Home runs from J.T. Realmuto and Kyle Schwarber backed six solid innings from Aaron Nola as the Philadelphia Phillies clinched their first National League East title since 2011 with Monday's 6-2 win over the Chicago Cubs.

The Phillies also received a run-scoring single from Nick Castellanos to enhance their chances of earning one of the NL's top two seeds and a first-round bye for the upcoming playoffs. Philadelphia (93-64) now trails the Los Angeles Dodgers by a half-game for the majors' best record with less than a week remaining in the regular season.

Nola (13-8) scattered seven hits and struck out seven while allowing just two runs. The steady veteran pitcher held the Cubs scoreless through the first six innings of play as the Phillies gradually built a 6-0 lead.

Realmuto opened the scoring with his 14th homer of the season, a two-run shot off Caleb Kilian in the second inning. Schwarber made it 3-0 an inning later with a lead-off homer that gave him 100 runs batted in for a second straight season.

The Phillies added another run off Kilian in the third when Trea Turner followed Schwarber's blast with a double and later scored on Castellanos' single.

Bryce Harper led off the bottom of the fifth with a double and eventually crossed the plate on an error by Chicago second baseman Nico Hoerner to increase the margin to 5-0. The Phillies scored again in the sixth when Brandon Marsh drew a walk, advanced to third on Johan Rojas' single and came home on a double-play grounder off the bat of Schwarber.

Nola was removed after surrendering back-to-back doubles by Isaac Paredes and Hoerner that got the Cubs on the board. Hoerner later scored on a groundout for the game's final run.

Kilian (0-1) allowed all six Philadelphia runs - five earned - and eight hits across 5 2/3 innings. 

Mariners put Astros' AL West title plans on hold

The Seattle Mariners got seven scoreless innings from Bryce Miller and two runs batted in from Julio Rodriguez to prevent the Houston Astros from clinching the American League West with Monday's 6-1 win.

Rodriguez went 3 for 5 to lead a 13-hit attack that closed Seattle within 1 1/2 games of the co-holders of the AL's final two wild-card spots, the Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers.

The Mariners still have a faint chance of winning the AL West, though Houston needs to win just one of this series' two remaining games to claim its fourth straight division title.

Miller (12-8) continued a strong finish to his season by yielding just two hits and a pair of walks. The right-hander is now 2-0 with a 0.72 ERA over his last four starts.

Hunter Brown (11-9) allowed just one run while striking out eight over six innings for Houston, but issued two walks in the third inning that led to Seattle taking a 1-0 lead on Cal Raleigh's single that plated Victor Robles.

The Mariners added on in the seventh after loading the bases on singles by Justin Turner and J.P. Crawford and a walk to Dylan Moore. Two batters later, Rodriguez singled to center to drive in Turner for a 2-0 advantage.

Seattle loaded the bases again in the eighth on three consecutive singles before Turner brought in Raleigh with a sacrifice fly. Jorge Polanco followed with a run-scoring double to stretch the margin to 4-0.

Jason Heyward finally got Houston on the board with a solo home run in the eighth, but the Mariners scored twice more in the ninth to put the game out of reach. 

Back-to-back doubles by Robles and Rodriguez increased the lead to 5-1 before Rodriguez scored on Randy Arozarena's double.

Giants drop Diamondbacks back in NL wild card standings

The San Francisco Giants hit three home runs, including an inside-the-park shot from Matt Chapman, to come through with a 6-3 win over Arizona that knocked the Diamondbacks out of a tie for the NL's second wild card.

Casey Schmitt and Michael Conforto also homered to help the Giants to a fourth straight win. Chapman finished 2 for 3 and drove in three runs, while San Francisco starter Hayden Birdsong (5-5) struck out six while holding the Diamondbacks to two runs in five innings.

Arizona fell a half-game behind the New York Mets in the standings and now holds a 1 1/2-game lead on the Atlanta Braves for the final NL wild card. The Braves and Mets begin a pivotal three-game series in Atlanta on Tuesday.

The Diamondbacks had an early 1-0 lead after consecutive doubles by Geraldo Perdomo and Joc Pederson in the first inning, but the Giants went ahead with three runs in the third off Eduardo Rodriguez.

After Heliot Ramos singled and scored on Jerar Encarnacion's double, Chapman drove a pitch off the center field wall and sprinted around the bases for the first inside-the-park homer by a Giants' player since Denard Span in 2017.

Christian Walker drove in Corbin Carroll with a double in the bottom of the third to pull Arizona within 3-2, but Schmitt's solo homer in the fourth restored the Giants' two-run advantage.

Conforto went deep an inning later to increase the lead to 5-2, then doubled in the seventh before crossing the plate on a Chapman triple.

Arizona got a run back in its half of the seventh when Jose Herrera doubled and scored on Perdomo's single. The Diamondbacks failed to score thereafter, though, with Ryan Walker throwing a perfect ninth for San Francisco to record his 10th save.

Rodriguez (3-4) struck out eight in 4 2/3 innings but was tagged for five runs on seven hits. 

Alec Bohm went 4 for 4 with a home run and four RBIs to lead a 17-hit attack that powered the Philadelphia Phillies to a playoff-clinching 12-2 rout of the New York Mets on Friday.

Bohm's three-run homer capped a big fourth inning in which the Phillies scored six times to break a 2-2 tie, and J.T. Realmuto added a two-run shot in the eighth to secure Philadelphia's place in the National League playoffs for the third consecutive year.

Philadelphia, which entered the day tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the NL's best record, can wrap up its first NL East title since 2011 by winning one of its two remaining games with the Mets this weekend.

The Phillies also received three hits and two RBIs from Nick Castellanos, while Johan Rojas had a two-run double among his two hits.

Jose Iglesias went 2 for 4 with a solo homer for New York, which had a four-game winning streak snapped. The Mets dropped a game back of Arizona for the NL's second wild card after the Diamondbacks earned a 7-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Iglesias led off the bottom of the first inning with a home run and Starling Marte followed with a single before later crossing the plate for a 2-0 New York lead against Philadelphia starter Cristopher Sanchez.

Sanchez (11-9) allowed just one more hit over his five-inning stint while finishing with seven strikeouts, and the Phillies scored single runs in the second and third before breaking things open in the fourth.

Rojas' two-run double in the fourth put Philadelphia ahead 4-2, and Bohm later delivered his 15th homer of the season to extend the margin to 8-2.

David Peterson (9-3) lasted just 3 2/3 innings for New York and was tagged for five runs - four earned - on eight hits.

Ohtani follows historic night with encore performance

Shohei Ohtani followed Thursday’s unforgettable performance with another record-breaking outing, and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Colorado Rockies 6-4.

