Pavin Smith homered in each of his first three at-bats and the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks salvaged the finale of a three-game series with a 12-6 win over the Houston Astros on Sunday night.
Smith recorded his first career multi-homer game and collected a career-high eight RBIs to power Arizona (80-64) to the victory. He clubbed a three-run homer in the top of the second inning and added his third career grand slam in the third, with both blasts coming off Astros starter Justin Verlander (3-6).
Smith then homered off Houston reliever Kaleb Ort leading off the fifth and finished 3-for-4 with a walk.
Verlander allowed eight runs on eight hits and one walk over three innings. He did not record a strikeout and is now 0-4 with a 9.68 ERA across four starts since rejoining the rotation following a stint on the injured list due to neck discomfort.
Dodgers 4, Guardians 0
Shohei Ohtani hit his 46th home run, Jack Flaherty continued to establish himself as the lead of the rotation with 7 1/3 scoreless innings and Los Angeles earned a victory over visiting Cleveland.
Max Muncy added a home run and Will Smith had a go-ahead RBI single in the fourth inning as the Dodgers won for the eighth time in their past 11 games. In addition to his 46 home runs, to match his career high, Ohtani also has 46 stolen bases, with 19 games remaining to become the first 50-50 player in MLB history.
The Dodgers have a six-game lead on the San Diego Padres in the National League West. Guardians right-hander Tanner Bibee (11-7) gave up two runs on four hits in five innings, while the Cleveland offense was held to six hits. The Guardians saw their American League Central lead cut to 2 1/2 games ahead of the Kansas City Royals.
Rays 2, Orioles 0
Jonny DeLuca belted a two-run homer and Zack Littell led five pitchers by throwing five shutout innings in Tampa Bay’s victory against host Baltimore.
Littell (6-9) limited the Orioles to three hits and one walk while striking out four in five innings. Rays relievers Richard Lovelady, Kevin Kelly, Garrett Cleavinger and Edwin Uceta all contributed to the combined five-hitter.
Baltimore ace Corbin Burnes (13-8) allowed seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts in his six-inning stint. Gunnar Henderson had three of the Orioles’ five hits.
Braves 4, Blue Jays 3 (11 innings)
Sean Murphy drove in the winning run with an infield grounder to complete a two-run 11th-inning rally, giving Atlanta a victory over visiting Toronto in the rubber game of a three-game series.
In the 11th inning, the Braves had runners on the corners against Zach Pop (1-4) after Eli White’s bunt. Automatic runner Michael Harris II scored and White advanced to third when third baseman Addison Barger threw wildly after fielding Adam Duvall’s grounder. Matt Olson was walked to load the bases, and Murphy hit the first pitch he saw to second base, but White beat the throw to the plate.
George Springer put the Blue Jays ahead in the 11th with an RBI single to center field, ending a 26-inning scoreless streak for Braves reliever Raisel Iglesias (5-1), who earned the win with two innings of work.
Royals 2, Twins 0
Michael Wacha delivered seven shutout innings for his 100th career win as Kansas City got past visiting Minnesota, completing a three-game weekend sweep.
Wacha (12-7) faced the minimum thereafter, allowing four hits and a walk with seven strikeouts and has allowed three runs or less in 17 of his last 19 starts, going 11-3 in that span. In the fifth, Garrett Hampson delivered a sacrifice fly and Salvador Perez tapped an infield hit along the third base for a 2-0 lead.
Simeon Woods Richardson (5-4) allowed two runs on three hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings. Christian Vazquez had three singles for the Twins, who had five hits and 14 for the series. Minnesota was shut out for the 10th time and third in the last nine games.
White Sox 7, Red Sox 2
A five-run ninth inning propelled visiting Chicago to a win over Boston, salvaging the finale of a three-game series.
Chicago (33-111) broke open a 2-2 game with five runs on five hits against Boston reliever Zack Kelly (6-3). Fraser Ellard (2-2) got the win in relief for the White Sox, who had lost 20 consecutive starts by Chris Flexen. Flexen struck out six and allowed two runs on two solo home runs across six innings.
Connor Wong (3-for-4) and Wilyer Abreu (2-for-4) each doubled and homered to lead the Red Sox (72-71). Richard Fitts, who allowed two unearned runs on six hits in a 5 2/3-inning start, and Luis Guerrero both made their MLB debuts on the mound for Boston.
Marlins 10, Phillies 1
Connor Norby slugged a pair of two-run homers and Edward Cabrera pitched seven scoreless innings, leading host Miami in a rout of Philadelphia.
Norby has been impressive since being traded by the Orioles on July 30. In 18 games with the Marlins, he has hit seven doubles and six homers. Cabrera (4-6) was perfect through three innings and had a no-hitter after five. In total, Cabrera allowed three hits and two walks with six strikeouts.
Marlins rookie center fielder Javier Sanoja made his first major league start, going 2-for-4 with two runs and one RBI. The versatile Sanoja finished the game playing shortstop. Philadelphia starter Seth Johnson made his major league debut, and he took the loss, allowing eight hits, three walks and nine runs in 2 1/3 innings.
