Wallner hits grand slam as Twins out A's
Matt Wallner hit a grand slam in a five-run first inning, Alex Kirilloff added a two-run homer and the Minnesota Twins beat the Oakland Athletics 11-3 on a cold and drizzly night Tuesday night.
Wallner's second career grand slam went an estimated 463 feet high into the right-field seats, the 13th homer of his rookie season, off Oakland starter Paul Blackburn.
“I've got a bad neck, I could barely get my eyes to where that ball was going,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “One of the furthest balls I've ever seen hit. Ever. That's 20-something years of professional baseball. Like truly like a rocket as it went into the night. A nice way to start the game off, but then the rest of the game there were some really good things too.”
BRAVES 7, CUBS 6 Sean Murphy reached on a tworun fielding error by right fielder Seiya Suzuki in the eighth inning and major league-leading Atlanta overcame a six-run deficit to beat Chicago.
CARDINALS 4, BREWERS 1 >> Milwaukee clinched the NL Central title for the third time in six seasons, despite a loss to last-place St. Louis and with the help of a come-from-behind win by the Braves.
DIAMONDBACKS 15, WHITE SOX 4 >> Christian Walker homered twice and drove in six runs and Arizona added to their wild-card push with a victory over lowly Chicago.
RAYS 9, RED SOX 7 >> René Pinto hit a two-run home run, Manuel Margot added a pair of RBI singles as part of a four-hit night, and Tampa Bay held on to beat Boston.
ORIOLES 1, NATIONALS 0 >> Rookie Gunnar Henderson homered, Kyle Bradish had another dominant start and Baltimore beat Washington hours after the team announced that Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson had died.
Bradish (12-7) allowed three hits, struck out four batters and had a pair of walks over a season-high eight innings. Yennier Canó picked up his eighth save for the Orioles, who have won seven of their last 10 games.
Henderson led off the first with a homer on a seven-pitch at-bat off Josiah Gray. Gray (8-13) did not allow another run through six innings. He gave up five hits with seven strikeouts and two walks.
The Orioles held a moment of silence for Robinson, who died Tuesday at the age of 86. Robinson played his entire 23year career in Baltimore beginning in 1955. He was named to 18 All-Star games and was a member of the 1966 and 1970 World Series championship teams.
PHILLIES 3, PIRATES 2 >> National League champion Philadelphia clinched a wild-card berth, beating Pittsburgh in 10 innings on Johan Rojas' RBI single that set off a wild celebration in the outfield.
YANKEES 2, BLUE JAYS 0 >> Austin Wells hit a tworun home run in the ninth inning and New York beat
Toronto.
Michael King and two relievers combined on a three-hitter as the Yankees improved to a major league-best 18-9 since Aug. 28.
Facing Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano (5-7), Gleyber Torres singled to begin the ninth. Wells followed with a first-pitch drive into the left-field bullpen.
Romano, who blew his first save opportunity since May 20 on Saturday at Tampa Bay, took the loss for a second straight outing.
Jhony Brito (9-7) pitched two innings for the victory and Clay Holmes finished for his 23rd save in 26 chances.
TIGERS 6, ROYALS 3 >> Akil Baddoo and Parker Meadows hit consecutive homers to lead off a four-run eighth inning and Detroit pulled away from Kansas City.
Baddoo and Meadows gave the Tigers the lead against Taylor Clarke (36). Andy Ibañez and Zach McKinstry added RBI singles later in the eighth inning.
Jason Foley (3-3) worked an inning of relief and earned the win.
Kansas City's Zack Greinke pitched five shutout innings, and saw his winless streak grow to 22 games (19 starts) since a 6-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles on May 3. Greinke retired 14 of the 15 batters he faced but his bullpen couldn't hold on.
Nick Pratto, Salvador Perez and Nick Loftin drove in runs for the Royals.
REDS 11, GUARDIANS 7 >> Rookie Elly De La Cruz had his first two-homer game and drove in four runs, Luke Maile had three RBIs and Cincinnati improved its slim playoff hopes with a victory over Cleveland.
De La Cruz hit a solo shot in the fourth off Lucas Giolito and hammered a 467-foot blast to right in the eighth against Xzavion Curry. Fellow rookie Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Maile and TJ Friedl also homered for Cincinnati.
Bo Naylor belted a threerun homer and Kole Calhoun had a two-run shot for the Guardians.
Sam Moll (2-3) got the win with two scoreless innings of relief.
The Reds took an 8-7 lead in the fifth on Maile's two-run double off James Karinchak (2-5).
ROCKIES 4, DODGERS 1, 1ST GAME >> Chase Anderson pitched five scoreless innings for his first win in 17 starts this season, Nolan Jones homered and Colorado snapped a sevengame losing streak by beating the Los Angeles in the opener of a doubleheader.
Brendan Rodgers added three hits and an RBI for Colorado. Anderson (1-6), who was claimed off waivers from Tampa Bay on May 12, allowed five hits. He walked two and struck out four.
The Rockies built a 3-0 lead off starter Caleb Ferguson (7-4), who went 2/3 innings.