On Thursday, Ohtani became the first player in MLB history with 50 home runs and 50 steals in the same season, reaching the milestone by going 6 for 6 with three home runs, 10 RBIs and two stolen bases.

Ohtani finished Friday 3 for 4, launched his 52nd home run of the season and stole his 52nd base. It was the 14th time this season that he hit a home run and stole a base in the same game, an MLB record.

Teoscar Hernandez and Andy Pages also went deep for the Dodgers (92-62), whose magic number to clinch the NL West over the San Diego Padres was reduced to four.

The Dodgers opted for a bullpen day, with eight pitchers combining to allow just five hits and strike out 15 batters.

The Rockies squandered home runs from Charlie Blackmon, Michael Toglia and Sam Hilliard.

Kyle Freeland, who allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings, was saddled with the loss.

Orioles cool off Tigers to pad AL wild card lead

The Baltimore Orioles belted five home runs, including two each from Colton Cowser and James McCann, to increase their lead atop the American League wild card standings with a 7-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

Anthony Santander also homered for Baltimore, which got all its runs via the long ball to back seven scoreless innings from Corbin Burnes to move five games up on Kansas City for the AL's top wild card. The slumping Royals were dealt a 2-1 loss by the San Francisco Giants for their fifth straight defeat.

Detroit, which entered this key three-game series having won four straight, dropped one game behind Minnesota for the third and final wild card after the Twins posted a 4-2, 12-inning win over the Boston Red Sox.

Burnes (15-8) yielded just three hits and struck out eight to beat the Tigers for the second time in less than a week. The Baltimore ace also tossed seven scoreless innings in a 4-2 win at Detroit on Saturday.

Santander's two-run homer off Tyler Holton in the first inning staked the Orioles to an early lead, and Cowser made it 3-0 an inning later with a solo blast off Keider Montero.

McCann added a two-run shot in the fourth, and he and Cowser came through with solo homers off Montero in the sixth to increase the margin to 7-0.

The Tigers' lone run came on Trey Sweeney's RBI single in the ninth. Sweeney finished with two of Detroit's seven hits.

The Los Angeles Dodgers got a three-run homer from Freddie Freeman and a combined four-hit shutout from Yoshinobu Yamamoto and four relievers to hand the Atlanta Braves a potentially costly 9-0 loss on Monday.

Making his second start following a near three-month absence caused by a strained shoulder, Yamamoto scattered four hits and two walks in four innings. The Braves didn't record a hit against Evan Phillips (4-1), Blake Treinen, Daniel Hudson and Brent Honeywell the rest of the way to fall one game back of the New York Mets for the National League's final wild card.

The Mets came through with a 2-1 win over the Washington Nationals on Starling Marte's run-scoring single in the 10th inning.

Shohei Ohtani knocked in two runs to help Los Angeles split this four-game series and move within a game of the Philadelphia Phillies for the NL's best record. The superstar slugger finished 0 for 4, however, and remained at 47 home runs and 48 stolen bases as he attempts to become MLB's first 50-50 player in a season.

The Dodgers didn't get a hit off Atlanta's Max Fried until the fifth inning but still managed to manufacture a run following a lead-off walk to Miguel Rojas in the third. Rojas advanced to second on a groundout, stole third and scored when Fried uncorked a wild pitch.

Tommy Edman collected Los Angeles' initial hit with a ground-rule double to begin the fifth and scored on Rojas' single. After a hit batter and a fly ball advanced Rojas to third, he came home on Ohtani's fielder's choice grounder for a 3-0 advantage. 

Fried (9-10) yielded just two hits and struck out seven in six innings despite being touched for three runs.

The Dodgers put the game away with a six-run seventh inning capped by the ex-Brave fan favourite Freeman's opposite-field homer.

After three walks by Atlanta reliever Daysbel Hernandez loaded the bases, Ohtani reached on a fielder's choice that plated Rojas for a 4-0 cushion. Mookie Betts brought in another run with a sacrifice fly and Teoscar Hernandez delivered an RBI single in front of Freeman's blast. 

Brewers trim magic number to two with win over Phillies

William Contreras and Joey Ortiz each drove in two runs to back a solid start from Aaron Civale as the Milwaukee Brewers moved closer to capturing the NL Central with a 6-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Brewers' fourth victory in five games reduced their magic number to two to claim their third division title in four years. Milwaukee also closed within three games of the NL-leading Phillies in the standings.

Civale (5-2) scattered seven hits and struck out six while limiting Philadelphia to one run in five-plus innings. Colin Rea closed out the win with 2 2/3 scoreless innings to notch his first career MLB save.

Contreras gave Milwaukee a 2-0 lead with a third-inning double off Ranger Suarez that brought in Jackson Chourio and Blake Perkins, who reached via a walk and single, respectively.

The Brewers extended the margin in the fourth when ex-Phil Rhys Hoskins walked, advanced to third on Sal Frelick's double and scored on a sacrifice fly from Ortiz.

Suarez (12-7) lasted five innings and allowed three runs despite giving up just four hits and fanning five.

Brandon Marsh homered in the fifth for the Phillies' lone run off Civale, but Milwaukee scored twice in the sixth to increase their lead further.

Ortiz knocked in Frelick with a triple to put the Brewers up 4-1 before crossing the plate on Brice Turang's single.

Philadelphia got a run back in the top of the seventh when Bryson Stott singled and later scored on Kyle Schwarber's two-out single. The Brewers countered in their half of the inning, however, when Perkins singled and stole two bases before coming home on Gary Sanchez's sac fly.

Manzardo's homer lifts Guardians over Twins

Kyle Manzardo's go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning rallied the Cleveland Guardians to a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Twins in the opener of a key four-game series between American League Central contenders.

Cleveland overcame an early 3-0 deficit to earn its MLB-leading 40th comeback victory of the season, which increased the Guardians' lead atop the AL Central to five games over Kansas City.

The Royals were handed a 7-6 loss by the charging Detroit Tigers, who closed within 1 1/2 games of struggling Minnesota for the AL's final wild card. The Twins have lost seven of 10 and are 9-18 since Aug. 18.

Minnesota was clinging to a 3-2 lead when Josh Naylor led off the bottom of the eighth with a double off Twins reliever Griffin Jax. Two batters later, Manzardo clubbed the first pitch he saw from Jax into the right field seats to put the Guardians ahead.

Emmanuel Clase then retired the side in order in the ninth to record his 46th save, tying a Cleveland franchise season record.

