The Texas Rangers are now riding a six-game winning streak, but may be without All-Star third baseman Josh Jung for a while after he fractured his left thumb in Sunday's 6-0 victory over the Miami Marlins.
Jung was injured after a scorching line drive off the bat of Miami's Jorge Soler hit his glove in the sixth inning, though he was able to pick up the ball and start a double play before being removed from the contest shortly after.
The rookie is the second Texas All-Star infielder to hurt his thumb within the last three weeks. Shortstop Corey Seager missed nine games with a sprained right thumb before returning Aug. 2, but is still dealing with effects from the injury and missed Sunday's contest.
Ezequiel Duran replaced Jung and had one of four Rangers homers to back 5 2/3 scoreless innings from Andrew Heaney. Nathaniel Lowe, Marcus Semien and Adolis Garcia also went deep to help Texas sweep the three-game series and hand the slumping Marlins a fourth straight loss.
Heaney held Miami to four hits and two walks to win his third consecutive start.
2022 National League Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara was dealt his 10th defeat of the season for Miami, which dropped to 5-16 since the All-Star break. The right-hander allowed five runs - four earned - while striking out seven in six innings.
Surging Cubs down MLB-best Braves for sixth straight series win
Ian Happ and Dansby Swanson each drove in two runs as the Chicago Cubs remained hot with a 6-4 victory over the MLB-leading Atlanta Braves.
The Cubs scored three times in the fifth inning to erase a 3-2 deficit en route to their fifth win in six games. Chicago is 15-4 since July 18 and has now won six consecutive series after taking two of three from Atlanta over the weekend.
Sunday's win moved the Cubs within 1 1/2 games of the first-place Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central.
Happ tied the game at 3-3 in the fifth with an RBI single before scoring the go-ahead run on a double from Cody Bellinger, who later crossed the plate on Jeimer Candelario's two-out single for a 5-3 advantage.
The rally helped Cubs starter Justin Steele improve to 13-3 on the season after the All-Star pitcher gave up four runs - three earned - and struck out seven in 5 1/3 innings.
Matt Olson hit his 39th home run - one shy of Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani for the major league lead, and knocked in three runs for the Braves.
Atlanta's Charlie Morton struggled again by surrendering five runs and issuing four walks in 4 1/3 innings. The veteran has now lost four straight starts and has a 7.32 ERA during that stretch.
Rookie Schneider makes history in Blue Jays' rout of Red Sox
Davis Schneider went 4 for 5 with a home run and four RBIs to continue a historic start to his major league career in the Toronto Blue Jays' 13-1 drubbing of the Boston Red Sox.
Schneider is now 9 for 13 with a pair of homers through his first three MLB games. The 24-year-old second baseman is the first player in MLB history to begin a career with nine hits and two home runs over three games.
Matt Chapman added two hits and three RBIs as Toronto completed a three-game sweep of its American League East rivals. The Red Sox are now five games back of the Blue Jays for the AL's final wild card spot.
Toronto also received a strong pitching outing from Chris Bassitt, who scattered seven hits and struck out six while allowing one run in seven innings.
Triston Casas accounted for the Red Sox' lone run with a solo homer off Bassitt in the fourth inning.
MLB: Lindor overcomes illness to lift Mets to walk-off win
Francisco Lindor overcame illness to deliver a walk-off, two-run double in the 11th inning in the New York Mets’ 7-6 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Thursday.
After Nick Madrigal gave the Cubs a 6-5 lead in the top of the 11th with a run-scoring double, Daniel Palencia began the bottom half by hitting Harrison Bader to put two runners on.
Lindor, who didn’t start after leaving Wednesday night’s game with flu-like symptoms, ripped a sharp grounder inside third base and down the left-field line to score automatic runner Brett Baty and Bader.
Lindor also had a two-run double in the sixth inning to forge a 5-5 tie and right fielder Starling Marte made two rocket throws in extra innings to cut down Cubs runners at the plate to end the 10th and 11th.
Brandon Nimo drove in two runs for the Mets, who overcame a 4-0 deficit to salvage a split of the four-game series.
Christopher Morel hit a three-run homer and had one of Chicago’s six stolen bases.
Orioles hit three home runs to beat Yankees
Ryan Mountcastle, Jorge Mateo and Ryan McKenna homered and Kyle Bradish pitched well in his season debut to lead the Baltimore Orioles to a 7-2 win over the New York Yankees.
Bradish allowed one run over 4 2/3 innings with two walks and five strikeouts after he began the season on the injured list with a UCL strain. Four relievers combined to limit the Yankees to one run and two hits over the final 4 1/3 innings.
Mountcastle, Mateo and Jordan Westburg each knocked in two runs as the Orioles took three of four in the series between the top teams in the AL East.
Baltimore’s pitchers allowed just six runs in the four games for a 1.50 ERA.
Carlos Rodon had his worst start of the season, yielding seven runs on eight hits in four-plus innings.
Gleyber Torres hit his first home run of the season for the Yankees but also made the team’s third error of the series to help extend Baltimore’s four-run fifth.
Singleton leads Astros past Guardians
Jon Singleton homered and drove in three runs as the Houston Astros rallied for their fourth win in five games, 8-2 over the Cleveland Guardians.
Singleton’s two-run homer in the sixth gave Houston a 3-2 lead and the Astros broke open the game with five runs in the seventh.
Jose Altuve singled home a run and scored when Jeremy Pena was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Yainer Diaz delivered a two-run single and Singleton’s sacrifice fly capped the outburst.
