LDN - Sports

MLB roundup: Record-setting Acuna hits two more HRs

[August 15, 2018] Rookie Ronald Acuna Jr. hit two home runs, one of them to lead off the game on the first pitch, sending the Atlanta Braves to a 10-6 win over the visiting Miami Marlins on Tuesday.

Acuna hit a leadoff home run for the third straight game, and he became the youngest player in baseball history to go deep in five consecutive games. The Venezuelan phenom was 3-for-5 with four RBIs. He has 19 homers in his rookie season, including eight in his past eight games.

Acuna, 20 years, 239 days old, already had become the youngest player ever to homer four games in a row, accomplishing that feat when he blasted long balls to open both ends of a Monday doubleheader against the Marlins.

The Braves have won four in a row. They improved to 11-3 against Miami and 39-19 against the National League East, which Atlanta leads by two games over the second-place Philadelphia Phillies.

Red Sox 2, Phillies 1

Brock Holt, pinch-hitting for right-hander Rick Porcello, made the starting pitcher a winner by hitting the tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning as visiting Boston beat Philadelphia in the opener of a two-game interleague series.

The scorching Red Sox have won five in a row and 11 of 12. Boston is on pace for 115 wins, one shy of the single-season record shared by the 1906 Chicago Cubs and 2001 Seattle Mariners.

Philadelphia has lost four of five. The Phillies fell into sole possession of the second wild card in the NL, one game behind the Milwaukee Brewers.

Cardinals 6, Nationals 4

Kolten Wong homered and had three RBIs to back the solid pitching of John Gant, who also hit a home run for his first career hit, as St. Louis handled visiting Washington at Busch Stadium.

The victory was the seventh in a row and ninth in the last 10 games for the Cardinals, who are now a season-best 10 games over .500. St. Louis has scored six or more runs in its past six games.

Meanwhile, stumbling Washington has lost three straight and four of its past five games and have fallen back to .500.

Rockies 5, Astros 1

Nolan Arenado clubbed his 30th home run, and visiting Colorado extended its winning streak to four games with a victory at Houston.

Arenado, starting as the designated hitter because of his sore right shoulder, drilled a 96 mph fastball from Justin Verlander (11-8) the opposite way to right field with one on and two outs in the sixth inning. The struggling Astros had claimed a 1-0 lead a half-inning earlier only to surrender it in short order and extend their home losing skid to nine games.

Colorado improved to 12-5 on the season in interleague play.

Blue Jays 6, Royals 5

Kevin Pillar hit a two-run home run with two outs in the eighth inning and had three RBIs to help Toronto come back for a win at Kansas City, Mo.

Pillar went 2-for-4 for Toronto. Catcher Danny Jansen also hit a solo shot for the Blue Jays, his first career homer in his second major league game. Ken Giles struck out two in a perfect ninth to earn his second save for the Blue Jays after recording 12 saves for the Astros.

Adalberto Mondesi had a career-best four hits, including two doubles, plus an RBI and three stolen bases for the Royals. Kansas City completed a franchise-record 14th straight errorless game.

Indians 8, Reds 1

Corey Kluber cruised to his major league co-leading 15th victory and Jose Ramirez hit his 36th homer as Cleveland rolled past host Cincinnati.

Kluber (15-6) pitched seven innings of one-run ball, allowing five hits and two walks while striking out seven.

Ramirez continued to torment the Reds this season, going 3-for-5 with a solo homer, two RBIs and three runs. In the five games against Cincinnati this year, Ramirez is 10-for-23 with five homers and 11 RBIs.

Twins 5, Pirates 2

Jake Cave drove in the go-ahead run in the fourth inning, and Miguel Sano added a late two-run home run as Minnesota downed Pittsburgh in Minneapolis.

Jorge Polanco was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs for the Twins, who had lost four of their previous five games. Minnesota's Jake Odorizzi (5-7) struck out nine in 5 2/3 innings. He gave up two runs and four hits, and he walked two.

David Freese was 3-for-4 with a run for Pittsburgh, which lost its second straight and fell for the third time in four games.

Yankees 4, Rays 1

J.A. Happ allowed a career-low one hit in seven scoreless innings and won his third consecutive start as host New York recorded a victory over Tampa Bay.

Happ (13-6) allowed only a fourth-inning single to C.J. Cron while striking out four and walking four. The veteran left-hander improved to 3-0 with a 1.89 ERA since being acquired from Toronto for Brandon Drury and Billy McKinney on July 26.

