Athletics 9, Mariners 0, 7 Innings,
Game 2
In Seattle, Mike Minor tossed a two-hitter, Jake Lamb doubled and homered in his first game after signing with Oakland, and the Athletics earned a doubleheader split.
Seattle erased a 5-0 deficit in their Game 1 win, scoring twice in the sixth inning with two outs to stay on the heels of Houston in the AL West. Seattle are 1½ games behind the Astros for second.
The games were played with a haze of smoke hovering above the field at T-Mobile Park, even with the retractable roof of the stadium closed. Wildfires on the West Coast have suffocated much of the Pacific Northwest with unhealthy air conditions that brought into question whether the games would even be played.
Minor (1-5) picked up his first victory of the season in his third start since being acquired by the A’s from Texas. Jimmy Yacabonis (0-1) was charged with the loss.
Kyle Lewis had a big day for Seattle. The rookie outfielder hit a two-run homer and reached on a bases-loaded walk that scored the winning run in the opener. He also robbed Ramon Laureano of a grand slam with a spectacular catch in the first inning
of the second game.
Despite giving up a season-high five earned runs, Marco Gonzales (6-2) earned the victory in the opener. Yoshihisa Hirano pitched the seventh inning for his second save.
Marcus Semien had four RBIs for
division-leading Oakland in Game 1. Joakim Soria (2-2) got the loss.
Marlins 6, Phillies 2 In Miami, Pablo Lopez pitched seven innings of one-run ball with some help from right fielder Matt Joyce, and Miami won Game 7 of their marathon series against Philadelphia.
The series, the majors’ longest in the regular season in 53 years, included three makeup games and two doubleheaders. The Marlins won five of the seven games, including the final three, to move into second place in the NL East, 1-1/2 games ahead of Philadelphia.
Lopez (4-4) allowed three hits and retired his final 13 batters. He was helped by two over-the-shoulder basket catches on the warning track by a retreating Joyce, who robbed Scott Kingery and Jean Segura.
Kingery and Andrew McCutchen homered for Philadelphia. Vince Velasquez (0-1) allowed four runs in 3-2/3 innings.
Reds 3, Pirates 1, 7 Innings, Game 1 Reds 9, Pirates 4, 7 Innings, Game 2
In Cincinnati, Mike Moustakas hit a big three-run homer in the fifth inning, and the Reds finished a doubleheader sweep.
Moustakas drove in Shogo Akiyama and Eugenio Suárez with a two-out shot to center off Nik Turley (0-2). Pittsburgh had just taken a 4-3 lead on rookie Ke’Bryan Hayes’ two-run shot with two out in the top half of the inning.
Brian Goodwin and Joey Votto also connected for Cincinnati, who won a third straight game for the first time since Aug 28. Sal Romano (1-0) got the victory, retiring Gregory Polanco with the bases loaded for the final out of the fifth.
In the opener, rookie Tyler Stephenson hit a tie-breaking two-run homer in the seventh inning. Votto also went deep, and Raisel Iglesias (3-3) got two outs for the win.
Colin Moran homered for Pittsburgh in Game 1, and Sam Howard (2-2) got the loss. Brewers 2, Cardinals 1, 8 Innings,
Game 1 Cardinals 3, Brewers 2, 9 Innings,
Game 2 In Milwaukee, Paul DeJong knocked in the go-ahead run with a two-out single in the ninth inning as the Cardinals salvaged a doubleheader split.
Both games went to extra innings after being scheduled for seven. In the opener, Keston Hiura hit a sacrifice fly to score Avisail Garcia with the win
ning run in the eighth as the Brewers rallied for the win.
In the second game, DeJong hit a liner off Justin Topa (0-1) that barely eluded the reach of shortstop Orlando Arcia and went into left field to score Tommy Edman from third.
The Brewers had runners on first and second with nobody out in the bottom of the ninth, but Tyler Webb induced a double-play grounder from Luis Urias and struck out Jace Peterson to earn his first save.
Genesis Cabrera (4-1) got the win, striking out three in a scoreless eighth inning.
In the first game, St Louis took a 1-0 lead in the top of the eighth when Edman drove in Tyler O’Neill with a two-out single off Freddy Peralta (2-1).
Ryan Braun tied it with an RBI double off the center-field wall against Ryan Helsley (1-1). Hiura won it with his bases-loaded sacrifice fly off Austin Gomber.
Orioles 14, Braves 1
In Baltimore, D.J. Stewart hit the first of three Baltimore homers in a nine-run third inning, and the Orioles stopped a five-game losing streak.
After winning three of four in Washington to extend their NL East lead to a season-high 3-1/2 games, the Braves were handed their most lopsided defeat of the year, enabling second-place Miami to shave a game off the margin.
A solo home run by Freddie Freeman was the extent of Atlanta’s offense over seven innings against Jorge López (2-0), who entered with a 6.38 ERA.