The Kansas City Royals avoided a series sweep on Sunday with a 8-6 come-from-behind win on the road against the New York Yankees, with a pair of late home runs turning the tide.

Both starting pitchers finished with mediocre figures, but they were both spotless early, holding the game scoreless through the first four innings. The fifth inning was a different story, with the sides combining for seven runs. 

The Royals struck first as Nick Pratto came through with a two-run, bases loaded single, before Maikel Garcia followed him with an RBI double, and they capped off a four-run frame with an RBI groundout from Whit Merrifield.

But the best team in baseball this season answered right back, with Kyle Higashioka batting in a run with his single, before D.J. LeMahieu brought him home with a homer to the short porch at right-field. 

Later in the seventh inning, with Aaron Judge and Aaron Hicks on base, Anthony Rizzo shot the Yankees into a 6-4 lead with the longest hit in the game up to that point, a 418-foot home run over the right-field wall.

Kansas City's Hunter Dozier topped that the next inning with a 420-foot shot to left-field, trimming the margin to 6-5 and setting up an exciting finish.

Needing three outs to secure the win, the Yankees brought in elite relief pitcher Clay Holmes for the save, but it did not go to plan.

Holmes got the first out, but then issued a five-pitch walk to Merrifield, before hitting Bobby Witt Jr with a pitch to put runners on first and second with Salvador Perez at the plate.

Perez had been swinging a hot bat as of late with three home runs in his past seven games, and he added one more with a monstrous 441-foot nuke to center-field, jumping ahead 8-6 in the final frame.

Instead of handing the ball to a new closer, the Royals let Taylor Clarke head back out for his second inning to finish the job.

Yankees superstar Aaron Judge finished hit-less, but he contributed with two walks and a run.

The win is only the Royals' second from their past 12 meetings with the Yankees.

Austin Riley walks it off for the Braves

A quality pitching duel broke out in the Atlanta Braves' 1-0 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks, with Austin Riley batting home the first run of the game in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Braves ace pitcher Max Fried allowed four hits and two walks with five strikeouts in his seven scoreless innings, while Arizona's Merrill Kelly was slightly better, conceding three hits and two walks to go with eight strikeouts over the same stretch of innings.

The Braves had five hits in the game, and two of them were by Riley, who has quickly established himself as a realistic NL MVP candidate. 

Riley is fourth in the league in home runs (29), and second in total bases (239) – trailing only Aaron Judge.

Alvarez plays the hero in Houston

Speaking of players having unbelievable under-the-radar seasons, Houston Astros star Yordan Alvarez continued what is arguably the best hitting season in the majors with the winner in his side's 3-2 victory against the Seattle Mariners.

He went zero-for-four in regulation, but with scores tied in extra innings he came through with a clutch hit to drive in the winning run.

Alvarez leads the league in on-base percentage (.417) and trails only Judge in slugging percentage (.670 compared to Judge's .671).

The Seattle Mariners can breathe a sigh of relief as general manager Jerry Dipoto said X-rays taken on Julio Rodriguez’s right hand were negative after the All-Star rookie was hit by a pitch in a 5-4 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday. 

Dipoto told SiriusXM’s MLB Network Radio on Sunday that the team would continue to assess Rodriguez’s hand, saying “Julio appears to be okay.” 

Rodriguez was hit on the back of the hand in top of the eighth inning as he struck out while swinging. He completed the inning in the field before being pinch-hit for in the ninth. 

The front-runner for AL Rookie of the Year honours, Rodriguez is batting .271 and lead the Mariners with 18 home runs and 57 RBIs in 96 games this season. 

He is a big reason why Seattle (55-47), in the midst of a 21-year playoff drought, entered Sunday’s MLB action in the second wild-card position in the AL. 

Julio Rodriguez left the Seattle Mariners' win over the Houston Astros in the ninth inning, prompting fears he may have suffered a broken hand.

All-Star Rodriguez is the AL Rookie of the Year favourite after an outstanding first year in the major leagues.

The 21-year-old outfielder has helped boost the Mariners into a wild card spot as they bid to end their 21-year playoff drought.

Seattle improved to 55-47 on Saturday with a 5-4 victory at the AL West-leading Astros, who had won the teams' previous five meetings.

