Major leagues
Rookie Miguel Vargas drove in the go-ahead run with an infield single in a five-run eighth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied past the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-5 Tuesday for their MLB-leading 44th comeback win in the first game of a doubleheader.
“We did everything we could to give them the game and they gave us extra outs,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
The Dodgers, with the best record in the majors at 103-44, won their fifth in a row. Los Angeles shortstop Trea Turner exited in the fifth after being hit in the side by a ball that ricocheted off a runner’s helmet. Removed for precautionary reasons, Turner was expected to start the nightcap.
After stranding 12 runners though seven innings, managing just one run on seven hits, the Dodgers batted around in the eighth and rallied from a 5-1 deficit.
Chicago Cubs 2, Miami 1: David Bote hit a tying home run in the seventh inning, then added a sacrifice fly in the eighth that lifted the Chicago Cubs over the Miami Marlins, 2-1.
Esteban Quiroz got the first two hits of his major league career and P.J. Higgins also had two hits for the Cubs, who snapped a three-game losing skid. The 30-year-old Quiroz was promoted from Triple-A Saturday.
Adbert Alzolay (1-1) threw two innings of perfect relief. Brandon Hughes closed with a scoreless ninth around Garrett Cooper’s leadoff double for his sixth save.
Strider to miss start: Atlanta Braves rookie Spencer Strider has a sore left oblique and will not make his next start Saturday in Philadelphia.
Strider, the fastest pitcher to record 200 strikeouts in a single season, told the team he didn’t feel right after making his last start, a 5-2 victory Sunday over the Phillies.
“It’s not that we’re going to (put him on the injured list),” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “We just don’t want to take any chances. He wanted pitch, and we kind of took it out of his hands. And I’m glad he said something.”
Strider will continue to play catch and when he feels good, the Braves will slot him back into the rotation.
American League
Houston 5, Tampa Bay 0: Tampa Bay Rays ace Shane McClanahan was pulled in the fifth inning with neck tightness during a 5-0 loss to the Houston Astros.
The AL All-Star Game starter and Cy Young Award contender allowed five runs for only the second time this season, pushing his ERA to 2.36. McClanahan (12-6) was making his second start after returning from the 15-day injured list due to a left shoulder impingement.
McClanahan walked Jose Altuve leading off the fifth, then threw three straight balls to Jeremy Peña. Manager Kevin Cash and a trainer then came out of the dugout and pulled McClanahan, even after the 25-year-old appeared to tell Cash, “I’m good.”
McClanahan walked four and allowed five hits while throwing 80 pitches.
Montas might not start in playoffs: Yankees pitcher Frankie Montas received a second cortisone injection in his ailing right shoulder and went on the injured list Tuesday, putting his rotation position in doubt for the postseason.
Montas mentioned the shoulder issue to the Yankees after Friday’s start in Milwaukee, when New York failed to hold a 5-0 lead. He is 1-3 with a 6.35 ERA in eight starts since the Yankees acquired him from Oakland for four prospects in an Aug. 1 trade, leaving him 5-12 with a 4.05 ERA in 27 starts this season.
Montas was diagnosed with shoulder inflammation and was given the injection on Monday.
“I’m going to wait a couple days to start playing catch and go from there,” Montas said Tuesday. “Let the cortisone shot … work the magic.”