Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Hamels, Cubs top Rockies in testy game
CUBS 10, ROCKIES 1
DENVER — Cole Hamels struck out nine in seven scoreless innings, singled twice and drove in two runs to lead the Chicago Cubs past the Colorado Rockies 10-1 in a testy game on Wednesday.
Rockies All-Star third-baseman Nolan Arenado left in the fifth inning with a left forearm contusion after Hamels (6-2) hit him with a pitch in the third, and three more batters — including Hamels — were hit by pitches later in the game.
Chicago’s Kris Bryant was hit by pitches three times in the first two games of the series.
Javier Báez and Kyle Schwarber homered for Chicago, which snapped a five-game road losing streak. Colorado’s 10-game home winning streak ended.
Arenado looked toward the mound after he was hit by Hamels’ pitch, and he said something to the Chicago dugout before walking to first base. He was later forced out at second and
played the field in the fourth, throwing out Addison Russell to start the inning. Ryan McMahon replaced him in the top of the fifth.
Rockies reliever Brian Shaw hit Hamels in the right foot with a pitch in the seventh inning, and Colorado rookie Phillip Diehl hit Anthony Rizzo in the eighth, drawing a warning to both dugouts from home plate umpire Roberto Ortiz.
Báez followed with a two-run homer, his 17th.
Cubs reliever Brad Brach hit Tony Wolters in the ninth but was not ejected.
Chicago scored five times in the second off Antonio Sentenzela (5-5). Jason Heyward had a two-run single and Schwarber hit three-run homer to the second deck in right-center, his 14th. Sentenzela lasted to the fifth inning, when he gave up three more runs, two on a single by Hamels.
Hamels got out of a bases-loaded jam in the first and breezed from there, allowing six hits and striking out nine. David Dahl had three of Colorado’s hits.
DIAMONDBACKS 2, PHILLIES 0 Merrill Kelly tossed three-hit ball over 7 2/3 innings, and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Philadelphia Phillies. Kelly (7-6) struck out five before departing when Bryce Harper entered the game as a pinch-hitter. Andrew Chafin retired Harper on two pitches and Greg Holland finished the three-hitter, earning his 10th save in 11 tries. Philadelphia’s Zach Eflin (6-6) allowed two runs and five hits in eight innings, tying a career high with nine strikeouts. The Diamondbacks scored both runs in the fifth when Adam Jones, Eduardo Escobar and Christian Walker hit three straight singles to start the inning. Walker’s liner to right scored Jones and Escobar scored on Nick Ahmed’s sacrifice fly.
MARLINS 9, CARDINALS 0 Jordan Yamamoto pitched seven innings to win his major league debut, and Garrett Cooper hit a grand slam and the Miami Marlins broke a six-game losing streak by beating the St. Louis Cardinals. Yamamoto allowed three hits and two walks and threw 95 pitches. The rookie also earned an RBI with a squeeze bunt. Two relievers completed a three-hitter. Cooper finished a double shy of the cycle, and pulled a two-out inside fastball that was off the plate for a grand slam in the second inning against Miles Mikolas (4-7). An off-target throw to first cost the Cardinals a chance to turn an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play. Curtis Granderson, batting .181, then drew a two-out walk before Cooper hit his sixth homer and second career grand slam, with both coming in the past three weeks. Cooper tripled and scored in the first inning, and singled in the fifth. Granderson hit a three-run homer in the eighth.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
BLUE JAYS 8, ORIOLES 6 Rowdy Tellez hit a grand slam to cap a six-run fifth inning, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had three hits and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles to end a five-game losing streak. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had two RBIs for the Blue Jays, who matched their run total from the previous five games combined. Toronto sent nine batters to the plate in the fifth, scoring on an infield single and a wild pitch before Tellez sent a 2-2 pitch from Miguel Castro over the right-field scoreboard. It was the second grand slam of the season for the rookie, who had gone hitless in his previous 11 at-bats. Trey Mancini homered for the Orioles, who won the series opener and were trying to put together back-to-back victories for the first time since May 4-6. Baltimore used a four-run eighth to cut into an 8-2 deficit but could not complete the comeback. Pitching in his 400th career game, Edwin Jackson (1-4) allowed two runs in five innings of relief for Toronto.
ATHLETICS 6, RAYS 2 Ramon Laureano helped the Oakland Athletics end a long stay away from home in grand fashion. Laureano hit his first career grand slam to break an eighth-inning tie and finished with five RBIs, and the Athletics beat the Tampa Bay Rays. Oakland went 6-4, including taking two of three from the Rays, on a season-long 10-game road trip. Yandy Diaz and Tommy Pham both had three hits for the Rays, who are 18-16 at home. Matt Olson started the decisive eighth with a single off Adam Kolarek (2-2). Chaz Roe entered and after striking out Khris Davis, the right-hander walked Stephen Piscotty and then intentionally walked Robbie Grossman after a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third. Laureano made it 6-2 by sending a 2-2 pitch from Colin Poche into the left-field stands. Oakland took a 1-0 lead in the fourth on a two-out infield single by Laureano. He also stole two bases.
RED SOX 4, RANGERS 3 Mookie Betts drew a bases-loaded walk in the ninth inning, giving the Boston Red Sox a win over the Texas Rangers. Andrew Benintendi hit a triple and two doubles, driving in two runs for the Red Sox as they ended a three-game skid and avoided falling below .500 for the first time in more than a month. Boston rallied against reliever Jesse Chavez (2-1) in the ninth after allowing the Rangers to tie it in the eighth on an unearned run. Christian Vazquez, whose throwing error in the eighth put the tying run on third, led off the ninth with a ground-rule double to center. Jackie Bradley Jr. followed with a single and the Rangers walked Michael Chavis to load the bases for Betts, who fouled off the first pitch he saw from Chavez. The next four pitches were balls, and pinch-hitter Marco Hernandez trotted home. Matt Barnes (3-1) pitched a scoreless ninth. Starter Rick Porcello was in position for the win until Texas tied it in the eighth. Brandon Workman hit Shin-Soo Choo with a pitch and went to third when Vazquez fielded a bunt by Delino DeShields and threw wildly. Elvis Andrus tied it with a sacrifice fly to right.
INTERLEAGUE
REDS 7, INDIANS 2 Rookie Nick Senzel and Joey Votto hit back-to-back home runs to open the game and Cincinnati later got deep shots from Eugenio Suarez and Curt Casali, powering the Reds to a win over the Cleveland Indians. The quick homers by Senzel and Votto off rookie Zach Plesac (1-2) marked the first time an opposing team hit consecutive homers to start a game in Cleveland in 118 years. It also set the tone for the Reds, who earned a split of the twogame series between Ohio’s teams and snapped an eight-game losing streak in interleague play. Anthony DeSclafani (3-3) made the early support stand, allowing one run and four hits in 5 2/3 innings. Carlos Santana hit his 14th homer for Cleveland. Second baseman Jose Peraza delivered an RBI double in the fifth to give the Reds a 3-1 lead. Suarez led off the sixth with his 15th homer and the third surrendered by Plesac, who had allowed just two in his previous three starts. Casali opened the seventh with a homer off reliever Nick Goody.
TUESDAY’S LATE GAME
ANGELS 5, DODGERS 3 Shohei Ohtani’s latest big homer kicked off a five-run rally for the Los Angeles Angels in the first inning. With plenty of gutsy relief pitching, they managed to make that lead stand up for the whole game. Ohtani and Justin Bour homered off Kenta Maeda in the first, and the Angels swept the two-game Freeway Series with a victory over the Dodgers.