Major leagues: Bizarre double play helps Brewers
Yasmani Grandal homered during a big rally, then started a bizarre double play on a pitch that got past him and bounced to the backstop, helping the Milwaukee Brewers outlast the Cincinnati Reds 11-9 on Wednesday.
Trailing 6-1 in the third inning, Grandal hit a two-run homer as the Brewers scored five times in the sixth for an 11-8 lead.
The Reds scored once in the seventh and had the bases loaded with one out. Reliever Jeremy Jeffress struck out Phillip Ervin swinging, but the ball zipped past Grandal. Fortunately for the Brewers catcher, the ball caromed off the back wall and right back to him.
Grandal threw down to first when Curt Casali strayed off the bag, assuming the runners would advance. But Derek Dietrich stayed at third, seeing the ball
San Diego 5, Arizona 2: Left-hander Eric Lauer pitched seven strong innings to win for the first time in seven starts and Greg Garcia had three hits, scored twice and drove in a run for his hometown San Diego Padres, who beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-2 for a three-game sweep.
Lauer (3-4) held the Diamondbacks to one run and four hits, struck out seven and walked none to win for the first time since April 8 at San Francisco. Since then he had three losses and three no-decisions. He allowed Eduardo Escobar’s RBI double in the sixth before striking out the side in the seventh.
Kirby Yates got the final three outs for his major league-leading 20th save after Adam Warren allowed a run.
American League
Oakland 7, Cleveland 2: Frankie Montas pitched six scoreless innings, Mark Canha homered and drove in three runs and the Oakland Athletics extended their winning streak to six with a 7-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians.
Nick Hundley had three hits, including a solo homer and two RBIs. Robbie Grossman also drove in a pair of runs as Oakland swept the three-game series and reached the .500 mark for the first time since April 26.
Texas 2, Seattle 1: Hunter Pence homered, Adrian Sampson had another impressive long outing for a victory after not starting, and the Texas Rangers beat the slumping Seattle Mariners 2-1 to complete a three-game sweep.
The Mariners have lost 27 of 37 games to fall to the bottom of the AL West standings since starting the season 13-2.
Interleague
Orioles-Mets trade: The Baltimore Orioles bolstered their outfield defense by acquiring Keon Broxton from the New York Mets on Wednesday for $500,000 in 2019-20 international signing bonus pool allotment.
Broxton was designated for assignment last week by the Mets after batting .143 in 34 games with no homers and two RBIs. The Orioles, however, like the idea of having his glove in center field after experimenting with rookie Stevie Wilkerson over the past month.