Clark, Mississippi State rally for CWS win over Virginia Miffed Scherzer stares down Girardi as Nats edge Phillies
Rays fall to Red Sox, Astros extend win streak
PHILADELPHIA, June 23, (AP): Max Scherzer threw his glove and hat to the grass, then stared down Phillies manager Joe Girardi after getting checked for a third time by umpires for sticky stuff as the Washington Nationals beat Philadelphia 3-2.
Scherzer (6-4) looked sharp in his return to the rotation after missing a start due to a groin injury, striking out eight in five innings. Girardi apparently didn’t like what he saw.
In the fourth, Scherzer threw high and inside to Alec Bohm, sending him sprawling to the ground before striking him out. Prior to the next batter, Girardi asked the umpires to check Scherzer.
Scherzer already had been checked by second-base umpire Alfonso Marquez after the first and third inning. So, when he was approached for a third time, this time at Girardi’s request, Scherzer threw his glove and hat to the ground, unbuckled his belt and appeared ready to take his pants off.
Yan Gomes had a pair of RBI singles for the Nationals, who have won three straight and eight of nine. Scherzer allowed two hits and two runs, one of them unearned.
Bryce Harper and Rhys Hoskins hit home runs for Philadelphia, which has lost five of seven.
Phillies starter Zack Wheeler (5-4) lasted just three innings in his worst start of the season. The right-hander allowed three runs on six hits with four strikeouts and a walk.
Red Sox 9, Rays 5, 11 Innings
In St. Petersburg, Florida, Wander Franco hit a three-run homer and doubled in his big league debut for Tampa Bay, which lost its seventh straight in falling to Boston.
The 20-year-old Franco, considered the best prospect in the minor leagues, connected in the fifth off Eduardo Rodriguez. He doubled in the seventh and finished 2 for 4 with a walk.
Darwinzon Hernandez (2-2) earned the win. Pete Fairbanks (1-3) took the loss.
Hunter Renfroe homered for the AL East-leading Red Sox.
Royals 6, Yankees 5
In New York, Gerrit Cole’s strikeouts and spin rate dropped as he pitched for the first time since MLB’S crackdown on sticky substances, and Ryan O’Hearn and Kansas City rallied for four runs in the eighth inning.
Cole allowed two runs and three hits in seven innings, showing his usual velocity but without his explosive strikeout pitches.
Luke Voit homered and tripled in his return from the injured list and DJ LeMahieu hit a two-run homer for the Yankees.
Braves 3, Mets 0
In New York, Charlie Morton struck out 11 in seven innings of one-hit ball for his 100th major league win, and Atlanta recorded its second straight shutout against New York.
Dansby Swanson hit a three-run homer in the third for the Braves, who have won two of three in the four-game series.
The Mets managed only two hits — an infield single by pinch-hitting pitcher Jerad Eickhoff in the fifth and a two-out double by James McCann in the ninth.
Morton (7-3) became the 19th active pitcher to reach 100 wins and the 630th to do so in big league history.
Cubs 7, Indians 1
In Chicago, Kyle Hendricks dominated over six scoreless innings to win his eighth straight start, Kris Bryant homered and Chicago avoided a twogame sweep by beating Cleveland.
Willson Contreras and Patrick Wisdom also went deep, and the Cubs won for only the third time in nine games.
Hendricks (10-4) scattered four hits and struck out five without a walk. He also tied Cleveland’s Aaron Civale for the major league lead in wins.
Blue Jays 2, Marlins 1
In Miami, Cavan Biggio and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. doubled on consecutive pitches to break a ninth-inning tie, and Toronto beat Miami.
The hits came with one out against Yimi García (3-6), who entered the game after Sandy Alcantara stymied the Blue Jays while throwing only 86 pitches in eight innings.
MLB RBIs leader Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled home the Blue Jays’ first run in the sixth.
Reds 10, Twins 7
In Minneapolis, Tyler Naquin went 4 for 4 with a three-run home run that broke a ninth-inning tie after the Cincinnati bullpen lost a five-run lead, and the Reds stopped a five-game losing streak.
Amir Garrett got his fourth save in six attempts with a scoreless ninth.
Max Kepler hit a two-run homer, Trevor Larnach added a solo shot and Alex Kirilloff had the tying two-run double off Tejay Antone (2-0), but the right-hander in his first game back from the injured list recovered to record the last two outs of the inning.
Padres 3, Dodgers 2
In San Diego, Jake Cronenworth and rookie Kim Ha-seong homered off Clayton Kershaw, Blake Snell pitched five scoreless innings and San Diego won its third straight over Los Angeles.
Snell (3-3) got his first victory in four career starts against the Dodgers,
including three this year. He held the Dodgers to four hits while striking out five and walking three.
Mark Melancon pitched the ninth for his 22nd save.
Astros 3, Orioles 1
In Baltimore, Zack Greinke took a four-hitter into the eighth inning, Myles Straw homered and drove in two runs, and Houston defeated Baltimore for its ninth straight win.
BASEBALL
Greinke (8-2) allowed one run and five hits with four strikeouts and a walk over 7 1/3 innings. Brooks Raley got two strikeouts in the eighth and Ryan Pressly finished for his 11th save in 12 tries.
Right-hander Jorge López (2-9) gave up two runs and five hits over 6 1/3 innings but was outdone by Greinke.
Pirates 6, White Sox 3
In Pittsburgh, Pinch-hitter Erik Gonzalez’s two-run single highlighted a four-run rally in the seventh inning as Pittsburgh beat skidding Chicago.
A three-run homer by pinch-hitter Yasmani Grandal in the top of the seventh put the White Sox ahead 3-2 after they were held scoreless on two hits through six innings.
