Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman became the first trio in franchise history to open a game with three consecutive homers and Tommy Edman delivered a tiebreaking two-run single in the top of the ninth inning to lift the Los Angeles Dodgers to an 8-6 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix on Saturday.
Freeman had three hits and two RBIs as the Dodgers had a 16-5 edge in hits while defeating Arizona for the second straight night. Los Angeles has won four straight games and 10 of 12 and leads the National League West by six games over the Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres.
Corbin Carroll hit an inside-the-park homer and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a conventional blast for Arizona, which lost for the fourth time in five games.
Ben Casparius (1-0) pitched a flawless eighth for the Dodgers in his big league debut. Evan Phillips then worked a perfect ninth for his 18th save.
Blue Jays 15, Twins 0
Will Wagner homered among his career-high five hits, highlighting Toronto’s season-high 23-hit output as the Blue Jays pounded Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Spencer Horwitz (3-for 5, three RBIs), Daulton Varsho and Addison Barger also homered and Leo Jimenez drove in three for the Blue Jays, who evened the series at 1-1 heading into Sunday afternoon’s rubber match. Nathan Lukes finished 4-for-6 with two RBIs and two runs.
Blue Jays right-hander Jose Berrios (14-9) pitched six scoreless innings against his former team. He gave up three hits, walked one and struck out five. Twins right-hander Zebby Matthews (1-2) was shellacked for nine runs on 10 hits in two innings. He walked none and struck out five.
Cardinals 6, Yankees 5
Kyle Gibson pitched seven strong innings for his first win in nearly two months, Brendan Donovan hit a three-run homer in the third inning and St. Louis recorded a victory over host New York.
The Cardinals improved to 8-11 in their past 19 games and are at .500 at 68-68 for the fifth time since Aug. 15. St. Louis won for the first time in eight all-time regular-season games at Yankee Stadium.
Gibson (8-6) allowed one run and five hits and matched his longest outing of the season. Giancarlo Stanton had a pinch-hit bases-clearing double in the eighth off Andrew Kittredge when the Yankees had six hits and scored four runs.
Cubs 5, Nationals 3
Javier Assad pitched six innings and Nico Hoerner had two hits and scored twice as Chicago beat host Washington to notch its fifth straight win.
The Cubs have won eight of nine as they contend for a National League wild-card spot. Assad (7-4) allowed three runs on eight hits, walking two and striking out four. Porter Hodge pitched the ninth for his third save despite allowing two baserunners.
Nats rookie starter DJ Herz (2-7), drafted by the Cubs in 2019, made his first start against them. He allowed four runs on three hits and two walks over 4 2/3 innings and struck out five. Andres Chaparro homered for Washington and Jose Tena had three hits.
Rays 11, Padres 4
After giving up 13 runs to San Diego in a lopsided series-opening loss, host Tampa Bay returned the favor a day, scoring nine runs over the first five innings.
Tampa Bay recorded 13 hits as Junior Caminero hit a three-run home run and Jose Caballero went 2-for-5 with four RBIs. Starter Shane Baz (2-2) got the win on the mound, giving up two runs on two hits and three walks over five innings.
San Diego’s Randy Vasquez (4-7) was credited with the loss. He gave up nine earned runs on 11 hits and four walks over 4 1/3 innings. The Padres had 10 hits, including Jake Cronenworth’s two-run homer in the first inning.
Tigers 2, Red Sox 1
Tarik Skubal struck out eight in eight innings — the longest outing of his career — as host Detroit edged Boston.
Skubal (16-4) gave up one run on four hits and did not issue a walk. The favorite for the American League Cy Young Award threw 98 pitches and became the first pitcher in the majors to reach 200 strikeouts (he has 201). Trey Sweeney knocked in both Tigers runs with a double as Detroit ended a two-game slide.
Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta (5-10) gave up two runs and six hits in six innings, with one one and six strikeouts. Tyler O’Neill accounted for their lone run with a home run.
Pirates 3, Guardians 0
Luis Ortiz and three relievers combined on a two-hitter and Rowdy Tellez singled in two runs as Pittsburgh shut out host Cleveland.
Ortiz (6-4) allowed one hit with three walks and five strikeouts over six scoreless innings. He did not allow a hit until Bo Naylor singled with two outs in the fifth inning. Offensively, Nick Gonzales had three hits and scored twice for the Pirates, who ended a four-game skid.
Guardians starter Matthew Boyd (1-1) allowed one run on four hits with no walks and a season-high eight strikeouts over six innings to take the hard-luck loss. All-Star Josh Naylor, who hit a double in four at-bats, served as Cleveland’s designated hitter after exiting Friday’s game with a left ankle contusion.
Rangers 3, A’s 2
Leody Taveras’ walk-off single gave Texas the victory over Oakland in the second of a three-game series in Arlington, Texas.
