LDN - Sports

Major League Baseball roundup: Dozier delivers walk-off slam to top Rays

[July 17, 2018] Brian Dozier hit a walk-off grand slam with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Minnesota Twins a wild 11-7 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays Sunday afternoon at Target Field in Minneapolis.

It was the 16th homer of the season and fourth career grand slam for Dozier who drove a 1-1 changeup from Matt Andriese into the left field stands to give the Twins their ninth victory in 11 games. Dozier finished with two hits, five RBIs and two runs scored.

Eddie Rosario had three hits, two RBIs and scored twice, Robbie Grossman had two hits and Jorge Polanco also scored two runs for Minnesota, which bounced back from a 19-6 thrashing by the Rays on Saturday afternoon.

Jake Cave opened the 10th inning with a leadoff double off Andriese (2-4), the ninth pitcher used by the Rays. After Mitch Garver sacrificed Cave to third, Joe Mauer and Rosario were both intentionally walked setting the stage for Dozier's heroics.

Pirates 7, Brewers 6 (10 innings)

Josh Bell hit a walk-off two-run double in the 10th inning as Pittsburgh won its sixth straight game, 7-6 over visiting Milwaukee, to sweep a five-game series.

Facing Brewers reliever Dan Jennings (3-3), Bell drove the ball to the wall in center as rain began to pour, bringing home Gregory Polanco and Colin Moran, who had each singled.

The Brewers, who have lost six in a row and eight of 10, had taken a 6-5 lead in the top of the 10th against Tanner Anderson (1-0) on an RBI single by Brett Phillips, who hit a tiebreaking three-run triple in the eighth inning.

Cardinals 6, Reds 4

Matt Carpenter and Dexter Fowler homered, and Tommy Pham had two hits and two RBIs as St. Louis beat visiting Cincinnati in interim manager Mike Shildt's debut.

Right-hander John Gant (3-3) pitched four innings of hitless relief as the Cardinals broke a three-game losing streak in their first game under Shildt, who was promoted from bench coach when Mike Matheny was fired after 6 1/2 seasons following Saturday's loss to the Reds. Shildt joined the major league staff in 2016 after winning three minor league titles in eight seasons in the Cardinals' minor league system.

Yadier Molina also had an RBI single for the Cardinals (48-46), who had lost six straight home games and were in danger of falling to .500 for the first time since April 13, when they were 7-7.

Red Sox 5, Blue Jays 2

Xander Bogaerts provided an encore to Saturday's walk-off grand slam with a solo home run and two RBIs to help Boston beat visiting Toronto in the finale of a four-game series.

Bogaerts' 10th-inning slam gave the Red Sox a 6-2 win Saturday and secured at least a series split. Boston won Thursday's opener 6-4, but lost to Toronto 13-7 Friday to snap its major league-best 10-game win streak.

Brock Holt drove in two runs and Jackie Bradley Jr. added an RBI for the Red Sox, who enter the All-Star break with an MLB-best 68-30 record. Boston won 12 of its last 13 and 19 of 23 games before the break. The Red Sox lead the AL East by 4 1/2 games over the New York Yankees.

Rockies 4, Mariners 3

Trevor Story led off the bottom of the ninth with a game-winning homer, lifting surging Colorado over visiting Seattle.

Story capped a rainy afternoon when he drove a 2-2 cutter from Nick Vincent (3-2) 434 feet into the right-center field seats, touching off the celebratory fireworks. It was the 20th homer of the season for the All-Star shortstop and his first career game-ending homer.

Story's homer helped the Rockies head into the break with a flourish, lifting Colorado to its 10th win in 12 games and 13th win in 16 games. The Mariners lost for the eighth time in 11 games.

Indians 5, Yankees 2

Michael Brantley led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a tiebreaking home run as Cleveland beat visiting New York.

Brantley helped the Indians get a split of the four-game series with his 12th homer of the season. He gave Cleveland its first lead of the game by lifting a 94.5 mph fastball from Chad Green (5-2) high enough to clear the right-center field fence. The ball traveled an estimated 387 feet and Brantley needed every inch as right fielder Giancarlo Stanton scaled the fence in an ill-fated attempt to make the catch.

Masahiro Tanaka gave up two runs on six hits in 6 1/3 innings in his second start since returning from two strained hamstrings.

Cubs 7, Padres 4

The Cubs jumped to a 5-0 lead after two innings and Jon Lester picked up his 12th win of the season as Chicago completed a three-game sweep of San Diego.

Lester (12-2) allowed three runs on six hits and three walks with seven strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. With the win, the Cubs head into the All-Star break with a 2 ½-game lead in the National League Central.

All five of the Cubs' runs in the first two innings were scored against Padres rookie left-hander Eric Lauer, who fell to 5-6. He allowed five runs on five hits and one walk and departed after the second.

