Jays overpower O’s in doubleheader sweep
Bo Bichette and Alejandro Kirk hit a pair of two-run homers in an 11-run seventh and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 11-2 on Saturday night to complete a doubleheader sweep.
In the opener, George Springer hit a two-out, two-run homer in the seventh to give Toronto an 11-10 victory.
In the nightcap, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led off the seventh with single off rookie left-hander Keegan Akin (2-9), and Bichette followed with a towering homer to left field.
Tanner Scott entered for Baltimore and gave up another two-run homer to Kirk just over the rightfield scoreboard.
The Blue Jays continued to show off their power as Marcus Semien and Teoscar Hernandez delivered three-run shots to complete the rout.
Toronto tied team records for an inning with the 11 runs, 11 hits and four homers.
Trevor Richards (7-2) got the win with a scoreless sixth inning.
Cedric Mullins hit a solo shot in the third. Mullins has homered in four of his past six starts and has 29 on the season. He needs one more home run and two more stolen bases to become the first 30/30 player in franchise history.
In the opener, Guerrero hit his 43rd home run of the season to move within one of the Angels’ Shohei Ohtani for the major league lead.
Phillies 6, Rockies 1: Zack Wheeler steadied the slumping Phillies with eight strikeouts and Bryce Harper homered to lead Philadelphia to a win over Colorado. Odubel Herrera’s two-RBI bunt double and Jean Segura’s solo homer helped the Phillies snap a four-game losing streak that had them fading from the NL East playoff race. The Phillies entered 4 games behind firstplace Atlanta in the NL East. Cardinals 6, Reds 4: Nolan Arenado hit a two-run homer in the eighth and had three RBIs and Paul DeJong had a solo shot to help St. Louis beat Cincinnati. St. Louis has won three of four and gained a game on Cincinnati in the NL wild-card race.
Rays 7, Tigers 2: Joey Wendle tripled and homered, 30-yearold Dietrich Enns won for the first time in the major leagues and Tampa Bay beat Detroit.
Giants 15, Cubs 4: Tommy La Stella and Brandon Belt each hit
three-run homers, and San Francisco pounded Chicago for their sixth straight win.
Rangers 8, Athletics 6: Jonah Heim hit a two-run home run with two outs in the eighth to cap a five-run rally, lifting Texas past Oakland.
Twins 9, Royals 2: Jorge Polanco hit two of Minnesota’s five home runs, Michael Pineda pitched five strong innings in his return to the rotation and the Twins beat Kansas City.
Pirates 10, Nationals 7: Bryan Reynolds hit his 23rd home run of the season and drove in three runs as Pittsburgh surged past Washington.
Note: Diamondbacks pitcher Caleb Smith has lost his appeal
and will serve a 10-day suspension for the use of a foreign substance in a game.