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• MLB: Royals close on Guardians with DH sweep

  Salvador Perez drove in a career-high six runs on a pair of homers, including a grand slam, as the Kansas City Royals moved within a game of the first-place Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central with Monday's 9-4 victory that capped a doubleheader sweep.

  The surging Royals, winners of nine of their last 12 games, won the opener by a 4-3 score on Bobby Witt Jr.'s tie-breaking solo homer in the eighth inning.

  Kansas City trailed 3-0 early in the nightcap but battled back to take a 5-4 lead on Perez's first homer of the game, a solo blast off Cleveland starter Logan Allen in the fifth inning. The All-Star catcher put the contest out of reach an inning later with a grand slam off Tim Herrin that marked his 17th career multi-homer outing, tied with Hall of Famer George Brett for the most in Royals' history.

  Perez, who went 3 for 3 in the opener, also knocked in a run with a third-inning groundout that plated Maikel Garcia, who led off with a single and took third on a double by Witt.

  Garcia and MJ Melendez each had three hits for Kansas City in the second game, while Paul DeJong went 2 for 4 with a solo homer.

  The scuffling Guardians lost for the eighth time in 11 games despite three doubles and an RBI from Jose Ramirez in the nightcap. Daniel Schneemann had two hits for Cleveland, including a solo homer.

  Cleveland is now 0-8 in doubleheader games this season.

  In the opener, Witt drove a pitch from reliever Hunter Gaddis into the left field seats to give the Royals a 4-3 edge in the top of the eighth inning. John Schreiber and Lucas Erceg protected the one-run lead from there, with Schreiber earning the win and Erceg recording his eighth save with a scoreless ninth.

  The Royals had taken a 3-2 lead on Melendez's three-run homer in the fourth inning, but the Guardians pulled even when Ramirez doubled in the seventh and later scored on Josh Naylor's single.

  Jansen makes history, plays for the Blue Jays and Red Sox in same game

  Danny Jansen became the first player in MLB history to appear for both teams in the same game when the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox completed a previously suspended contest.

  Jansen was a member of the Blue Jays when a June 26 matchup with the Red Sox was suspended in the second inning due to rain. He was traded to Boston on July 27 and inserted into the Red Sox's lineup when the game resumed Monday to accomplish the unprecedented feat.

  The catcher's old team got the better of his current one, however, as Toronto posted a 4-1 win in the suspended game before dealing the reeling Red Sox a 7-3 defeat in Monday's regularly scheduled contest.

  George Springer homered in both games, including a three-run shot in the fifth inning that erased a 1-0 deficit for Toronto in the nightcap.

  Springer followed a double by Leo Jimenez and a walk to Steward Berroa with an opposite-field blast off Brad Keller to give the Blue Jays a 3-1 lead. Toronto scored twice more in the fifth on an RBI single from Addison Barger and a run-scoring double by Ernie Clement.

  The big inning helped Jose Berrios (13-9) win his fourth straight start after the Toronto hurler held the Red Sox to three runs - two earned - and struck out six over 7 2/3 effective innings. Brendon Little relieved Berrios and tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings for his first major league save.

  Toronto has now won five straight in addition to the suspended game, while Boston has dropped four in a row along with the makeup game and is now five games out of a play-off spot in the AL.

  Jarren Duran also homered in both games for Boston. The All-Star outfielder accounted for the Red Sox's lone run in the suspended game with a solo homer, then went 3 for 4 with a two-run shot in the follow-up meeting.

  Springer's solo homer off Nick Pivetta in the suspended game snapped a scoreless tie in the seventh inning, and the Blue Jays scored three more times in the eighth on Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s two-run double and an RBI double from Barger.

  Pivetta (4-5) took the loss despite striking out 10 in six innings. The Boston right-hander allowed three runs - two earned - and just four hits.

  Harper's hit in 10th puts Phillies over Astros

  Bryce Harper's run-scoring single off Josh Hader in the 10th inning lifted the Philadelphia Phillies to a 3-2 comeback win over the Houston Astros in the opener of a three-game interleague series between division leaders.

  After Philadelphia center fielder Johan Rojas made a diving catch with a runner at third to keep the game at 2-2 in the top of the 10th, Harper stepped to the plate with runners at first and second in the bottom of the inning and sent a ground ball through the infield. Kyle Schwarber beat the throw home from Houston right fielder Ben Gamel to score the deciding run and give the National League East-leading Phillies their third straight win.

  Philadelphia trailed 2-0 after four innings, but closed the gap on Brandon Marsh's solo homer in the fifth and tied it in the sixth when Harper doubled and later scored on a Nick Castellanos single.

  The Astros had gone ahead with two runs in the fourth. Victor Caratini drew a walk against Philadelphia ace Zack Wheeler and Gamel followed with a single, and both runners came home when Shay Whitcomb delivered a two-out double to left.

  That was the only rough inning for Wheeler, who permitted two runs and struck out six over six frames.

  Ronel Blanco worked 5 2/3 innings for Houston and also surrendered two runs while striking out five.

  The Astros lost for the fifth time in seven games and had their lead atop the AL West shrink to 3 1/2 games after the second-place Seattle Mariners recorded a 5-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday.

   

   

• MLB: Blanco hits 2 home runs, drives in 7 in Royals' rout of Reds

  Dairon Blanco homered twice and drove in a career-high seven runs to power the Kansas City Royals to a 13-1 rout of the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday night.