But Rodriguez was out of the game by that point, with Abraham Toro – in as a pinch-hitter as his replacement – delivering the decisive two-run single.

Rodriguez had been hit on the back of the hand batting at the top of the eighth; he struck out and completed the inning in the field before being lifted.

"He did not feel comfortable with a bat in his hand," Mariners manager Scott Servais explained. "So, we'll pray that it is not broke."

This was the Mariners' ninth win this year after trailing in the ninth inning or later.

In the modern era, no MLB team have more such victories before August, with the Mariners' nine tied with the 1921 St. Louis Browns, the 1970 Kansas City Royals, the 1991 Chicago White Sox and the 2003 Cincinnati Reds.

Although Rodriguez's absence was a blow, it was perhaps no surprise Toro was the hero this time.

The former Astro has 52 RBIs as a Mariner, with 20 of those coming against the team he left partway through last season.

"He has been a thorn in our side since we traded him over there," said Astros manager Dusty Baker. "It was a big hit that he got tonight."

The Seattle Mariners are apparently going all-in on ending the longest postseason drought of the four major North American professional sports, finalising a deal to acquire starting pitcher Luis Castillo from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for four players. 

Castillo is widely regarded as the best starting pitcher available before Tuesday’s trading deadline, and Seattle have paid a high price to land the two-time All-Star.  

Heading to Cincinnati reportedly are minor leaguers Noelvi Marte and Edwin Arroyo – two of the Mariners' top-three prospects – along with pitcher Levi Stoudt, the team’s fifth-ranked prospect, and pitcher Andrew Moore.  

Castillo is 4-4 with a 2.86 ERA in 14 starts this season, striking out 90 with 28 walks in 85 innings. He has spent his entire six-year career with the Reds, going 44-53 with a 3.62 ERA In 137 starts.  

The Mariners, who have not made a playoff appearance since 2001, are 54-47 this season, well behind AL West-leading Houston, but they own one of the three wild-card spots.  

Castillo will anchor a rotation that already includes reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray and 10-game winner Logan Gilbert.  

Aaron Judge's magical season continued on Friday night as he blasted another two home runs to help the New York Yankees defeat the Kansas City Royals 11-5 at Yankee Stadium.

New York got off to a perfect start in the first inning thanks to a 422-foot Anthony Rizzo solo homer, before Judge connected on his own monstrous 449-foot nuke in the third inning to make it 3-0.

It was smooth sailing for Yankees ace Gerrit Cole on the mound through four innings, but he struggled mightily in the fifth, giving up five runs after a three-run homer to Salvador Perez. Cole finished with five earned runs and nine strikeouts from his six innings of work.

The Royals' 5-3 lead would hold until the eighth inning, when newly acquired Andrew Benintendi trimmed the margin by one with his RBI infield single, before Aaron Hicks was gifted a bases-loaded walk to tie the game at 5-5.

Their damage in the eighth inning was far from done, with Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Jose Trevino driving in a run each, bringing Judge to the plate with bases loaded.

The American League MVP co-favourite took full advantage, crushing a grand slam to bring his RBI tally for the day up to six, putting a bow on the win.

His home runs were his 40th and 41st of the season – nine clear of second-placed Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber (32).

Mets get to Alcantara

Arguably the best pitcher in all of baseball this year, Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara, had his worst start of the season as his side went down 6-4 at home against the New York Mets.

The NL Cy Young award favourite was clearly off from the beginning, needing 53 pitches to get through the first two innings, allowing four hits, three walks and three runs in the process. 

With the game tied at 4-4 in the eighth inning, it was Mets lead-off hitter Brandon Nimmo who was the hero with a two-run home run, which proved to be the difference.

Alvarez stays hot for Houston

Yordan Alvarez may not have the home run total of Aaron Judge, but the Houston Astros All-Star has been statistically the best hitter in all of baseball this season, showing his talent in an 11-1 drubbing of the Seattle Mariners.

He got on-base from all five of his at-bats, finishing three-for-three at the plate with two walks, including his 30th home run of the season – third-most in the majors.

Incredibly, he leads the league in both on-base percentage (.423) and slugging percentage (.687).

