MLB

Lindor's three homers lift Mets past Yankees as Scherzer makes history and red-hot Jays set records

By Sports Desk September 13, 2021

Francisco Lindor hit three home runs, including the game-winner in the eighth inning, as the New York Mets defeated slumping city rivals the New York Yankees 7-6 in a contentious finale to the Subway Series. 

After the visiting Yankees scored twice in the first inning of the MLB showdown at Citi Field, Lindor's three-run homer while hitting left-handed off Clarke Schmidt gave the Mets the lead in the second on Sunday.

After a Gleyber Torres homer brought the Yankees within a run in the top of the sixth, Lindor answered in the bottom half with a solo shot from the right side and appeared to be having some words with the visitors as he rounded the bases. 

That sparked a reaction from Giancarlo Stanton after he tied it up with a two-run homer in the seventh, as he all but stopped at Lindor's shortstop position while rounding the bases, prompting both dugouts and bullpens to clear before order was restored. 

But Lindor had the last laugh with a left-handed drive to right in the eighth that had the shortstop pointing to his bicep as he rounded first base. 

"Coming up to the box, I did want to hit a home run," he told reporters afterward.

It was the Mets' fourth win in six games against their cross-borough rivals, the first time since 2013 they have won the season series against the Yankees, who have lost 12 of their past 15 games to fall a game behind the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays for the two American League (AL) Wild Card spots.

 

Scherzer makes history as Dodgers dominate Padres

Max Scherzer and the Los Angeles Dodgers allowed only one San Diego Padres runner to reach base in an 8-0 rout, which completed a three-game series sweep. Scherzer retired the first 22 batters he faced before Eric Hosmer doubled with one out in the eighth inning to break up the perfect game. Three innings earlier, Scherzer got Hosmer to swing and miss on a 3-2 changeup for the 3,000th strikeout of his career, becoming the 19th pitcher in MLB history to reach that milestone. 

After the Red Sox levelled their game with the Chicago White Sox on an Alex Verdugo sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth, the latter won it 2-1 on Leury Garcia's two-out walk-off homer in the bottom of the inning. 

Home runs by Ozzie Albies and Freddie Freeman in the seventh inning gave the Atlanta Braves a 5-3 victory over the Miami Marlins. Atlanta gained a crucial game on the second-placed Philadelphia Phillies. 

The San Francisco Giants improved their MLB-best record to 93-50 with a 6-5 defeat of the Chicago Cubs for their seventh win in a row. 

The Milwaukee Brewers followed up Saturday's no-hitter by crushing the Cleveland Indians 11-1 as Kolten Wong and Avisail Garcia each hit a pair of homers. 

 

Rays blow chances to beat Tigers

The Tampa Bay Rays blew two chances to beat the Tigers before losing 8-7 to drop two of three in the series at Detroit. After the Rays scored four in the top of the eighth to take a 5-2 lead, Detroit tied it with three in the bottom of the inning. The Rays scored two more in the top of the 10th to go up 7-5 before Jeimer Candelario's two-run homer extended the game to the 11th. There, J.P. Feyereisen walked three batters, including Robbie Grossman to force in the winning run for Detroit and drop Tampa Bay to 6-12 in extra-inning games.

 

Gurriel, Blue Jays destroy Orioles

Lourdes Gurriel Jr.'s fourth grand slam of the season jump-started a 22-7 Toronto demolition of the Baltimore Orioles. Gurriel became the first Blue Jays player to score five times and drive in seven in a single game. Among other Blue Jays highlights, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. tied Shohei Ohtani for the MLB lead with his 44th homer and Teoscar Hernandez hit the Jays' second grand slam of the day in a 10-run third inning. The 22 runs scored were the second most in franchise history. Between the seventh inning of Saturday's game two and the first three of Sunday's demolition, the Blue Jays set a new MLB record for runs scored across a four-inning span with 27.

 

Sunday's results 

San Francisco Giants 6-5 Chicago Cubs
Texas Rangers 4-3 Oakland Athletics
Toronto Blue Jays 22-7 Baltimore Orioles
Colorado Rockies 5-4 Philadelphia Phillies
Detroit Tigers 8-7 Tampa Bay Rays
Milwaukee Brewers 11-1 Cleveland Indians
Washington Nationals 6-2 Pittsburgh Pirates
Chicago White Sox 2-1 Boston Red Sox
Kansas City Royals 5-3 Minnesota Twins
Houston Astros 3-1 Los Angeles Angels
St Louis Cardinals 2-0 Cincinnati Reds
Atlanta Braves 5-3 Miami Marlins
Toronto Blue Jays 11-2 Baltimore Orioles
Arizona Diamondbacks 5-4 Seattle Mariners
Los Angeles Dodgers 8-0 San Diego Padres
New York Mets 7-6 New York Yankees

 

Red Sox at Mariners

The Red Sox (81-64) and Mariners (77-66) open a series on Monday that could have significant implications in the AL Wild Card race. 

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