Juan Soto scored on his San Diego Padres debut to rapturous applause as his new side won 9-1 over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday.
Reigning Home Run Derby winner Soto, who sealed a Deadline Day trade from the Washington Nationals on Tuesday, was given a raucous applause upon his first at-bat by the Petco Park faithful.
Soto's first at-bat ended with a four-pitch walk, before hitting home plate when Jake Cronenworth was walked after being struck by Chad Kuhl's pitch.
However it was another new addition, Brandon Drury, who stole the show with a first-inning grand slam to open up a 5-0 lead with his 21st home run of the season.
Manny Machado and Cronenworth both hit home runs in the fifth inning, while Soto finished with two walks from his two at-bats, with the one run.
Cole aced by Mariners and Castillo
Gerrit Cole allowed six runs in the first inning as his poor form since the All-Star Game continued in the New York Yankees' 7-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday.
Cole was on the mound for the first inning, with blasts from Eugenio Suarez, Carlos Santana and Jarred Kelenic opening up a 6-0 lead. The last time Seattle hit three homers in the first inning of a game was in May 2002.
The six runs were the most allowed in any inning of the career of Cole, who became the second pitcher in the modern era to allow three homers in the first inning of a game multiple times in the same season. He has given up five or more earned runs in consecutive outings for the first time since 2017 and has an ERA of 7.00 in three starts since the All-Star Game, having gone at 3.02 prior to that.
Luis Castillo, in his first start for the Mariners, put on a clinic with eight strikeouts, allowing five hits across six-and-two-third innings.
Vogelbach grand slam in Mets triumph
Daniel Vogelbach hit a grand slam as the New York Mets knocked off the Washington Nationals 9-5 to improve their record to 66-38.
Pete Alonso blasted his 28th home run of the season in the second inning, which was also the 21st of his career against the Nats, which is the most of any opponent he has faced.
Vogelbach's moment came in the fifth inning with the Mets 2-0 up and bases loaded, hitting high deep down the right field line.
MLB: AL West-leading Rangers win sixth straight
Adolis Garcia, Mitch Garver and Nathaniel Lowe hit consecutive solo home runs in the sixth inning to rally the Texas Rangers to a 5-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Monday that extended the American League West leaders' winning streak to six games.
Marcus Semien added a solo homer in the seventh inning to help back six sharp innings from Jon Gray as Texas reduced its magic number to win the division to four. The Rangers maintained a 2 1/2-game lead over second-place Houston with less than a week remaining in the regular season.
Garcia, Garver and Lowe's back-to-back-to-back homers off Jimmy Herget erased a 1-0 deficit, and Semien belted his third homer in two games an inning later to increase the lead to 4-1.
Texas had a season-high six homers in Sunday's 9-8 win over AL West rival Seattle and now has 227 for the season, surpassing the Angels' 225 for the most in the AL.
Gray ended a seven-start winless drought by holding the Angels to one run on five hits while recording seven strikeouts. The right-hander had gone 0-3 with a 6.46 ERA during that stretch.
Logan O'Hoppe finished 2 for 4 and accounted for Los Angeles' lone run with a solo homer in the second inning.
Angels starter Patrick Sandoval threw three scoreless innings before exiting with tightness in his right oblique. The left-hander walked the first two hitters of the fourth prior to departing.
Verlander dominates Mariners as Astros increase gap in AL wild card race
Justin Verlander took a shutout into the ninth inning in his best start since rejoining the Houston Astros, who increased their lead on the Seattle Mariners for the AL's third wild card with Monday's 5-1 win.
Verlander yielded just two hits and struck out eight until permitting a leadoff double to Josh Rojas to begin the bottom of the ninth. The three-time AL Cy Young Award winner was then removed after 96 pitches.
Rojas ended up scoring Seattle's lone run on a sacrifice fly from Julio Rodriguez.
Verlander helped the Astros to two World Series titles over four-plus seasons before signing with the New York Mets in December. The 40-year-old was traded back to Houston on Aug. 1.
Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker had solo home runs to help Houston win the opener of this important three-game series. The Astros are now 1 1/2 games up on the Mariners for the final wild card and trail the first-place Texas Rangers by 2 1/2 games in the AL West.
Martin Maldonado went 2 for 3 and delivered an RBI double during a three-run second inning that staked Verlander to an early lead. Mauricio Dubon and Jose Altuve added RBI singles during the frame.
Luis Castillo struck out eight over six innings for Seattle, which has now lost four in a row, but allowed all five Houston runs.
Diamondbacks fall to Yankees, drop into tie for NL's second wild card
Oswald Peraza, Estevan Florial and Everson Pereira had eighth-inning RBIs as the New York Yankees rallied for a 6-4 win over Arizona that dropped the Diamondbacks into a tie for the NL’s second wild card spot.
The loss sent the Diamondbacks into a tie with the idle Chicago Cubs in the wild card standings with both teams one game ahead of the Miami Marlins.
The Yankees, who overcame deficits three times in the game, trailed 4-3 entering their half of the eighth but tagged Kevin Ginkel for three runs to take the lead for good. Clay Holmes then pitched a perfect ninth for his 22nd save of the season.
Youngsters Peraza and Austin Wells homered to help the Yankees earn two wins in the three-game series.
Arizona’s Merrill Kelly needed 96 pitches to navigate five innings, but allowed just two runs while striking out five and leaving with the game tied.
Alek Thomas knocked in two runs for the Diamondbacks, while Corbin Carroll finished 3 for 5 with an RBI.
MLB: AL West-leading Rangers cap sweep of Mariners
Marcus Semien had two of a season-high six home runs for the Texas Rangers, who held on for a 9-8 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Sunday to extend their lead atop the American League West.
Corey Seager, Adolis Garcia, Leody Tavares and Evan Carter also homered to help the Rangers complete a three-game sweep of their division rival and fellow playoff contender. Texas has now won five in a row overall to increase its lead over slumping Houston to 2 1/2 games, with the Mariners now three games back in the AL West race.
The Astros were dealt a 6-5 defeat to Kansas City as the 102-loss Royals finished a stunning three-game sweep in Houston. The defending World Series champions did remain a half-game ahead of Seattle for the AL's final wild card spot.
Seager's 33rd homer of the season, a two-run shot off Bryan Woo, gave Texas a 3-2 lead in the third inning. The Rangers went deep three more times in the bottom of the fourth, which Garcia led off with his 36th home run before Tavares later launched a two-run blast to chase Woo and extend the margin to 6-2.
Semien, who led off the bottom of the first with a home run, connected again later in the fourth to increase Texas' lead to five runs.
Seattle scored three times in the top of the sixth before Carter's two-run shot in the bottom of the inning put the Rangers up 9-5, but the Mariners closed the gap once more as Teoscar Hernandez, Jarred Kelenic and Eugenio Suarez delivered consecutive RBI singles in the seventh to cut the lead to one.
The Mariners weren't able to score off relievers Jonathan Hernandez, Brock Burke and Jose Leclerc in the final two innings, however, despite putting the tying run in scoring position in both frames.
Hernandez and J.P. Crawford had solo homers for Seattle, while Hernandez, Kelenic and Suarez each drove in two runs.
Blue Jays take series from Rays to strengthen playoff hopes
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered twice and George Springer added a three-run, inside-the-park shot that helped the Toronto Blue Jays to a 9-5 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
Bo Bichette also homered as the Blue Jays took two of three from the playoff-bound Rays in the weekend series and increased their lead in the race for the AL's second wild card. Toronto now holds a two-game advantage over Houston and leads Seattle by 2 1/2 games.
Toronto scored five times in the second inning, highlighted by Springer's third career inside-the-park homer, to take a 5-2 lead. The Rays got a run back in the fourth before Guerrero restored the three-run margin with a solo blast off Tampa starter Taj Bradley in the sixth.