Despite missing a pair of National League MVP candidates, the St Louis Cardinals rode a big performance from future Hall-of-Famer Albert Pujols to a 6-1 away win against the Toronto Blue Jays.

With both Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado unavailable for their side's trip to Toronto due to their vaccination status, it was a combination of new blood and a blast from the past as they made it look easy.

40-year-old starting pitcher Adam Wainwright was at the peak of his powers, giving up just five hits and no walks for one earned run in seven innings, striking out eight batters. 

While Wainwright controlled the contest with the ball, 42-year-old Pujols made noise with the bat, knocking a single in his first at-bat, a double in his second try, and then a massive 439-foot, three-run homer with his third trip to the plate. It was longer than any home run Pujols hit in this year's Home Run Derby.

Rookie Nolan Gorman – 20 years younger than Pujols – also went deep with a solo home run, while he and 24-year-old Lars Nootbaar were two of five Cardinals to collect multiple hits.

Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr finished two-for-four at the plate, while ace pitcher Kevin Gausman struggled in one of his worst performances of the season. 

Gausman gave up five runs in less than five innings, allowing eight hits and a walk with his six strikeouts.

Mets walk-off against Yankees

The New York Mets threatened to waste a spectacular start from pitcher Max Scherzer, but ultimately got the job done in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat the New York Yankees 3-2 in walk-off fashion.

Pete Alonso's solo home run in the second inning and Francisco Lindor's RBI single in the third frame were the only runs before Max Scherzer was withdrawn, having pitched seven shut-out innings.

As soon as Scherzer was removed, the Yankees came back with a two-run homer from Gleyber Torres, but Eduardo Escobar led off the ninth inning with a double, setting up Starling Marte to be the hero and drive him in with a base hit.

J-Rod does it again for the Mariners

Rookie All-Star Julio Rodriguez showed once again why he is one of the most exciting young talents in all of baseball, blasting a three-run home run to give his Seattle Mariners a 4-2 home win against the Texas Rangers.

Rodriguez, 21, stepped up to the plate in the seventh inning with two runners on base, trailing 2-1, and he connected on a 419-foot no-doubter over the left-field wall to snatch back the lead.

This season, Rodriguez leads all rookies in hits (96), runs (54), home runs (17), RBIs (53), and stolen bases (21).

Mookie Betts hit a career milestone as the Los Angeles Dodgers extended their winning streak to seven games, defeating their rivals in the San Francisco Giants 4-2 on Saturday.

After his three-run shot to give the Dodgers a 9-6 win to start the four-game series, Betts hit his 200th career home run in the win, going deep off Alex Wood in the third inning.

Trea Turner and Freddie Freeman also scored homers for the Dodgers, making it the first time this season all three have gone over the wall in the same game.

Julio Urias was solid on the mound, meanwhile, striking out five and giving up only two hits over 91 pitches in six innings.

The Dodgers have now won 14 of their last 15 games and now lead the National League by six games over the New York Mets, extending their record to 63-30.

Manoah makes life tough for Red Sox

The Toronto Blue Jays claimed an important win in the American League wildcard race, beating the Boston Red Sox 4-1.

Alek Manoah lowered his ERA to 2.24 for the season, giving up seven hits but striking out as many over 97 pitches in six innings, as he continues to establish himself as one of the MLB's best pitchers.

After pounding the Red Sox 28-5 on Friday to start their three-game series in the American League East, the Blue Jays moved to 9-2 head-to-head for the season, and are now 3.5 games ahead of Boston for the AL's final wildcard spot.

Verlander leads Astros to within touching distance of Yankees

Justin Verlander was in fine form as he became the first pitcher in MLB to win 13 games this season, propelling the Houston Astros to a 3-1 win over the Seattle Mariners.

Verlander was in impressive touch on the mound, giving up only four hits and striking out nine over 101 pitches in seven innings, while clocking 99 miles per hour on his fastball in the seventh.

Kyle Tucker and Yuli Gurriel both hit RBI doubles in the fourth inning off Logan Gilbert to set up the win for the Astros, who moved to 63-32 and are now 1.5 games behind the AL-leading New York Yankees.