Austin Romine hit a two-run homer, Aaron Hicks hit an RBI single, and Greg Bird added insurance in the eighth with a run-scoring double as the Yankees won for the seventh time in nine games since getting swept in a four-game series at Boston.

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Braves left fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. (13) hits a three-run home run against the Miami Marlins in the seventh inning at SunTrust Park. Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

White Sox 6, Tigers 3

Jose Abreu drove in two runs, Ryan LaMarre hit his first major league homer, and Chicago won at Detroit.

Abreu also scored a run for the White Sox, who had lost nine of 10 games this season to their division rival. Chicago leadoff hitter Tim Anderson supplied two hits and scored twice. Lucas Giolito (8-9) allowed three runs on eight hits in six innings. He struck out seven and issued only one walk.

Victor Martinez had two hits and drove in two runs for Detroit. Blaine Hardy (4-5) gave up four runs on five hits in four innings. Tigers shortstop Jose Iglesias left the game after eight innings due to a right thumb bruise.

Giants 2, Dodgers 1

Alen Hanson drove in two runs, including the go-ahead tally on a ninth-inning single as San Francisco pulled off a brawl-marred victory over host Los Angeles.

The Dodgers lost their fifth consecutive game, including each of the first two games of the three-game set. The Giants have won four of their past five games as they try to scramble back into contention in the National League West.

The game included a benches-clearing incident in the seventh inning that led to the ejection of Los Angeles right fielder Yasiel Puig and San Francisco catcher Nick Hundley after an argument at home plate turned into a shoving match. Not only did both benches clear, but Puig took a swipe at Hundley's catcher's mask at one point.

A's 3, Mariners 2

Jed Lowrie broke a third-inning tie with a two-run home run, and Oakland held on for victory over visiting Seattle in a game that saw the return of Seattle's Robinson Cano and the loss starting pitcher James Paxton.

Cano batted second and played first base in his first game after serving an 80-game drug suspension. He went 1-for-4, singling in his second at-bat. He never previously played first base in his career.

Paxton was hit in the left arm by a line drive off the bat of the third batter he faced -- Lowrie -- and had to leave the game. X-rays taken at the site were negative, and the injury was labeled as a bruise. The team listed Paxton as day-to-day.

Orioles 6, Mets 3

Chris Davis hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the seventh inning, and Tim Beckham added a two-run shot in eighth as Baltimore defeated visiting New York in the opener of a two-game series.

Adam Jones homered in the sixth for the Orioles. Baltimore starter Andrew Cashner (4-10) got the victory thanks to seven strong innings. He allowed two runs on five hits as the Orioles ended a five-game losing streak.

New York starter Jason Vargas, who was 0-5 in his previous six starts, gave up two runs on five hits in six innings. He wound up with a no-decision.

Diamondbacks 6, Rangers 4

Paul Goldschmidt and Alex Avila homered, and Patrick Corbin gave Arizona its National League-best third double-digit winner by beating host Texas to split a two-game interleague series.

Daniel Descalso drove in two runs, and Jon Jay had two singles and an RBI as the Diamondbacks maintained their slim lead in the NL West. They are an NL-best 34-26 on the road.

Shin-Soo Choo had three hits, Jurickson Profar had two hits and two RBIs, and Elvis Andrus extended his home hitting streak to 24 games for the Rangers, who have lost three of four.

Angels 7, Padres 3

Former Padre Justin Upton homered for the second straight night and drove in three runs while Eric Young Jr. added two RBIs as visiting Los Angeles defeated San Diego.

Upton, who is 5-for-10 with two homers and five RBIs against San Diego this season, paced the Angels' 11-hit attack, going 3-for-5. Jaime Barria (8-7) held the Padres to one run on six hits and a walk with seven strikeouts in five innings to earn the win.

The only run scored by the Padres against Barria came on a solo home run by Freddy Galvis, who has homered in three straight games for the first time in his major league career.

Brewers 7, Cubs 0

Ryan Braun hit a pair of two-run home runs and Jhoulys Chacin pitched seven shutout innings to pick up his 12th win of the year as Milwaukee won at Chicago.

Chacin (12-4) allowed three hits and two walks while striking out a season-high 10 for the Brewers.

Cubs second baseman Ben Zobrist was ejected after the eighth inning for disputing an earlier strike-three call. He said plate umpire Phil Cuzzi tossed him for commenting, "Well, that's why we want an electronic strike zone."

--Field Level Media

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