Maikel Garcia delivered a walk-off two-run double off New York Yankees closer Clay Holmes and the Kansas City Royals rallied to avoid a four-game sweep with a 4-3 victory on Thursday.
Holmes retired Freddy Fermin to open the ninth before Drew Waters reached on an infield hit after Holmes and first baseman Anthony Rizzo were confused about who would field the ball. After a fielder’s choice for the second out, Kyle Isbel singled to put runners on the corners and Garcia hit a liner down the left-field line to score both runners.
Alex Marsh took a no-hitter into the seventh against the major league-best Yankees (49-22), who outscored the Royals 25-8 in the first three games of the series. Juan Soto’s leadoff single in the seventh ended his no-hit bid and Marsh retired the next three batters to conclude his 96-pitch outing.
Rizzo homered in the eighth to get New York within 2-1 and an error by second baseman Garrett Hampson set up Anthony Volpe’s RBI grounder. Soto’s RBI single gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead.
The Royals snapped a four-game skid and the Yankees lost for only the third time in 15 games.
White Sox overcome blown save, top Mariners
Garrett Crochet struck out a career-high 13 over seven innings and Andrew Vaughn homered and drove in the winning run in the 10th inning to lift the Chicago White Sox to a 3-2 win over the Seattle Mariners.
Crochet continued his breakout season by allowing one run and two hits with two walks in a 102-pitch outing. He fanned double digits for the third time in his last four starts and held an opponent to one earned run or less for the seventh time in his last eight games.
His one big mistake came in the fifth when rookie Tyler Locklear golfed a changeup out to left field for his first career home run.
Crochet was denied the win when Michael Kopech served up Julio Rodriguez’s solo home run with one out in the ninth inning.
Nicky Lopez’s single moved automatic runner Korey Lee to third with one out in the 10th, and he scored on Vaughn’s grounder to third.
Tanner Banks struck out two in a perfect 10th for his second save.
Luis Robert Jr. and Vaughn hit back-to-back home runs in the third off Emerson Hancock to give Chicago a 2-0 lead.
Braves cool Orioles, end skid
Reynaldo Lopez pitched two-hit ball over six scoreless innings and Ozzie Albies had four hits as the Atlanta Braves snapped a five-game losing streak with a 6-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles.
Lopez allowed only two singles and retired 14 consecutive batters at one point to lower his ERA to 1.69. He walked one and matched a season high with eight strikeouts.
Joe Jimenez worked the eighth and Raisel Iglesias pitched the ninth for his 17th save.
Marcell Ozuna had a two-run double in the first inning and the Braves’ 12 hits were their most since June 1.
Kyle Stowers hit a three-run homer for the Orioles, who had won a season-best six in a row.
Orioles hammer Gil, roll to 17-5 rout of Yankees
The New York Yankees turned to the American League ERA leader in their series finale with the Baltimore Orioles.
The Orioles turned the tables on Luis Gil.
Baltimore scored seven runs off Gil and clubbed three homers in rolling to a 17-5 win over the Yankees in the Bronx on Thursday.
Cedric Mullins hit a two-run homer off Gill as part of a six-run second inning, while Anthony Santander and Austin Hays also homered for the Orioles, who improved to 5-2 against the Yankees this season.
Baltimore (49-25) set a major league record by winning a 22nd consecutive series against an AL East opponent and moved one-half game back of New York (51-26) for first place in the division.
Gil entered the game with a league-leading 2.03 ERA, but was tagged for seven runs and recorded just four outs in his shortest outing of the season. His ERA ballooned to 2.77 after the Orioles battered him, and New York was forced to use seven relief pitchers.
Baltimore pounded out a season-high 19 hits - including seven doubles - with Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman and Ryan Mountcastle each registering three hits apiece.
Mountcastle had a bases-clearing double and an RBI single, while Ryan O'Hearn also drove in four runs.
Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 27th homer in his return to the lineup after missing Wednesday's 7-6, 10-inning loss to the Orioles, one day after he was hit on the left hand by a pitch in Tuesday's 4-2 series-opening win.
Judge also hit a run-scoring single for the Yankees, who got a homer from Gleyber Torres before he exited with a groin injury in the fifth inning.