New York Yankees star Aaron Judge extended his league-leading home run tally as he connected on number 35 and 36 for the season in his side's 7-6 away win against the Baltimore Orioles.

With the game scoreless in the third inning and with two outs, the Yankees were able to keep the frame alive with a walk to Joey Gallo and a base hit for D.J. LeMahieu, setting up Judge to bring them both home with a 436-foot blast over the left-field wall.

The Orioles struck back nearly instantly, starting their half of the third with a Ramon Urias single, followed by a Jorge Mateo RBI double and a RBI base hit for Cedric Mullins to trim the margin to 3-2.

All-Star catcher Jose Trevino made it 4-2 for the Yankees when his double brought around Josh Donaldson to score in the fourth inning, and an inning later Judge did it again, this time with a monstrous 465-foot solo bomb for his 36th home run of the season.

He is six home runs clear of Kyle Schwarber (30) in second place, and nobody else has more than 28.

The ice-cold Gallo also hit a solo home run to make it 7-3 in the seventh frame, and it proved to be a crucial run as Anthony Santander hit a three-run shot in the bottom of the same inning to make it 7-6.

But the Yankees bullpen was up to the task of defending the lead, with Michael King collecting three outs from the three batters he faced, before Clay Holmes came in for the five-out save.

With the win, the Yankees move to 65-30 for the season, two games clear of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros for the best record in baseball.

Blue Jays score 28 at Fenway Park

The Toronto Blue Jays made a mess of the Boston Red Sox, with an 11-run fifth inning headlining an outrageous 28-5 victory, the most runs ever scored by the Blue Jays in a single game.

There were some horrific fielding mistakes from the Red Sox, with none worse than center-fielder Jarren Duran losing track of a fly-ball in the third inning with bases loaded, allowing Raimel Tapia to come around for an inside-the-park grand slam. It was the first inside-the-park grand slam since 2017.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr finished six-for-seven at the plate, Tapia batted in six runs, Danny Jansen batted in six runs, and nine Blue Jays finished with multiple hits.

Astros snap Mariners' 14-game winning streak

The Seattle Mariners' winning streak has been broken at 14 games, one shy of their franchise record set back in 2001, losing to the Houston Astros 5-2 after rookie All-Star Julio Rodriguez was a late scratching due to wrist soreness.

A strong pitching performance from Astros starter Jose Urquidy kept the Mariners scoreless through the first five innings, allowing the visiting side to build a strong 5-0 lead highlighted by solo home runs to Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez and Martin Maldonado.

The win ties the Astros with the Dodgers for the second-best record in the majors at 62-32.

The man at the centre of the the biggest potential trade story of the season, Juan Soto, gave another display of his value on Monday as he won the MLB Home Run Derby.

Soto, 23, recently rejected a 15-year, $440million extension with the Washington Nationals, sparking rumours that the franchise would instead try to cash-in on him for what is expected to be one of the greatest trade hauls in league history.

He went second in all three of his matchups, meaning he never had a chance to bat out his full time and put up a monstrous score, but he chased down his target relatively comfortably all three times.

He defeated Cleveland Guardians star Jose Ramirez 18-17 in the first round, setting up a surprise matchup with future first-ballot Hall-of-Famer Albert Pujols after the legend shocked top seed Kyle Schwarber 20-19 in a swing-off after tying 13-13 in regulation.

Pujols could not repeat the heroics in the second round, getting eliminated 16-15 as Soto booked his place in the final.

On the other side of the bracket, Seattle Mariners rookie Julio Rodriguez would steal the show, crushing the highest total of the day with 32 home runs as the very first batter of the event, eliminating Corey Seager.

Rodriguez then showed up the reigning back-to-back champion, Pete Alonso, with a score of 31-23, storming into the final opposite Soto.

Ultimately, Rodriguez ran out of juice, only putting up 18 in the decider, which Soto was able to chase down with 30 seconds to spare to claim the crown. Soto also finished with the longest home run of the day at 482 feet.

The Seattle Mariners set a new record on Sunday as they defeated the Texas Rangers 6-2 for their 14th consecutive win – the longest winning streak entering the All-Star break in MLB history.

