CINCINNATI (AP) — Austin Hays hit a tiebreaking two-run homer and Matt McLain went deep for the second consecutive game to back a solid start by Brady Singer as the Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-4 on Sunday to snap a five-game skid and avoid a series sweep. Elly De La Cruz hit his 28th double leading off the fifth inning against Andre Pallante (6-13), and Hays followed with his 12th homer for a 5-3 lead. Hays doubled and scored on Ke'Bryan Hayes' two-out single for a 6-4 lead in the seventh, and McLain capped the scoring with his 13th homer — a solo shot off Andre Granillo in the eighth. Singer (12-9) allowed three runs and five hits in six innings with eight strikeouts and no walks. Tony Santillan struck out the side in the eighth and Emilio Pagán did the same in the ninth for his 26th save. TWINS 7, PADRES 2 MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Byron Buxton set a career best with his 29th home run and Joe Ryan pitched seven scoreless innings as Minnesota beat San Diego. Buxton and Royce Lewis each had two hits for the Twins, who took two of three games in the series. San Diego began the day a game behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West. Ryan (13-7) scattered five hits and struck out eight. He threw a season-high 104 pitches while bouncing back from a pair of rough outings. The All-Star right-hander allowed 11 earned runs in nine innings over his previous two starts. Buxton sent a changeup from Kyle Hart (3-3) three rows deep into the left-field seats for a two-run shot that gave Minnesota a 2-0 lead in the third. It was his fourth homer in four games, surpassing his previous season best of 28 home runs in 2022. Recalled from Triple-A El Paso earlier in the day, Hart permitted three runs in 1 1/3 innings of relief as the Padres went with a bullpen game. He hit Luke Keaschall with a pitch to start the Minnesota fourth, and he scored on a single by James Outman. Keaschall and Lewis had RBI singles in a three-run fifth to make it 6-0. RED SOX 5, PIRATES 2 BOSTON (AP) — Jarren Duran hit an inside-the-park homer, Lucas Giolito pitched six effective innings and Boston beat Pittsburgh to avert a three-game sweep. In a tight race for one of three American League wild cards, the Red Sox won for the eighth time in 11 games. Alexander Canario hit a solo homer over the Green Monster for Pittsburgh, which had won nine of 12. Duran's three-run homer into the Fenway Park triangle in right-center field capped a four-run fifthagainst starter Mitch Keller (6-13), pushing Boston ahead 4-1. Coming off his best start of the season, when he went eight shutout innings last Tuesday in a victory over Baltimore, Giolito (10-2) gave up a run and three hits. He struck out six and walked five. Aroldis Chapman got three outs for his 27th save. RAYS 7, NATIONALS 4 WASHINGTON (AP) — Brandon Lowe hit a grand slam in Tampa Bay's six-run second inning, Everson Pereira drove in two runs and the Rays beat Washington to sweep the three-game series. Tampa Bay starter Ian Seymour (3-0) gave up four runs — one earned — and four hits with eight strikeouts. Pete Fairbanks pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his 24th save this season. Dylan Crews singled to lead off the ninth and moved to third on a single by Daylen Lile, who tried to stretch it into a double but was thrown out by Pereira at second before Brady House struck out swinging to end the game. Josh Lowe tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Pereira to make 7-0 in the third. Jacob Young doubled to drive in House in the third. Riley Adams walked to lead off the fourth and scored when Crews reached on a fielding error by third baseman Junior Caminero. House singled to drive in two runs that made it 7-4. Nationals starter Brad Lord (4-8) allowed seven runs and five hits in three innings. BLUE JAYS 8, BREWERS 4 TORONTO (AP) — Myles Straw and Nathan Lukes each drove in two runs, George Springer reached base three times and scored twice and Toronto beat Milwaukee to avoid a three-game sweep. Tommy Nance (2-0) pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth inning as Toronto improved to 59-4 when scoring at least five runs. Nance was one of five relievers who combined for five shutout innings in relief of a shaky Max Scherzer. William Contreras hit a two-run home run, his 17th, and Brice Turang added a solo shot, his 16th, but the Brewers failed to set a club record with a 22nd win in August. Milwaukee went 21-9 this month. The Brewers still own the best record in baseball at 85-53. Scherzer allowed four runs and a season-high nine hits in four innings. MARINERS 4, GUARDIANS 2 CLEVELAND (AP) - Julio Rodríguez drove in two runs with an infield hit and Seattle snapped a seven-game road losing streak with a victory over Cleveland to salvage the three-game series finale. With a combined two-hitter, the