Athletics 6, Giants 2

Visiting Oakland strung together four consecutive singles in a four-run fourth inning to hand San Francisco its first home series loss since April in the battle of interleague rivals.

Sean Manaea (9-6) outdueled Andrew Suarez (3-6) in a matchup of left-handers, helping the A's complete a 4-3, 6-2 weekend sweep after the Giants had prevailed 7-1 Friday night in the series opener. Piscotty had two hits, scored twice and drove in two runs for the A's.

The Giants had won (10) or tied (two) their last 12 home series dating back to April 11 against Arizona. The teams will meet in a three-game rematch immediately following the All-Star break in Oakland.

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Tigers 6, Astros 3

John Hicks slugged a two-run homer to ignite a surprising power surge and Detroit averted a series sweep with a win at Houston.

Hicks' 400-foot blast off Astros right-hander Justin Verlander (9-5) keyed a three-run second inning and set the tone for Detroit, which ended a seven-game losing skid. The Tigers slugged four home runs, all against Verlander, after entering the game last in the majors in dingers with 76.

Facing his former team for the first time since a waiver deadline trade shipped him to Houston last August, Verlander became just the fifth pitcher in history to allow at least four home runs in a start where he posted 12-plus strikeouts. He allowed a season-high six runs (five earned) on six hits without walking a batter.

Dodgers 5, Angels 3

Kiké Hernandez's seventh-inning home run snapped a 3-3 tie and helped lead the hosts over the Angels at Dodger Stadium.

Andrew Toles' two-out RBI single in the eighth inning provided an insurance run, helping the Dodgers take two of three in the series and win their fourth of five games heading into the All-Star break.

Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw gave up a three-run home run to Jefry Marte, but otherwise held the Angels scoreless in 6 2/3 innings. Kenta Maeda (7-5) relieved Kershaw in the seventh and got the final out of the inning, a brief appearance but enough to earn the victory. Kenley Jansen pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 27th save.

Braves 5, Diamondbacks 1

Right-hander Julio Teheran took a shutout into the seventh inning as Atlanta salvaged one win in its three-game home series against Arizona.

Dansby Swanson and Freddie Freeman each hit RBI doubles to a four-run third inning against Diamondbacks left-hander Patrick Corbin (6-4), giving Teheran and three relievers all the offensive support they would need.

Teheran (7-6), who had won just twice in nine starts after opening the season 4-1, limited the Diamondbacks to four hits in 6 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out six.

Nationals 6, Mets 1

Daniel Murphy continued to haunt his former team when he laced a two-run pinch-hit single to spark a five-run seventh inning that lifted Washington to a win at New York.

The Nationals opened and closed the four-game series with wins to reach the All-Star Break at .500. The Mets have lost 34 of their last 48 during their worst first half of a full season since 1993, when they were 27-60 at the All-Star break.

The teams traded run-scoring fielder's choice groundouts in the second inning before matching zeroes until the Nationals unloaded against three Mets relievers in the seventh.

Marlins 10, Phillies 5

Brian Anderson hit a three-run homer as part of an eight-run fifth inning, and last-place Miami defeated visiting Philadelphia.

Anderson went 3-for-5 and has 109 hits, the most by a major league rookie before the All-Star break since two players did it in 2003.

In their last game before the All-Star break, the Marlins completed a week in which they took two out of three games from a pair of first-place teams, the Milwaukee Brewers and then the Phillies. Marlins reliever Elieser Hernandez (2-5) earned the win, pitching one scoreless inning.

Orioles 6, Rangers 5

Adam Jones lined a three-run double as part of a five-run third inning as Baltimore scored a come-from-behind victory over visiting Texas.

The Orioles used a bullpen format, after likely starting pitcher Jimmy Yacabonis became ill in recent days. So, manager Buck Showalter began with Miguel Castro, who struggled right from the start. He walked the first three batters and Ronald Guzman hit a grand slam over the wall in right for a quick 4-0 lead.

But the Orioles battled back, getting a solo homer from Manny Machado in the bottom of the first and doubles from Caleb Joseph and Jones in the third to take a 5-4 lead. Zach Britton came on and closed the game in the ninth for his fourth save.

White Sox 10, Royals 1

Lucas Giolito pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings as Chicago walloped visiting Kansas City, which lost for the 13th time in 15 games.

Daniel Palka and Yoan Moncada each had three hits and a home run for the White Sox, who took two of three games in the weekend series.

Giolito (6-8), a right-hander, allowed two hits, walked three and struck out six as he improved to 3-0 in his career against the Royals. It was his first scoreless start of the season and his best at home, as he entered the game at 2-4 with an 8.65 ERA at Guaranteed Rate Field.

--Field Level Media

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