Cardinals sweep skidding Yankees
Dodgers blank Padres
ST. LOUIS, Aug 8, (AP): Nolan Arenado and Paul DeJong both homered and drove in four runs to help the St. Louis Cardinals outlast the New York Yankees 12-9 on Sunday, completing a three-game sweep.
St. Louis won its season-high seventh straight in a slugfest that took 4 hours, 25 minutes - the longest nine-inning game in the majors this season.
DJ LeMahieu homered and Aaron Judge had four RBIs for the AL-leading Yankees, who have lost five in a row. It’s their worst skid since a sevengame slide last September.
St. Louis (60-48) moved a seasonbest 12 games over .500 with its first regular-season series sweep of the Yankees. The surging Cardinals are two games ahead of second-place Milwaukee in the NL Central.
St. Louis became the first team to sweep the Yankees in a series of at least three games this year. Atlanta and the New York Mets are the only clubs in the majors to avoid that fate so far.
Frankie Montas struggled in his Yankees debut. New York manager Aaron Boone and pitching coach Matt Blake were ejected.
Mets 5, Braves 2
In New York, Jacob deGrom struck out 12 and carried a perfect game into the sixth inning of his second start all season, pitching New York past Atlanta for its 12th victory in 14 games.
BASEBALL
Pete Alonso drove in two runs and the first-place Mets matched a franchise record with 19 strikeouts - including three in a row from Edwin Díaz to earn his 26th save. They took four of five from Atlanta in their NL East showdown, extending their division lead to 6 1/2 games over the defending World Series champions.
Pitching at home for the first time in 13 months, a dominant deGrom (1-0) retired his first 17 batters - 12 on strikeouts - before walking No. 9 batter Ehire Adrianza with two outs in the sixth.
Dansby Swanson followed with a two-run homer on the 76th and final pitch from deGrom, making it 5-2. The two-time Cy Young Award winner returned Tuesday at Washington from a string of injuries for his first major league start since July 7, 2021.
Dodgers 4, Padres 0
In Los Angeles, Cody Bellinger hit two homers, Tyler Anderson allowed two hits over seven sparkling innings and Los Angeles completed a statement-making sweep of the revamped San Diego Padres.
Freddie Freeman had two RBI singles in the major league-leading Dodgers’ eighth consecutive victory and their 30th in 35 games.
The Dodgers’ sweep was also a strong reply to San Diego’s bold moves at the trade deadline to acquire Juan Soto, Josh Bell and Brandon Drury. After largely standing pat at the deadline, Los Angeles coolly opened a whopping 15 1/2-game lead in the NL West while outscoring the secondplace Padres by a combined 20-4 in three victories at Chavez Ravine.
Los Angeles has won 17 of its last 19 meetings with the Padres, who dropped to 1-4 with four consecutive defeats since their new sluggers arrived Wednesday, culminating in only their second shutout loss since May 18. The team sometimes known as Slam Diego also hasn’t homered during its four-game skid, and it managed only two hits in the series finale.
Soto went 0 for 2 with two walks, going hitless for the first time since joining San Diego in one of the biggest trades in baseball history.
Anderson (13-1) added to his breakout All-Star season by going at least seven innings for the sixth time.
Guardians 1, Astros 0
In Cleveland, Triston McKenzie held Houston to two hits and struck out eight in eight innings, Luke Maile homered for the first time in three years and Cleveland blanked Houston.
McKenzie (8-8) retired 15 straight batters before pinch-hitter Kyle Tucker walked in the eighth. Pinch-hitter Jose Altuve then bounced into an inningending double play.
Maile connected in the fifth off hard-luck loser Christian Javier (6-8), who is 0-5 over his last six starts.
Blue Jays 3, Twins 2, 10 innings
In Minneapolis, Cavan Biggio hit a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning and Whit Merrifield scored on an overturned call to lead Toronto past Minnesota to split their four-game series.
Merrifield was originally called out at the plate trying to score the goahead run, but the call was reversed after Twins catcher Gary Sanchez was deemed to have interfered with Merrifield. Replay officials ruled Sanchez did not leave a clear lane to the plate for Merrifield, whose right foot collided with Sanchez’s left leg as he slid into home. The out would have ended the inning.
Phillies 13, Nationals 1
In Philadelphia, Darick Hall homered twice, Nick Maton and Rhys Hoskins each hit a two-run shot and Philadelphia finished a four-game
sweep of Washington. Aaron Nola (88) allowed one run in six innings to put the Phillies 12 games over .500 for the first time since August 2018.
