Cubs bullpen shines, defeats league-leading Rays 2-1
CHICAGO >> Nico Hoerner homered and the Chicago Cubs made the most of a rare gaffe by Tampa Bay, handing Shane McClanahan his first loss of the season with a 2-1 victory over the Rays on Tuesday night.
The game was tied at 1 when Ian Happ led off the sixth with a shallow fly ball that dropped between Tampa Bay second baseman Brandon Lowe and right fielder Josh Lowe in a miscommunication between the fielders.
That was enough for Chicago, which topped the majors’ best team for the second straight day after entering the series with a four-game losing streak.
RANGERS 10, TIGERS 6 >> Reliever Grant Anderson won in an overpowering major league debut and Texas beat Detroit to improve to 35-19, the best record in franchise history at the one-third mark.
Anderson stuck out seven of the nine batters he faced after taking over for starter Martín Pérez in the fifth inning. He struck out the first four he faced.
ORIOLES 8, GUARDIANS 5 >> Anthony Santander hit a basesclearing triple during Baltimore’s five-run second inning, then added a pair of doubles to lift the Orioles over Cleveland.
Kyle Gibson (7-3) won his third straight start, allowing three runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. Félix Bautista pitched a perfect ninth for his 14th save in 18 chances.
ASTROS 5, TWINS 1>> Alex Bregman and Chas McCormick each homered in the second inning and had two RBIs and Houston built a big lead early.
Bregman and McCormick connected off Joe Ryan (72) to put Houston up 3-0 — and snap Ryan’s career-long streak of six starts without allowing a homer.
BLUE JAYS 7, BREWERS 2 >> Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Alejandro Kirk each had three hits, Whit Merrifield reached twice and drove in two runs and Toronto snapped a fourgame home losing streak.
William Contreras hit a two-run home run, his second homer in two games, as the Brewers lost for the fourth time in five games.
WHITE SOX 7, ANGELS 3 >> Andrew Vaughn drove in three runs, Romy González homered and Chicago beat Los Angeles.
The White Sox looked as if they were headed toward their fourth straight loss after Los Angeles raced to a 3-1 lead against Lucas Giolito (44). But the White Sox turned it around in a big way, scoring five runs in the fourth against Tyler Anderson (2-1).
Vaughn smacked a threerun double to put Chicago on top. González drove him in with a double, stole third and scored when Gio Urshela allowed catcher Chad Wallach’s throw to wind up in left field, stretching it to 6-3.
PADRES 9, MARLINS 4 >> Xander Bogaerts sparked a fiverun ninth inning with a tiebreaking single and Matt Carpenter drove in two runs with his second double of the game, lifting San Diego over
Miami.
Bryan De La Cruz hit a two-run homer for the Marlins, who came home after a three-game sweep at the Los Angeles Angels.
NL Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara failed to hold a 4-2 lead and is 1-5 in his last nine starts. He allowed four runs, five hits in 6 1/3 innings while walking five, one shy of his career high.
Nick Martinez (3-2) pitched a scoreless eighth around a single and walk, retiring Jorge Soler on an inning-ending double play grounder. METS 2, PHILLIES 0 >> Kodai Senga allowed one hit through seven dominant innings and Francisco Lindor homered to help New York shut out Philadelphia in the first meeting this season between the NL East rivals.
Eduardo Escobar added an RBI single and Mets center fielder Brandon Nimmo robbed Nick Castellanos of a potential home run with a leaping catch at the fence.
Senga (5-3) struck out nine and permitted one baserunner — a soft single by Kody Clemens that fell in front of left fielder Tommy Pham in the third.
Adam Ottavino worked a hitless eighth, getting a huge lift when rookie Francisco Álvarez threw out fellow catcher J.T. Realmuto trying to steal second after a leadoff walk.
CARDINALS 2, ROYALS 1 >> Miles Mikolas pitched eight shutout innings, Nolan Arenado hit an RBI double and Nolan Gorman drove in a run with a sacrifice fly as St. Louis split the two-game set between the I-70 rivals.
Mikolas (4-1) matched a career high with 10 strikeouts and allowed three hits. Gionvanny Gallegos replaced Mikolas in the ninth and gave up a double and single to start the inning. Vinnie Pasquantino scored on a fielder’s choice by Bobby Witt Jr., cutting the deficit to a run. Gallegos went on to retire the next two hitters and record his seventh save.
The Cardinals got a run in the sixth with two outs against Carlos Hernández (02). Paul Goldschmidt reached first on an infield single. Arenado hit a run-scoring double to left-center.