Rasmussen perfect through 8, pitches Rays past Orioles
ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. » Drew Rasmussen took a perfect game into the ninth inning, and the Tampa Bay Rays expanded their lead over Baltimore for the final AL wild card to 1 ½ games with a 4-1 victory over the Orioles on Sunday.
Rasmussen ( 7- 4) allowed his first baserunner when Jorge Mateo doubled down the leftfield line on the first pitch of the ninth. Mateo later scored on a Rasmussen wild pitch.
Jason Adam got two outs for his sixth save, finishing a one-hitter.
There hasn’t been a perfect game in the majors since Seattle’s Felix Hernandez accomplished the feat at home against the Rays on Aug. 15, 2012.
Randy Arozarena hit a three-run homer off Jordan Lyles (9- 9) with two out in the third. Arozarena has 15 homers and 38 RBIs in 37 games against Baltimore.
ROYALS 4, DODGERS 0 » Brady Singer pitched six dominant innings, and the Royals ended the Dodgers’ 12- game winning streak.
A day after hitting six home runs in a romp, the Dodgers were held to just two hits.
Singer (6- 4) pitched one- hit ball against the team with the best record in the majors. Scott Barlow got four outs for his 19th save.
CARDINALS 6, BREWERS 3 » Albert Pujols homered twice and Miles Mikolas tossed eight effective innings, leading the Cardinals to the win.
Dylan Carlson and Tyler O’Neill also connected for St. Louis, which pushed its NL Central lead over second- place Milwaukee to 1 ½ games.
Carlson broke a 2- all tie with his eighth homer of the season, a drive to left against Taylor Rogers (1- 6) in the eighth.
METS 6, PHILLIES 0 » Chris Bassitt pitched five innings of four-hit ball, and the Mets beat the Phillies for their 17th win in 20 games.
Daniel Vogelbach homered and Mark Canha had two hits for New York, which moved 35 games over .500 for the first time since September 2006.
The Mets posted their second straight shutout and kept 5 ½ games ahead of Atlanta atop the NL East. The Mets and Braves open a four- game series in Atlanta beginning Monday.
GUARDIANS 7, BLUE JAYS 2» Cleveland ace Shane Bieber pitched seven innings to win his fourth straight start, matching the longest winning streak of his career.
Amed Rosario homered and scored three times as the AL Central leaders won for the seventh time in eight games. Austin Hedges had two hits and two RBIs.
Bieber (8- 6) allowed two runs and eight hits, equaling a four- game winning streak from June 17 to July 3, 2018.
BRAVES 3, MARLINS 1 » Rookie Michael Harris II hit a tying homer in the ninth and William Contreras had a go- ahead single, helping Atlanta finish a sweep of the fourgame series.
The Braves won their sixth straight after losing four of five against the NL East-leading Mets.
Harris’ leadoff shot in the ninth tied it at 1. He drove the first pitch from Tanner Scott (4- 5) over the wall in left center for his 12th homer.
PADRES 6, NATIONALS 0 » Blake Snell struck out 10 in six sharp innings, Juan Soto reached base three times and the Padres wrapped up a hectic weekend with a victory.
On Friday, with so much focus on Soto’s return to Washington after a major trade this month, the Padres found out star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. had been suspended 80 games after testing positive for a performance- enhancing substance.
Then Saturday, San Diego manager Bob Melvin was upset with a disputed call at home plate in a one-run loss. Sunday was smoother all around because of Snell (5- 6).
RED SOX 3, YANKEES 0 » Michael Wacha allowed two hits in seven innings in his return from a shoulder injury, and Rafael Devers homered to lead last-place Boston past division-leading New York.
Tommy Pham had three hits for the Red Sox, who took two of three from New York, which has lost nine of its last 11 games.
WHITE SOX 5, TIGERS 3 » AJ Pollock and Andrew Vaughn homered, helping the White Sox complete a three- game sweep.
Pollock, Eloy Jiménez and José Abreu each had two hits for the White Sox, who remained 2 ½ games behind AL Central- leading Cleveland. Lance Lynn (3- 5) pitched six effective innings, and Kendall Graveman earned his sixth save.
RANGERS 5, MARINERS 3 » Texas star Corey Seager doubled twice and scored twice, including the tiebreaking run in the seventh inning.
Josh Sborz (1- 0) struck out five of the seven batters he faced in the seventh and eighth innings, allowing only one walk. The five strikeouts were a career high.
DIAMONDBACKS 7, ROCKIES 4 » Christian Walker had four hits, including a 460- foot homer, and drove in four runs, leading rookie Tommy Henry and Arizona to the victory.
Walker hit two doubles along with his 27th home run.
REDS 8, CUBS 5 » Jose Barrero hit a tiebreaking RBI single in Cincinnati’s three- run fifth inning, and the Reds stopped a five- game slide.
Aristides Aquino hit a three- run drive for Cincinnati, and Austin Romine doubled home two runs. Joel Kuhnel (2-1) pitched two scoreless innings for the win, and Alexis Díaz got five outs for his fifth save.
ANGELS 4, TWINS 2 » The Los Angeles Angels played three miserable months without getting on the type of roll they’ve hit over the past week.
The surge is probably too late to save the Halos’ season, but any chance to shine means the world to Tucker Davidson and the other Angels playing for their futures.