  Blanco, who wielded a bat painted to look like a yellow crayon, hit a two-run homer deep to center field on the first pitch he saw from Reds starter Nick Lodolo in the second inning.

  Then the 31-year-old Cuban cleared the loaded bases with a shot deep into the left-field seats in the third and drove in another run with a single in the fourth. He came into the game with just one homer and five RBIs this season.

  Vinnie Pasquantino and Hunter Renfroe each added three hits for the Royals, who finished with 16 and won their third straight.

  Michael Wacha benefited from the big offensive night. He limited the Reds to four hits over six scoreless innings with one walk and a season-high nine strikeouts.

  Lodolo was roughed up for eight runs and eight hits in 2 1/3 innings.

  Jeimer Candelario hit his 20th home run for the Reds, who had a four-game winning streak snapped.

   

  Sale beats Angels for 14th win

  Chris Sale struck out 10 over six innings to tie for the major league wins lead and Marcell Ozuna went 3 for 3 with an early three-run homer as the Atlanta Braves rolled to a 11-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels.

  Sale allowed two runs and six hits with two walks to end a four-start winless streak. He leads the National League with 14 wins and tied Detroit’s Tarik Skubal for most in the majors.

  Sale improved to 8-0 in 11 appearances against the Angels with a 1.24 ERA – his lowest versus any team he’s faced at least 10 times.

  Michael Harris led off the game against Griffin Canning with a double and Austin Riley singled before Ozuna connected for his 36th home run and a 3-0 lead.

  Atlanta broke the game open with a five-run fifth and knocked out Canning.

  Whit Merrifield opened the inning with a homer and Travis d’Arnaud had a two-run double before Ramon Laureano’s two-run shot made it 9-0.

   

  Severino goes distance for Mets

  Luis Severino pitched his first complete game in over six years and was backed by home runs from Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso as the New York Mets defeated the last-place Miami Marlins, 4-0.

  Severino allowed four hits with one walk and struck out eight to end a personal three-game losing streak. He threw a season-high 113 pitches and recorded his second career complete game and first since May 2, 2018, at Houston for the Yankees.

  The shutout was the first by a Mets starter since Jacob deGrom blanked Washington on April 23, 2021.

  Lindor led off the bottom of the first against Max Meyer with his 24th home run and Alonso did the same in the second, his 27th.

  New York extended its lead in the third on Jesse Winker’s RBI single and Mark Vientos doubled home Lindor in the fourth.

  The Mets scored once in each of the first four innings for the first time since May 26, 1995, against San Francisco.

• MLB: Civale, Adames help Brewers cool Guardians

  Aaron Civale pitched six stellar innings and Willy Adames hit a three-run homer in the first inning as the Milwaukee Brewers ended the Cleveland Guardians’ five-game winning streak with a 5-3 victory in a matchup of division leaders on Friday night.

  Civale, who began his career with Cleveland in 2019, gave up four hits with one walk and four strikeouts.

  After going 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA in his first five appearances with Milwaukee, he’s 2-0 with a 1.46 ERA over his last two starts.

  The Brewers jumped on Gavin Williams for three runs in the first.

  Ty Black reached on a fielder’s choice with one out and William Conteras walked before Adames sent a 431-foot drive over the wall in right-center.

  It was Adames’ franchise record 10th three-run homer – the most in the majors this season.

  Jose Ramirez and David Fry homered in the eighth to draw the Guardians within 5-3, but Joel Payamps retired the side in order in the ninth for his sixth save with regular closer Devin Williams unavailable.

  Lowly White Sox end Astros’ win streak

  Luis Robert Jr. had two home runs among his four hits and drove in four runs as the major league-worst Chicago White Sox snapped the Houston Astros’ eight-game winning streak with a 5-4 victory.

  Robert hit a two-run homer in the third and added a solo shot in the fifth as the White Sox built a 4-1 lead. It’s the seventh career two-homer game for Robert and his first since March 30 against Detroit.

  Jake Meyers and Jon Singleton homered for the Astros, who struck out a season-high 16 times in their first loss since Aug. 5.

  The White Sox (30-93) are 3-5 in their last eight games following 21 consecutive losses.

  Garrett Crochet allowed one run on four hits over four innings with nine strikeouts. Chad Kuhl gave up Singleton’s homer in the ninth but fanned Jose Altuve for his first save of the season.

  Witt continues surge as Royals win

  Bobby Witt Jr. homered, doubled and singled to raise his major league-leading average to .352 and Michael Lorenzen pitched into the sixth inning to lift the Kansas City Royals to a 7-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds.

  Witt hit a four-seam fastball from Nick Martinez 430 feet into the upper deck for his 25th homer in the fourth inning. He doubled and scored on a fielder’s choice in the sixth and had an infield single in the seventh.

  The Reds intentionally walked him with two outs in the ninth, just before he scored on Vinnie Pasquantino's 18th homer.

  Witt is batting .422 (27 for 64) with seven homers and 19 RBIs in his last 16 games. He became the third Royals player to hit 25 homers and steal 25 bases in consecutive seasons.

  Lorenzen, acquired by the Royals from Texas on July 29, allowed a run and two hits in 5 2/3 innings and left after 83 pitches.

  Salvador Perez, Adam Frazier and Freddie Fermin also drove in runs for Kansas City, helping snap Cincinnati's four-game win streak.