Spencer Arrighetti had the best of his four major league starts, allowing two runs and four hits over 5 2/3 innings with three walks and six strikeouts.
Will Brennan had three of Cleveland’s seven hits as the Guardians completed a six-game road trip with four losses.
MLB: Twins beat White Sox again for 10th straight victory
Max Kepler and Jose Miranda delivered run-scoring singles in the seventh inning and the Twins added four runs in the ninth to win their 10th straight game, 10-5 over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday.
Alex Kiriloff had a solo home run, Will Castro and Miranda each finished with three hits and Ryan Jeffers contributed a two-run double for the Twins, whose winning streak is their longest since June 2008.
Minnesota has beaten the major league-worst White Sox seven times during the streak, with the other three wins coming against the 11–20 Angels.
Tommy Pham and Kory Lee homered for Chicago, which lost its third straight to fall to 6-25.
Twins center fielder Byron Buxton left in the second inning with right knee soreness after an unsuccessful attempt to steal second base.
Imanaga sharp again as Cubs hold off Mets
Shota Imanaga continued his historic start with seven scoreless innings and the Chicago Cubs completed a perfect relay for the game’s final out to hold off the New York Mets, 1-0.
Imanaga limited the Mets to three singles with one walk and seven strikeouts to improve to 5-0 with a 0.78 ERA in his first six major league starts.
He is the first pitcher since 1901 to go 4-0 with a sub-1.00 ERA and at least 28 strikeouts in his first five starts.
The Mets put runners at second and third with one out in the bottom of the ninth against Hector Neris before Jeff McNeil hit a flyball to medium left field. Ian Happ made the catch and relayed to third baseman Nick Madrigal, who threw home to get Pete Alonso for the final out.
Chicago scored the game’s only run in the fifth, when Matt Mervis led off with a double, moved up on a wild pitch and scored on rookie Pete Crow-Armstrong’s sacrifice fly.
Red-hot Lugo wins again
Seth Lugo pitched seven strong innings for his fifth win and Michael Massey hit a three-run homer to lift the Kansas City Royals to a 6-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Lugo allowed just one hit until giving up Danny Jansen’s home run with two outs in the seventh. The right-hander walked two and struck out eight to improve to 5-1 and lower his ERA to 1.60.
Bobby Witt Jr. had two hits, scored once and had an RBI to help the Royals take two of three in the series.
Salvador Perez had an RBI single and extended his career-best streak of reaching base safely to 21 games. He leads the AL with a .355 batting average and 27 RBIs.
Kansas City gave Lugo all the support he needed with a three-run sixth. Kyle Isbel led off with a double, moved up on a sacrifice and scored on Witt’s single. Vinnie Pasquantino then doubled, and Perez’s hit plated Witt before Massey’s groundout made it 3-0.
MLB: Tigers' Flaherty strikes out first 7 batters, fans 14 in doubleheader opener
Jack Flaherty tied an American League record with seven straight strikeouts to open the game and finished with a career-high 14 before the St. Louis Cardinals rallied for a 2-1 win over the Detroit Tigers in a doubleheader opener on Tuesday.
Flaherty’s game-opening seven strikeouts matched the AL record shared by Joe Cowley of the 1986 Chicago White Sox, Carlos Rodon of the 2016 White Sox, Tampa Bay’s Blake Snell in 2018 and Seattle’s Luis Castillo two years ago.
Miami’s Pablo Lopez holds the major league record by striking out the first nine batters of a game in 2021.
Flaherty’s 14 strikeouts were the most by a Tigers pitcher since Max Scherzer had 14 against Pittsburgh on Aug. 14, 2014.
Detroit took a 1-0 lead into the ninth, but Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt and Alec Burleson had one-out singles before Pedro Pages followed with a go-ahead sacrifice fly for his first career RBI.
In the second game, Wenceel Perez homered from both sides of the plate, including a tiebreaking shot in the fifth inning, to lift the Tigers to an 11-6 win.
Streaking Twins beat White Sox
Max Kepler had a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the ninth inning to lead the Minnesota Twins to their ninth straight victory, 6-5 over the Chicago White Sox.
Minnesota’s win streak is its longest since a 10-game run in June 2008. The Twins also have won seven consecutive games against the White Sox.
After Andrew Benintendi homered in the eighth to tie it at 5, Bryon Buxton led off the ninth with a walk and took third on Manuel Margot’s single. Kepler’s fly to center gave the Twins a 6-5 lead and Jhoan Duran pitched around a leadoff single by Tommy Pham in the bottom of the ninth for the save in his season debut.
Danny Mendick added his first home run of the season for Chicago, which dropped to a major league-worst 6-24.
Caratini, Hader lift Astros to wild win
Victor Caratini hit a pinch-hit, two-run homer with two outs in the 10th inning after Josh Hader pitched two innings for the first time since 2019 in the Houston Astros’ 10-9 win over the Cleveland Guardians.
David Fry’s RBI double in the top of the 10th put the Guardians ahead by one, but Caratini took Hunter Gaddis deep to give the Astros their third straight win.
Hader pitched a scoreless ninth before returning for the 10th. He got more than three outs in a regular-season game for the first time since getting four on Aug. 14, 2020, and had his first two-inning appearance in five years.
Josh Naylor and Estevan Florial hit three-run homers and Andres Gimenez also went deep for Cleveland, which rallied from an 8-3 deficit with a five-run sixth.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
