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• MLB: Valdez no-hits Royals for 7 before Altuve's walk-off hit lifts Astros

  Framber Valdez pitched seven no-hit innings, but the Houston Astros needed Jose Altuve’s walk-off double to beat the Kansas City Royals 3-2 on Friday night.

  The game was tied 2-2 when Jake Meyers singled off James McArthur with one out in the ninth. With two outs, Altuve bounced his double off the wall in left field to send Meyers home and set off a wild celebration.

  The Royals didn’t get their first hit until the eighth and trailed 2-0 in the ninth when Bobby Witt Jr. reached on an error by shortstop Jeremy Peña. With one out, Paul DeJong sent a slider from closer Josh Hader into the Crawford Boxes in left field to tie it.

  Valdez was pulled after throwing 98 pitches, 60 for strikes, with seven strikeouts, three walks and a hit batter.

  Bryan Abreu took over to start the eighth and Michael Massey was retired on a fly ball before pinch-hitter MJ Melendez grounded out. Pinch-hitter Kyle Isbel then grounded a single to left field for the Royals' first hit.

  Valdez threw a no-hitter against Cleveland on Aug. 1, 2023. He nearly had a second one earlier this month before Corey Seager homered with two outs in the ninth inning of a 4-2 win over Texas on Aug. 6.

  Ben Gamel led off Houston’s third with his first home run this season and Victor Caratini doubled home a run in the eighth.

  The Royals lost their third straight and dropped 2 ½ games behind AL Central-leading Cleveland.

   

  Dodgers beat Diamondbacks in NL West showdown

  Freddie Freeman hit an early two-run homer, Will Smith added a three-run shot and Shohei Ohtani had his 43rd of the season as the Los Angeles Dodgers held on for a 10-9 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the opener of a key four-game series.

  With their third straight win and ninth in 11 games, the Dodgers opened a five-game lead over Arizona and San Diego in the West.

  Ohtani stole his 43rd base in the second inning and homered to make it 10-5 in the eighth. He is the first player in history with at least 43 homers and 43 steals in a single season.

  The Dodgers took a 10-5 lead to the bottom of the ninth, but the Diamondbacks made it a one-run game against Anthony Banda on Jake McCarthy’s two-run single and Eugenio Suarez’s two-run homer. Banda then got Corbin Carroll to foul out and retired Luis Guillorme on a fly to left.

  Freeman’s blast in the first off Zac Gallen came after Ohtani led off the game with a double.

  The Dodgers extended to a 5-0 advantage with three runs in the second. Miguel Rojas singled home a run, Mookie Betts had a sacrifice fly and Freeman’s groundout plated another run.

  Carroll homered for the fourth time in four games for Arizona, which has lost three of four following six consecutive wins.

  Los Angeles left-hander Clayton Kershaw left his start in the second inning after suffering pain in his left big toe.

   

  Arcia’s blasts power Braves

  Orlando Arcia hit a pair of solo homers, the first one as part of back-to-back shots with Sean Murphy in the third inning, to lead the Atlanta Braves to a 7-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

  While both teams are virtual locks to reach the playoffs, a split of the first two games of a four-game weekend set between the NL East rivals moved the Braves within five games of the division-leading Phillies with 27 games left in the season.

  Reynaldo López won his second straight start and has seemingly rebounded from an 0-3 June. He gave up one run and tossed four-hit ball over six innings with six strikeouts.

  He lowered his ERA against the Phillies this season to 1.06 over three starts and 17 innings.

  Bryce Harper doubled twice off López - giving him 33 this season - and singled but while wearing a black sleeve on his right arm. A two-time NL MVP, Harper said ahead of the game he’s battled nagging wrist and elbow issues.

• Civale, Ashby combine for 2-hitter as Brewers roll

  Aaron Civale and Aaron Ashby combined for a two-hitter, Garrett Mitchell had a home run, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the San Francisco Giants 6-0 on Thursday to add to their hot month of August.

  Civale struck out seven and allowed two hits and two walks over seven innings, his longest outing of the season. Ashby was perfect in his two innings with three strikeouts.

  Mitchell’s two-run homer in the second opened the scoring for the Brewers, who improved to 16-9 since the calendar turned to August.

  Jackson Chourio had a pair of RBIs, while William Contreras reached base safely three times and stole home plate.

  After going 11-13 in July, Milwaukee (77-56) has built their NL Central lead to 9 ½ games over the Chicago Cubs.

  Milwaukee’s success this season has largely been fuelled by an unsung pitching staff whose 3.70 ERA ranks third in the majors this season.

   

  Phillies rally past Braves, expand division lead

  Brandon Marsh and Nick Castellanos hit key home runs to fuel the Philadelphia Phillies’ 5-4 comeback win over the Atlanta Braves.

  With the Phillies trailing 4-0, Marsh hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning, then Castellanos’ two-run blast in the seventh put Philly in the lead.