Prior to this season, the longest winning streak heading into the All-Star break was 10 games, set by the 1935 Detroit Tigers, the 1945 Chicago Cubs and the 1975 Cincinnati Reds. All three teams ended up making the World Series.

It was a great showing from the Mariners' top hitters as their two All-Stars drove in a pair of runs each. 

A late addition to the American League All-Star roster, Ty France connected on the longest drive of the game with his 432-foot solo home run in the fifth inning, extending the Mariners' lead to 3-1.

Rookie of the Year favourite – and the only rookie All-Star – Julio Rodriguez then drove in a pair of runs with his double in the seventh inning, and Rodriguez was brought home by a France RBI base hit as the very next batter.

Of all rookies in the majors this season, Rodriguez leads in hits (93), home runs (16), RBIs (50), runs (52) and stolen bases (21).

The Mariners are now 51-42 for the season, giving them the fourth-best record in the American League. They are also one game away from tying their longest winning streak of all time, with 15-in-a-row set in 2001.

Soto homers in Nationals win

Washington Nationals star Juan Soto showed why he is expected to fetch one of the largest trade hauls in the history of the league as he connected on his 20th home run of the season in his side's 7-3 win over the Atlanta Braves.

Soto is reportedly on the trade block after turning down a 15-year, $440million contract extension, with the 23-year-old considered one of the purest hitters in the game.

He connected on his homer in the eighth inning to put the finishing touches on the win and continue his barnstorming July. After an uncharacteristically poor start to the season, Soto is 17-of-40 at the plate this month, with an on-base percentage of .589 while slugging .850.

Cease pitches a gem

Chicago White Sox ace Dylan Cease was at the top of his game as his team hammered the Minnesota Twins 11-0.

Cease, arguably the best pitcher not to be named an All-Star this season, showed his quality with seven scoreless innings, giving up just one hit and two walks while striking out eight.

Nine of the 10 White Sox batters collected at least one hit, with elite first baseman Andrew Vaughn hitting a home run among his three knocks, and their lone offensive All-Star Tim Anderson had a two-RBI single to open the scoring.

The Boston Red Sox needed 11 innings to defeat the New York Yankees 5-4 as newly minted two-time All-Star Rafael Devers went deep.

Boston had lost eight of their previous 10 games entering Friday's contest, but Devers got the Red Sox off to a perfect start with a two-run home run in the first inning.

The Yankees responded in the third frame when D.J. LeMahieu and Anthony Rizzo both got on base, setting up Giancarlo Stanton for a three-run blast over the right-field wall to jump ahead 3-2.

Christian Vasquez tied things up an inning later with his own 390-foot solo home run to left-field, before teammate Bobby Dalbec gave the Red Sox a 4-3 lead when he repeated the act in the seventh frame, sending his homer 391 feet to the same spot.

That lead would hold until the bottom of the ninth inning, but the Yankees looked like they would steal it after Red Sox closer Tanner Houck allowed an infield single and a hit-by-pitch to put Gleyber Torres and Matt Carpenter on-base with no outs.

Houck then committed a fielding error, handing the Yankees a run and tying things at 4-4 with still no outs.

The Red Sox opted to intentionally walk the next batter, loading the bases, before they got a crucial ground-ball, throwing out the winning run at home as part of a double-play to keep the game alive. 

In extra innings, after the Red Sox were unable to score, the Yankees again loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the 10th, but again fell victim to a ground-ball double-play to extend the game for another frame.

It was not pretty, but Xander Bogaerts was able to hustle across to third base on a fly-ball, before taking a chance and breaking for home after a wild pitch bounced off Jose Trevino's facemask behind the plate to score what would turn out to be the game-winning run.

Ryan Brasier finished it off by coming in and collecting three quick outs for the save and the victory.

J-Rod shows why he is the only rookie All-Star

Seattle Mariners rookie Julio Rodriguez made it clear why he is viewed as one of the game's next big stars as he crushed a grand slam in his side's 8-3 win against the Texas Rangers.

Rodriguez, who earned his first All-Star selection this season at 21 years old, finished the game with five RBIs. 

He drove in his first run with a base hit in the fourth inning, before coming through with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth inning to stick the dagger into the Rangers fans.