The Twins got all of their runs in the third inning after loading the bases with one out on a Carlos Correa double and two walks issued by Cleveland starter Matthew Boyd. Correa scored the game's first run on a passed ball by Guardians' catcher Bo Naylor, and Byron Buxton knocked in two more with a single for a 3-0 advantage.

Minnesota's Pablo Lopez held Cleveland scoreless until the fifth, when he hit Brayan Rocchio with a pitch and allowed a double to Angel Martinez. Andres Gimenez followed with a single to drive in the Guardians' first run.

Lopez issued two walks around a Will Brennan single to allow Cleveland to inch closer in the seventh on Martinez's bases-loaded single which brought in Manzardo.

Martinez finished 3 for 4, while Brennan and Jose Ramirez each had two hits for the Guardians.

Lopez pitched 6 1/3 innings and permitted two runs on eight hits.

The San Diego Padres were one strike away from padding their lead atop the NL wild-card standings.

The Detroit Tigers' Parker Meadows changed that with one swing of the bat.

Down 3-0 with two outs and two strikes in the top of the ninth inning, Meadows hit a grand slam to stun the Padres and send the Tigers to a thrilling 4-3 win on Thursday.

Parker hit a 101 mph four-seam fastball off Robert Suarez that travelled 361 feet and landed just over the short left-field fence in San Diego.

San Diego (80-62) lost for the first time in four games and its lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks shrunk to just one-half game for the NL's top wild-card spot.

Jurickson Profar and Xander Bogaerts each homered for the Padres, who end the regular season with a three-game series at Arizona.

Meadows' homer was just his sixth of the season and lifted the Tigers (71-70) back over .500 and within five games of the Royals for the AL's final wild-card spot.

Braves lose, now tied for final NL wild card spot

The Atlanta Braves suffered a 3-1 loss to the last-place Colorado Rockies to drop into a tie for the league's final wild-card berth with the idle New York Mets.

Atlanta and New York have identical 76-64 records with 22 games remaining.

The Braves, who got their lone run on Ramón Laureano's RBI single in the first inning, managed just five hits with Orlando Arcia's second inning-double the only one going for extra bases in the finale with the Rockies (52-89).

Colorado's Michael Toglia and Ezequiel Tovar each hit solo homers off Atlanta starting pitcher Reynaldo Lopez, who gave up three other hits while striking out 11 without a walk in his six innings of work.

Rockies starter Austin Gomber went eight innings, yielding a run and five hits without issuing a walk while striking out six.

Phillies push winning streak to five

The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Miami Marlins 5-2 to extend their winning streak to five games and increase their lead atop the NL East to eight games.

Bryson Stott hit an RBI single in the first inning and a long solo homer during Philadelphia's four-run sixth inning.

Kody Clemens knocked in a pair of runs with a double in the sixth and later came around to score on a wild pitch.

Ranger Suarez gave up three hits over five scoreless innings for the Phillies (84-56), who have won 10 of 12.

The Marlins (52-88) scored their first run in the seventh on an RBI single by Jesús Sánchez and plated their final run an inning later on a throwing error by Clemens.

Salvador Perez drove in a career-high six runs on a pair of homers, including a grand slam, as the Kansas City Royals moved within a game of the first-place Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central with Monday's 9-4 victory that capped a doubleheader sweep.

The surging Royals, winners of nine of their last 12 games, won the opener by a 4-3 score on Bobby Witt Jr.'s tie-breaking solo homer in the eighth inning.

Kansas City trailed 3-0 early in the nightcap but battled back to take a 5-4 lead on Perez's first homer of the game, a solo blast off Cleveland starter Logan Allen in the fifth inning. The All-Star catcher put the contest out of reach an inning later with a grand slam off Tim Herrin that marked his 17th career multi-homer outing, tied with Hall of Famer George Brett for the most in Royals' history.

Perez, who went 3 for 3 in the opener, also knocked in a run with a third-inning groundout that plated Maikel Garcia, who led off with a single and took third on a double by Witt.

Garcia and MJ Melendez each had three hits for Kansas City in the second game, while Paul DeJong went 2 for 4 with a solo homer.

The scuffling Guardians lost for the eighth time in 11 games despite three doubles and an RBI from Jose Ramirez in the nightcap. Daniel Schneemann had two hits for Cleveland, including a solo homer.

Cleveland is now 0-8 in doubleheader games this season.

In the opener, Witt drove a pitch from reliever Hunter Gaddis into the left field seats to give the Royals a 4-3 edge in the top of the eighth inning. John Schreiber and Lucas Erceg protected the one-run lead from there, with Schreiber earning the win and Erceg recording his eighth save with a scoreless ninth.

The Royals had taken a 3-2 lead on Melendez's three-run homer in the fourth inning, but the Guardians pulled even when Ramirez doubled in the seventh and later scored on Josh Naylor's single.

Jansen makes history, plays for the Blue Jays and Red Sox in same game

Danny Jansen became the first player in MLB history to appear for both teams in the same game when the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox completed a previously suspended contest.

Jansen was a member of the Blue Jays when a June 26 matchup with the Red Sox was suspended in the second inning due to rain. He was traded to Boston on July 27 and inserted into the Red Sox's lineup when the game resumed Monday to accomplish the unprecedented feat.

The catcher's old team got the better of his current one, however, as Toronto posted a 4-1 win in the suspended game before dealing the reeling Red Sox a 7-3 defeat in Monday's regularly scheduled contest.

George Springer homered in both games, including a three-run shot in the fifth inning that erased a 1-0 deficit for Toronto in the nightcap.

Springer followed a double by Leo Jimenez and a walk to Steward Berroa with an opposite-field blast off Brad Keller to give the Blue Jays a 3-1 lead. Toronto scored twice more in the fifth on an RBI single from Addison Barger and a run-scoring double by Ernie Clement.

The big inning helped Jose Berrios (13-9) win his fourth straight start after the Toronto hurler held the Red Sox to three runs - two earned - and struck out six over 7 2/3 effective innings. Brendon Little relieved Berrios and tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings for his first major league save.

Toronto has now won five straight in addition to the suspended game, while Boston has dropped four in a row along with the makeup game and is now five games out of a play-off spot in the AL.

Jarren Duran also homered in both games for Boston. The All-Star outfielder accounted for the Red Sox's lone run in the suspended game with a solo homer, then went 3 for 4 with a two-run shot in the follow-up meeting.

Springer's solo homer off Nick Pivetta in the suspended game snapped a scoreless tie in the seventh inning, and the Blue Jays scored three more times in the eighth on Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s two-run double and an RBI double from Barger.

Pivetta (4-5) took the loss despite striking out 10 in six innings. The Boston right-hander allowed three runs - two earned - and just four hits.