Taveras hit up a pitch up the middle off A’s rookie reliever Tyler Ferguson with the bases loaded to score Nathaniel Lowe after lefty starter Cody Bradford gave up two runs on four hits with no walks and a career-high-tying eight strikeouts in seven innings. The Rangers, who also got a two-run homer from Jonah Heim in the second to take an early lead, evened the series with their fourth victory in five games.
Lawrence Butler went 2-for-4 with a homer — his sixth in five games — for the A’s. Brent Rooker added a game-tying RBI double in the sixth. Rookie right-hander Joey Estes allowed two runs on six hits with no walks and seven strikeouts in six innings.
Mets 5, White Sox 3
Pete Alonso and Jesse Winker hit back-to-back homers in the first inning for visiting New York, which continued a timely surge with a win over lowly Chicago in the middle game of a three-game series.
The Mets won their third in a row to improve to 6-3 on a 10-game road trip and move a season-high eight games over .500. New York also pulled within two games of the Atlanta Braves in the race for the final National League wild-card spot by virtue of the Braves’ 3-0 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.
The White Sox suffered their ninth straight loss and their 106th of the season, tying the franchise record set in 1970. Chicago needs to go 12-13 in its final 25 games to avoid tying the 1962 Mets for the most losses in the modern era.
Astros 5, Royals 2
Jeremy Pena followed a two-run single by Yainer Diaz with a two-run triple in support of Yusei Kikuchi, who struck out 12 over seven strong innings as Houston beat visiting Kansas City.
Diaz and Pena struck the decisive blows against Royals left-hander Cole Ragans (10-9), who allowed just two baserunners and dominated the Houston lineup through five innings before coming undone in a five-run sixth. Ragans matched a franchise record with eight consecutive K’s through the third inning but allowed five runs on four hits and two walks. He finished with 10 strikeouts.
The Astros improved to 6-0 behind Kikuchi (7-9), who recorded exactly 17 outs in four of his first five starts since joining Houston at the trade deadline. Kikuchi allowed five hits and did not walk a batter.
Brewers 5, Reds 4
Rookie Jackson Chourio hit a tiebreaking solo homer with one out in the ninth inning, Devin Williams escaped a bases-loaded jam in the bottom half and surging Milwaukee hung on to beat host Cincinnati.
The Brewers won their fifth straight game and improved to 15-6 over their past 21 road contests. Milwaukee has won 13 of 17 overall and leads the National League Central by 10 games.
Chourio had three hits and reached base four times after sitting out the second game of Friday’s doubleheader with a tweaked ankle. The Reds lost for the 12th time in 16 games.
Phillies 3, Braves 0
Zack Wheeler threw seven shutout innings to lead Philadelphia over visiting Atlanta in the third game of the four-game set.
Wheeler (13-6) allowed four hits, struck out seven and didn’t walk a batter, finishing 3-1 in six starts in August with a 1.61 ERA.
Atlanta starter Max Fried (8-8) allowed three runs and five hits in seven innings. The left-hander struck out four and walked four. Braves starting pitchers have allowed three runs or fewer in 20 straight games.
Marlins 4, Giants 3
Griffin Conine belted his first major league home run, fellow rookie Connor Norby added his fifth and Miami held on to beat host San Francisco.
Edward Cabrera limited the Giants to one earned run over 5 1/3 innings to snap a personal three-game losing streak, helping the Marlins draw even in the three-game series. Conine, the son of former Miami slugger Jeff Conine, gave the Marlins a lead it never relinquished with a two-run shot off San Francisco starter Mason Black (0-2) in the second inning.
Black took the loss despite limiting Miami to just two runs and four hits in five innings with no walks and six strikeouts. Conforto and Jerar Encarnacion had two hits each for the Giants, who lost for the third time in their last four games.
Rockies 7, Orioles 5
Jordan Beck’s tiebreaking double in the eighth inning lifted Colorado over Baltimore in Denver.
The game was tied when Nolan Jones hustled for a one-out double against Craig Kimbrel (7-5). Beck lined the next pitch to center to drive in Jones and took second on the throw home. Beck stole third and scored his third run of the night on Drew Romo’s groundout.
Baltimore starter Dean Kremer left in the fourth inning after taking Beck’s comebacker off his right arm. Kremer’s arm just above his wrist swelled, but the team announced X-rays were negative for a fracture or break.
Angels 5, Mariners 4
Mickey Moniak’s second home run of the game with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted Los Angeles to a win over visiting Seattle in Anaheim, Calif.
Moniak, whose two-run homer in the seventh tied the game at 4-4, launched a 1-2 slider from Seattle reliever Andres Munoz (2-6) over the fence in right field to win it for Los Angeles.
Angels right fielder Jo Adell also hit two home runs, as did Mariners first baseman Justin Turner. Ben Joyce (2-0) pitched a scoreless ninth to earn the victory.
–Field Level Media