Rays 7, Tigers 0
In Detroit, Yu Chang and Yandy Diaz drew bases-loaded walks in a seven-run ninth inning to lead Tampa Bay over Detroit.
With the game scoreless, Isaac Parades hit a one-out single off Tigers closer Gregory Soto (2-6) and went to third on a two-out double by Francisco Mejia. Soto walked Jose Siri to load the bases, then missed on a 3-2 pitch to Chang. Soto also walked Diaz to make it 2-0.
Pirates 8, Orioles 1
In Baltimore, Bryse Wilson pitched effectively into the sixth inning, Ke’Bryan Hayes homered and Pittsburgh snapped Baltimore’s five-game winning streak.
The Pirates also ended their own nine-game skid at Camden Yards, improving to 2-11 at the ballpark. Wilson (2-6) allowed a run and four hits in five-plus innings, and Pittsburgh broke the game open in the seventh after a replay review changed a call at the plate.
Marlins 3, Cubs 0
In Chicago, Jesús Luzardo allowed one hit over seven innings for his first win since April, and Jacob Stallings and Peyton Burdick hit back-to-back home runs as Miami blanked Chicago to prevent a three-game sweep.
Yan Gomes singled with two outs in the fifth off Luzardo (3-4). Nick Madrigal’s leadoff single in the ninth against Tanner Scott was Chicago’s only other hit. Scott then got a groundout and two strikeouts for his 15th save.
Diamondbacks 6, Rockies 4
In Phoenix, Daulton Varsho jogged home with the go-ahead run on a balk, Christian Walker clubbed a two-run homer and Arizona rallied to beat Colorado.
The Diamondbacks trailed 4-2 in the sixth inning but Emmanuel Rivera - added in a deal with Kansas City at the trade deadline - hit a solo shot that cut the deficit to one. It was his seventh homer of the year and first with his new team.
Mariners 6, Angels 3
In Seattle, Jesse Winker hit a grand slam, Marco Gonzales struck out seven and the Mariners beat the Angels as Shohei Ohtani received a visit from trainers and continued to struggle.
Winker’s slam - the second of the season for Seattle and the third of Winker’s career - put Seattle up 5-1 and helped the Mariners stay in third in the AL wild-card race. Eugenio Suárez added two hits and drove in a run.
Two-way sensation Ohtani was visited by trainers before his second at-bat after colliding with Gonzales near the on-deck circle, but stayed in the game.
Gonzales (7-11) snapped a twogame losing streak, giving up a walk and eight hits.
Reds 4, Brewers 2, 10 innings
In Milwaukee, Donovan Solano hit a sacrifice fly off Devin Williams (2-2) in the 10th inning and Cincinnati beat Milwaukee.
Solano also had an RBI double in the eighth as the Reds won for the eighth time in 10 games.
Willy Adames and Keston Hiura homered for the Brewers. Hiura’s solo shot in the ninth tied the game.
Third baseman Mike Brousseau made an error in the 10th that allowed the go-ahead run to score for the Reds.
Royals 13, Red Sox 5
In Kansas City, Royals rookie MJ Melendez hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning and had a career-high six RBIs to help Kansas City beat Boston.
The 7-8-9 hitters of Michael Massey, Nate Eaton and Kyle Isbel provided most of the production as they went a combined 6 for 9 with nine runs and five RBIs for the Royals.
Giants 6, Athletics 4
In Oakland, Mike Yastrzemski homered twice, Thairo Estrada also connected and San Francisco topped Oakland to win its seventh consecutive interleague road game.
Logan Webb (10-5) bounced back from his worst outing of the season and allowed four hits in seven innings, helping the Giants take three of four in the Bay Bridge series. Austin Slater had a pinch-hit RBI double.
White Sox 8, Rangers 2
In Arlington, Andrew Vaughn had a two-run homer among his three hits, Luis Robert socked a two-run double and AJ Pollock doubled twice in a three-hit game as Chicago beat Texas to split their four-game series.
Leury Garcia had three hits and scored twice, and Jose Abreu had three singles as the White Sox broke out offensively. They had 15 hits, five for extra bases, after being limited to four runs and 13 hits in the previous three games.
The White Sox pulled within two games of first-place Minnesota in the AL Central.
Garcia played shortstop in place of Tim Anderson, who began a two-game suspension for making contact with plate umpire Nick Mahrley during an argument on July 29.