  With the win, Philadelphia improved to 79-55 and expanded their NL East lead over the Braves to six games.

  First-time All-Star Cristopher Sanchez got the start for the Phils, working around traffic to allow four runs (two unearned) and seven hits over 5 2/3 innings.

  Orion Kerkering, Matt Strahm and Jeff Hoffman were nearly perfect over the last 3 1/3 innings, with Hoffman collecting his 10th save of the season.

  The Braves wasted a sterling night from Matt Olson, who clubbed his 24th and 25th home runs of the season.

  Atlanta (73-61) has trailed Philadelphia all year but entered Thursday’s game having won 9 of their last 11 games.

   

  Astros use 4-run 8th to top sloppy Royals

  Zach Dezenzo drew a key, bases-loaded walk and the Houston Astros capitalised on two late errors to beat the Kansas City Royals 6-3.

  The Astros entered the eighth inning trailing 3-2 before Jose Altuve scored the tying run from second after pitcher Lucas Erceg’s throwing error on a Yainer Diaz grounder.

  After the Royals intentionally walked the bases loaded, Dezenzo drew a base on balls from John Schreiber, plating Diaz as the go-ahead run. Mauricio Dubon added an RBI single, and Jeremy Pena scored on a fielding error by MJ Melendez to cap a four-run eighth.

  Josh Hader pitched a perfect ninth to shut the door and earn his 29th save of the season.

  The Astros got a boost from starter Hunter Brown, who allowed two hits and two runs (both unearned) in 6 2/3 innings.

  The win gave Houston (72-62) a four-game lead over the Seattle Mariners in the AL West.

  The Royals (75-60) have dropped two in a row but only trail the Cleveland Guardians by 1 1/2 games in the AL Central.

   

• MLB: Arrighetti takes no-hitter into 8th, Alvarez hits 3 homers in Astros' rout

  Spencer Arrighetti took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and Yordan Alvarez had his third career three-homer game as the Houston Astros rolled to a 10-0 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday.

  Arrighetti lost his no-hitter in the eighth inning when leadoff hitter Austin Hays reached on an infield single. Third baseman Shay Whitcomb just missed gloving the ball, and shortstop Jeremy Peña couldn’t throw out Hays after fielding the ball deep in the hole at shortstop.

  Whitcomb entered as a defensive replacement after Alex Bregman was hit in the head by an 88-mph pitch from Michael Mercado in the seventh inning.

  Arrighetti was lifted with two outs in the eighth, finishing with 11 strikeouts and four walks while allowing two hits in his longest outing as a professional in either the majors or minors. He was trying to become the fourth pitcher in the big leagues to toss a no-hitter this season, joining teammate Ronel Blanco, who no-hit Toronto on April 1.

  Alvarez hit the first of his three homers in the fourth inning off Taijuan Walker, a two-run, opposite-field shot. He took Michael Mercado out of the park in the seventh and eighth innings to finish with four hits and four RBIs.

  Chas McCormick also went deep for the AL West-leading Astros, who avoided a three-game sweep while winning for just the third time in nine games. Houston matched its season high with 18 hits.

   

  Cubs stage improbable rally for sweep

  Christian Bethancourt drove in a career-high seven runs, including a go-ahead two-run single in the ninth, and the Cubs erased a seven-run deficit for a 14-10 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates to sweep the three-game series.

  The Cubs trailed by seven through six innings before taking advantage of another shaky performance by Pittsburgh's bullpen.

  Bethancourt hit a two-run homer in the seventh to start Chicago's surge. The catcher added a two-run double in the eighth and laced a sharp bases-loaded single to left against Pirates closer David Bednar to complete the comeback.

  Bethancourt, whose previous career high was three RBIs, is hitting .423 with three homers and 15 RBIs in 11 games with Chicago.

  Ian Happ added three hits for the Cubs, who scored 41 runs across three games at PNC Park to improve to 17-8 over their last 25 games to move two games above .500 (68-66) for the first time since May 25 and stay on the fringe of contention for a wild-card playoff spot.

  Bryan Reynolds and Connor Joe both homered and finished with three hits for Pittsburgh. Rowdy Tellez also had three hits for the Pirates, who dropped to 6-17 in their last 23 games.

   

  Carroll hits slam, solo shot for Diamondbacks

  Corbin Carroll hit a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning off Edwin Díaz, part of a two-homer night that lifted the Arizona Diamondbacks over the New York Mets 8-5.

  The Diamondbacks trailed 5-4 heading into the eighth but pulled off a two-out rally against the Mets' closer. Díaz entered with a runner on first and promptly walked Pavin Smith and Geraldo Perdomo before Carroll smacked his second homer of the game into the right-field seats.

  The Diamondbacks have won 21 of 27 to keep pace in a torrid NL West race that includes the Dodgers and Padres.

  Harrison Bader hit a tying two-run homer for the Mets, who overcame an early four-run deficit but fell four games behind Atlanta for the final NL wild card.