Cole’s birthday gem leads Astros
Gerrit Cole had a special game on his 29th birthday Sunday.
If not for Shed Long’s homer into the short porch in left field, the day would have been perfect.
Cole allowed one hit with 15 strikeouts in a seasonhigh eight innings, and the Houston Astros routed Felix Hernandez and the Seattle Mariners 21-1 to complete a four-game sweep.
“He makes it look pretty easy,” Astros manager AJ Hinch said. “He was locked in command-wise, stuffwise, intensity-wise.”
Cole (16-5) won his 12th straight decision and joined Pedro Martinez as the only pitchers in major league history with 14 or more strikeouts in three straight games. Cole leads the major league with a career-high 281 strikeouts, and his 2.73 ERA in second in the AL behind the 2.52 for teammate Justin Verlander.
One of the toughest parts of Cole’s day was staying loose while the Astros created long innings.
“I’m not complaining, but it was challenging a couple times when you’re scoring that many runs,” he said. “But I guess I’m always up for a challenge.”
Chris Devenski struck out two in a perfect ninth, finishing a series in which Houston outscored the Mariners 41-15.
Jake Marisnick and George Springer homered, and rookie Yordan Alvarez had a season-high six RBI and hit three of Houston’s team-record 11 doubles. The Astros are 16-1 against Seattle this year, winning 11 in a row.
After beating Baltimore 23-2 earlier this season, Sunday’s win made the Astros the first team to win two games by 20 or more runs in a season since the New York Yankees did it three times in 1939, according to STATS.
“The team offense was incredible today,” Hinch said. “We put up good atbat after good at-bat. We scored double-digit runs before we hit our first single. That’s the kind of day it was. It was a special day for our offense.”
Hernandez (1-6) tied his career high, allowing 11 runs. He lasted just two-plus innings and gave up seven hits.
Indians 5, Twins 2:
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Mike Clevenger won his 10th straight decision, and Carlos Santana and Francisco Lindor homered as Cleveland beat host Minnesota. The Indians moved back to 5 1⁄2 games behind the Twins in the AL Central. The teams close the season series with a three-game set in Cleveland that begins on Friday.
Rangers 10, Orioles 4:
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Rookie Nick Solak had three hits and four RBI, Ronald Guzman and Rougned Odor homered and Texas beat the host Orioles to complete their first four-game sweep at Baltimore in 37 years.
Rays 8, Blue Jays 3:
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Tyler Glasnow struck out five over two innings in his return from a four-month layoff caused by a strained right forearm, and host Tampa Bay beat Toronto to complete a four-game sweep that left the Blue Jays as the fifth major league team on pace to lose 100 games.
White Sox 5, Angels 1: –
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Danny Mendick hit his first career home run, Jose Abreu got his 31st of the season, and host Chicago beat Los Angeles.
Athletics 3, Tigers 1:
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Sean Manaea matched his career high by striking out 10 in his second start following shoulder surgery, and host Oakland beat Detroit to give the Tigers their first 100-loss season since 2003.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Phillies 10, Mets 7:
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Maikel Franco, Scott Kingery and Adam Haseley homered as Philadelphia overcame an early deficit and outlasted host New
York to further tighten the NL wild-card race.
The game took 4 hours, 29 minutes — a minute short of matching the longest nine-inning game in NL history. When it was over, Philadelphia had closed within two games of Chicago for the second wild-card spot. The Mets stayed four back of the Cubs, who lost Milwaukee 8-5.
Brewers 8, Cubs 5:
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Tyler Austin drove a pinchhit, three-run homer during the Brewers’ five-run fourth inning against Jon Lester, and host Milwaukee beat Chicago to tighten the NL wild-card race. Milwaukee won the series 3-1 and pulled within two games of the Cubs for the second NL wild card with three weeks left. The Cardinals are 4 1⁄2
games ahead of Chicago for the NL Central lead.
Nationals 9, Braves 4:
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Max Scherzer won for the first time in two months, Juan Soto homered and Washington beat host Atlanta to stop the NL East leaders’ nine-game winning streak, their longest in five years. The Nationals are nine games back of the Braves with three weeks left but began the day with a two-game lead for the top NL wild card.
Scherzer (10-5) had not gotten a decision in four starts since beating Kansas City on July 6, a span that included nearly a month on the injured list because of a bad back.
Dodgers 5, Giants 0:
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Corey Seager and Matt Beaty homered, Kenta Maeda threw four dominant innings in relief, and host Los Angeles beat San Francisco to reduce their magic number to clinch the NL West to two. The Dodgers (93-52) can lock up their seventh consecutive division title Tuesday at Baltimore when they open a threegame series.
Padres 2, Rockies 1
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(10): Wil Myers singled in Manny Machado with one out in the 10th inning to give host San Diego the win against Colorado and a series victory in a matchup between the worst teams in the NL West.
Reds 4, Diamondbacks
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3: Relief pitcher Michael Lorenzen lined a gameending, pinch-hit double in the ninth inning to help host Cincinnati snap Arizona’s five-game winning streak. Lorenzen is the first Cincinnati pitcher with a walk-off hit since Randy Keisler in the 14th inning against Washington in 2005.
Cardinals 2, Pirates 0:
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Jack Flaherty had another strong start in his scintillating second half, scattering five hits over eight electric innings to lead St. Louis over host Pittsburgh.