Split concludes hard weekend
Padres, Nats finish game suspended by shooting
WASHINGTON — Alcides Escobar homered in the eighth inning and hit a winning single in the ninth Sunday as the Washington Nationals wrapped up a disturbing weekend with an 8-7 win over the San Diego Padres.
A day after the game was suspended in the sixth inning because of a shooting outside Nationals Park, the Padres completed a 10-4 victory. Washington then came back to end a six-game losing streak.
Tres Barrera singled off Mark Melancon (2-2) with one out in the ninth and, after failing on a bunt attempt, Victor Robles was hit by pitch. Escobar hit a flyball that center fielder Trent Grisham couldn’t corral and Barrera scored.
Brad Hand (5-2) earned the victory. Juan Soto joined Josh Harrison with three hits and added a two-run homer.
Manny Machado, Eric Hosmer and Jackson Profar homered for the Padres.
Nationals ace Max Scherzer allowed four runs on four hits in seven innings. He struck out eight.
In the completion of Saturday’s suspended game, Fernando Tatis Jr. had his third four-hit game of the season and scored twice for the Padres, and Tommy Pham had three hits and two walks.
Reliever Craig Stammen (4-2) pitched a scoreless fifth inning for the win. Starter Blake Snell allowed four runs on six hits and four walks in four innings.
Nationals starter Patrick Corbin (6-8) gave up six runs on 10 hits and four walks in 5⅓ innings.
WHITE SOX 4, ASTROS 0:
In Chicago, Carlos Rodón allowed one hit through seven dominant innings, Yoán Moncada and Tim Anderson hit solo homers and the White Sox topped Houston.
Danny Mendick and Adam Engel added RBI singles, and the White Sox stymied Astros hitters for the second straight game after losing their first five this season to Houston — and being outscored 34-9 in those contests.
MARINERS 7, ANGELS 4: In Anaheim, California, Ty France hit a three-run homer, Logan Gilbert struck out a career-high nine and Seattle defeated Los Angeles despite Shohei Ohtani’s 34th homer of the season. David Fletcher’s 26-game hitting streak ended when he went 0 for 5. The streak was the secondlongest in franchise history for the Angels.
PHILLIES 4-7, MARLINS 2-4: In Philadephia, J.T. Realmuto followed a two-run walk-off homer in the completion of a suspended game with a 3-for5 performance with two RBIs and the Phillies beat Miami in the regularly scheduled game. His two-run 10th-inning homer gave the Phillies a win in the conclusion to Saturday’s suspended game.
METS 7, PIRATES 6: In Pittsburgh, Michael Conforto hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning to complete a rally from six runs down and New York overcame an embarrassing gaffe by AllStar pitcher Taijuan Walker to beat Pittsburgh.
Walker hurt himself with a huge misplay in the Pirates’ six-run first inning. Kevin Newman hit a dribbler down the third base line and the ball started out in foul territory, but then began spinning back toward the line. Walker swooped in and swatted at the ball, trying to make contact while it was still in foul ground. But TV replays showed the ball was touching the chalk when Walker hit it, and plate umpire Jeremy Riggs correctly called it a fair ball.
Walker turned to argue the call as the ball rolled toward the Pirates dugout, and no Mets reacted to retrieve it. The three Pittsburgh runners took off and kept running, and all came around to score.
BLUE JAYS 5-10, RANGERS 0-0: In Buffalo, N.Y., Hyun Jin Ryu threw a three-hitter in the opener, and Steven Matz and two relievers combined for another shutout in the second game as Toronto blanked Texas in both halves of a doubleheader.
It was the first time the Blue Jays swept a doubleheader with two shutouts in team history. It was the first time the Rangers were shut out twice in a day since the team moved to Texas.
RAYS 7, BRAVES 5: In Atlanta, Yandy Diaz homered during a four-run rally in the seventh inning and Tampa Bay beat Atlanta. The Rays completed their 28th comefrom-behind win and took two of three in the series.
A.J. Minter (1-4) took the loss and was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett immediately after the game.
ROCKIES 6, DODGERS 5, (10 inn): In Denver, Charlie Blackmon hit a solo homer in the bottom of the 10th inning, leading Colorado over Los Angeles.
Trevor Story hit a tying sacrifice fly and Blackmon followed with a drive to right off Phil Bickford (0-1) that gave Colorado the victory.
Will Smith, who homered earlier, singled off Mychal Givens (3-2) in the top of the 10th, scoring the automatic runner and putting Los Angeles up 5-4. But the Dodgers could not hold on. Their winning streak ended at four, and their eight-game run against the Rockies was also snapped.
CARDINALS 2, GIANTS 1: In St. Louis, Harrison Bader put the Cards ahead with a checked-swing single off the glove of first basemen LaMonte Wade Jr. in the seventh inning in a win over San Francisco.
DIAMONDBACKS 6, CUBS 4: In Phoenix, Merrill Kelly threw eight solid innings, Eduardo Escobar hit a tworun homer and Arizona avoided a three-game sweep with a win over Chicago.
BREWERS 8, REDS 0: In Cincinnati, Corbin Burnes pitched sharply into the ninth inning, leading Milwaukee over Cincinnati.
The Brewers stretched their NL Central lead to seven games over the second-place Reds.
TIGERS 7, TWINS 0: In Detroit, Jeimer Candelario homered, drove in three runs and started two double plays as Detroit finished a weekend sweep of Minnesota.
ORIOLES 5, ROYALS 0: In Kansas City, Mo., Matt Harvey ended his nine-game losing skid with his best performance in years, pitching six crisp innings and sending Baltimore over Kansas City. Harvey (4-10) allowed just three singles, walked one and struck out two against his former team.
YANKEES 9, RED SOX 1: In New York, Gleyber Torres and Rougned Odor homered to back another strong start from Jameson Taillon as the depleted Yankees beat Boston. Playing without All-Star slugger Aaron Judge and five of his teammates who also tested positive for COVID-19 recently, the Yankees won their second straight against rival Boston after dropping the first seven meetings this year.
Coming Monday
A look at what will be happening around the majors:
HIS TURN: Major league home run leader Shohei Ohtani is set to pitch for the Angels in his first outing since tossing a perfect first inning in the All-Star Game.
The two-way star hit his 34th home run Sunday in a 7-4 loss to Seattle.
Ohtani (4-1, 3.49 ERA) is scheduled to start when Los Angeles begins a six-game road trip in Oakland.
NO DERBY DOWNER: Some players have declined to participate in the All-Star Home Run Derby over the years because they say the exertion can wear them out and wrecks their swing.
Not so for Juan Soto. The Washington star has hit three home runs in three games since taking part in the Derby on Tuesday night at Coors Field. Soto connected Sunday in an 8-7 win over the Padres.
Soto hopes to keep up his power surge when the Nationals open a series at home against Miami.
WELL EARNED: AL ERA leader Lance Lynn makes his first start for the White Sox since signing a $38 million, two-year contract through 2023. The 34-year-old AllStar is 9-3 with a 1.99 ERA in 16 starts. He was acquired in a December trade with Texas for pitchers Dane Dunning and Avery Weems. Lynn and his Chicago teammates hold an eight-game lead in the AL Central going into a home doubleheader against Minnesota. Lynn will start the opener.
MAKING HIS PITCH: San Diego’s Yu Darvish (7-3, 3.09 ERA) is expected to come off the injured list to pitch at Atlanta. He’s been out with left hip inflammation. Darvish is 0-3 with a 6.62 ERA in four starts against the Braves.