But the Pirates answered in the bottom half against rookie reliever Garrett Crochet (2-4), who was charged with four runs without getting an out.
Tigers 8, Cardinals 2
In Detroit, Jonathan Schoop and Jake Rogers each drove in three runs, leading Detroit over St. Louis.
Schoop homered and Rogers hit a two-run double in Detroit’s six-run fourth inning.
Tigers starter Tarik Skubal allowed two runs on four hits and four walks in 4 2/3 innings. Kyle Funkhouser (1-0) was credited with the win after 1 1/3 scoreless innings of relief.
Athletics 13, Rangers 6
In Arlington, Texas, Matt Chapman and Ramon Laureano hit two-run home runs in the first two innings and Cole Irvin earned his second straight win as Oakland raced to an early nine-run lead in a win over Texas.
Laureano, Mark Canha and former Rangers All-Star Elvis Andrus had three hits apiece.
Irvin (5-7) cruised through four scoreless innings on 40 pitches before allowing four runs on four hits and a hit batter in the fifth.
Giants 5, Angels 0
In Anaheim, California, Anthony DeSclafani allowed three hits in seven sharp innings, Wilmer Flores homered during a four-run first and San Francisco defeated Los Angeles.
DeSclafani (8-2) struck out nine in winning his fourth straight start. The right-hander did not permit a hit after the second inning and retired 18 of the last 19 batters he faced.
Mariners 2, Rockies 1
In Seattle, Shed Long Jr. hit a solo homer with one out in the eighth inning that lifted Seattle past Colorado, the Mariners’ fifth straight victory.
Long drove a 1-1 pitch from Colorado’s Tyler Kinley (1-2) to straightaway center field.
Brewers 5, Diamondbacks 0
In Phoenix, Burly slugger Daniel Vogelbach hobbled home on one leg when Arizona’s defense fell asleep, and the Diamondbacks dropped back into a rut with a loss to Milwaukee.
A day after ending a 17-game losing streak, the Diamondbacks were behind from the start. Kolten Wong led off with a home run and that was plenty for Freddy Peralta and the Brewers bullpen in a combined two-hitter.
OMAHA, Nebraska, June 23, (AP): Kellum Clark’s eighth-inning homer ended Griff McGarry’s bid for a nohitter, and Logan Tanner went deep three batters later to lead Mississippi State past Virginia 6-5 at the College World Series.
The sudden turnaround gave the Bulldogs (47-16) control of their bracket and left them one win away from reaching the best-of-three finals next week.
McGarry, who was trying for the first CWS no-hitter since 1960, walked Scotty Dubrule leading off the eighth before Clark drove a 93-mph fastball into the right-field bullpen.
Clark’s fourth homer of the season ended a 22-inning shutout streak for Virginia (36-26) along with McGarry’s night - and marked the start of the Bulldogs’ offensive push.
Zach Messinger came on and surrendered a pinch-hit single to Josh Hatcher before Rowdey Jordan doubled to the wall in left-center.
Hatcher, who hadn’t been in a game since May 27, inexplicably stopped at third when he could have scored easily. Jordan was forced to stop halfway to third, put his arms up in frustration, and then was able to make it back to second base.
Hatcher’s baserunning error didn’t matter. Stephen Schoch (4-2) relieved, and Allen sent his second pitch into nearly the same spot in the right-field bullpen for a 5-4 lead.
Dubrule added an RBI single off Nate Savino for an insurance run that stood up after Virginia’s Chris Newell homered in the bottom half.
Cade Smith (3-0) pitched an inning for the win and Landon Sims got four outs for his 12th save.
McGarry, who was relegated to the bullpen amid struggles with his control and returned to the rotation for the NCAA Tournament, took a no-hitter into the seventh inning in his superregional start against Dallas Baptist.
The senior right-hander again had good command of his fastball, working both sides of the plate and up in the strike zone, and he effectively mixed in his curve and changeup. He walked two, hit a batter and struck out eight in his 98-pitch outing.
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Until Newell’s homer, five MSU relievers had held the Cavaliers scoreless after Christian MacLeod allowed four runs in 1-1/3 innings in his shortest outing in 22 career starts.
Meanwhile, freshman Tanner Witt pitched 5 2/3 innings of shutout relief, Silas Ardoin hit a tie-breaking, tworun single, and Texas eliminated Tennessee from the College World Series with an 8-4 victory.
The No. 2 national seed Longhorns (48-16) picked up their first win in Omaha since 2014 while No. 3 Tennessee (50-18) went two-and-out in its first appearance since 2005.
Witt (5-0) allowed only three singles, walked none and struck out two in his longest outing of the season. He pitched three 1-2-3 innings and no Tennessee runners made it past first base after the fourth inning.
Peyton Manning – the Tennessee sports star whose “Omaha!” yell at the line of scrimmage remains his calling card five years after he retired from football – watched from the stands in his orange polo and white ballcap.
The Volunteers gave him something to cheer when Jordan Beck’s two-run single put them ahead in the second inning. The lead was short-lived. Eric Kennedy’s three-run homer off the back wall of the right-field bullpen put Texas up 3-2 in the bottom half.
Ardoin’s single into right center broke a 4-4 tie in Texas’ three-run fourth, and the Longhorns were up 8-4 when Kennedy scored on a wild pitch in the sixth.
Sean Hunley (7-5), who relieved Tennessee starter Blade Tidwell in the fourth, took the loss after allowing three runs in two-thirds of an inning.
Both teams argued balls and strikes from their dugouts, and Tennessee volunteer assistant Ross Kivett was ejected when Hunley walked Douglas Hodo III on four pitches in the bottom of the fourth.
Kivett pounded his fist on the rail of the first-base dugout, causing the papers in his binder to go flying, and third-base umpire Mike Morris jogged in to throw out Kivett.