The home run was Rodriguez's 16th of the season – the most of any rookie – while he also leads all rookies in stolen bases (21) and hits (91). The win was also the Mariners' 12th in a row, their longest winning-streak since 2001.

Alcantara takes loss despite another quality start

National League Cy Young Award favourite Sandy Alcantara delivered another terrific pitching performance in his side's 2-1 loss at home against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Alcantara pitched eight full innings, striking out 12 batters, while giving up two runs from four hits and two walks. It was the 13th consecutive start he has pitched at least seven innings, and his ERA is now 1.76, trailing only Tampa Bay Rays ace Shane McClanahan.

The Phillies were finally able to do some damage off the Marlins star in the seventh inning, with Darick Hall delivering an RBI double, before he was driven in by J.T. Realmuto's RBI double.

The fall-out from Sunday's wild Los Angeles Angels-Seattle Mariners brawl has continued with Angels reliever Archie Bradley ruled out for "a couple of months" with a right elbow fracture sustained amid the chaos.

The Angels right-hander fell over the dugout railing as he attempted to join the brawl which erupted in the second inning when Andrew Wantz's pitch struck Jesse Winker, with the benches clearing in Sunday's 2-1 LA win.

The all-in brawl led to a raft of suspensions, totalling 47 games, including a 10-game ban for Angels manager Phil Nevin.

The Angels have been further hit with the news of Bradley's injury, meaning he will be shut down for at least four weeks and may miss up to two months.

"With the way he’s been throwing the ball recently and what he brings to the clubhouse, it’s a huge loss," Angels acting manager Ray Montgomery said.

"In the short term, guys are going to have to step up. I think we’ve done a good job all year of picking up other guys.

"We'll miss him, for sure, but the guys down there know what they need to do."

Bradley has posted a 4.82 ERA with 15 strikeouts, seven walks and one home run allowed in 18 and two-third innings this season.

"His overall time down could be a couple of months," Angels athletic trainer Mike Frostad said.

The Seattle Mariners acquired veteran slugger Carlos Santana from the Kansas City Royals for a pair of pitchers on Monday, helping to fill the void at first base in the wake of Ty France's injury.

The 36-year-old Santana is in the midst of a third straight sub-par season, batting .216 with four home runs and 21 RBIs in 52 games, but has shown significant improvements at the plate in the past three weeks.

After slashing .157/.291./.244 with seven extra-base hits in his first 37 games, Santana has compiled a .367/.492./.592 slash line with two home runs, five doubles and 11 RBIs in 15 contests since June 7.

An All-Star in 2019 with the Cleveland franchise, Santana's 263 career home runs are the seventh-most by a first baseman since his 2010 rookie season.

Santana will take over at first for France, who suffered a Grade 2 flexor strain in his left forearm on Thursday and is sidelined indefinitely. 

France was enjoying a stellar season before his injury, batting .316 with 10 home runs while leading Seattle with 45 RBIs.

The Mariners, who own baseball's longest active playoff drought at 20 seasons, begin play on Monday in fourth place in the AL East, seven games out of the league's second wild card spot.

As part of the trade, Seattle sent right-hander Wyatt Mills and minor league righty William Fleming to Kansas City, with the Mariners also receiving cash considerations.

Santana, who was first traded to the Mariners in 2018 but returned for a second stint in Cleveland 10 days later, is in the final year of a two-year, $17.5million contract.

Six players and both managers received ejections following a benches-clearing brawl during the second inning of Sunday’s game between the Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Angels.

The nasty incident occurred after Angels pitcher Andrew Wantz hit Mariners outfielder Jesse Winker in the hip with a pitch to begin the second inning, after throwing behind rookie star Julio Rodriguez in the opening frame.

After exchanging words with Wantz and briefly moving towards first base, Winker then charged the Angels’ dugout on the third-base side as both teams’ benches and bullpens emptied.

Numerous punches were thrown in the resulting fracas, which delayed the Angels’ eventual 2-1 win for more than 15 minutes. When order was restored, both Winker and Wantz were ejected along with Seattle outfielder Julio Rodriguez and shortstop J.P. Crawford, Angels pitchers Raisel Iglesias and Ryan Tepera and each team’s manager – the Mariners’ Scott Servais and the Angels’ Phil Nevin.

