Cole fans 9 more as Astros sweep the A’s
Gerrit Cole struck out nine to raise his major league-leading total to 86, and Houston beat Oakland, 4-1, on Wednesday to complete a three-game road sweep. Max Stassi and Derek Fisher hit consecutive home runs with two outs in the seventh for a 2-1 lead, and Yuli Gurriel added a tworun double that extended his hitting streak to 11 games. Cole (41) allowed one run, four hits and three walks in six innings. His 1.43 ERA is second in the major leagues behind the 1.17 of teammate Justin Verlander.
l Matt Szczur hit a go-ahead RBI double in the seventh inning and San Diego’s bullpen pitched four scoreless innings to lift the Padres past the visiting Washington Nationals 2-1.
l Mark Trumbo had a tiebreaking two-run single in the eighth, Chris Davis homered and host Baltimore beat Kansas City, 5-3, to end a seven-game losing streak.
l Yangervis Solarte hit a game-tying double in the eighth and Justin Smoak followed with a go-ahead double as host Toronto rallied to beat Seattle, 5-2.
l Nomar Mazara led off the 10th inning with his second homer of the game, giving Texas a 5-4 home victory over Detroit. Mazara has 10 home runs this season, seven in May.
l Carlos Santana had three hits and five RBI, Nick Pivetta struck out seven in five scoreless innings and Philadelphia beat San Francisco at home, 11-3.
l Kris Bryant hit his 100th career homer, Anthony Rizzo and Addison Russell connected in an eight-run third, and the Chicago Cubs pounded Miami, 13-4, at Wrigley Field.
l Carlos Carrasco struck out 14 in a complete game, Tyler Naquin and Francisco Lindor homered, and visiting Cleveland beat Milwaukee, 6-2.
l Rene Rivera homered, Jaime Barria threw efficiently into the sixth and the Los Angeles Angels beat host Colorado, 8-0, to end the Rockies’ six-game winning streak.
Rafael Palmeiro has signed to play for the independent Cleburne (Texas) Railroaders at age 53, nearly 13 years after his last major league game. The American Association team also signed Palmeiro’s 28-year-old son, Patrick, who has played for other independent teams the past three seasons. Palmeiro was suspended for 10 days in 2005, his final season, following a positive test for the banned steroid Stanozolol.