Kyle Tucker came through with a grand slam off All-Star closer Felix Bautista in the ninth inning as the Houston Astros rallied for a stunning 7-6 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday.
Bautista was called on to protect a 6-3 lead in the ninth but promptly walked pinch-hitter Jon Singleton before Jose Altuve blooped a single.
After Alex Bregman struck out, Yordan Alvarez followed with a deep drive to centre that Jorge Mateo – a shortstop making only his second start of the year in centre field – failed to make the play on, and the ball bounced off the wall for a very long single.
Tucker battled Bautista for nine pitches, finally hitting a 100-mph fastball into the seats in right-centre for his 20th home run and second grand slam this season.
Bautista had allowed only five earned runs all season before Houston scored four on him in two-thirds of an inning.
Baltimore had a four-game winning streak snapped and its lead in the AL East was cut to two games over Tampa Bay.
Ryan Mountcastle hit a first-inning home run – a two-run blast – and Adley Rutschman added a two-run shot of his own in the second to put the Orioles up 5-0.
Houston starter Framber Valdez, who threw a no-hitter in his previous start, allowed a season high-tying six runs and eight hits in seven innings.
Scherzer pitches Rangers to eighth straight win
Max Scherzer pitched seven strong innings and Corey Seager had three hits with a home run to lead the Texas Rangers to their season-high eighth straight win, 6-1 over the Oakland Athletics.
Scherzer limited last-place Oakland to three hits with two walks and six strikeouts in his second start with the Rangers.
Robbie Grossman doubled home a run in the second inning and scored on Sam Huff’s double to trigger a three-run fourth.
Seager capped that outburst with an RBI double and hit his 19th home run in the seventh inning – his sixth homer in his last eight games.
The win was the 68th for the Rangers, equalling their total from all last season. The eight-game streak is their longest since winning 10 straight from May 9-19, 2017.
Gilbert shuts down Padres as Mariners stay hot
Logan Gilbert pitched one-hit ball and struck out a career-high 12 over seven innings as the Seattle Mariners beat the San Diego Padres 2-0 for their sixth consecutive win.
Gilbert retired 21 of the 22 batters he faced, allowing only an infield single to Xander Bogaerts in the second inning.
Matt Brash struck out Trent Grisham with runners on the corners in the eighth and Andres Munoz worked the ninth.
Seattle moved a season-high nine games over .500 and pulled within two games of Toronto for the third and final AL wild-card spot.
The Mariners scored the game’s first run in the fifth inning on a bases-loaded walk to Cal Raleigh and Dylan Moore tripled home another run in the sixth.