Harper's hit in 10th puts Phillies over Astros

Bryce Harper's run-scoring single off Josh Hader in the 10th inning lifted the Philadelphia Phillies to a 3-2 comeback win over the Houston Astros in the opener of a three-game interleague series between division leaders.

After Philadelphia center fielder Johan Rojas made a diving catch with a runner at third to keep the game at 2-2 in the top of the 10th, Harper stepped to the plate with runners at first and second in the bottom of the inning and sent a ground ball through the infield. Kyle Schwarber beat the throw home from Houston right fielder Ben Gamel to score the deciding run and give the National League East-leading Phillies their third straight win.

Philadelphia trailed 2-0 after four innings, but closed the gap on Brandon Marsh's solo homer in the fifth and tied it in the sixth when Harper doubled and later scored on a Nick Castellanos single.

The Astros had gone ahead with two runs in the fourth. Victor Caratini drew a walk against Philadelphia ace Zack Wheeler and Gamel followed with a single, and both runners came home when Shay Whitcomb delivered a two-out double to left.

That was the only rough inning for Wheeler, who permitted two runs and struck out six over six frames.

Ronel Blanco worked 5 2/3 innings for Houston and also surrendered two runs while striking out five.

The Astros lost for the fifth time in seven games and had their lead atop the AL West shrink to 3 1/2 games after the second-place Seattle Mariners recorded a 5-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday.

Aaron Judge continued his torrid home run pace with his major league-leading 48th and Gerrit Cole allowed one hit over six innings as the New York Yankees rolled to a 6-0 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday.

Judge homered for the third straight game and is on pace to finish with 61, two years after hitting 62 to break Roger Maris’ single-season AL record. Judge homered for the sixth time in seven games, seventh time in 10 games and 13th time in 23 games.

Judge had 49 homers through his first 128 games in 2022 and is the only Yankee with at least 48 through that point in multiple seasons. He joined Sammy Sosa (1998, 1999, 2001) and Mark McGwire (1998, 1999) as the third player in baseball history with at least 48 homers through 128 games in multiple seasons.

Cole allowed a single to Steven Kwan on his second pitch and tied a career worst with five walks. He struck out two and got eight outs on the ground, including a double play by rookie Jhonkensy Noel to end the sixth.

Cole became the fourth active pitcher to reach 150 wins, joining Justin Verlander (260), Max Scherzer (216) and Clayton Kershaw (212).

Giancarlo Stanton added a three-run homer for the Yankees, who moved 1 ½ games ahead of Baltimore for the AL East lead.

Cleveland lost for the fifth time in six games. The Guardians scored once and had five hits in the final two games of the series after scoring six times in the 12th in a 9-5 win on Tuesday.

Braves take series from Phillies

Rookie Spencer Schwellenbach retired 19 straight batters and Adam Duvall went 3 for 3 with a home run as the Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 to take two of three in the series.

After Schwellenbach surrendered a one-out single to Bryce Harper in the first, he didn't allow another hitter to reach safely until Bryson Stott's infield hit off the pitcher's glove with two outs in the seventh.

 J.T. Realmuto followed with a run-scoring double to the gap in right-center, cutting into Atlanta's 3-1 lead and ending Schwellenbach’s night. Pierce Johnson struck out Brandon Marsh to end the threat and worked around two walks in the eighth, retiring Trea Turner on an inning-ending double play.

Raisel Iglesias struck out the side in the ninth for his 28th save in 30 chances.

Schwellenbach gave up two runs and three hits over 6 2/3 innings with one walk and nine strikeouts – all swinging.

Duvall hit his 11th home run leading off the sixth to extend Atlanta’s lead to 3-1. His three-hit night came after he entered the game mired in a 1-for-29 slump.

Arrighetti pitches Astros to 9th straight road win

Spencer Arrighetti pitched three-hit ball over six scoreless innings and the Houston Astros extended their lead in the AL West to a season-high 5 ½ games with a 6-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

Arrighetti walked one and struck out six before departing after throwing 94 pitches. He outpitched Orioles ace Corbin Burnes, who allowed five earned runs over 5 2/3 innings.

Ben Gamel drove in two runs in his Astros debut as they won their ninth straight road game, Houston’s longest run since an 11-game streak in 2018.

Gamel, acquired off waivers from the New York Mets, delivered RBI singles in the fourth and sixth, when Houston did all its scoring. The Astros are 62-39 since their 7-19 start, and they've opened a comfortable lead over second-place Seattle in the AL West. Houston was 10 games behind after losing to the Chicago White Sox on June 18.

The Orioles have lost five of seven to fall 1 1/2 games behind the AL East-leading Yankees.

Jackson Merrill hit another tying home run and Luis Arraez drove in three runs, including the go-ahead run in the 10th, to lift the San Diego Padres to their season-high-tying seventh straight win, 9-8 over the Miami Marlins on Saturday.

David Peralta had three hits and Jake Cronenworth drove in two runs for the Padres, who have won 16 of 18 overall and 17 of 21 on the road.

With automatic runner Tyler Wade at second, Ha-Seong Kim opened the 10th with a walk. Both runners moved up on Kyle Higashioka's sacrifice before Arraez's soft grounder to first put the Padres ahead.

Tanner Scott got the final three outs for his 19th save and first as a member of the Padres, who acquired him from the Marlins at the trade deadline.

San Diego trailed 7-3 after Miami's six-run sixth but got two runs back in the seventh and Merrill followed Xander Bogaerts' leadoff walk in the eighth with his 17th home run and fifth in 10 games to tie it.

Four of those home runs lifted the Padres into a tie, with three coming in the ninth inning.

Jake Burger and Vidal Brujan homered for the Marlins, who have lost three straight and nine of 13.

McCarthy hits two homers in Diamondbacks' rout of Phillies

Jake McCarthy hit a pair of two-run homers and All-Star Ketel Marte also went deep before leaving with an ankle injury as the red-hot Arizona Diamondbacks rolled to an 11-1 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Corbin Carroll also homered for the Diamondbacks, who have won 14 of 17 to move into a wild-card spot and remain 3 ½ games behind the NL West-leading Dodgers.

Marte exited in the fourth inning after he was knocked on his back covering second by Garrett Stubbs' head-first slide. Marte fell to the ground in pain and eventually left the field under his own power with a trainer.

Arizona starter Zac Gallen also departed early after moving awkwardly in attempting to field a ground ball in the fifth inning. There was no immediate word on his injury, but the ace right-hander missed a month earlier this season with a right hamstring injury.

McCarthy had his first career multi-home run game.

Marte homered in the first off Aaron Nola to reach 30 for the second time in his career. He hit 32 homers in 2019.

