Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 33rd home run and the New York Yankees defeated the Baltimore Orioles 4-1 in a game marred by a late benches-clearing incident on Friday night.
Benches cleared in the bottom of the ninth after Baltimore’s Heston Kjerstad was hit in the helmet by a pitch from closer Clay Holmes. There was some pushing and shoving, but no punches were thrown.
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde walked toward the New York dugout and pointed at someone, at which point Yankees catcher Austin Wells tried to restrain Hyde.
The teams met for the first time since the Orioles took two of three in New York last month. Since then, the Yankees are 6-13 and Baltimore is 8-12.
Gerrit Cole rebounded from a poor start in his last outing by allowing one run and five hits with one walk and seven strikeouts.
Tommy Kahnle and Luke Weaver each worked one inning and Holmes pitched the ninth for his 21st save.
The Orioles had their lead in the East trimmed to one game over the Yankees as they lost their fourth straight. They have scored three runs during that skid and are 1 for 26 with runners in scoring position.
New York scored twice against rookie Cade Povich in the second.
Anthony Volpe singled and moved to third on an error by right fielder Anthony Santander. He scored on Jose Trevino’s double and Jahmai Jones singled home another run.
Judge led off the third by sending an 0-2 pitch from Povich over the wall in left field for his first RBI in nine games. Judge walked in his other four plate appearances.
Surging Mets hold off Rockies
Jose Iglesias and Harrison Bader each homered twice and the New York Mets fended off the last-place Colorado Rockies, 7-6.
Mark Vientos also went deep and had an RBI double for the Mets, who are 4-0 on a six-game homestand against the struggling Nationals and Rockies heading into the All-Star break. New York has won six of seven overall and is 24-10 since it was 11 games under .500 on June 2.
Sean Manaea pitched seven effective innings, throwing a season-high 107 pitches. He allowed three runs and five hits while walking one and striking out nine.
He left with a 7-3 lead, but Charlie Blackmon homered to open the eighth and Brenton Doyle’s two-run shot later in the inning made it a one-run game.
Edwin Diaz worked around consecutive two-out walks in a hitless ninth for his 10th save.
Vientos and Iglesias hit back-to-back home runs in the second and Bader’s blast one batter later gave the Mets three homers in an inning for the first time since July 1, 2023, against San Francisco.
Hendricks pitches Cubs to 5th straight win
Kyle Hendricks pitched seven shutout innings and Nico Hoerner and David Bote each knocked in two runs as the Chicago Cubs stretched their season-best winning streak to five games with a 5-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Hendricks didn’t allow a runner to reach second base and gave up five hits with three strikeouts and a walk. He rebounded from three straight losses to improve to 14-4 with a 2.57 ERA in 27 career appearances against the Cardinals.
Chicago was coming off consecutive shutouts in Baltimore and had a scoreless streak of 32 2/3 innings snapped in the ninth on Paul Goldschmidt’s RBI single.
Hector Neris walked Nolan Arenado with two outs to load the bases before striking out Lars Nootbaar for his 13th save in 17 chances.
MLB: Ortiz, Cruz lead Pirates to 6th straight win
Luis Ortiz pitched seven scoreless innings and Oneil Cruz homered and drove in three runs as the Pittsburgh Pirates won their season-high sixth straight game, 4-1 over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night.
Ortiz allowed three hits in a season-high seven innings with two walks and two strikeouts.
Aroldis Chapman struck out the side in the eighth and David Bednar gave up Bryce Harper’s home run in the ninth.
The Pirates scored the game’s first runs with a pair in the sixth off All-Star Cristopher Sanchez.
Andrew McCutchen led off with a 431-foot home run and Bryan Reynolds singled before Connor Joe hit into a double play. Nick Gonzales then singled and came home on Cruz’s double off the wall in right.
Cruz extended the lead with a two-run blast – his 15th homer - in the eighth off Matt Strahm.
Pittsburgh (50-48) moved two games over .500 for the first time since late April and sent the major league-best Phillies to a season high-tying third straight loss.
Orioles back Rodriguez with three homers
Grayson Rodriguez struck out eight over six innings to become the first 12-game winner in the American League and was backed by three home runs in the Baltimore Orioles’ 8-4 win over the Texas Rangers.
Rodriguez (12-3) struck out the side in the sixth to end his night after 103 pitches. He allowed his only three hits and two runs in a four-batter span in the second before retiring 13 of the last 14 he faced.
Only Atlanta’s Chris Sale (13) has more wins in the majors than the second-year right-hander.
Jordan Westburg had three hits, including a two-run homer, and Ramon Urias added three hits and a pair of RBIs. Cedric Mullins and Ryan O’Hearn had solo shots for the Orioles, who won their third straight following five consecutive losses.
Mullins became the eighth Baltimore batter with 10 home runs.
The Orioles lead the majors with 156 home runs, 16 more than the second-place Yankees.
Max Scherzer lasted just two innings, giving up four runs and five hits with two walks.
Meyers, Diaz homer in Astros’ win
Jake Meyers hit a go-ahead two-run homer and Yainer Diaz also went deep to lead the Houston Astros to a 4-2 victory over the reeling Seattle Mariners.
