MLB

MLB: Abreu has 7 RBIs, Astros pound Scherzer in rout of Rangers on Wednesday

By Sports Desk September 06, 2023

Jose Abreu had two home runs and seven RBIs and Justin Verlander outpitched former teammate Max Scherzer to power the Houston Astros to a 12-3 rout of the Texas Rangers and a three-game sweep on Wednesday.

The game was billed as a marquee pitching matchup between Verlander and Scherzer, who both began this season with the New York Mets and were also teammates with Detroit from 2010-14.

The pitcher’s duel never materialised, however, as the Astros roughed up Scherzer for seven runs – all on home runs - and six hits over three innings.

Abreu’s grand slam in the third inning was the third homer against Scherzer, who also was taken deep by Yordan Alvarez in the first inning and by Michael Brantley in the second.

Rangers All-Star slugger Adolis Garcia was injured trying to make a leaping catch at the wall on Brantley’s homer.

He jammed his right leg hard after coming down to the ground, and the Rangers said he had knee discomfort.

Verlander scattered four hits and one earned run over seven innings. He struck out six and walked one for his fifth win in his past six starts.

The sweep put Houston in sole possession of the AL West lead for the first time this season, one game ahead of Seattle.

Marcus Semien hit a pair of solo homers for Texas, which has lost 15 of 19 to fall three games behind the Astros.

 

Surging Cubs finish sweep of reeling Giants

Seiya Suzuki had a bases-clearing double and Cody Bellinger homered to lead the Chicago Cubs to an 8-2 win over the San Francisco Giants.

Chicago won its fourth straight to move a season-best 12 games over .500 and pulled within 1 ½ games of NL Central-leading Milwaukee.

Rookie Jordan Wicks allowed two runs and nine hits over 6 2/3 innings to improve to 3-0 with a 2.16 ERA in his first three major league starts.

The Giants lost their sixth straight and fell 2 ½ games behind the third and final NL wild-card spot.

 

Marlins rout Dodgers for 6th straight win

Joey Wendle had four RBIs and fell a triple shy of the cycle as the Miami Marlins won their sixth in a row, 11-4 over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The victory came after the Marlins placed reigning Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara and All-Star slugger Jorge Soler on the injured list earlier in the day.

Wendle, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Jesus Sanchez homered during Miami’s 9-run fifth inning against Lance Lynn.

Jacob Stallings had two hits in the inning for the Marlins, who moved ahead of Cincinnati into the third wild-card spot.

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    Judge collected all 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. garnered all 30 second-place votes.

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    It is the second AL MVP award of Judge's career after he also won the award in 2022.

    Judge led the major leagues with 58 homers, 144 RBIs and 133 walks while hitting .322. He also drew a league-high 133 walks and posted a spectacular 1.159 OPS.

    Witt topped the big leagues with a .332 average, hitting 32 homers with 109 RBIs.

    With two MVP Awards to his name, Judge is the seventh player in Yankees history to win multiple MVPs. He joins Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Alex Rodriguez.

    There was an extended stretch over the summer where Judge was on a pace to reach and possibly break his own single-season home run record (62 in 2022). The same goes for a bid at a Triple Crown.

    The stretch that truly defined his season began on April 27. Judge entered play on that day in Milwaukee with a .178 batting average and .674 OPS on the season. He had only four home runs with 35 strikeouts across 27 games.

    Over his next 100 games, through August 23, Judge hit .378 with 45 home runs. It was the first time in MLB history a player batted higher than .375 with 45-plus homers in a stretch of 100 games within a single season.

    Ohtani was unanimously voted AL MVP in 2021 and 2023 as a two-way star for the Los Angeles Angels and finished second to Judge in 2022 voting. He didn’t pitch in 2024 following elbow surgery and signed a record $700 million, 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers last December.

    Ohtani hit .310, stole 59 bases and led the NL with 54 homers and 130 RBIs exclusively as a designated hitter, becoming the first player with 50 or more homers and 50 or more stolen bases in a season. He helped the Dodgers to the World Series title, playing the final three games with a torn labrum in his left shoulder.

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