Hoskins homers in Brewers' 1-0 win

Rhys Hoskins homered in the 8th inning and rookie Tobias Myers and two relievers combined on a three-hitter as the Milwaukee Brewers won their fifth in a row, 1-0 over the Cincinnati Reds.

Hoskins took reliever Tony Santillan deep for his 20th home run, giving him a 14-game hitting streak.

Myers allowed three hits over 7 1/3 innings and struck out a career-high nine. Seven of his strikeouts were against the first three batters in the Reds order; Jonathan India, Elly De La Cruz and Tyler Stephenson.

Joel Payamps got the final two outs of the eighth for the win and Devin Williams struck out the side in the ninth for his first save of the season.

Cincinnati's Nick Martinez gave up one hit and struck out seven in a season-high seven innings.

Milwaukee (67-49) moved a season-high 18 games over .500.

Matt Wallner hit a go-ahead three-run homer and Minnesota’s bullpen pitched four perfect innings as the Twins completed a doubleheader sweep of the reeling Cleveland Guardians with a 6-3 win on Friday night.

In the first game, Bailey Ober pitched six shutout innings and Carlos Santana and Ryan Jeffers each hit solo home runs to give the Twins a 4-2 victory.

The Twins’ seventh win in nine tries moved them within 1 ½ games of the Guardians, who have lost a season-high seven in a row.

That's the closest defending division champion Minnesota has been since May 13 to Cleveland, which has held first place for all but seven days in April.

The Guardians, who hadn't lost more than three games in a row all season until this skid started last weekend, went hitless against relievers Cole Sands, Caleb Thielbar and Trevor Richards after tagging Twins starter Louie Varland for eight hits and three runs in 4 2/3 innings.

Richards recorded his first save, after Jhoan Duran notched his 16th save in the opener by striking out the side in the ninth inning.

Sizzling Padres rally past Marlins

Manny Machado highlighted a four-run 10th with a two-run double and drove in three runs as the red-hot San Diego Padres rallied for their sixth straight win, 6-2 over the Miami Marlins.

The Padres trailed 2-0 entering the eighth but Jurickson Profar doubled with one out and scored on Machado’s double. Jackson Merrill, who finished with three hits, led off the ninth with a 400-foot homer to center, his 16th to tie it.

Machado’s double off Brett De Geus scored former Marlin Luis Arraez, who had singled, and Jake Cronenworth. Tyler Wade broke the 2-2 tie when he beat the throw home on a Cronenworth grounder to shortstop Xavier Edwards.

Martin Perez allowed two runs on three hits over seven innings and Bryan Hoeing and Jason Adam each worked a hitless inning before Tanner Scott worked the 10th against his former team.

San Diego has won 15 of its last 17 games and is 2 ½ games behind the NL West-leading Dodgers.

Jake Burger and Jonah Bride hit back-to-back homers in the fourth for the last-place Marlins, who have lost eight of 12.

Diamondbacks win on Del Castillo’s walk-off homer

Adrian Del Castillo hit a walk-off home run in the ninth inning for his first career blast to lift the surging Arizona Diamondbacks to a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Phillies rallied from a 2-0 deficit, tying it in the eighth on a two-out RBI double from Johan Rojas that scored Nick Castellanos from first.

That set up Del Castillo's ninth-inning heroics. He jumped all over a 97 mph fastball from Jeff Hoffman, launching it deep into the right-field seats for his first big league homer. Del Castillo was called up this week after starting catcher Gabriel Moreno went down with a groin injury in Cleveland.

Arizona has won 13 of 16 to strengthen its hold on an NL wild-card spot.

The Chicago White Sox tied an American League record with their 21st consecutive loss after being handed a 5-1 defeat by the Oakland Athletics on Monday.

Chicago mustered just one run and three hits through seven innings against A's starter JP Sears to match the 1988 Baltimore Orioles for the second-longest losing streak in Major League Baseball since 1900. The 1961 Philadelphia Phillies own the longest skid in the modern era with 23 straight losses.

Max Schuemann snapped a 1-1 tie with a two-run single in the fourth inning to help support Sears (9-8), who retired the final 10 batters he faced after surrendering Andrew Benintendi's run-scoring single in the top of the fourth to improve to 5-1 over his last six starts.

Benintendi's hit brought home Andrew Vaughn, who doubled earlier in the inning, to knot the score at 1-1 before the A's answered with two runs in their half of the fourth.

Oakland loaded the bases when White Sox starter Ky Bush hit Darrell Hernaiz with a pitch after giving up a double to JJ Bleday and walking Zack Gelof. Schuemann then delivered a single to left to drive in two runners and provide Sears with a 3-1 advantage.

Oakland increased its lead on Lawrence Butler's solo homer in the sixth inning, then tacked on another run in the eighth when Gelof scored from third on a pitch that got past White Sox catcher Korey Lee as Schuemann struck out.

Bush, called up from Triple-A Charlotte earlier in the day, allowed just two hits over four innings in his MLB debut, but issued five walks and permitted three runs.

The rookie left-hander walked three batters to load the bases in the first inning, which led to the A's first run when Tyler Nevin plated Daz Cameron with a sacrifice fly. 

Ohtani's homer helps Dodgers down Phillies in Freeman's return

Shohei Ohtani hit his National League-leading 34th home run of the season as the Los Angeles Dodgers made Freddie Freeman's return to the lineup a winning one with Monday's 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Teoscar Hernandez added a two-run homer in Freeman's first game since July 25. The All-Star first baseman had been away from the Dodgers for 10 days to attend to his 3-year-old son, who had been hospitalized with an autoimmune condition before being released Sunday.

Ohtani also drove in a pair of runs while finishing 2 for 3 to help Los Angeles win the opener of this marquee three-game series between the NL's top two teams.

The Dodgers also received a solid start from Tyler Glasnow (9-6), who struck out nine over six innings while allowing three runs. Three Los Angeles relievers then finished off the victory, with Daniel Hudson tossing a scoreless ninth to earn his eighth save.

Aaron Nola (11-5) worked six innings for the slumping Phillies but was touched for four runs, all of which came in the third inning as Los Angeles erased an early 2-0 deficit.

Philadelphia has now lost seven of its last eight games and is just a half-game ahead of the Dodgers in the race for the NL's best record.

Nola cruised through the first two innings but quickly ran into trouble in the third, as Jason Heyward and Andy Pages delivered back-to-back doubles to get the Dodgers on the board. After Pages advanced to third on Nick Ahmed's infield single, Ohtani lifted a long sacrifice fly to right field that tied the contest at 2-2.

Hernandez followed with a line drive into the seats in left to put Los Angeles ahead with his 24th homer of the season.

