Swanson gives Braves walk-off win
ATLANTA — Dansby Swanson hit a two-out, tworun homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to cap a four-run rally that gave the Atlanta Braves a stunning 7-6 victory over the Washington Nationals on Monday night.
With the Braves trailing 6-3 against Washington closer Daniel Hudson (1-2), Adam Duvall made it close by hitting a two-run shot that just cleared the wall in left field. Johan Camargo followed with a single, but Hudson retired the next two hitters to put the Braves down to their final out. It never came. Swanson drove one over the wall in right-center for the game winner. When he got to home plate, his teammates toasted him from afar, jumping up and down with their hands in the air.
The rally ruined a memorable night for Washington rookie Luis Garcia, who became the first player born in the 2000s to hit a big league homer.
The youngest player in the majors at age 20, Garcia hit a two-run shot off Touki Toussaint in the second inning. Asdrubal Cabrera, Juan Soto and Eric Thames also homered for the defending World Series champs, but it wasn’t enough.
Garcia, who was born on May 16, 2000, came into the shortened season as one of Washington’s top prospects. He got his chance when Starlin Castro went on the injured list with a broken right wrist and doesn’t look over-matched in the least.
Two batters later, Thames delivered an even longer drive over the center-field wall to give the Nationals a 3-0 lead.
The Braves responded with two runs in the bottom half against Anibal Sanchez, but Toussaint surrendered another run in the fourth without giving up a hit. The right-hander hit a batter and walked three more, including Kurt Suzuki with the bases loaded.
When Toussaint started the fourth with another walk — his sixth of the game — Braves manager
Brian Snitker had seen enough. It was another blow to Atlanta’s beleaguered rotation, which lost ace Mike Soroka to a season-ending injury and demoted two other starters, Mike Foltynewicz and Sean Newcomb.
Toussaint’s spot in the rotation now appears in jeopardy after another shaky start. He gave up four runs in three-plus innings and threw only 34 of 73 pitches for strikes, his ERA climbing to 7.97.
Cubs, Cardinals split — David Bote hit a three-run homer in Chicago’s fourrun sixth inning, and the Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 on Monday night for a doubleheader split.
With two outs and runners on the corners, Bote put Chicago ahead to stay with a massive drive to center field off Tyler Webb (0-1) for his second career pinch-hit homer. Bote belted a game-ending grand slam for his first pinch-hit shot in a 4-3 win against Washington on Aug. 12, 2018.
Chicago was still searching for its first hit before Willson Contreras doubled home Javier Báez earlier in the inning, setting the stage for Bote’s third homer of the season.
St. Louis wasted a big performance by Brad Miller, who homered twice and drove in three runs. Miller also had a big swing in Game 1, hitting a tiebreaking two-run double in the seventh in the Cardinals’ 3-1 victory.
The reigning division champions had a threegame series against the Cubs postponed while they waited for clearance to play again — leading to the fivegame set that includes two doubleheaders and two “home” games for the Cards.
The second half of Monday’s doubleheader was the first time St. Louis batted second on the road since April 25, 1906, at Cincinnati, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. It was the first time the Cubs hit first in their home ballpark since July 16, 1908, against the New York Giants, according to the team.
Miller’s two-run shot off Tyson Miller in the second was his first homer with St. Louis. Miller and Schrock hit consecutive drives in the fourth, giving the Cardinals a 4-1 lead.
The opener was tied at 1 when St. Louis loaded the bases with none out in the seventh against Kyle Hendricks. After Dylan Carlson bounced into a forceout at home, Hendricks (3-2) was replaced by Rowan Wick.
“I felt good all day executing pitches,” Hendricks said. “Just really upset, those first three at-bats in the seventh inning, all three were just terrible.”
Miller then hit a liner toward the gap in left-center. Center fielder Albert Almora Jr. made a leaping try, but it landed out of his reach on the warning track. Tyler O’Neill and Matt Carpenter scored before Carlson was thrown out at the plate.
Giovanny Gallegos (1-0) pitched a scoreless inning for the win in the opener. Andrew Miller got three outs for his second save.
American League
Blue Jays 7, Orioles 2 — Hyun Jin Ryu pitched six innings of four-hit ball, Randal Grichuk homered and drove in four runs and Toronto beat Baltimore.
Cavan Biggio also went deep for the Blue Jays and finished with three hits and three RBIs.
Ryu (2-1) struck out three and walked none. The lefthander permitted only one runner past second base and yielded just one extrabase hit to a team that came in ranked second in the majors with a .467 slugging percentage.
Signed in December to an $80 million, four-year contract, Ryu got off to a shaky start with Toronto in July before showing the form he displayed as a star with the Dodgers. He’s given up a total of two runs in his last three starts after allowing eight runs over nine innings in his first two outings.
The Blue Jays took control with a four-run third against Alex Cobb (1-2). Three infield hits produced a run before Grichuk delivered a three-run drive over the center-field wall. It was his third home run of the season, all in the last four games.
After hitting 31 homers last year, Grichuk was batting fifth, sixth or seventh in the order this season before Toronto manager Charlie Montoyo decided to move him into the No. 2 spot Sunday to replace injured Bo Bichette. Over the past two games, Grichuk has two homers, four hits and six RBIs.