Duvall homers twice, Braves beat Bucs for 11th straight win
UNDATED (AP)— Adam Duvall homered twice off José Quintana, William Contreras and Matt Olson also connected, and the Atlanta Braves won their 11th straight game, 5-3 over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The defending World Series champion Braves began the day having trimmed five games off the New York Mets’ division lead since the winning streak started June 1. They remain 5½ games back in the NL East.
This stretch is the club’s best since it won 14 in a row from July 26 to Aug. 9, 2013.
During the streak, Atlanta has outscored opponents 74-30 with 22 homers. The pitching staff has a 2.32 ERA over the same span.
In other MLB action:
— J.D. Davis and Pete Alonso homered, Taijuan Walker struck out 10 and the New York Mets closed out their long trip to California with a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. Starling Marte had two hits and drove in a run in his return to the lineup, while Jeff McNeil had three hits for the Mets, who took two of three at The Big A to go 5-5 on their season-high 10-game trip. Mike Trout had an RBI single for the Angels, who lost five of seven during a homestand when Joe Maddon was fired as manager. Reigning AL MVP Shohei Ohtani was given the day off.
— José Ramírez drove in three runs to extend his major league-leading RBI total to 59 and the Cleveland Guardians defeated the Oakland Athletics 6-3. Ramírez’s two-run double in the first gave the Guardians a 2-1 lead. He added an RBI groundout in the seventh. Cal Quantrill gave up one run in six innings for the win. Emmanuel Clase pitched the ninth for his 11th save as Cleveland took three of four in the series.
— Justin Verlander earned his major league-leading eighth win, Jeremy Peña and Jose Altuve homered and the Houston Astros snapped their three-game losing streak with a 9-4 victory over the Miami Marlins. Verlander set down the first 10 batters he faced before giving up a flare single into shallow right field in the fourth inning. Verlander gave up four unearned runs and three hits, walked one and struck out five in seven innings, lowering his ERA to 1.94. This was Verlander’s first career win against Miami and third straight start to go seven innings.
— Jeffrey Springs threw two-hit ball into the sixth inning, Randy Arozarena stole two bases after twice getting hit by pitches and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Minnesota Twins 6-0. Springs struck out five and walked two in 5 1/3 innings against a Twins team that had scored a combined 15 runs in winning the first two games of the series. Arozarena was hit by a pair of pitches twice and visibly upset with Minnesota starter Cole Sands. Arozarena then stole two bases and added an RBI double. Kevin Kiermaier hit a solo home run.
— TJ Friedl hit a tiebreaking triple in the seventh inning and Tommy Pham added a solo homer as the Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-6 to snap a four-game losing streak. Nolan Arenado and Juan Yepez homered for the Cardinals, who have lost four of six. The Reds have fashioned an 18-16 record after a dismal 3-23 start to the season.
— Christian Walker had three hits and three RBIs, Jake McCarthy homered as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Phillies 13-1 to end Philadelphia’s nine-game winning streak and give interim manager Rob Thomson his first loss. Ketel Marte and Alek Thomas each drove in two runs for Arizona, which finished a 10-game trip 4-6. Thomson was beaten for the first time since replacing Joe Girardi on June 3. Thomson’s eight wins to start his managing tenure matched the most ever for a Phillies skipper and is second overall to Boston’s Joe Morgan, who won 12 straight in 1988.
— Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered, Ross Stripling pitched one-hit ball for six innings and the Toronto Blue Jays went on to beat the Detroit Tigers 6-0. The Blue Jays took two of three from Detroit, giving them 13 victories in 17 games. Toronto has the third-best record in the American League, trailing the East-leading New York Yankees in its division and West-leading Houston. Just two teams in the league, meanwhile, have won fewer games than Detroit this season.
— Anthony Santander, Ryan Mountcastle and Rougned Odor hit solo home runs, leading the Baltimore Orioles over the Kansas City Royals 10-7. Hunter Dozier, Michael A. Taylor and Bobby Witt Jr. homered for the Royals. Cedric Mullins had four hits and drove in two runs for Baltimore. Richie Martin and Austin Hays each had three hits and two RBIs.
— Willy Adames homered and drove in three runs, and the Milwaukee Brewers snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 4-1 victory over the Washington Nationals. Milwaukee’s Craig Counsell tied Phil Garner for the most managerial victories in franchise history with 563 as the Brewers snapped their longest skid since September 2015. It was the first time this season the last-place Nationals entered the final game of a series with a chance at a sweep.
— Rafael Devers hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning, spot starter Kutter Crawford and five relievers combined on a one-hitter, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners 2-0. Boston closed out a successful West Coast swing by shutting down Seattle’s offense, allowing only Luis Torrens’ single in the fifth inning. The Red Sox finished 8-2 on a 10-game trip. Seattle was hoping Devers wouldn’t even get to the plate in the eighth, but reliever Paul Sewald hit Rob Refsnyder on a 2-2 fastball. Sewald was ahead 0-2 to Devers and threw a fastball well outside the strike zone that Devers drove into Boston’s bullpen.
— Jonah Heim hit a two-run single in the 12th inning and the Texas Rangers turned a double play on a ball hit to the warning track to end an 8-6 win over the Chicago White Sox. Embattled manager Tony La Russa and the White Sox have lost four of five. This one began with right-hander Michael Kopech leaving with right knee discomfort after 13 pitches and ended with an unusual double play in the 12th. José Abreu struck out looking against Kolby Allard leading off, then Jake Burger hit a fly to the warning track in left. Charlie Culberson caught the ball, then threw out automatic runner Luis Robert trying to tag up and take third.
— Carlos Rodón pitched two-hit ball over six strong innings and the San Francisco Giants completed a three-game sweep of the NL West-leading Dodgers, beating Los Angeles 2-0 on Sunday. Austin Slater and Mike Yastrzemski homered off Julio Urías in the first inning to send the stumbling Dodgers to their sixth loss in eight games. Chris Taylor doubled twice for Los Angeles but was forced out of the game after suffering a cut near his right eye when he crashed into the fence in left field trying to make a catch. The Dodgers remained one-half game ahead of the San Diego Padres. The Giants pulled within 3 ½ games of first place.
— Matt Carpenter homered twice and tied his career high with seven RBIs, powering the New York Yankees to complete a weekend sweep of the Chicago Cubs with a 18-4 rout for their 11th win in 12 games. The 36-year-old Carpenter was signed on May 26 after spending the first seven weeks at Texas’ Triple-A Round Rock. Carpenter became the second player since 1900 to hit six home runs in his first 10 games for a team after Colorado’s Trevor Story in 2016. Chicago’s six-game losing streak is its longest this year, dropping the Cubs a season-worst 13 games under .500 at 23-36.
— Ryan McMahon hit a go-ahead, two-run double with two outs in the eighth inning and Germán Márquez pitched seven strong innings to lead the Colorado Rockies to a 4-2 win against the San Diego Padres. The Rockies won consecutive games to split the four-game series with the Padres, who played a second straight game without manager Bob Melvin. Melvin went into COVID-19 protocols Saturday night along with bench coach Ryan Christenson before the second game of a doubleheader. Quality control coach Ryan Flaherty managed the Padres again.
Eovaldi on IL
UNDATED (AP) — The Boston Red Sox placed starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi on the 15-day injured list with lower back inflammation. Boston recalled right-hander Kutter Crawford from Triple-A Worcester to take Eovaldi’s roster spot. Eovaldi is 4-2 with a 3.16 ERA in 12 starts. The move with Eovaldi was retroactive to June 9. Boston had already altered its rotation to give Eovaldi more recovery time before his next turn.