Houston has won six of eight to take over sole possession of the AL West lead for the first time this season, while Seattle dropped its fifth straight and fell out of first for the first time since May 11.
Julio Rodriguez provided all the offence for the Mariners with a two-run homer in the sixth inning, but Seattle fell to 8-17 in its last 25 games.
After Framber Valdez gave up two runs on three hits in 5 2/3 innings, Houston’s bullpen held the Mariners hitless the rest of the way.
Bryan Abreu, Ryan Pressly and Josh Hader struck out five over the final three innings.
George Kirby limited the Astros to one run and four hits in six innings with six strikeouts and left with a 2-1 lead.
Ryne Stanek walked Jeremy Pena to open the seventh and Meyers drove a 1-2 pitch over the wall in right-center field for his 11th homer to give Houston a 3-2 lead.
Diaz’s homer in the eighth off Trent Thompson bounced off the top of the wall.
MLB: Astros shut out Mariners to tie for AL West lead
Hunter Brown and three relievers combined on a four-hitter and the Houston Astros moved into a tie for the AL West lead with a 3-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.
Yainer Diaz delivered the big blow with a two-run single and the Astros (51-46) won for the 18th time in 24 games. They trailed the Mariners by 10 games and were seven games under .500 on June 18.
Seattle, meanwhile, has stumbled to an 8-16 mark during that span and turned in a listless effort against a division rival coming out of the All-Star break that led to boos from the home fans after the final out.
Brown allowed four hits with three walks and five strikeouts to win for the sixth time in seven starts.
Bryan Abreu and Ryan Pressly each worked a perfect inning and Josh Hader pitched the ninth for his 19th save.
Houston did all its scoring in the third against Luis Castillo.
Trey Cabbage doubled, then scored as Jose Altuve reached on a bunt single and a bad throw by Josh Rojas got away from first baseman Ty France. Alex Bregman was hit by a pitch and Yordan Alvarez walked to load the bases.
Diaz then jumped on Castillo’s first pitch for a two-run single and a 3-0 lead.
Pirates rally, walk-off Phillies
Nick Gonzales delivered a walk-off single and the surging Pittsburgh Pirates completed a rally from a three-run deficit for an 8-7 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Pittsburgh trailed 7-4 but pulled to within one in the seventh on an RBI infield single by Oneil Cruz and Rowdy Tellez’s sacrifice fly.
Jose Alvardo was called on to protect the slim lead in the ninth, but Connor Joe led off with a single and Andew McCutchen walked. After a double steal, Bryan Reynolds struck out and Cruz brought home the tying run on a fielder’s choice.
Gonzales then sent a first-pitch cutter through the left side of the infield to give the Pirates their fifth straight win and seventh in eight games.
Pittsburgh (49-48) moved over .500 for the first time since April 24.
Trea Turner homered and Weston Wilson had a career-high three hits, including his first home run of the season, for the major league-best Phillies, who lost their third in four games.
Freeman’s slam lifts Dodgers
Freddie Freeman drilled a grand slam in the eighth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ bullpen worked four scoreless innings in a 4-1 win over the Boston Red Sox.
Nick Pivetta limited the Dodgers to two hits over six scoreless innings, but the Dodgers got to Boston’s bullpen in the eighth.
Miguel Vargas drew a leadoff walk against Zach Kelly and Chris Taylor struck out before Brennan Bernadino entered. He gave up a ground-rule double down the left-field line to Shohei Ohtani and Will Smith was intentionally walked to load the bases.
Freeman followed by sending an 0-1 slider over the wall in right field for his 15th home run and seventh career grand slam.
Gavin Stone allowed one run and six hits over five innings before Anthony Banda, Alex Vesia and Ryan Yarbrough each pitched a scoreless frame. Daniel Hudson pitched the ninth for his fifth save.
All-Star MVP Jarren Duran homered for the Red Sox, who entered the break with 10 wins in 14 games.
MLB: Duran's home run lifts American League to All-Star win
Jarren Duran hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the fifth inning and the American League scored five unanswered runs to defeat the National League 5-3 in the All-Star Game on Tuesday night in Arlington, Texas.
Shohei Ohtani staked the National League to a 3-0 lead with a three-run homer in the third inning off Tanner Houck, but the American League answered in the bottom half with three runs of its own.
Juan Soto doubled home a pair of runs and scored on pinch-hitter David Fry’s hit one out later.
Hunter Greene opened the bottom of the fifth by getting the first two outs, but Anthony Santander singled and Duran sent an 0-1 pitch 413 feet into the right-center field seats to give the AL a 5-3 lead.
Duran was named All-Star Game MVP.
Mason Miller struck out two in a perfect inning to earn the win and Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo and Kirby Yates each worked one scoreless inning before Emmanuel Clase fanned two in the ninth for the save.
Paul Skenes, 22, became the fifth rookie to start an All-Star Game and pitched a hitless first inning. His 11 big league games are the fewest for an All-Star.
The AL has won 10 of the last 11 All-Star Games and improved to 48-44-2 all-time in the Midsummer Classic.
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