Major leagues: Perfect until ninth, Rays settle for 4-1 win
The Tampa Bay Rays took a combined perfect game into the ninth inning before Hanser Alberto beat the shift with a leadoff single against Ryan Yarbrough, wrecking history in the making and taking some of the edge off their 4-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday.
Ryne Stanek pitched the first two innings before Yarbrough took over. Mixing a cut fastball with a sinker and a deceptive changeup, Yarbrough was literally unhittable – until the ninth.
Tampa Bay’s try for the first combo perfect game in the majors came two days after a pair of Los Angeles Angels pitchers teamed up for a no-hitter while wearing the jerseys of late teammate Tyler Skaggs.
The right-handed hitting Alberto – hitting around .400 against lefties – pushed a grounder to the right side, precisely where the second baseman usually stands. Stevie Wilkerson followed with a single, and an RBI single by Anthony Santander off Oliver Drake enabled Baltimore to break up the shutout.
Oakland 3, Chicago White Sox 2: Chad Pinder scored all the way from first base when White Sox shortstop Jose Rondon made a throwing error trying to start a double play in the ninth inning and the Oakland Athletics beat Chicago, 3-2.
The A’s completed a three-game sweep. They have won 10 of 12 to put themselves in solid playoff contention.
Pinder singled as a pinch-hitter off Jace Fry (1-4) to begin the ninth. Ramon Laureano, who homered in the eighth to tie it at 2, followed with a sharp grounder to the left side of the infield.
Rondon made a backhanded stop, hurried and threw on the run. But the ball sailed past second baseman Yolmer Sanchez and rolled into the large foul territory near Chicago’s bullpen, and Pinder scored standing up.
Cleveland 4, Minnesota 3: Carlos Santana hit a solo home run that broke a seventh-inning tie and the Cleveland Indians avoided a sweep against the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins with a 4-3 win.
After the Indians lost the first two matchups, All-Star MVP Shane Bieber helped Cleveland salvage the finale and close within 6 ½ games of the Twins.
Houston 12, Texas 4: Justin Verlander followed a two-run first inning with five no-hit innings and Jose Altuve hit Houston’s franchise-record ninth grand slam of the season as the Astros beat the Texas Rangers 12-4.
Verlander (11-4) gave up four hits, all singles, and struck out seven. He retired his last 15 batters following a leadoff walk in the second inning as the Astros salvaged a split of the four-game series after losing the first two games.
N.Y. Yankees 4, Toronto 2: Masahiro Tanaka pitched six strong innings, Gio Urshela drove in two runs, and the New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-2.
Tanaka (6-5) allowed two runs, four hits and struck out five without issuing a walk. The righty, who had three no-decisions in his past three starts, won for the first time since tossing a shutout over Tampa Bay on June 17.
L.A. Angels 6, Seattle 3: Rookie Matt Thaiss hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the eighth inning, and the Los Angeles Angels completed a three-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners with a 6-3 victory.
Mike Trout left the game before the third inning due to right calf tightness, but the Angels (48-46) kept rolling two days after their cathartic no-hit victory in their first home game since the death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs.
Detroit 12, Kansas City 8: Jeimer Candelario hit a bases-clearing double and Gordon Beckham added a two-run homer during a seven-run third inning, and the Detroit Tigers took advantage of Kansas City’s late pitching switch to beat the Royals, 12-8.
National League
Philadelphia 4, Washington 3: Maikel Franco homered with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Philadelphia Phillies a 4-3 win over the Washington Nationals.
J.T. Realmuto also went deep for the Phillies, who avoided a three-game sweep.
Franco drove the first pitch he saw from Matt Grace (0-2), a 93-mph fastball, over the wall in left. It was Franco’s 15th homer of the season and second career walkoff.
Hector Neris (2-4), who blew the save in Philadelphia’s 4-3 loss to the Nationals on Saturday, struck out the side swinging in the top of the ninth.
St. Louis 5, Arizona 2: Paul Goldschmidt homered, Adam Wainwright pitched seven scoreless innings, and the St. Louis Cardinals held on to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-2.
Wainwright (6-7), who was scratched from Friday’s start due to back spasms, relied on a mixture of cutters, change-ups and curve balls. He allowed four hits, walked one and struck out seven as he improved 4-0 in day starts this season.
San Francisco 8, Milwaukee 3: Tyler Beede pitched effectively into the seventh inning, had two hits and drove in the go-ahead run as the San Francisco Giants beat the Milwaukee Brewers 8-3.
Brandon Belt homered for the Giants, who took two out of three in the series.
Colorado 10, Cincinnati 9: Ryan McMahon singled, doubled, tripled and drove in three runs as the Colorado Rockies outslugged the Cincinnati Reds, 10-9.
A day after the Reds romped 17-9, Colorado bounced back with a couple of big innings.
McMahon hit a two-run double as the Rockies scored four times in the first inning. He had an RBI triple in a six-run fifth that made it 10-5.
Atlanta 4, San Diego 1: Freddie Freeman hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning and All-Star rookie Mike Soroka struck out a career-high nine to win his 10th straight decision for the Atlanta Braves, who beat the San Diego Padres 4-1 for a three-game sweep.
N.Y. Mets 6, Miami 2: Robinson Cano homered for the second consecutive game to help lead the New York Mets to a 6-2 win over the Miami Marlins.