Glasnow kept it a 4-2 lead until the sixth, when Kyle Schwarber singled and reached third on Bryce Harper's one-out double before scoring on a groundout off the bat of Alec Bohm.

Ohtani restored the Dodgers' two-run advantage, however, with a solo homer off Tanner Banks to open the bottom of the eighth.

The Phillies reached Glasnow for two second-inning runs with the help of a misplay by Pages, who couldn't come down with Nick Castellanos' long fly ball to center field that resulted in a two-out triple.

Bryson Stott then plated Castellanos with an infield single, and Austin Hays followed with a base hit to advance Stott to third. Stott would score on a wild pitch uncorked by Glasnow to give the Phillies a 2-0 edge.

Rangers shock Astros on Smith's homer in 10th

Josh Smith came through with a game-winning two-run homer with two outs in the 10th inning, lifting the Texas Rangers to a stunning 4-3 victory over the Houston Astros in the opener of a key three-game series between AL West contenders.

Smith's blast off Caleb Ferguson sent slumping Houston to a third straight loss and prevented the Astros from moving within a half-game of the first-place Seattle Mariners in the division standings.

The defending World Series champion Rangers are now five games behind Seattle after winning for just the third time in 10 games.

After the Astros took a 3-2 lead in the top of the 10th when Texas closer Kirby Yates hit consecutive batters with pitches to force in a run, Ferguson entered the game and struck out the first two men he faced with a designated runner on second base.

Ferguson fell behind in the count to Smith, however, and the utility player sent a 3-1 fastball deep into the right field seats to end the game.

The Rangers opted to intentionally walk Houston slugger Yordan Alvarez in the top of the 10th to put two runners on base, but the strategy backfired when Yates hit Yainer Diaz in the hand and then plunked Jeremy Pena with the bases loaded to put the Astros ahead.

Texas had tied the game on Corey Seager's solo homer off Ryan Pressly in the bottom of the eighth, erasing a 2-1 lead the Astros had taken in the top of the inning when Jose Altuve singled, took second on a wild pitch from Rangers reliever David Robertson and later scored on Pena's infield single.

Alex Bregman gave Houston an early 1-0 advantage with a solo homer in the third inning off Andrew Heaney, the only hit the Rangers' starter allowed in six innings of work.

Texas pulled even in the fifth when Nathaniel Lowe drew a walk against Houston starter Hunter Brown, advanced to third on Adolis Garcia's single and scored on a sacrifice fly by Leody Taveras.

Brown yielded just one run and three hits over six innings.

Jazz Chisholm hit a pair of home runs for the second straight night, Gleyber Torres hit the go-ahead sacrifice fly in the 12th inning and the New York Yankees outlasted the Philadelphia Phillies 7-6 on Tuesday.

Chisholm, acquired from the Miami Marlins on Saturday, matched his two-homer performance from Monday and drove in five runs for the Yankees, who have won four straight games.

After the Phillies jumped out to a 4-1 lead, Chisholm hit a solo homer off All-Star Aaron Nola in the sixth inning, then launched a three-run shot off Matt Strahm in the seventh to put New York ahead.

Philadelphia tied the game in the bottom of the ninth when Josh Rojas scored on a Clay Holmes wild pitch.

Both teams scored in the 11th to extend the game before Torres’ sacrifice fly allowed Austin Wells to score the decisive run.

Michael Tonkin, who blew a save opportunity in the 11th, pitched a perfect 12th to seal the New York victory.

Will Warren got the start for the Yankees after Gerrit Cole was scratched a few hours before first pitch due to general soreness.

The Phillies still lead the majors with a 65-42 record despite dropping nine of their last 12 games.

Padres rally in 9th, stun Dodgers in extras

Pinch-hitter Donovan Solano hit a walk-off single in the 10th inning, and the San Diego Padres stunned the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-5.

The Padres entered the ninth trailing 5-3, but solo home runs off Blake Treinen by Manny Machado – his second of the game – and Jackson Merril forced extra innings.

Ha-Seong Kim started the 10th on second base, and two walks by Alex Vesia loaded the bases for Solano. Once his hit made it past diving third baseman Kike Hernandez, the San Diego crowd of 47,559 erupted in cheers.

With a win over their rival, the Padres (58-51) improved to 8-2 since the All-Star break and continued their push into play-off contention.

The Dodgers jumped on San Diego starter Matt Waldron for five runs in the first inning, including a two-run homer by Cavan Biggio, but were held scoreless for the next nine innings.

The Padres’ bullpen allowed just two hits in six scoreless innings.

White Sox blow late lead, drop 16th straight

For the second straight night, the Chicago White Sox carried a lead into the eighth inning. And for the second straight night, the Kansas City Royals rallied for a victory.

Bobby Witt Jr.’s RBI single sparked a three-run eighth inning, and the Royals beat the White Sox 4-3 as Chicago’s franchise-record losing streak reached 16 games.

The floundering White Sox wasted a sterling outing from rookie starter Jonathan Cannon, who gave up one run and one hit over seven innings.

The loss dropped Chicago to a record of 27-83, worst in the league this season and within reach of the all-time losses record of 120, set by the New York Mets in 1962.

“It’s not for the lack of effort. We’re busting our (tails) trying to get that win,” shortstop Nicky Lopez said. “It just always seems like there’s that one inning or one situation where we have to come through and we haven’t done that.”

Michael Wacha pitched seven strong innings for the Royals, allowing two runs and five hits with five strikeouts.

Vinnie Pasquantino drove in two runs, and Michael Massey hit a solo home run.

Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm each hit two home runs, Ben Rice and Anthony Volpe also went deep and the New York Yankees handled the MLB-leading Philadelphia Phillies 14-4 on Monday.

Judge increased his major league-leading totals to 39 home runs and 99 RBIs. Chisholm, who logged his first professional start at third base, went deep for the first time in a Yankees uniform.

Chisholm, who played in his second game for New York since being traded by the Miami Marlins, borrowed Judge’s bat to hit both his home runs.

Juan Soto also had a strong night at the plate, going 3 for 5 while driving in three runs.

Giancarlo Stanton returned from a 28-game absence due to a hamstring strain and was 0 for 4 with a walk and a run scored.

Three of New York’s home runs came off Philly ace Zack Wheeler, who surrendered seven runs and seven hits in five innings’ work as he fell to 10-5.

Luis Gil had a quality start and collected the win after giving up three runs in 5 1/3 innings with eight strikeouts.

The win gave the Yankees their first three-game winning streak since June 9-12 as they remained one game back of the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East.

Tuesday’s game, the second of a three-game set, features an enticing pitching match-up with Gerritt Cole and Aaron Nola slated to start.