Mariners extended their lead to three games over the Guardians for the third AL wild-card spot. Seattle entered play two games up on Kansas City. Randy Arozarena hit a two-run homer for the Mariners, who got six strong innings from Bryce Miller (4-5). The right-hander gave up just two hits — on consecutive pitches in the third. Gabe Speier and Matt Brash each pitched a perfect inning and Andrés Muñoz worked the ninth for his 32nd save. MARLINS 5, METS 1 NEW YORK (AP) — Sandy Alcantara pitched seven strong innings, Agustín Ramírez hit a two-run homer and Miami defeated New York in a game that got testy. The scappy Marlins took three of four from New York after losing their previous seven series. The Mets finished 11-17 in August despite scoring 177 runs and hitting 53 homers — both franchise records for a calendar month. New York leads Cincinnati by four games in the race for the last National League wild card. Alcantara (7-11) allowed four hits and struck out six. He carried a shutout into the seventh, when he gave up a leadoff single to Jeff McNeil and plunked Mark Vientos with a pitch. Alcantara and Vientos stared each other down before the benches and bullpens emptied, though no punches were thrown as players milled around the mound. Alcantara induced a pair of forceouts, the second of which scored McNeil, before striking out Starling Marte to end the inning. The right-hander has a 2.82 ERA in his past eight starts after opening the season with a 7.14 ERA through 19 outings. Senga allowed five runs in 4 2/3 innings. He has a 5.90 ERA in nine starts since coming off the injured list July 11. ANGELS 3, ASTROS 0 HOUSTON (AP) — José Soriano and two relievers combined for a two-hitter and Oswald Peraza hit his first home run since a trade from the Yankees to lead Los Angeles to a win over the Houston. Soriano (10-9) allowed one hit and struck out eight in seven innings. Luis García allowed one hit in a scoreless eighth and Kenley Jansen threw a perfect ninth for his 25th save. There were two outs in the fifth when Peraza connected off Hunter Brown (10-7) into the bullpen in right-center field to put the Angels up 1-0. His homer comes after his two-run single in the ninth inning Saturday helped Los Angeles to a 4-1 victory that snapped a three-game skid. Brown allowed three hits and a run with five strikeouts in six innings. McCullers Jr. allowed three hits and two runs in his first relief appearance since 2018. TIGERS 5, ROYALS 0 KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Tarik Skubal pitched seven innings of four-hit ball, the Tigers scored four times off Michael Wacha in the fifth inning, and Detroit went on to beat Kansas City in the rubber game of its three-game set. Skubal (12-4) struck out four and walked one while bouncing back from his first loss in more than six weeks. Jake Rogers drove in two runs for Detroit, while Colt Keith and Gleyber Torres also drove in runs. It was a crucial game between AL Central rivals. The Tigers began the day with a half-game lead over East-leading Toronto for the best record in the American League, while Kansas City had climbed within two games of Seattle in the wild-card race. Wacha (8-11) was matching Skubal into the fifth, allowing a single baserunner while striking out four. But things suddenly went awry, beginning with a leadoff walk to Spencer Torkelson and a one-out single by Zach McKinstry. Rogers followed with a fly ball that center fielder Tyler Tolbert badly misplayed, resulting in a two-run triple. Keith added a line drive that found a gap for a two-run double, and Torres a grounder that got through the infield to make it 4-0. Wacha left after 4 2/3 innings. He was charged with four runs and four hits and a walk. WHITE SOX 3, YANKEES 2 CHICAGO (AP) — Lenyn Sosa hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the eighth inning and Chicago cooled off New York with a victory. Sosa drove a 1-2 sinker from Tim Hill over the wall in center field for his 18th homer, extending his career high. Hill (4-4) retired his first two batters before Sosa went deep. Cam Booser (2-4) got one out for the win. After Booser issued a leadoff walk to Trent Grisham in the ninth, Mike Vasil retired Paul Goldschmidt, Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger for his third save. New York had won a season-high seven in a row. It also had a nine-game road win streak. The Yankees fell three games back of AL East-leading Toronto, which held off Milwaukee for an 8-4 win. ROCKIES 6, CUBS 5 DENVER (AP) — Pinch-hitter Mickey Moniak hit a walk-off RBI triple, Tanner Gordon struck out a career-high nine and Colorado beat Chicago to avoid a series sweep. The major league-worst Rockies snapped a four-game losing streak to improve to 39-98. They finished August with 11 wins, their most in any month this season. Orlando Arcia had three hits and an RBI for Colorado, and Braxton