AROUND THE HORN
■ Nationals: Starlin Castro hit a go-ahead, two-run single off closer Hector Neris in the ninth inning and the Nationals rallied three times to beat the Phillies 13-12 on Wednesday in Philadelphia. It was the first game in major league history that featured a grand slam and three-run HR for each team. Josh Bell answered Andrew McCutchen’s slam with one of his own as the Nats overcame deficits of 5-0, 9-5 and 12-11. Kyle Schwarber hit the Nats’ three-run HR and Travis Jankowski had one for the Phillies. Bryce Harper also connected for the Phillies. Both clubs let their bats do the talking after Nats GM Mike Rizzo called Phillies manager Joe Girardi a “con artist” for asking umpires to check Nats ace Max Scherzer for illegal substances during Tuesday night’s game. Phillies President Dave Dombrowski defended his manager, saying Rizzo’s comment was “totally improper.” After Ronald Torreyes gave the Phillies a 12-11 lead in the bottom of the eighth Wednesday afternoon with an RBI single, Neris allowed consecutive singles to Bell and Josh Harrison to start the ninth and Alex Avila’s sacrifice moved the runners. Castro then lined a single to center to put the Nats ahead to stay as Neris (1-4) blew his fifth save in 15 tries. Paolo Espino pitched the ninth for his first career save after Tanner Rainey (1-2) got the last two outs in the eighth. The Phillies jumped on Nats starter Erick Fedde, who had thrown 21 consecutive scoreless innings before Jankowski hit his first HR since 2018, in the second.
■ White Sox: Yasmani Grandal hit a two-run double and the White Sox stopped a five-game losing streak, beating the host Pirates 4-3. Leury García added a HR as the AL Central leaders ended their longest skid of the season. White Sox starter Dylan Cease (6-3) bounced back from rough outing to work 5 ⅔ innings, allowing one earned run while striking out seven. He was tagged for seven runs in 3 ⅓ innings in his previous outing against the Astros. Liam Hendricks pitched a perfect ninth for his 19th save of the season. Grandal’s tiebreaking hit came with two outs in the fifth and finished Pirates starter Chase De Jong (0-2). García led off the second with his first HR of the season, a first-pitch drive to right center.
■ Indians: Aaron Civale will miss more than one month with a sprained right finger, the latest blow to the Indians’ injury-ravaged rotation. Civale, who’s tied for the major league lead with 10 wins, injured his middle finger in a start against the Cubs on Monday. He underwent an MRI and was examined by Dr. Thomas Graham in Dayton, Ohio. The Indians said Civale will be shut down from throwing for up to two weeks and the right-hander will miss between four to five weeks of game activity. Civale’s injury comes on the heels of the Indians losing reigning AL Cy Young winner Shane Bieber (shoulder) and Zach Plesac (broken thumb) to injuries. Bieber and Plesac are expected to be sidelined several more weeks. The 26-year-old Civale is 10-2 with a 3.32 ERA in 15 starts.
■ MLB: Mets slugger Pete Alonso will defend his Home Run Derby title July 12 at Coors Field in Denver, but Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who fell short by one HR in 2019, said he’s sitting out the event. Guerrero, who was tied for the major league lead with 23 HRs, told reporters he wanted to “take care of myself physically and mentally.” There was no Derby last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.