AROUND THE HORN
Blue Jays:
Teoscar Hernández hit his 100th career home run, José Berríos took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and the Blue Jays survived a late scare to beat the Athletics 10-8 Saturday, Toronto’s sixth win in seven games. Breyvic Valera hit a two-run homer while Danny Jansen and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. each had solo shots as the Blue Jays boosted their home run total to 204. San Francisco had 201 home runs entering play Saturday. Oakland pitchers allowed at least three home runs for the fifth straight game, extending a dubious franchise record. Mark Canha hit a three-run homer for Oakland and finished with four RBIs. Sean Murphy added a two-run blast and Matt Chapman hit a solo shot. The Athletics scored five runs in the ninth but still lost for the third time in four games.
Cubs: Rookie Frank Schwindel hustled hard and sprawled for an RBI single that capped a threerun rally with two outs in the ninth inning, lifting the Cubs over the Pirates 7-6 Saturday for their fifth straight win. Schwindel had three hits, including a solo home run that sailed into Wrigley Field’s left-field video board. He has five homers in six games and 10 this season. Alfonso Rivas singled home a run in the ninth that drew the Cubs within 6-5 and Rafael Ortega’s third hit of the game tied it when right fielder Ben Gamel couldn’t make a diving catch. With runners on second and third, Schwindel hit a grounder that shortstop Kevin Newman gloved in the hole. Newman pivoted and made a midair throw to first that was wide, and Colin Moran came off the base to catch it. Schwindel made a dive into the bag and narrowly avoided the tag. The play withstood a video review, handing the Pirates their fifth straight loss.
Mets: Francisco Lindor hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning and the Mets, after blowing a nine-run lead, extended their winning streak to six by beating the Nationals 11-9 Saturday to open a split doubleheader on Saturday. Ahead 9-0 in the fourth, the Mets saw the Nationals force extra innings on Andrew Stevenson’s two-out, two-run homer in the seventh that made it 9-all. Mets reliever Trevor May (7-2) escaped a basesloaded, one-out jam in the eighth. Lindor then led off the ninth with his 12th homer, connecting against closer Kyle Finnegan (4-6) to also score the automatic runner from second. Heath Hembree pitched the ninth to record his ninth save. Washington lost its seventh in a row. The Mets have never blown a lead of more than eight runs in a loss, and barely avoided doing it this time. “There’s not a comfortable lead at the big league level,” Mets manager Luis Rojas said. “There’s not. We’ve got to be aware of that.”
Rays: Rays rookie shortstop Wander Franco was back in the starting lineup for Saturday’s game against the Twins after clearing MLB concussion protocols. Franco extended his on-base streak to 33 games with a seventh-inning walk Thursday against the Red Sox. He left after the at-bat with a headache. He was checked by a trainer after pointing toward his head several times earlier in the plate appearance. The 20-year sat out Friday night’s with the Twins. “Much better,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “He got in at like 10 a.m., got checked out by our doctors. Slept-well, ate-well last night, ate-well this morning.”