MLB roundup: Cardinals edge Padres for 8th straight win

September 20, 2021

Edmundo Sosa, Harrison Bader and Dylan Carlson each drove in two runs, and the St. Louis Cardinals edged the visiting San Diego Padres 8-7 Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.

Tyler O’Neill scored three runs and drove in another for the Cardinals, who extended their winning streak to eight games.

Tommy Pham drove in three runs for the Padres, who have lost eight of their past 10 to fall 3 1/2 games behind the Cardinals for the second National League wild-card spot.

Cardinals starter J.A. Happ allowed three runs on four hits in four innings. Alex Reyes (9-8) earned the victory in relief and Giovanny Gallegos earned his 10th save.

Dodgers 8, Reds 5

Will Smith, Gavin Lux and Corey Seager homered to lead visiting Los Angeles to victory over Cincinnati in the rubber game of their three-game series.

Lux had three hits and drove in three runs, and Seager had two hits and three RBIs for the Dodgers, who sit one game behind the San Francisco Giants for the National League West lead.

TJ Friedl hit his first major-league home run for the Reds, who fell three games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the second NL wild-card spot. Joey Votto added a pinch-hit homer in the ninth for Cincinnati.

Indians 11, Yankees 1

Jose Ramirez homered to highlight a four-hit performance as visiting Cleveland cruised to the victory over New York.

Ramirez drove in three runs and reached base five times for the Indians.

Harold Ramirez drove in a career-high four runs by hitting a pair of two-run singles in his first two at-bats off Gerrit Cole (15-8), who tied a season high by allowing seven earned runs in 5 2/3 innings. He also allowed seven earned runs in a 14-0 loss at Tampa Bay on July 29.

Tigers 2, Rays 0

Eric Haase and Dustin Garneau hit solo home runs, Wily Peralta pitched seven strong innings and visiting Detroit blanked Tampa Bay.

Haase hit his 22nd homer of the season and was the only Tiger to reach base twice.

Peralta (4-3) gave up three hits and walked three while striking out three. He also tossed six scoreless innings in his previous start against Milwaukee on Tuesday. Kyle Funkhouser collected his first career save by getting the last three outs.

Red Sox 8, Orioles 6

J.D. Martinez homered and Enrique Hernandez and Kevin Plawecki each drove in two runs as Boston beat visiting Baltimore.

Hunter Renfroe and Rafael Devers each had two hits and drove in a run for Boston, which has won five in a row. The Red Sox also have won 12 of their past 13 meetings against Baltimore and hold the top wild-card spot in the American League with 11 games remaining.

Hirokazu Sawamura (5-1) earned the victory despite allowing two runs in the seventh inning. Sawamura entered the game after Garrett Whitlock exited with a pectoral injury. Garrett Richards worked around a two-out single in the ninth inning for his third save.

Blue Jays 5, Twins 3

Right-hander Jose Berrios held his former team to three runs, Bo Bichette hit a two-run home run and host Toronto defeated Minnesota.

Berrios (12-8), making his first start against the Twins after they traded him to the Blue Jays on July 30, allowed four hits and one walk while striking out six in 6 2/3 innings. He is 5-3 in 10 starts with the Blue Jays.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had three hits and an RBI for the Blue Jays, who took the rubber match of the three-game series.

Astros 7, Diamondbacks 6

Jose Siri and Chas McCormick hit back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning, and Houston rallied to claim the rubber match of its interleague series with visiting Arizona.

Siri pulled the Astros even at 6-6 with his two-run shot off Arizona reliever Brandyn Sittinger (0-1), a 423-foot blast to left-center field that scored Carlos Correa. After Siri hit his third home run, McCormick followed with his 13th, driving a 1-0 fastball from Sittinger 417 feet to center field.

Astros closer Ryan Pressly notched his 25th save by striking out the side in the ninth while pitching in his third consecutive game.

Nationals 3, Rockies 0

Juan Soto homered to help propel host Washington past Colorado, snapping the Rockies’ five-game winning streak.

Paolo Espino (5-5) and five relievers combined on a five-hitter, cooling what had been a hot Colorado lineup. Espino allowed three hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out seven and walked three.

Soto has hit safely in 10 of his past 12 games, going 20-for-41 (.488) with two homers, six RBIs and 10 runs scored.

Cubs 6, Brewers 4

Patrick Wisdom’s three-run home run capped a five-run eighth inning, and Chicago held on to beat host Milwaukee, delaying the host Brewers’ quest for a division title.

The Cubs, who had lost 11 straight against Milwaukee, erased a 2-1 deficit in the eighth. Pinch-hitter Willson Contreras drew a lead-off walk, Matt Duffy followed with an RBI double down the left-field line and Frank Schwindel then hit a run-scoring double to left-center.

Jandel Gustave relieved Boxberger and walked David Bote. Wisdom then sent a 2-1 pitch 430 feet to center for his 27th homer, the most in a season by a Cubs rookie. Kris Bryant had 26 homers as a rookie in 2015.

Mariners 7, Royals 1

Jarred Kelenic homered and drove in three runs and fellow rookie Logan Gilbert pitched seven strong innings as Seattle beat host Kansas City.

Jake Bauers and Mitch Haniger also homered for the Mariners, who took two of three games in the series against the Royals.

Gilbert (6-5) allowed one run on three hits. The right-hander walked one and struck out five.

White Sox 7, Rangers 2

Yasmani Grandal homered for the second straight game and Cesar Hernandez, Jose Abreu and Leury Garcia drove in two runs each to back 5 1/3 strong innings from Lucas Giolito and lift visiting Chicago over Texas.

The White Sox crept closer to clinching the American League Central title. Chicago’s magic number is four over the second-place Cleveland Indians, who thumped the New York Yankees 11-1 Sunday.

A five-run, fourth-inning outburst against Rangers starter Jordan Lyles put the White Sox in control. Grandal opened the rally with a solo home run to right center, his 22nd long ball of the season and eighth since returning Aug. 27 from a lengthy stint on the injured list.

Braves 3, Giants 0

Max Fried pitched seven shutout innings, Eddie Rosario hit for the cycle and Adam Duvall ended a scoreless tie with a two-run home run in the seventh, sending visiting Atlanta past San Francisco.

Rosario had a double in the second inning, a triple in the fifth, a homer in the seventh and a single in the ninth to finish 4-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.

After the Braves managed just four hits against San Francisco starter Anthony DeSclafani (12-7) and the Giants just three against Fried (12-7) in the first six innings, Austin Riley led off the seventh with a double and trotted home six pitches later when Duvall hit his 36th homer to center field.

Athletics 3, Angels 2 (10)

Jed Lowrie’s sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th inning lifted Oakland over Los Angeles in Anaheim, Calif., completing a three-game sweep.

For most of the afternoon, the game was a pitchers’ duel between A’s starter Frankie Montas and Angels starter Shohei Ohtani. Montas threw seven scoreless innings, allowing just one hit, while Ohtani lasted eight innings, giving up solo homers to Yan Gomes and Matt Chapman and striking out 10.

With the victory, Oakland remained two games behind Toronto for the second wild-card spot in the American League.

Marlins 6, Pirates 5 (10)

Lewin Diaz hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning to lift host Miami over Pittsburgh.

Hoy Park launched a two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning for the Pirates. The Marlins had been down to their last strike in the bottom of the ninth. However, Bryan De La Cruz came through with an RBI single to tie the score at 4-4.

After the Pirates seized a 5-4 lead in the top of the 10th on Ben Gamel’s sacrifice fly, Diaz pulled his homer to right field off Chad Kuhl (5-7).

–Field Level Media

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