HRs carry Dodgers
Adrian Gonzalez (above) got the most pleasure out of watching his teammates circle the bases. Nobody made as many trips as he did. Gonzalez hit three of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ seven home runs — driving in a career-high eight runs — and rookie Corey Seager had a noteworthy home run as well Monday, leading Los Angeles to an 18-9 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday.
NATIONAL LEAGUE DODGERS 18, REDS 9
CINCINNATI — Adrian Gonzalez got the most pleasure out of watching his teammates circle the bases. Nobody made as many trips as he did.
Gonzalez hit three of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ seven home runs — driving in a career-high eight runs — and rookie Corey Seager had a noteworthy home run as well Monday, leading Los Angeles to an 18-9 victory and a split of its four-game series with the Cincinnati Reds.
The National League West leaders enjoyed their biggest home run splurge in 10 years. They’ve won 10 of their past 12 games against Cincinnati.
Four of Gonzalez’s teammates also homered in the Dodgers’ biggest power performance since they hit seven during an 11-10 victory over San Diego on Sept. 18, 2006. “That was fun,” he said. Gonzalez started it with a threerun shot in the first inning off Homer Bailey (2-2), who had his worst showing since returning from Tommy John surgery. Gonzalez also had a solo shot in the fifth, when the Dodgers connected four times overall.
His three-run shot in the seventh tied his career high for home runs in a game. He drove in another run with a groundout as the Dodgers scored 18 runs for the first time in 10 years.
The first baseman attributed it to Great American Ball Park’s dimensions.
“It’s tiny and the ball flies,” Gonzalez said. “Right field is short. I hit two fly balls that went out. I could have been 1 for 6 with a homer.” to move into a tie for first place in the American League East. Price (12-8) walked 2, struck out 8 and didn’t allow a runner past first base while extending Tampa Bay’s scoring drought against Boston to 25 innings dating to a series at Fenway Park before the All-Star break. Evan Longoria stopped the streak with a two-run home run off Matt Barnes in the ninth.
INDIANS 1, ATHLETICS 0 Carlos Carrasco and Andrew Miller combined on a four-hitter, Carlos Santana hit a home run in the eighth inning and visiting Cleveland beat Oakland. Carrasco (9-6) limited the A’s to four hits over eight innings. The right-hander had 9 strikeouts, retired the side in order 5 times and allowed only 1 runner to reach second base. Miller struck out the side in the ninth for his 11th save. Neither team did much offensively until Santana’s one-out home run off reliever Ryan Dull (5-4), his 27th of the season. Starter Andrew Triggs matched Carrasco in his fourth career start but did not factor in the decision. Oakland is 1-21 when Triggs pitches this season.
INTERLEAGUE
ASTROS 3, PIRATES 1 Doug Fister pitched seven scoreless innings, Teoscar Hernandez hit a two-run home run and visiting Houston beat Pittsburgh. Hernandez connected off fellow rookie Jameson Taillon (3-3) in the fifth inning after A.J. Reed’s leadoff walk. It was the third home run for Hernandez, who was called up from ClssAAA Fresno on Aug. 12 to make his major league debut. Alex Bregman, another Astros rookie, hit his fourth home run in the ninth inning off Neftali Feliz. Houston won its fourth consecutive game and Pittsburgh lost its fourth in a row. Both teams are competing for wild-card spots. Fister struck out 6, walked 1 and retired 11 of the first 12 batters. He had allowed 9 runs and 11 hits over 9 innings in his previous two starts.
ORIOLES 4, NATIONALS 3 Mark Trumbo hit his major league-leading 38th home run, Jonathan Schoop also went deep and host Baltimore defeated Washington in a matchup between neighboring contenders. Rookie Dylan Bundy (7-4) pitched six innings of three-hit ball for the Orioles, who had lost five of their previous six games — all at home. The victory lifted Baltimore within two games of first-place Toronto and Boston in the American League East. Bundy gave up 2 runs, walked 4 and struck out 4. He’s 5-3 with a 3.56 ERA in eight games since joining the rotation July 17.