LDN - Sports

Highlights of Wednesday's MLB games

[September 21, 2017] (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Wednesday's Major League Baseball games:

Red Sox 9, Orioles 0

Chris Sale became the first American League pitcher with 300 strikeouts in a season since Pedro Martinez in 1999 and the Boston Red Sox completed a three-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles with a 9-0 victory on Wednesday night.

Sale (17-7) struck out 13 and tied a career high with his 17th victory. He allowed only four hits and did not walk a batter over eight innings. Sale joins Martinez as only the second pitcher in Red Sox history with 300 strikeouts.

Mookie Betts and Deven Marrero homered for first-place Boston, which has won 11 of 14 and remained three games ahead of the New York Yankees in the AL East. Dustin Pedroia snapped an 0-for-18 skid with a two-run double in the eighth.

Red Sox designated hitter Hanley Ramirez, who had been bothered by left arm soreness, was back in the starting lineup for the first time in six games. He went 3-for-5 with three RBIs.

Marlins 9, Mets 2

Giancarlo Stanton hit his major-league-leading 56th homer and Jose Urena won his 14th game as Miami completed a three-game sweep of New York.

Stanton went 2-for-5 with three RBIs, including a two-run shot in the eighth inning. He is on pace to hit 60 homers this season, which would make him the sixth player in major league history to reach that milestone.

Urena (14-6) allowed seven hits, no walks and two runs in eight innings to win for the fifth time in his last six decisions. Justin Bour hit a two-run homer and tied his career high with his 23rd of the season. Bour's 71 RBIs are two short of his career high.

Indians 6, Angels 5

Francisco Lindor's two-run homer in the seventh inning snapped a 2-2 tie as Cleveland won its fourth straight game and 26th in its last 27 contests.

Los Angeles remained 1 1/2 games behind Minnesota for the second AL wild card spot while the Indians remained 1 1/2 ahead of Houston for the AL's best record. Cleveland also climbed within one game of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the top mark in baseball.

Lindor's home run was his 31st of the season, the most in major league history by a switch-hitting shortstop. Bryan Shaw pitched the final two innings for the Indians, striking out Mike Trout to end it.

Yankees 11, Twins 3

Didi Gregorius set a team record for home runs by a shortstop with a three-run shot and Aaron Judge hit his American League-leading 45th homer as New York completed a three-game sweep of Minnesota.

Gregorius hit his 25th homer in the fourth inning, breaking the record set by former captain Derek Jeter in 1999.

Judge became the fourth rookie in team history to reach 100 RBIs, joining Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio (1936), Tony Lazzeri (1926) and Hideki Matsui.

Rays 8, Cubs 1

Blake Snell allowed two hits in seven scoreless innings and Tampa Bay ended Chicago's seven-game winning streak.

Snell (4-6) won his fourth straight decision, giving up two hits and erasing both with double plays immediately after. Snell opened the season with 15 starts without a win, but now has a streak of 10 straight starts without a loss.

Cubs starter Jon Lester (11-8) was tagged for seven earned runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings, ending a run of three straight wins. First-place Chicago maintained its 3 1/2-game lead over the Brewers in the National League Central heading into their four-game series in Milwaukee beginning Thursday.

Pirates 6, Brewers 4

Adam Frazier delivered a two-out, two-run walk-off homer in the ninth inning as Pittsburgh halted a seven-game losing streak.

Frazier's homer, his sixth, came against Corey Knebel (1-3). It was his third career walk-off home run. Frazier drove in four runs, and Starling Marte was 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Pirates, who had lost 12 of their previous 13.

The Brewers missed a chance to move into a tie with Colorado for the second National League wild-card spot. Domingo Santana and Jesus Aguilar each hit solo homers for Milwaukee.

Diamondbacks 13, Padres 7

Arizona erased a four-run deficit and slugged four home runs to defeat San Diego despite three home runs by Padres rookie Hunter Renfroe.

The Diamondbacks extended their lead to 5 1/2 games on Colorado in the race for the top National League wild card. Arizona got home runs from David Peralta, Jake Lamb, J.D. Martinez -- his 41st of the season -- and A.J. Pollock.

Renfroe has 24 home runs, tying the Padres' rookie record set by Nate Colbert in 1969. San Diego's Rocky Gale and Christian Villanueva belted their first career homers. The nine long balls set a Petco Park record for a single game.

Giants 4, Rockies 0

Matt Moore blanked Colorado on six hits in six-plus innings, leading San Francisco to victory.

