M’s finally win a series in Houston
UNDATED (AP) — Cal Raleigh and Ty France both homered early and the Seattle Mariners beat the Astros 6-3 to finally win a series in Houston.
The Mariners took two of three from the division rival Astros to win their fourth consecutive series overall and their first in Houston since September 2018. The Mariners won more games in this series than they did in Houston in the 2019 and 2020 seasons combined when they were a paltry 1-16.
The Mariners trailed by two with one on and one out in the fourth when Raleigh homered for the second time this series, a shot to right-center off José Urquidy to tie it at 3.
In other MLB action:
— The Los Angeles Angels’ losing streak reached a franchise-record 14 games Wednesday night when Bobby Dalbec drove in the only run with a double in the sixth inning for the Boston Red Sox in a 1-0 victory. Nathan Eovaldi pitched five innings of six-hit ball with five strikeouts in Boston’s season-high seventh consecutive victory. With their second 1-0 win in three days at the Big A, the Red Sox remained perfect in June and on their 10-game West Coast trip at 6-0.
— Jake Cronenworth homered, doubled, singled and had five RBIs, and Sean Manaea pitched seven strong innings to beat former teammate Chris Bassitt in the San Diego Padres’ 13-2 rout of the New York Mets on Wednesday night. Jurickson Profar had two hits, drove in three runs and scored three times for the Padres, whose 13 runs were a season high. Manny Machado had two RBI doubles.
— Donovan Walton scored on a fielding error by Charlie Blackmon in the 10th inning, lifting the San Francisco Giants to a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday night. Luis González hit a slow single to right field off Carlos Estevez that eluded Blackmon as Walton rounded third, then scampered home with the winning run. Mike Yastrzemski had three hits and Thairo Estrada added an RBI single for the Giants.
— Aaron Nola pitched eight sharp innings and the surging Phillies hit four home runs to rout the scuffling Milwaukee Brewers 10-0. The Phillies won their season-high sixth in a row and sent Milwaukee to its season-worst fifth consecutive loss. Rookie Bryson Stott went 4 for 4 with a home run and double for the Phils, who also received longballs from Bryce Harper, Rhys Hoskins and Odúbel Herrera.
— Merrill Kelly allowed one hit over six innings and the Diamondbacks hit three homers to beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-0, snapping a four-game skid. Christian Walker hit a two-run homer and Josh Rojas and Jordan Luplow added solo shots for the Diamondbacks. One night after launching five home runs and piling up 16 hits, Cincinnati managed just a double and four singles against Kelly.
— José Ramírez hit a run-scoring double to tie for the major league RBIs lead, Shane Bieber pitched neatly into the fifth inning before a long rain delay and the Guardians beat the Rangers, 4-0. Ramírez went 2 for 4 with a stolen base and his 54th RBI of the season, matching Mets star Pete Alonso. Andrés Giménez had two doubles and an RBI, and Josh Naylor and Steven Kwan each singled twice as the Guardians moved back to .500 for the second time this week.
— Tony Gonsolin improved to 7-0, tossing three-hit ball over six innings, and Will Smith and Cody Bellinger homered early to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 4-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox. Smith hit a two-run drive in the first inning, and Bellinger made it 3-0 when he connected leading off the second against Johnny Cueto. The 28-year-old Gonsolin struck out five and walked one while lowering his National League-best ERA to 1.58.
— Byron Buxton and Ryan Jeffers each hit home runs in the fifth inning off Nestor Cortes to send the New York left-hander to an early exit, and the Minnesota Twins cruised to an 8-1 victory that stopped the Yankees’ seven-game winning streak. Cortes allowed season highs with seven hits and four runs in 4 2/3 innings, his shortest appearance of the year that knocked him out of the major league ERA lead. Chris Archer picked up his first victory for the Twins in his team-leading 11th start, completing five innings with only two hits allowed.
— Sandy Alcantara pitched nine scoreless innings, Jesús Aguilar hit a game-ending single in the 10th inning and the Miami Marlins beat the Washington Nationals 2-1. Alcantara extended his scoreless string to 18 innings and has completed at least eight innings in four of his past five starts. The 26-year-old allowed six hits and struck out six while lowering his ERA to 1.61.
— Randy Arozarena had three hits and four RBIs against his original team to help the Tampa Bay Rays beat the St. Louis Cardinals 11-3. He had an RBI double in the first inning and a two-run single in the seventh to pace an 18-hit outburst for the Rays. Vidal Bruján had three RBIs, and Ji-Man Choi and Harold Ramírez drove in two runs apiece for Tampa Bay.
— Michael Harris gave Atlanta the lead with a two-run triple in the fifth inning that spoiled Jared Koenig’s major league debut, and the surging Braves beat the skidding Oakland Athletics 13-2. Ian Anderson pitched six solid innings and the Braves rallied from a 2-0 deficit for the second straight night to sweep the two-game series and extend their season-best winning streak to seven. The A’s have lost eight straight and 11 of 13.
— Miguel Cabrera hit a go-ahead RBI single in the eighth and the Detroit Tigers completed a two-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 3-1 victory. Daz Cameron doubled and tripled while driving in two runs for Detroit. Pittsburgh rookie outfield Jack Suwinski hit his seventh home run for the Pirates.
— MJ Melendez and Emmanuel Rivera drove in two runs apiece, leading Brady Singer and the Kansas City Royals over the Toronto Blue Jays 8-4 to end a three-game losing streak. Singer allowed home runs to Raimel Tapia and Zack Collins but only allowed one other run in five innings. He improved to 3-1 in his five starts while the rest of the Kansas City rotation is 3-25 in 50 combined starts.
— Wednesday night’s interleague game between the Chicago Cubs and Baltimore Orioles was postponed by a relentless rain shower that started shortly before the scheduled start and never let up. The ill-fated finale of the two-game series will be made up at 3:05 p.m. ET on Aug. 18, previously an off day for both teams.
Swanson beats Braves in arbitration, Duvall loses to Atlanta
UNDATED (AP) — Shortstop Dansby Swanson beat the Braves in salary arbitration and outfielder Adam Duvall lost to Atlanta, leaving teams with a 6-3 advantage over players this year. Swanson was awarded $10 million rather than the team’s $9.2 million offer. Duvall was given a million dollars less than his $10,275,000 request.
Swanson hit .248 last year, when he set career highs with 27 homers and 88 RBIs. He had a pair of homers and three RBIs in the World Series against Houston.
Duvall led the NL with 113 RBIs for Miami and Atlanta, which acquired him on July 30.
In other MLB news:
— The Boston Red Sox have placed Kiké Hernández on the 10-day injured list with a right hip flexor strain. The versatile Hernández has been Boston’s leadoff hitter and starting center fielder lately, but he has been dogged by pain in his hip. The veteran is batting .209 with four homers and 24 RBIs this season.