Adames, Chourio homer late as Brewers beat Braves

Willy Adames hit a three-run shot in the sixth inning, Jackson Chourio added a two-run homer in the eighth and the Milwaukee Brewers rallied to beat the Atlanta Braves 8-3.

Adames had three hits from the clean-up spot, and his 17th home run of the season gave Milwaukee their first lead of the night after Rhys Hoskins’ solo shot got the Brewers on the board in the fifth.

Marcell Ozuna hit his 31st home run of the season in the fourth inning, and Sean Murphy also went deep for the Braves, who are 3-7 since the All-Star break.

Milwaukee starter Colin Rea only allowed three hits, but two of them were home runs. He pitched 5 1/3 innings with six strikeouts in the no-decision.

Skenes strong again, Pirates lifted by HR in 9th

Paul Skenes continued his dominant rookie season with six strong innings, Michael A. Taylor hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Houston Astros 5-3.

Skenes received a no-decision despite allowing two runs (one earned) and five hits over six innings with six strikeouts, dropping the rookie All-Star’s ERA to 1.90.

The Pirates improved to 9-4 in games started by Skenes. Even after another successful outing, however, the flame-throwing right-hander felt he could have performed better.

“I wasn’t executing, and frankly, got lucky,” Skenes said after the game. “I was trying to find it.”

Taylor stepped to the plate with two on and two out to face Josh Hader in a 2-2 ballgame, sending a fastball over 420 feet into left-centre field for his third home run of the season.

David Bednar converted his 19th save of the season in the bottom half, but only after forcing in a bases-loaded walk to Yordan Alvarez with two outs.

Nick Gonzales' single in the eighth inning drove in the go-ahead run as the Pittsburgh Pirates continued their mid-season surge with Monday's 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Gonzales hit that scored All-Star Bryan Reynolds snapped a 1-1 tie and helped give Pittsburgh its seventh win in eight games as it pushes for a play-off spot in the National League. The Pirates, who last reached the post-season in 2015, sit a half-game behind the New York Mets for the NL's final wild card spot.

Pittsburgh also moved within a game of St. Louis for the second wild card. 

Reynolds led off the bottom of the eighth with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch by St. Louis reliever John King. Two batters later, Gonzales hit a slow grounder that got through the infield to score Reynolds for a 2-1 Pittsburgh lead.

David Bednar then held the Cardinals scoreless in the ninth to earn his 18th save of the season. Aroldis Chapman received the win with one scoreless inning in relief of Mitch Keller, who allowed just one run on six hits in a seven-inning no-decision.

The Cardinals also got a solid outing from their starter, as Andre Pallante yielded just one run and three hits through six innings.

Nolan Gorman accounted for St. Louis' lone run by hitting a solo homer off Keller in the fifth inning that tied the score at 1-1. The Pirates had gone ahead in the third when Andrew McCutchen doubled and later scored on Oneil Cruz's single. 

Witt just misses cycle in Royals' rout of Diamondbacks

Bobby Witt Jr. finished a single short of hitting for the cycle and had one of three Kansas City home runs as the Royals rolled to a 10-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks to extend their winning streak to four games.

Witt tripled in the first inning, doubled in the third and delivered a three-run homer in the fourth that gave the Royals an 8-3 lead. The All-Star shortstop was hit by a pitch and flied out in his final two at-bats, though, to narrowly miss becoming the first Kansas City player to record a cycle since Hall of Famer George Brett in 1990.

Salvador Perez had a go-ahead two-run homer in the third inning and Hunter Renfroe later added a solo shot as part of the Royals' 15-hit attack. Vinnie Pasquantino and Kyle Isbel each collected three hits, with Isbel driving in two runs and Perez three.

Arizona had taken a 3-1 lead when Ketel Marte followed Alek Thomas' RBI double in the top of the third with a two-run homer off Cole Ragans. The Royals countered with three runs in their half of the inning, however, to quickly move back ahead.

Witt started the rally with a lead-off double and scored on Pasquantino's single before Perez launched Arizona starter Yilber Diaz's pitch over the center field wall for a 4-3 Kansas City edge.

The Royals then extended the margin with four runs in the fourth.

Isbel doubled in Maikel Garcia and Adam Frazier followed with an infield single to chase Diaz. Witt then greeted Miguel Castro with a home run on the reliever's first pitch to put Arizona at a five-run deficit.

Renfroe's solo homer in the fifth increased the lead to 9-3.  Perez drove in Witt with the Royals' final run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth.

Ragans (7-6) shook off his early troubles to work six innings while allowing three runs on five hits and striking out six.

Diaz (1-1), making his third MLB start, was tagged for seven runs in three-plus innings.

Isbel previously knocked in Kansas City's first run with a second-inning single. The Diamondbacks managed a late run in the eighth when Christian Walker doubled and later scored on Eugenio Suarez's sac fly.

Ober pitches Twins past struggling Phillies

Bailey Ober bounced back strongly after allowing an early home run to Bryce Harper to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 7-2 win over the struggling Philadelphia Phillies in the opener of a three-game series.

After giving up hits to three of the game's first four batters, including Harper's two-run homer, Ober (9-5) yielded just one more hit over the remainder of his seven-inning stint to improve to 4-1 over his last six starts. The right-hander retired 17 of the final 18 batters he faced.

Manuel Margot led Minnesota offensively with two hits, including a two-run single that gave the Twins a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning. Willi Castro also knocked in two runs to help Minnesota snap a three-game losing streak, while Carlos Santana and Max Kepler each had two hits and an RBI.

The Phillies still own the majors' best record at 63-37 but have now lost four of their last five games.

After Castro's third-inning single plated Diego Castillo to trim Philadelphia's lead to 2-1, the Twins struck twice more in the fifth to forge ahead.

Kepler led off the bottom of the fifth with a single and Castillo followed with a ground-rule double to put two on for Margot, who sent both runners home with a go-ahead single to right off Philadelphia All-Star Ranger Suarez.

Suarez (10-5) lost his third straight start after surrendering three runs and seven hits over 5 1/3 innings.

The Twins extended their lead in the seventh when Ryan Jeffers doubled and later crossed the plate on a Santana double, then put the game out of reach with three runs in the eighth.

Kepler followed a Trevor Larnach double with a run-scoring single to put Minnesota up 5-2, and the Twins later loaded the bases before scoring twice more on a walk to Castro and a wild pitch from reliever Yunior Marte.

Cole Sands worked the final two innings for Minnesota to notch his third save of the season.

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.  