Cardinals beat Giants in game honouring Mays, Negro Leagues
The St. Louis Cardinals held on for a 6-5 win over the San Francisco Giants in the first MLB game played at historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama.
Played at the 114-year-old stadium - the oldest professional ballpark in the United States - the game had been scheduled to honour former Negro League players, including Hall of Famer Willie Mays, who played for the Birmingham Black Barons.
The tribute produced an additional emotional element with Mays passing away on Tuesday.
In the game, the Cardinals jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning - highlighted by Brendan Donovan's two-run homer.
Donovan, who grew up in Alabama, also singled and doubled and finished with three RBIs.
Alec Burleson scored three runs and Masyn Winn scored twice for the Cardinals (37-37), who won for the first time in three games to move back to .500.
Heliot Ramos hit a game-tying three-run home run in the third inning for the Giants (36-40), but St. Louis quickly responded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning.
Ohtani homers as Dodgers beat Rockies
Shohei Ohtani led off with a homer and the Los Angeles Dodgers went on to beat the Colorado Rockies 5-3 to take three of four in the series.
Ohtani's homer was his 21st, while Will Smith and Freddie Freeman each hit their 11th home run, going back-to-back in the fourth inning for the Dodgers (47-30).
Freeman had two hits, and is batting .378 with three homers and nine runs in his last 10 games, while Ohtani is 10 for 21 (.476) with four home runs, three doubles, nine RBIs and eight runs in his last five contests.
The Dodgers next play Friday against the Los Angeles Angels, which will be Ohtani's first game against his former team since signing a 10-year, $700million deal with the Dodgers in the off-season.
Gavin Stone won his fourth straight decision and improved to 8-2, permitting two runs while matching a season high with seven strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.
Since giving up eight runs in his first two starts of the season, Stone has allowed two runs or fewer in 10 of 12 starts.
Ryan McMahon hit his 13th homer and had his third straight two-hit game for the Rockies (26-49), who lost for the fourth time in five games.
Orioles hold off Yankees in 10 innings after Cole makes season debut
The Baltimore Orioles' Cedric Mullins ended Gerrit Cole's long-awaited season debut in the fifth inning.
Five innings later, he sent the New York Yankees to a loss.
Mullins hit the go-ahead single in the 10th inning and later scored on a throwing error as the Orioles held on to beat the Yankees 7-6 on Wednesday.
The game went to extras on Giancarlo Stanton's run-scoring single off Baltimore closer Craig Kimbrel with one out in the ninth.
Two innings earlier, Stanton's three-run home run off reliever Yennier Cano pulled New York within one run at 5-4.
In the 10th, Mullins' tie-breaking single scored Anthony Santander, and he made it to second base on the throw to the plate. He then stole third and came around to score as catcher Jose Trevino overthrew third baseman DJ LeMahieu.
With the win, Baltimore (48-25) pulled within 1 1/2 games of New York for first place in the AL East.
The Yankees (51-25) were playing without Aaron Judge after he was hit on the left hand by a pitch in Tuesday's 4-2 win in the series opener.
While New York was without its star slugger it did get its pitching ace back.
Cole had been on the injured list since experiencing nerve inflammation and swelling in his pitching elbow during spring training and delivered an encouraging performance.
The 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner allowed two runs and three hits while striking out five and walking one in four-plus innings.
He permitted a single to Mullins to lead off the fifth inning and was promptly pulled after throwing 62 pitches.
Bibee, Naylor lead Guardians in rout of Mariners
Tanner Bibee struck out a career-high 12 batters and Josh Naylor homered twice as the Guardians rolled to an 8-0 win over the Seattle Mariners in a matchup of American League division leaders.
Naylor drove in four runs, and got things started with a run-scoring single in the first inning.
That would be all the offence Bibee would need, as he limited the Mariners to three hits and a walk over six innings.
Steven Kwan hit a two-run homer and singled and has hit safely in all 13 games since missing nearly four weeks with a strained left hamstring, batting .510 with nine RBIs and 13 runs scored during his hitting streak.