Isaac Paredes' 30th homer of the season, a two-run shot in the seventh, cut the Rays' deficit to 6-5, but Daulton Varsho's RBI triple in the eighth gave Toronto some insurance before Bichette and Guerrero connected on back-to-back homers in the ninth.
Whit Merrifield added a two-run single for Toronto, which has won seven of its last nine to boost its chances for a second straight postseason appearance.
Paredes finished 2 for 4 with three RBIs to lead the Rays offensively. Bradley pitched a career-high seven innings but surrendered six runs.
Diamondbacks eliminate Yankees, keep hold on NL's second wild card
Zac Gallen threw six scoreless innings as the Arizona Diamondbacks maintained their grasp on the National League's second wild card spot with a 7-1 win over the New York Yankees, who will now officially miss the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
Gallen yielded just three hits and struck out eight to notch his 17th victory of the season and keep Arizona a half-game ahead of the Chicago Cubs for the second wild card. The Cubs earned a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday to maintain a one-game edge on the Miami Marlins for the No. 3 wild card.
Christian Walker and Evan Longoria each drove in two runs to back Gallen, while Gabriel Moreno went 2 for 5 with an RBI double to help the Diamondbacks (82-73) secure their first winning season since 2019.
The Yankees, who have lost four of six and are now just one game over .500 (78-77), did not score until Jake Bauers doubled to lead off the bottom of the ninth and later crossed the plate on a bases-loaded walk to Aaron Judge.
New York starter Carlos Rodon was charged with five runs - three earned - over 6 1/3 innings.
MLB: Pirates rally from 9-run deficit for first time in 133-season history, stun Reds
The Pittsburgh Pirates erased a nine-run deficit for the first time in their 133-season history in a wild 13-12 victory over the playoff-hopeful Cincinnati Reds on Saturday.
The Reds built a 9-0 lead with three runs in the first, five in the second and one in the third before the Pirates scored the next 13 runs.
Cincinnati rallied to get within one but stranded the potential tying run at third in the ninth.
It was the fourth straight loss for the Reds, who dropped 2 ½ games behind the final NL wild-card spot with six games remaining.
Cincinnati squandered a nine-run lead for the first time since a 10-9 loss at Milwaukee on April 28, 2004.
Pittsburgh’s Alfonso Rivas tied a career high with five RBIs, including a three-run double in the seventh that tied the score at 9.
The Pirates scored four runs in the eighth against closer Alexis Diaz when Jack Suwinski and Rivas hit run-scoring singles and Ji Hwan Bae followed with a two-run double.
Christian Encanacion-Strand, Tyler Stephenson and TJ Friedl homered off Pirates starter Bailey Falter, who allowed eight runs and nine hits in two innings.
Montgomery pitches Rangers past Mariners
Jordan Montgomery pitched seven scoreless innings for the second time in three starts and Jonah Heim drove in another run to lead the Texas Rangers to their fourth straight win, 2-0 over the Seattle Mariners.
Montgomery scattered five hits, struck out six and walked two to improve to 4-2 in 10 starts since joining Texas in a trade with St. Louis.
The Rangers extended their AL West lead to 1 ½ games over Houston, which lost to Kansas City.
Mitch Garver had an RBI single in the second inning and Heim singled home a run in the fourth.
Heim has seven RBIs in his last four games and 15 in his past 11.
Seattle remained a half-game behind the Astros in the West and in the wild-card race.
Rays rally late again, beat Blue Jays
Josh Lowe hit a three-run homer and a walk-off single to cap a two-run ninth inning as the Tampa Bay Rays got past the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-6.
Toronto entered the bottom of the ninth with a 6-5 lead but Yandy Diaz had a leadoff double, took thirde on Harold Ramirez’s single and scored on Curtis Mead’s hit.
After Isaac Paredes struck out, Junior Caminero – in his big league debut - grounded into what appeared to be an inning-ending double play.
But the call was reversed in a video review and Lowe ended it with an opposite-field single down the left-field line.
The Rays remained 1 ½ games behind AL East-leading Baltimore, while Toronto, which rallied from a 5-0 deficit, holds the second wild card, one game ahead of Houston.
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