Tensions between the American League West rivals were already running high after Seattle pitcher Erik Swanson’s errant pitch sailed over Angels star Mike Trout’s head in the Mariners’ 5-3 victory on Saturday night.

Wantz was not originally scheduled to start the game, with the change coming in the hours leading up to start time, prompting those on the Mariners' side to believe he was brought in with the intent to hit batters.

"It’s classless," Mariners starting pitcher Marco Gonzales said afterward. “To throw at Julio, who’s a kid, over something that happened last night when we were trying to win a ballgame in the ninth inning, (not) put the tying run on base. It’s just classless to come out and change your pitcher before the game.

"It’s clear. The intention is clear."

Wantz, who was making his first career major league start, denied intentionally throwing at either Rodriguez or Winker.

"I was pretty amped up for my first start and the first one just got away from me," he said. "It was sweaty. I was sweating.

"First day game I’ve pitched (in the majors), and that’s that. Second one to Winker was a cut fastball inside and just yanked it. That’s all I’ve got to say."

Nevin also downplayed the incident afterward.

"You play eight games in a matter of a week against the same team, things like this happen," he said. "The scheduling, tensions, that’s baseball sometimes – unfortunately there’s some ugly incidents once in a while. I think that’s just what happened today."

Winker later directed obscene gestures towards several Angels fans as he left the field, actions he expressed remorse for during his postgame interview.

"The only thing I’m going to apologise for is flipping the fans off. That’s it," he said. "As fans, they’re spending their hard-earned money to come watch us play a game, and they didn’t deserve that. So, I apologise to the fans, especially the women and children."

The two teams are scheduled to face one another 11 more times this season, including a four-game series in Seattle from August 5-7. The Mariners will visit Anaheim twice more in 2022, a three-game series in August and a four-game set in September.

Mike Trout hit his fifth home run of the Los Angeles Angels' five-game series against the Seattle Mariners to help his side to a 4-0 road win.

Trout hit two home runs in the series-opener on Thursday, and after a zero-for-three performance in the second game, he followed it up with a homer in each of the third, fourth and fifth games.

On Sunday he blasted his 21st of the season – the second-most in the majors – to give his side a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning.

Angels pitcher Kenny Rosenberg put in a strong performance in his second start of the season, throwing four-and-two-thirds innings of scoreless baseball, allowing two hits and three walks.

It was a spectacular showing from the Angels bullpen as well, not allowing a single hit or walk the rest of the way after Rosenberg was withdrawn, while striking out seven batters.

Max Stassi finally added another run for the away side in the seventh inning when he brought home Luis Rengifo with an RBI double, before Jared Walsh completed the scoring with a base hit in the eighth inning that allowed Taylor Ward to make it home off a fielding error.

The series win against the Mariners has helped get the Angels' season back on track, winning four-out-of-five after coming into the slate of games with just two wins from their previous 20.

Blue Jays win epic power display

The Toronto Blue Jays won a high-scoring battle against the New York Yankees 10-9 as two of the most powerful batting sides combined for nine home runs.

Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero hit the first of the game with a two-run shot in the opening inning, but over the next four frames home runs to Gleyber Torres and Josh Donaldson, as well as RBI doubles to Aaron Judge and Torres had the Yankees up 6-2.

Toronto's George Springer hit a solo home run in the sixth frame, answered by two solo shots from New York's Kyle Higashioka and Marwin Gonzalez, but the Blue Jays would not go away.

Down 8-3, Toronto came all the way back with a grand slam by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and a three-run homer from Teoscar Hernandez, with Jordan Romano completing a five-out save.

Soto shows his swing in Nationals upset

Juan Soto came through in a big spot for the Washington Nationals to defeat the red-hot Philadelphia Phillies 9-3.

Soto, considered to be one of the game's greatest young hitters, is having the worst season of his career, with his batting average of .218 well below his career average of .290.

He only had one hit from five at-bats against the Phillies, but it was a big one, driving a 428-foot, three-run home run in the second inning to give his side some breathing room.

For the Phillies, the loss was just their third from their past 18 games.