Athletics use more late-inning magic to rally past Astros for win
Parra, Tapia come up in the pinch for Rockies
HOUSTON — Mark Canha’s twoRBI single in Oakland’s three-run eighth inning lifted the Athletics to the 6-4 victory over the Houston Astros Thursday.
The Athletics fell behind early but cut the lead to one with a three-run fifth. An RBI double by Matt Chapman tied it with no outs in the eighth before Canha’s single off Chris Devenski (2-2) with one out made it 6-4.
Canha’s hit landed in the corner of left field and the Astros challenged the ruling that the ball was fair, but the call was upheld.
It was another big eighth inning for the A’s, who lead the majors with 69 runs in the inning this season. This one helped them take three out of four against the Astros. They’ve won eight games this season when trailing after seven innings, which is also the most in the majors.
“When you do it so many times, you have confidence doing it,” manager Bob Melvin said. “And it was different guys today, too. At this point, it’s a true team effort and that’s powerful when you have 25 guys contributing.”
Nick Martini had three hits and drove in two runs for the Athletics, who are 19-5 in their last 24 games but still trail the first-place Astros by eight games in the AL West.
Yusmeiro Petit (3-2) allowed one hit in 2⅓ scoreless innings. Ryan Buchter took over for the eighth and made back-to-back nifty plays to pitch a perfect inning.
RED SOX 6, BLUE JAYS 4: In Boston, Mookie Betts fouled off seven pitches before hitting a grand slam that helped Boston beat Toronto, extending their winning streak to 10.
Boston has the longest current winning streak in the big leagues and hasn’t lost since getting routed 11-1 at Yankee Stadium on July 1. At 66-29, the Red Sox are 37 games over .500 for the first time since 1949.
David Price (10-6) struck out eight over 6⅔ innings, and Craig Kimbrel earned his 29th save.
All-Star lefty J.A. Happ (10-6) started strong for Toronto, striking out six and holding Boston to two hits before running into trouble and some misfortune in the fourth.
YANKEES 7, INDIANS 4: In Cleveland, Aaron Hicks drove home Didi Gregorius from first base with a oneout double in the eighth inning off Cleveland ace Corey Kluber, sending New York to a win over the Indians.
Hicks drove a 3-2 pitch from Kluber (12-5) to deep center field, and Gregorius scored easily when the ball onehopped the wall.
Brett Gardner homered twice and Gregorius also connected for the Yankees, playing at Progressive Field for the first time since last October, when they overcame a 2-0 deficit and won the AL Division Series.
New York relievers Adam Warren, David Robertson (6-3), Dellin Betances and All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman combined for four hitless innings. Chapman got three outs for his 25th save. ROCKIES 5, DIAMONDBACKS 1: In Denver, Gerardo Parra and Raimel Tapia had pinch-hit RBI singles in Colorado’s three-run sixth inning.
Trevor Story homered for the Rockies, and Kyle Freeland pitched six-hit ball into the sixth inning. Scott Oberg (3-0) got two outs for the win.
Colorado was coming off a 19-2 victory Wednesday night, but it trailed 1-0 before its rally in the sixth.
Arizona left-hander Robbie Ray (3-2) hit Carlos Gonzalez and walked Chris Iannetta with one out before he was replaced by Silvino Bracho, who was called up before the game. Parra then hit a tying single to right, and Tapia followed with another single off Andrew Chafin. NATIONALS 5, METS 4: In New York, Max Scherzer made a final pitch to start the All-Star Game on his own mound, Anthony Rendon hit two homers and Bryce Harper also connected, leading Washington over New York.
Washington won for just the sixth time in 17 games and nudged back over .500 at 47-46.
Scherzer (12-5) didn’t dominate over his seven innings, but managed to tie Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola for the NL lead in wins. He struck out five, boosting his league-leading total to 182.
PIRATES 6, BREWERS 3: In Pittsburgh, Jameson Taillon had a careerhigh 10 strikeouts, Jordy Mercer tied his career best with four RBIs and Pittsburgh defeated Milwaukee.
Taillon (6-7) surrendered one run on four hits with two walks. The right-hander struck out the side twice, once in the third inning and again in the fifth.
The Pirates have won four of their past five games to pull to 10 1/2 games back of the first-place Brewers, who have lost four of six, in the NL Central. Felipe Vazquez earned his 21st save by getting the final two outs.
PHILLIES 5, ORIOLES 4: In Baltimore, Jorge Alfaro homered and drove in three runs, Nick Pivetta took a three-hitter into the seventh inning and Philadelphia beat Baltimore.
Making the most of a one-day stay in Baltimore, the Phillies got 12 hits off Kevin Gausman (4-7) while building a 5-0 lead against the team with the worst record in the majors. Alfaro, the No. 9 hitter, singled and scored in the third inning to help Philadelphia move a half-game ahead of second-place Atlanta in the NL East.
TWINS 5, RAYS 1: In Minneapolis, Kyle Gibson struck out nine batters over eight easy innings and Minnesota handed Tampa Bay ace Blake Snell his shortest start of the season and beat the Rays 5-1 after a two-hour rain delay. DODGERS 3, PADRES 2: In San Diego, Andrew Toles broke a scoreless tie with an RBI single off Tyson Ross in the seventh inning to help AllStar Ross Stripling and Los Angeles beat San Diego and take three of four from the last-place Padres.