Jose Ramirez and Bo Naylor also each had a pair of hits for the AL Central-leading Guardians (45-26), who snapped a three-game losing streak and bounced back from Tuesday's 8-5 setback in the series opener.
The AL West-leading Mariners (44-32) lost for just the second time in 10 games and were shutout for the first time since May 30.
Rangers break up no-hitter to end Mets' seven-game winning streak
Leody Taveras came off the bench to hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning to lead the Texas Rangers to a 5-3 win over the New York Mets.
The Rangers (34-40) ended a five-game losing streak and snapped the Mets' seven-game winning streak.
Texas prevailed despite being no-hit into the sixth inning.
Mets starter Sean Manaea retired the game's first two batters before issuing three consecutive walks to load the bases. He then hit Wyatt Langford with a pitch to force in a run before getting Nathaniel Lowe to ground into a fielder's choice to end the inning.
Manaea then retired the next 13 batters before giving up his first hit on Robbie Grossman's single with one out in the sixth inning.
Pete Alonso hit his 16th homer for the Mets (35-38), who lost for just the third time in 14 games.
MLB: Judge injures hand in Yankees' win over Orioles
Nestor Cortes pitched six scoreless innings and the New York Yankees overcame the loss of Aaron Judge in a 4-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles in the opener of a three-game series between the top teams in the American League East on Tuesday night.
Judge, the major league leader with 26 home runs and 64 RBIs, left one inning after he was hit on the left pinkie by a 94.1 mph fastball from Albert Suarez.
Judge remained in the game and scored on Giancarlo Stanton’s single. He played center field in the top of the fourth but was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the bottom half.
Judge said X-rays and a CT scan were negative. He said there is some swelling, and he hopes not to miss any games.
Cortes allowed five hits with six strikeouts and no walks to improve to 4-2 with a 1.57 ERA at home this season.
Anthony Volpe, Gleyber Torres and DJ LeMahieu each drove in a run for the Yankees, who extended their lead in the East over Baltimore to 2 ½ games.
Anthony Santander hit a two-run homer in the ninth off closer Clay Holmes for all the Orioles’ offence. Santander has a major league-best nine home runs this month.
Orioles third baseman Jordan Westburg left in the middle of the second inning with left hip discomfort after colliding with baserunner Juan Soto.
Mets rally for 7th straight win
Pete Alonso delivered a tiebreaking double in the ninth inning and the New York Mets rallied for their season-high seventh straight victory, 7-6 over the slumping Texas Rangers.
The Mets trailed 6-2 after the Rangers put up a five-run fifth, but they scored once in the sixth, once in the seventh and tied it in the eighth on Francisco Alvarez’s two-run double.
Rangers closer Kirby Yates walked Brandon Nimmo with one out in the eighth and J.D. Martinez reached on a catcher’s interference call and Alonso’s double into the left-field corner put New York on top.
Mark Vientos and Nimmo homered for the Mets (35-37), who have won 11 of 13 to get within two games of .500 for the first time since mid-May.
Defending World Series champion Texas (33-40) has lost five in a row to fall a season-worst seven games under .500.
Dodgers stun Rockies with 7-run 9th
Jason Heyward hit a pinch-hit grand slam and Teoscar Hernandez added a go-ahead, three-run homer as part of a seven-run ninth inning as the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for a shocking 11-9 win over the Colorado Rockies.
Heyward’s blast came off Tyler Kinney and followed walks by Andy Pages and Miguel Vargas around a single by Miguel Rojas. That drew the Dodgers within 9-8 with one out in the ninth after they trailed 7-2 in the fifth inning.
Shohei Ohtani singled off Victor Vodnik before Will Smith struck out. After a wild pitch, Freddie Freeman was walked intentionally to bring up Hernandez. He checked his swing at a 1-2 fastball and first base umpire Lance Barksdale ruled it wasn’t a swing, as Colorado manager Bud Black argued and was ejected.
On the next pitch, Hernandez hit his 18th home run to make it 11-9. After the ball cleared the wall, Rockies right fielder Jake Cave immediately took a few steps toward Barksdale and began yelling.
Alex Vesia got the first two outs in the ninth and Evan Phillips retired the only batter he faced for his 11th save.
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