Pirates 7, Nationals 3
Joey Bart hit a two-run home run, rookie Jared Jones pitched seven strong innings and Pittsburgh beat visiting Washington to earn a split of the four-game series.
Andrew McCutchen and former National Michael A. Taylor added sole home runs for the Pirates (67-76), who bounced back after a doubleheader sweep on Saturday. Pittsburgh first baseman Billy Cook, called up Sunday from Triple-A Indianapolis, had a two-run double and a single in his major league debut.
Jones (6-7) allowed two runs on four hits and struck out nine without a walk. CJ Abrams homered for the Nationals (64-79).
Rockies 4, Brewers 1
Sam Hilliard had a three-run homer and Kyle Freeland allowed one unearned run over six innings to pace visiting Colorado to victory over Milwaukee in the decider of the three-game series.
Hilliard’s three-run homer in the fifth put Colorado (54-90) up 4-1. Freeland (5-7) allowed just three singles — all in the first two innings — and retired the final 14 hitters he faced. He struck out four and walked none.
Peralta (10-8) was tagged for three runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings, striking out four and walking two.
Reds 3, Mets 1
Santiago Espinal lined a tiebreaking two-run double with one out in the ninth inning off Phil Maton as Cincinnati ended New York’s nine-game winning streak.
Noelvi Marte tied the game for the Reds with a bloop single in the seventh. Cincinnati rookie Julian Aguiar allowed two hits in 4 2/3 innings, and Tony Santillan allowed a single to Starling Marte in the sixth to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.
After reliever Emilio Pagan got the final out of the sixth, Justin Wilson and Buck Farmer (3-0) pitched a scoreless inning apiece. Alexis Diaz struck out two in the ninth to easily convert his 26th save in 30 opportunities.
Cubs 2, Yankees 1
Jameson Taillon tossed six strong innings and Isaac Paredes drove in two runs as Chicago avoided a three-game sweep against visiting New York.
Taillon (10-8) allowed one run on six hits with one walk and six strikeouts. Nate Pearson pitched two scoreless innings before Porter Hodge recorded his fourth save.
Pitching on his 34th birthday, Yankees starter Gerrit Cole (6-4) yielded two unearned runs on three hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out seven. New York scored its lone run in the second inning. Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a one-out double, moved to third on Anthony Rizzo’s single and scored on Anthony Volpe’s sacrifice fly.
Rangers 7, Angels 4
Marcus Semien, Nathaniel Lowe and Ezequiel Duran homered to help Texas to a win against Los Angeles in the finale of their four-game series.
Travis Jankowski had two hits and an RBI for the Rangers, who have won five of six. Starter Andrew Heaney (5-13) earned his first win since July 21, allowing four runs (three earned) and three hits in six innings, striking out eight. Kirby Yates worked the ninth for his 29th save.
Charles Leblanc hit a three-run homer for Los Angeles, which dropped three of four in the series. Caden Dana (1-1) struggled in his second major league start. The 20-year-old right-hander did not record an out in the second inning and was tagged for five runs and seven hits.
Mariners 10, Cardinals 4
Randy Arozarena and Jorge Polanco hit two-run home runs to power visiting Seattle past St. Louis. Luke Raley and Mitch Garver drove in two runs apiece, and Raley, Arozarena, Julio Rodriguez and Justin Turner scored twice for the Mariners (73-71), who won for the fourth time in five games.
Luis Castillo allowed two runs on five hits while retiring nine batters before departing with a hamstring injury. Reliever Trent Thornton (4-3) tagged in and pitched two scoreless innings to earn the victory.
Jose Fermin and Jordan Walker drove in two runs apiece for the Cardinals (72-71), who dropped two of three games to the Mariners to suffer their first series loss since Aug. 16-18 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Tigers 9, Athletics 1
Trey Sweeney homered as part of the first four-hit game of his career, Parker Meadows ignited a six-run eighth inning with a two-run double and Detroit won a second straight over host Oakland.
The Tigers led just 3-1 entering the eighth, but singles by Spencer Torkelson and Sweeney set the stage for Meadows’ two-run double. Matt Vierling, Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter and Colt Keith followed with consecutive run-scoring hits. Ty Madden (1-0) earned his first major league win by following opener Beau Brieske with five strong innings, limiting the A’s to one run and five hits.
Zack Gelof’s RBI single in the sixth produced the Athletics’ lone run. Gelof finished with two hits, as did teammate Shea Langeliers.
Giants 7, Padres 6
Matt Chapman, Jerar Encarnacion and Luis Matos each homered during a six-run fourth inning as visiting San Francisco squeaked past San Diego.
Erik Miller (4-5) pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen to get the win. Joe Musgrove (5-5) was knocked out after 4 1/3 innings in his first bad start since coming off the injured list on Aug. 12. Musgrove gave up six runs on eight hits.
Musgrove, who allowed just four runs in his first five starts off the injured list, cruised through three innings before the home run ball bit him in the fourth. Chapman broke a scoreless tie with a two-run blast, his 23rd homer of the year.