Trout homers in 7th straight game
CLEVELAND — Angels star Mike Trout homered in his seventh consecutive game, one shy of the major league record, but the AL Central-leading Cleveland Guardians beat Los Angeles 5-4 on Monday night.
Amed Rosario doubled home Steven Kwan with the go-ahead run in the seventh for Cleveland, which increased its advantage to three games over the Chicago White Sox and five games over third-place Minnesota.
The game featured a strange sequence in the seventh when Cleveland manager Terry Francona and Angels interim manager Phil Nevin were both ejected without a pitch being thrown in-between the tossings.
Trout’s 35th homer of the season came in the fifth. The three-time AL MVP connected off Konnor Pilkington for a 422-foot drive to dead center at Progressive Field.
Pittsburgh’s Dale Long established the MLB record of eight straight games with a home run in 1956. Don Mattingly of the Yankees matched it in 1987, as did Seattle’s Ken Griffey Jr. in 1993.
Blue Jays 3, Rays 2: Bo Bichette launched a goahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning, leading host Toronto to a win over Tampa Bay in a showdown between AL wild-card contenders. Toronto tied idle Seattle atop the standings for the three wild-card spots. Tampa Bay is a half-game behind. Bichette, connected off Jason Adam (2-3) for his 24th homer. Bichette went 2 for 3 and drove in all three Toronto runs.
Dodgers 6, Diamondbacks 0: Mookie Betts hit a three-run homer, Tyler Anderson threw seven sharp innings and Los Angeles blanked visiting Arizona, becoming the first major league team to clinch a playoff spot this season.
Giants 3, Braves 2: Alex Cobb pitched seven scoreless innings and Thairo Estrada had three hits as San Francisco won at home.
Cubs 5, Mets 2: Chris Bassitt gave up five runs in 3 2 ⁄3 innings as NL East-leading New York lost to Chicago at Citi Field. Rafael Ortega homered in the second and Zach McKinstry hit a two-run shot in the third.
Rangers split with Marlins: Rookie Charles Leblanc hit a pair of RBI doubles during an eight-run burst in the fifth inning and Miami defeated Texas 10-6 Monday for a split of their doubleheader at Miami. Texas won the opener 3-2 as Mark Mathias drew a bases-loaded walk to snap an eighth-inning tie.
Pirates 6, Reds 3: Rodolfo Castro and Diego Castillo homered in a five-run fifth inning to power Pittsburgh to a win at Cincinnati. Castro hit a three-run home run off Mike Minor in the fifth.