Kyle Schwarber hit another leadoff home run and All-Star Matt Strahm struck out Shohei Ohtani in a key spot as the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3 for their major league-leading 60th win on Wednesday night. 

The Phillies have won the first two games of this three-game series between division leaders. At 60-32, only the 1976 team (88 games) reached the 60-win mark faster in a season in franchise history.

Philadelphia won without All-Star slugger Bryce Harper, who sat out with a bruised left hand after he returned for Tureday’s10-1 win following a nine-game absence. Harper was hurt at an unspecified point, through he clearly grabbed his hand and hunched over in pain on a second-inning chopper by Miguel Rojas.

Strahm entered with one out in the seventh and the Phillies holding a 4-2 lead. With runners at the corners, he struck out Ohtani and retired Teoscar Hernandez on a fly out to escape the jam.

The Dodgers scored a run in the eighth on Rojas’ RBI single, but Jeff Hoffman tossed a scoreless ninth for his ninth save.

Schwarber’s homer off Gavin Stone was his 39th career leadoff homer and 18th overall this season.

Valdez pitches Astros past Marlins

Framber Valdez struck out a season-high 10 over seven stellar innings and rookie Joey Loperfido homered and tripled to propel the Houston Astros to their eighth straight home win, 9-1 over the Miami Marlins.

Valdez allowed six hits – all singles – and walked one to win his third straight decision.

Loperfido hit a two-run homer to highlight a four-run second off Bryan Hoeing and had his first career triple in the fourth.

Yainer Diaz had three hits and three RBIs for the Astros (48-44), who have won eight of 11 to match a season high at four games over .500.

Perez’s home runs help Royals sweep

Salvador Perez homered in both games and MJ Melendez hit a solo shot in the nightcap as the Kansas City Royals beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-5 for a sweep of their day-night doubleheader.

Garrett Hampson had two-run double to back a strong start by Alec Marsh in the Royals’ 6-4 victory in the early game.

Kyle Isbel homered in the second game and James McArthur pitched the ninth for his second save of the day and 17th of the season.

Kansas City notched its 50th and 51st wins of the season after it totaled just 56 victories all last season.

Nolan Arenado, Alec Burleson and Paul Goldschmidt homered in the opener for the Cardinals, while Lars Nootbaar went deep in the nightcap. St. Louis entered the day having won four of five.

Brandon Nimmo drove in four runs and had three of the New York Mets' season-high 22 hits as Major League Baseball's hottest team rolled to a 14-2 victory over the Texas Rangers on Monday.

Francisco Lindor went 4 for 4 and knocked in two runs as the Mets won their sixth consecutive contest while collecting their most hits in a game since recording 23 against the Atlanta Braves on Aug. 15, 2019.

Nimmo had a two-run homer among his three hits and DJ Stewart added a three-run blast as New York battered Texas starter Jon Gray for nine runs and 11 hits in just three-plus innings.

Pete Alonso, Mark Vientos and Francisco Alvarez also had three hits each to support a solid start from David Peterson, who allowed two runs and struck out six over six innings to move to 3-0.

After Lindor singled to open the game and later scored on Alonso's base hit to put the Mets up early, New York broke open the game with six runs in the second.

Lindor's single brought in Vientos for a 2-0 lead and Nimmo followed with a run-scoring hit of his own to extend the margin. Alonso made it 4-0 with his second RBI single of the night before Stewart launched Gray's pitch into the right field seats to cap the big inning.

Peterson served up Robbie Grossman's two-run homer in the third inning that got the Rangers on the board, but Nimmo followed Lindor's single in the fourth with his eighth home run of the season to give New York a 9-2 advantage.

The Mets struck two more times in the fifth as Lindor doubled in a run and Nimmo added another RBI single. Stewart singled in the sixth and later crossed the plate on Alvarez's hit to increase the lead to 12-2.

Alvarez had another run-scoring hit in the eighth as the Mets scored twice more during the inning.

The defending World Series champion Rangers lost their fourth in a row and dropped six games below .500 at 33-39.

Pirates' rookie Skenes bests Reds to stay unbeaten

Paul Skenes continued an outstanding start to his MLB career by throwing six sharp innings and leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 4-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds to open a three-game series.

Skenes improved to 4-0 by yielding just one run on six hits and striking out seven. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft now sports a 2.29 ERA through his first seven major league starts.

The heralded rookie's lone run allowed came in the top of the first inning, when Jeimer Candelario singled and scored on a double by Spencer Steer.

Pittsburgh countered with three runs off Carson Spiers in their half of the first, which began with a walk to Andrew McCutchen and Bryan Reynolds' ground-rule double.

Oneil Cruz then drove both runners home with a single and later moved to third on Rowdy Tellez's double before crossing the plate on Ke'Bryan Hayes' groundout.

The Pirates extended their advantage to 4-1 in the second inning on consecutive doubles by McCutchen and Reynolds, who finished with two hits along with Tellez.

Spiers (0-1) made his first start of the season for Cincinnati, which has now lost three straight. The right-hander worked six innings while permitting all four Pittsburgh runs.

Schwarber's two homers help Phillies extend Padres' road woes

Kyle Schwarber belted a pair of two-run homers to lead the way as the Philadelphia Phillies extended the San Diego Padres' road losing streak to eight games with Monday's 9-2 rout.

Alec Bohm added a three-run homer and went 3 for 5 to help the National League leaders bounce back after losing two of three games to the Baltimore Orioles over the weekend. Rafael Marchan finished 4 for 4 with two RBIs, while Trea Turner had a pair of hits in the Philadelphia shortstop's return from a hamstring injury that had sidelined him since early May.

The Phillies also received a strong start from Cristopher Sanchez (4-3), who held struggling San Diego to two runs - one earned - in seven innings.

San Diego entered Citizens Bank Park off three straight road losses to the New York Mets over the weekend, and fell behind 2-0 when Schwarber followed Marchan's third-inning single with a blast into the seats off Randy Vasquez.

Vasquez (1-4) walked Brandon Marsh to lead off the bottom of the fourth, which led to another run when the outfielder took second on a wild pitch and scored on Marchan's single.

An error by Marsh led to a run in the top of the fifth that got the Padres on the board, though the Phillies answered in their half when Bohm took Vasquez deep with Turner and Bryce Harper aboard.

Schwarber struck again in the sixth with a homer off Adrian Morejon that extended the lead to 8-2 and once again scored Marchan, who had reached on a single.

Both teams scratched home a run in the seventh inning, as San Diego's Donovan Solano brought in Jurickson Profar with a double and Marsh doubled and later scored on Marchan's fourth hit of the game.

Vasquez lasted just 4 1/3 innings and was lit up for six runs on 12 hits.