Mets' Senga shuts down the Diamondbacks
By The Associated Press
Kodai Senga struck out 10 over six scoreless innings, Jeff Mcneil and Jonathan Araúz homered and the host New York Mets continued playing the spoiler with an 11-1 rout of the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.
The Diamondbacks dropped the final three games of a four-game series against the Mets to fall into a tie for the third NL wild-card spot with the Cincinnati Reds (76-72) and San Francisco Giants. The Reds, who visit New York for a weekend series, have the tiebreaker over Arizona by virtue of winning the season series 4-3.
The Giants’ (75-71) game against the Colorado Rockies was postponed because of weather.
The Diamondbacks (76-72) overcame an eighth-inning deficit to earn a 4-3 win Monday before the Mets won the next three by a combined 25-6. Arizona’s top two starters, Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, gave up 14 runs (13 earned) over 10 innings in the final two games of the series.
Kelly (11-7) allowed seven runs and struck out seven in five innings on Thursday.
Tyrone Taylor hit two RBI doubles and put host Milwaukee ahead for good with an impressive slide home in the NL Central-leading Brewers’ victory over visiting Miami.
Milwaukee won three of four from the Marlins this week and extended their division lead to 4 1/2 games over the Chicago Cubs. The Marlins remain just a half-game outside of playoff position as they pursue one of the NL’S three wildcard spots.
BREWERS 4, MARLINS 2 >>
RED SOX 5, YANKEES 0; YANKEES 8, RED SOX 5 >>
Trevor Story hit a three-run homer, Tanner Houck pitched six effective innings and host Boston came through with a victory over New York in the opener of a doubleheader after the Red Sox fired Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom. Aaron Judge’s grand slam during a five-run second inning led the Yankees in the nightcap.
The Red Sox and Yankees are currently fighting to stay out of last place in the AL East and are tied for that spot at 74-73.
Matt Vierling hit a grand slam, Reese Olson pitched six sharp innings and host Detroit beat Cincinnati. Akil Baddoo also went deep for the Tigers. Olson (4-7) permitted one run and two hits. The rookie righthander struck out seven and walked four. Jake Fraley hit a leadoff single in the sixth for the Reds’ first hit of the game. Olson carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning in his previous start.
Spencer Steer and TJ Friedl homered for Cincinnati, which had won three straight.
TIGERS 8, REDS 2 >>
Mitch Keller pitched eight innings of two-hit ball for host Pittsburgh. Keller (12-9) struck out seven and walked one. The 27-year-old
PIRATES 2, NATIONALS 0 >> right-hander improved to 3-1 with a 3.07 ERA in his last seven starts.
David Bednar pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 35th save. The Pirates jumped in front when Jack Suwinski led off the second with his team-high 25th homer on a drive to right. Alfonso Rivas connected with two out in the fifth, hitting a 411-foot shot to center for his third homer.
Luke Raley hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning, and Tampa Bay’s remarkable bullpen retired everyone it faced in the Rays’ victory over host Baltimore in the opener of a huge series at Camden Yards. The Rays pulled within a game of the firstplace Orioles in the AL East, and their relievers extended their streak to 34 innings without an earned run.
Ryan O’hearn and Gunnar Henderson homered for the Orioles, but with the game tied at 3, Raley hit a drive to center field off Kyle Bradish (11-7) for his 19th home run of the year.
RAYS 4, ORIOLES 3 >>
Corey Seager homered and drove in three runs, Jonah Heim hit a solo home run and visiting Texas routed Toronto to complete a four-game sweep. Robbie Grossman reached base four times and drove in a run with a bases-loaded walk as the Rangers (82-64) won their sixth straight, moving 2 1/2 games ahead of the Blue Jays in the AL wild-card race. Texas also pulled with a half-game of Houston in the AL West.
Kyle Farmer hit a two-run homer to cap Minnesota’s four-run seventh inning, Kenta Maeda threw seven strong innings and the visiting Twins routed Chicago. Edouard Julien and Royce Lewis hit solo shots in the fourth to get things rolling and help Minnesota (77-70) extend its AL Central lead to eight games over idle Cleveland.
RANGERS 9, BLUE JAYS 2 >>
TWINS 10, WHITE SOX 2 >>