Two-run double lifts Rockies over Rangers
Astros rally past Tigers behind big eighth inning
DENVER — Charlie Blackmon hit a go-ahead two-run double in the eighth inning to lift the Colorado Rockies to a 4-2 victory against the Texas Rangers on Friday night.
The Rockies earned consecutive victories for the first time this season. They had been the only team yet to win back-to-back games and the 37-game streak without consecutive victories was the longest drought in franchise history.
Blackmon had just 12 hits in his previous 69 at-bats — an average of .174 — when he came up against Yerry Rodríguez with runners on first and second base and two outs and the game tied at 2. He hit a sharp line drive to center field that brought Brenton Doyle and Jake Cave home to break a 2-2 tie.
The loss temporarily halted a recent hot streak for the defending World Series champion Rangers, who had won five of their last six and eight of 11.
ASTROS 5, TIGERS 2: In Detroit, Framber Valdez pitched seven strong innings and Houston used a four-run eighth inning to rally past Detroit.
Kyle Tucker homered and scored twice for Houston, which has won two in a row after a fourgame skid.
Valdez (2-1) allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings. He has a 2.49 ERA in eight career games against the Tigers, including seven starts.
Detroit (19-19) has lost six of seven and fell to .500 for the first time this season.
YANKEES 2, RAYS 0: In St. Petersburg, Fla., Clarke Schmidt allowed five hits in 6 2/3 innings, Anthony Rizzo homered and drove in two runs, and the New York Yankees beat Tampa Bay.
Schmidt (4-1) struck out six and walked two as he extended his season-opening run of allowing three or fewer runs to eight starts.
Yankees closer Clay Holmes had a stressful ninth inning. He walked two batters with one out and struck out Isaac Paredes looking before pinch-hitter Austin Shenton singled to load the bases. Holmes then struck out Jonny DeLuca to secure his 12th save in 13 chances and complete a six-hitter.
TWINS 3, BLUE JAYS 2: In Toronto, Carlos Santana hit a tiebreaking home run in the fifth inning, Joe Ryan pitched seven innings and Minnesota won for the 16th time in 18 games by beating Toronto.
Carlos Correa had two hits and scored twice as the Twins won for the ninth time in their past 13 games in Toronto.
Jose Miranda added an RBI single as the Twins, who successfully brought their lucky sausage across the Canadian border, extended their road winning streak to seven.
ORIOLES 4, DIAMONDBACKS 2: In Baltimore, Cole Irvin pitched into the sixth inning in another effective start, and a reshuffled bullpen held on for Baltimore Orioles in a victory over Arizona.
Struggling reliever Craig Kimbrel was taken out of the closer’s role for this game, but he worked a perfect seventh inning. Jacob Webb retired two batters in the eighth, but then walked a batter. Cionel Pérez came on and hit pinch-hitter Joc Pederson with a pitch before Eugenio Suárez hit a routine grounder to end the threat.
Yennier Cano then pitched around a leadoff double in the ninth for his second save.
NATIONALS 5, RED SOX 1: In Boston, Patrick Corbin allowed one run in five innings for his first victory of the season, Trey Lipscomb had a two-run single and Washington beat Boston.
Corbin (1-3) allowed seven hits and a walk and had four strikeouts in lowering his ERA from 6.45 to 5.91. He allowed runners to reach in four of five innings, helped in the first when right fielder Victor Robles threw out a runner at home for the final out.
Robles and Eddie Rosario each had two hits to help the Nationals move over .500 for the second time this season at 19-18.
Boston stranded 11 and went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position. The Red Sox have lost six of seven to drop to 19-19.
WHITE SOX 6, GUARDIANS 3: In Chicago, Garrett Crochet struck out 11 in six shutout innings and the Chicago White Sox beat Cleveland for their third consecutive victory.
Taking advantage of a costly error on second baseman Gabriel Arias, Chicago improved to 8-6 since its ugly 3-22 start. Korey Lee and Paul DeJong hit back-toback homers in the seventh, and Andrew Vaughn went deep in the eighth for his first of the season.
Crochet (3-4) allowed five hits and walked none in his second straight win. Jordan Leasure got four outs for his second save.
PHILLIES 8, MARLINS 2: In Miami, Ranger Suárez pitched seven scoreless innings, Nick Castellanos and Johan Rojas hit solo homers, and Philadelphia beat Miami Marlins.
Rojas and J.T. Realmuto each had three of Philadelphia’s 15 hits. Bryce Harper had two hits, including an RBI double. Kyle Schwarber and Cristian Pache had two apiece.
Suárez (7-0), who entered the game with a 1.72 ERA, allowed just three hits while striking out nine and walking two. Gregory Soto replaced Suárez in the eighth and allowed a two-run double to Josh Bell that ended the shutout bid.
CUBS 7, PIRATES 2: In Pittsburgh, Cody Bellinger had four hits, including his seventh home run of the season, and the Chicago Cubs surged past Pittsburgh.
Bellinger turned on a 100 mph fastball from Jared Jones (2-4) in the first inning and sent it into the right-field seats for the Cubs. He later added two doubles and an RBI single and is hitting .538 (7 for 13) since returning from fractured ribs.
Ian Happ and Chris Morel had two hits apiece for the Cubs, who have won four of six.
BRAVES 4, METS 2: In New York, Ronald Acuña Jr. hit a titanic home run, just before Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson also went deep in the third inning, and Atlanta beat the New York Mets.
Charlie Morton (3-0) pitched seven splendid innings as the teams played through raindrops in a game delayed 55 minutes at the start. Atlanta won its third straight since getting swept at Dodger Stadium last weekend, with two off days in between.
Francisco Lindor homered on Morton’s first pitch in the seventh, one of only three hits off the 40-year-old right-hander. He struck out seven and walked one in his fourth consecutive quality start, surpassing 2,000 innings in the majors.
BREWERS 11, CARDINALS 2: In Milwaukee, Robert Gasser allowed just two hits over six shutout innings in his major league debut and Milwaukee trounced St. Louis to hand the Cardinals their sixth consecutive loss.
Willy Adames hit three doubles with two runs and a pair of RBIs as the Brewers beat the Cardinals for a seventh straight time, continuing a streak that began last year. William Contreras scored three times, Christian Yelich had two runs and Rhys Hoskins and Jake Bauers each delivered two RBIs.
Gasser walked none, hit one batter and became just the fifth Brewer ever to throw at least six shutout innings in his debut. The others were Jim Slaton in 1974, Steve Woodard in 1997, Chris Sáenz in 2004 and Brandon Woodruff in 2017.