Fulford added two hits and an RBI. Ryan Ritter had two hits and scored the winning run, and Brenton Doyle drove in two runs. Gordon allowed two earned runs in six innings. Juan Mejia (2-1) picked up the win, striking out two in a perfect ninth. Daniel Palencia (1-5) took the loss. DODGERS 5, DIAMONDBACKS 4 LOS ANGELES (AP) — Pinch-hitter Will Smith homered leading off the bottom of the ninth inning to give Los Angeles a victory over Arizona that prevented a three-game sweep. Los Angeles took a two-game lead in the NL West over rival San Diego,which lost 7-2 at Minnesota. Smith sent the second pitch he saw from reliever John Curtiss (2-1) a projected 420 feet into the left-center stands. His 17th home run of the season saved the Dodgers after they blew a late lead. Corbin Carroll tied it 4-all by launching a three-run homer off Tanner Scott with two outs in the eighth. Blake Treinen (1-2) pitched a perfect inning for the win. Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in seven innings and matched his career high with 10 strikeouts for the Dodgers. He retired his first 10 batters before Ketel Marte bunted for a single. RANGERS 9, ATHLETICS 6 WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Joc Pederson homered, doubled and drove in three runs, Jacob deGrom struck out six in five scoreless innings, and Texas beat the Athletics to sweep the three-game series. DeGrom (10-6) allowed two hits and walked one to help the Rangers win their fifth straight game. Josh Smith walked to leadoff the game, Wyatt Langford struck out and Pederson hit a 3-2 pitch from J.T. Ginn (2-6) down the line and over the wall in right field to make it 2-0. Josh Jung homered off Ginn to lead off the second and doubled to drive in Adolis García in the ninth. Smith hit an RBI double and scored when Pederson doubled with two out in the fifth to give the Rangers a 5-0 lead. Langford drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home Ezequiel Duran before Helman singled to drive in Smith and make it 7-0. GIANTS 13, ORIOLES 2 SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Rafael Devers homered, doubled and drove in two runs to help Justin Verlander earn career win No. 265 as San Francisco beat Baltimore to take two of three games in their series. Verlander (3-10) struck out a season-high 10 in five shutout innings. He threw 121 pitches — his most since June 2018. He allowed three hits and walked four. The 42-year-old Verlander reached 10 strikeouts for the 73rd time and first since he had 10 against Philadelphia on Oct. 4, 2022. He tied Jim McCormick for 39th place in wins and pulled within four strikeouts of Gaylord Perry (3,534) for eighth on the career list. Devers homered off Tomoyuki Sagano (10-7) for a 1-0 lead in the first. It was his 28th of the season and 13th for the Giants. Drew Gilbert, Heliot Ramos and Devers had consecutive singles in the third for a two-run lead, and Willy Adames added a sacrifice fly. Gilbert hit a two-run triple before scoring on Ramos' single for a 7-0 advantage in the fourth. Devers doubled to chase Sugano, who allowed seven runs and 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings. Dominic Smith had an RBI single off Corbin Martin in a three-run sixth. Devers, Ramos and Gilbert each had three of the Giants' 16 hits. Spencer Bivens allowed two runs in the ninth but pitched the final three innings for his first career save. BRAVES 3, PHILLIES 1 PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Drake Baldwin broke a ninth-inning tie with a two-run homer and Atlanta avoided a four-game sweep with a win over Philadelphia. Braves rookie Hurston Waldrep pitched 5 2/3 strong innings. Jake Fraley came off the bench in the seventh and went 2 for 2. Michael Harris II also had two hits for Atlanta. Brandon Marsh homered for the Phillies, who lead the NL East by six games over the New York Mets heading into September. Matt Olson tied it at 1 with an RBI groundout for the Braves in the eighth. Fraley started the ninth with an infield single off José Alvarado (4-2) and went to second on a sacrifice bunt. Vidal Bruján struck out, but Baldwin drove Alvarado's first pitch, a 98 mph sinker, over the wall in left field. Baldwin walked as a pinch hitter in the eighth and remained in the game at catcher. Tyler Kinley (4-3) tossed a perfect eighth and Raisel Iglesias struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth for his 23rd save in 28 chances. Waldrep continued to impress, giving up one run on four hits with nine strikeouts and four walks. After starting two games in 2024, the 23-year-old right-hander, the No. 24 overall draft pick in 2023, was called up to the Braves on Aug. 2 and has a 1.01 ERA in six outings, including five starts. Phillies starter Jesús Luzardo pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings, giving up two hits while striking out seven and walking one.
