Nelson Cruz’s tiebreaking, 10th-inning single helped Tampa Bay overcome a six-run deficit Monday, sending the visiting Rays past the Boston Red Sox 11-10 in a wild Labor Day matinee.
Cruz capped a three-RBI day by lining a single to right off Garrett Whitlock (7-3) to score Randy Arozarena, and pinch hitter Brandon Lowe looped a single to plate Cruz with the crucial markers.
Collin McHugh (6-1) pitched out of trouble in the ninth and got pinch hitter Kevin Plawecki to ground out with the bases full for the final out after yielding a run in the bottom of the 10th.
Rays rookie Wander Franco notched his first career four-hit game — 4-for-6 with three runs — while Cruz and Yandy Diaz each produced three of the visitors’ 19 hits. Franco’s first-inning triple extended his on-base streak to 36 games, tying him with Mickey Mantle (1951-52) for the second-longest in major league history by a player under 21.
Blue Jays 8, Yankees 0
Marcus Semien homered twice, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his 40th homer and Toronto won at New York.
The Blue Jays won their fifth straight and eighth in nine games thanks to the power display. Guerrero Jr. extended his hitting streak to a career-high 14 games with his 40th homer, and he finished 3-for-5.
Hyun Jin Ryu (13-8) fired six shutout innings for the win. He gave up three hits and no walks while striking out six.
Dodgers 5, Cardinals 1
Max Scherzer struck out 13 batters and didn’t allow an earned run in eight innings as visiting Los Angeles shut down St. Louis.
Chris Taylor hit a two-run homer for the Dodgers, who won for the fifth time in seven games to remain within one game of the first-place San Francisco Giants in the National League West.
Scherzer (13-4) dominated his hometown Cardinals, limiting them to six hits, no walks and one unearned run. He ran his season strikeout total to 210 and became the eighth pitcher in major league history to post nine seasons of 200-plus strikeouts.
Giants 10, Rockies 5
Thairo Estrada hit two home runs among his three hits, Darin Ruf tripled and homered and San Francisco beat Colorado in Denver.
Buster Posey also went deep and added a double, Mauricio Dubon had three hits and Steven Duggar had two hits for San Francisco.
Giants starter Kevin Gausman (13-5) allowed three runs and five hits and struck out nine in seven innings. He also had a RBI single and scored a run.
Nationals 4, Mets 3
Carter Kieboom capped a two-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning with a walk-off single as host Washington stunned New York in the finale of a five-game series.
The loss was costly for the Mets, who dropped four games behind the idle National League East-leading Atlanta Braves.
Seeking his 29th save with a 3-2 lead, Mets closer Edwin Diaz (5-5) sandwiched a Juan Soto foulout with walks to Alcides Escobar and Josh Bell to open the ninth. Pinch hitter Andrew Stevenson tied the game with a single to right field, scoring Escobar and sending Bell to third, from where he jogged home on Kieboom’s game-winner to center.
Twins 5, Indians 2
Jorge Polanco homered and doubled three times and Byron Buxton also went deep for visiting Minnesota during its win over Cleveland.
It was the second four-hit game this season for Polanco, who tied a club record with four extra-base hits in a game. Buxton and Luis Arraez each posted two hits for Minnesota, which has won two straight following a four-game losing streak.
Franmil Reyes belted a two-run homer for Cleveland, which has lost three of four at home and dropped to 5-8 against Minnesota this season.
Astros 11, Mariners 2
Jake Meyers slugged a three-run home run to ignite a breakout, six-run second inning as Houston rolled to a victory over visiting Seattle.
Meyers (2-for-5, four RBIs) was one of five Astros to record multi-hit games. Houston snapped the Mariners’ five-game winning streak and extended its lead in the American League West to 5 1/2 games.
Lance McCullers Jr. (11-4) benefitted from the onslaught, limiting Seattle to two runs on four hits and four walks with seven strikeouts over six innings
Rangers 4, Angels 0
A.J. Alexy allowed one hit in six shutout innings to lead Texas over Los Angeles in Anaheim, Calif., as the teams split their four-game series.
Alexy (2-0) ran his shutout streak to 11 innings to start his major league career. The right-hander is the first rookie ever to pitch at least five shutout innings and allow one hit or fewer in each of his first two major league starts. He struck out seven, including all three batters in the sixth inning, and retired the final 13 he faced.
Angels starter Jaime Barria (2-3) got off to a rocky start but also settled in and retired 14 in a row during one stretch. He gave up three runs and eight hits in seven innings, struck out three and didn’t walk a batter.
Royals 3, Orioles 2
Salvador Perez’s bloop single keyed a two-run, eighth-inning rally as visiting Kansas City defeated Baltimore. Perez had hit eight home runs in his past 11 games, but his game-tying hit barely traveled 100 feet.
Whit Merrifield led off with a double off the right field wall. He moved to third on a sacrifice by Nicky Lopez, bringing up Perez, whose bloop hit went just beyond the drawn-in infield.
Perez then scored on Andrew Benintendi’s two-out single for the go-ahead run. Benintendi also robbed Anthony Santander of a home run in the bottom of the ninth.
Pirates 6, Tigers 3
Ke’Bryan Hayes had three hits, including a go-ahead two-run single in the seventh inning, as Pittsburgh halted a six-game losing streak with a win over visiting Detroit.
Kevin Newman added a two-run homer and Yoshi Tsutsugo a two-run single for the Pirates.
Pittsburgh starter Bryse Wilson gave up three runs and six hits in six innings, with two walks and four strikeouts.
Phillies 12, Brewers 0
Jean Segura hit his first career grand slam during a seven-run eighth inning and Brad Miller homered twice as visiting Philadelphia opened a three-game series at Milwaukee with a victory.
Bryce Harper, Freddy Galvis and Andrew McCutchen also homered for the Phillies, who have won eight of their past 10 games.
Harper set the tone in the first inning with a two-run shot off Brandon Woodruff (9-8) to help the Phillies record their fifth straight win over Milwaukee this season.
Cubs 4, Reds 3
Frank Schwindel had two hits, including a go-ahead RBI single in the eighth inning, and Ian Happ belted a three-run home run as host Chicago topped Cincinnati to extend its winning streak to seven games.
One day after thumping a go-ahead, seventh-inning grand slam to key an 11-8 win against Pittsburgh, Schwindel again provided late offensive heroics, grounding a base hit to the right side against Reds reliever Michael Lorenzen.
Schwindel is batting .441 with 14 RBIs during an eight-game hitting streak.
–Field Level Media