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Joe Panik stroked a single, double and triple, Pablo Sandoval laced a pair of doubles and Brandon Crawford added a solo home run for the Giants, who completed a two-game sweep that gave them five straight home wins over the Rockies.

Moore (6-14), who entered the game with the second-highest ERA in the majors (5.39), cruised to only his second win over Colorado.

Astros 4, White Sox 3

Brad Peacock staked his claim to a slot in the postseason rotation, working six strong innings as Houston held off Chicago.

Peacock (12-2) allowed only one hit, a two-run homer by Yoan Moncada in the fourth inning, while getting six strikeouts against two walks. He retired the side in order in four of his six innings while producing his sixth consecutive start with two or fewer earned runs allowed.

The Astros' Evan Gattis delivered a seeing-eye, RBI single in the second inning that scored Carlos Correa. Gattis scored in the fourth after working a two-out walk and coming home along with Marwin Gonzalez when Yuli Gurriel hit a two-run double to right-center field.

Phillies 7, Dodgers 5

Aaron Altherr had four late-inning RBIs, including the game-deciding double in the eighth inning, as Philadelphia defeated Los Angeles for the third straight time.

The Dodgers took a 4-2 lead in the seventh when Cody Bellinger lined a two-run double to right field. Los Angeles' bullpen, though, couldn't hold the lead.

Altherr crushed a two-run homer to tie the score 4-4 in the seventh inning, and Tommy Joseph put the Phillies ahead 5-4 with a towering shot. Both homers came off Ross Stripling. Los Angeles tied it in the eighth, setting the stage for Altherr.

Nationals 7, Braves 3

Washington scored six runs in the eighth inning to defeat Atlanta and give Gio Gonzalez a rare victory over the Braves.

Gonzalez (15-7) allowed three hits in seven innings, but included were homers by Freddie Freeman and Kurt Suzuki that put Atlanta up 2-1. Gonzalez, who struck out eight and lowered his ERA to 2.68, hadn't beaten the Braves since September 2015.

Atlanta's Arodys Vizcaino walked in three runs in the eighth inning. Adam Lind had a two-run single, and Michael A. Taylor drove in the final run of the inning with a single, both off Rex Brothers.

Rangers 8, Mariners 6

Rougned Odor's grand slam capped a seven-run fourth inning, and Texas hung on to defeat Seattle.

With their third consecutive victory, the Rangers moved 2 1/2 games back of the Twins in the American League wild-card chase.

Shin-Soo Choo and Nomar Mazara each had two hits for Texas, which got six innings of three-run ball from Andrew Cashner (10-10). The Mariners' Felix Hernandez (5-5) yielded six runs (five earned) in 3 1/3 innings.

Cardinals 9, Reds 2

Matt Carpenter, Dexter Fowler and Paul DeJong homered, and rookie Luke Weaver allowed two runs through five innings to lift St. Louis over Cincinnati.

Tommy Pham went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs for the Cardinals. Weaver (7-1) struck out seven and did not walk a batter to extend his major-league-leading win streak to seven games.

Yadier Molina and Fowler each had two RBIs for St. Louis. Four Cardinals relievers combined to retire 12 of the final 13 Reds batters to finish off the win.

Royals 15, Blue Jays 5

Mike Moustakas set a club record for home runs in a season and Jakob Janis won his sixth straight decision as Kansas City defeated Toronto.

Moustakas hit his 37th homer in the four-run sixth inning to surpass the former mark set by Steve Balboni, who hit 36 in 1985. Whit Merrifield and Salvador Perez, who had three RBIs, also homered for the Royals. Moustakas and Merrifield each had three hits.

Junis (8-2) allowed four runs (two earned), three hits and two walks while striking out three in 6 1/3 innings. His winning streak is the longest by a Royals rookie since Miguel Asencio won six in a row in 2002.

Athletics 3, Tigers 2

Daniel Mengden followed up a shutout by tossing seven scoreless innings and Marcus Semien drove in all three runs in Oakland's win over Detroit.

Mengden (2-1) gave up seven hits but didn't walk a batter while striking out four. The right-hander allowed two hits while blanking Philadelphia on Friday. Mengden was recalled from Triple-A Nashville on Sept. 5.

Semien had a run-scoring double and two-run homer for the Athletics, who won their fourth straight game. Bruce Maxwell, who left the game in the ninth after getting hit in the catcher's mask by a foul ball, supplied two hits and scored twice.

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