LDN - Sports

Major League Baseball roundup: Astros walk off in 9th for 12th straight win

[June 19, 2018] Alex Bregman delivered a walk-off, two-run double and the Houston Astros stretched their winning streak to a franchise-record tying 12 games with a 5-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday at Minute Maid Park.

Bregman delivered with the bases loaded and one out against Rays right-hander Sergio Romo (1-2), the seventh pitcher of the night for Tampa Bay. Bregman lined a 1-1 slider into left-center field, plating Marwin Gonzalez (walk) and Max Stassi (single), who reached in succession to open the frame. The Astros opened a nine-game homestand after going 10-0 on their recently completed road trip.

Astros right-hander Gerrit Cole (no-decision), who walked four of the first 12 batters he faced before settling into a groove, retired 11 consecutive batters following the Joey Wendle's two-run single in the third and completed seven innings allowing four runs on three hits and a season-high five walks with eight strikeouts. Cole threw a season-high 116 pitches.

Rays catcher Wilson Ramos hit a two-run, opposite-field homer in the first for Tampa Bay. Collin McHugh (2-0) earned the win in relief for Houston.

Nationals 5, Yankees 3 (completion of suspended game)

Rookie Juan Soto hit a long two-run pinch-hit homer with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning as Washington beat New York in the completion of a suspended game from May 15 at Nationals Park.

The game resumed in a 3-3 tie after rain halted the originally scheduled game and the makeup was rained out on May 16. When the game started last month, the game-time temperature was 85, but by Monday it increased to 95 with a heat index of 105.

Soto, who made his major league debut on May 20, batted for Matt Adams against Chad Green (2-1). He gave the Nationals a two-run lead by hammering a 3-1 fastball into the second-to-last row of the seats in the second deck in right. It was Soto's sixth homer and third against the Yankees. The resumption of the game will be considered his major league debut with an asterisk, but the 433-foot drive was not his first career homer.

Yankees 4, Nationals 2

Giancarlo Stanton collected four hits, including a booming RBI double with two outs in the top of the seventh inning as New York held on over Washington.

In the makeup game from May 16, Stanton (4-for-5, two RBIs) recorded his third game this season with four hits and seventh of his career. Stanton's big night occurred after he was 2-for-13 in a four-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays, culminating in a tense postgame interview on Sunday.

Bryce Harper went 0-for-4 as the Nationals dropped their fourth straight and went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Mark Reynolds drove in both runs for Washington with an RBI groundout in the second and a sacrifice fly in the fourth.

Rangers 6, Royals 3

Bartolo Colon became the winningest pitcher born in the Dominican Republic in major league history, and Shin-Soo Choo and Adrian Beltre each homered as visiting Texas handed Kansas City its seventh straight loss.

It was the 244th career win for the 45-year-old Colon (4-4), breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Juan Marichal for most wins by a Dominican-born player and moving him within one win of tying Nicaraguan Dennis Martinez (245) for most wins by a pitcher from a Latin American country. Colon also recorded his 2,503th career strikeout, which broke a tie for 33rd place on the alltime list with Christy Mathewson.

Choo, who also doubled, walked three times in five at-bats and scored twice, reached base for the 32nd straight game, the longest active streak in the major leagues. Ian Kennedy fell to 1-76 for the Royals, going six innings allowing five runs on four hits with eight strikeouts and three walks.

Phillies 6, Cardinals 5 (10 innings)

Aaron Altherr delivered a walk-off, two-run double with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning as Philadelphia notched a wild win over visiting St. Louis.

Philadelphia blew a two-run lead in the ninth and saw St. Louis take the lead in the 10th on Tommy Pham's homer before rallying for the win. Altherr smacked a liner to left off Matt Bowman (0-2) with two runners on and Cardinals left fielder Marcell Ozuna missed a diving attempt and the ball got past him. Rhys Hoskins and Carlos Santana both scored to give the Phillies their sixth win in the past eight games.

The Cardinals' ninth-inning rally kept Phillies right-hander Nick Pivetta from ending his four-start losing streak. Pivetta struck out a career-best 13 in 7 1/3 innings and allowed two runs, four hits and one walk. St. Louis got home runs from Matt Carpenter, Yadier Molina and Pham in defeat while Odubel Herrera smacked a three-run shot for Philadelphia.

Marlins 5, Giants 4

Miguel Rojas capped a three-run ninth inning with a tie-breaking, RBI single, allowing Miami to rally to victory in the opener of a three-game series in San Francisco.

Down 4-2, Brian Anderson led off the ninth by drawing a walk from Giants closer Hunter Strickland (3-3). J.T. Realmuto followed with a double, plating Anderson to get Miami within one. Strickland then walked Justin Bour to put the potential tying and go-ahead runs on base, and both scored one out later on consecutive RBI singles by Lewis Brinson and Rojas.

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Astros third baseman Alex Bregman (2) gets a game-winning RBI hit during the ninth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Miami's Kyle Barraclough recorded his sixth save of the season with a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth. Tayron Guerrero (1-2), who pitched a scoreless eighth inning, was credited with the win.

Mets 12, Rockies 2

Brandon Nimmo homered twice and drove in four runs, Jacob deGrom pitched eight strong innings, and New York beat Colorado in Denver.

Wilmer Flores and Devin Mesoraco also homered for the Mets, who have followed a four-game losing streak with three straight wins. New York backed another solid outing from deGrom (5-2) with 15 hits. The Mets' ace struck out seven and allowed two runs -- one earned -- to drop his ERA to 1.51, tops in the majors.

Gerardo Parra had two hits and drove in a run for Colorado, which has lost eight straight at home to fall to 11-20 at Coors Field.

Indians 6, White Sox 2

Trevor Bauer racked up eight strikeouts in seven scoreless innings and Cleveland pulled away over visiting Chicago.

Only Mother Nature could stop Bauer (6-5), who did not return to the mound after a 35-minute rain delay in the bottom of the seventh. The storm snapped his bid to record double-digit strikeouts for the fifth consecutive start, which would have tied Corey Kluber's franchise record. Bauer, 27, has 129 strikeouts in 100 2/3 innings and ranks tied for third in baseball in strikeouts, behind only Washington's Max Scherzer (152) and Houston's Gerrit Cole (138).

Jason Kipnis went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs to lead the Indians at the plate. Roberto Perez added a pair of doubles and two RBIs as Cleveland improved to 6-2 against Chicago this season. Matt Davidson doubled and homered for the White Sox, who lost their fifth in a row.

Pirates 1, Brewers 0

Trevor Williams combined with two relievers for a two-hitter, and Jordy Mercer drove in the only run in the seventh inning as Pittsburgh slipped by visiting Milwaukee.

Pittsburgh, which picked up its ninth shutout win, has won four of its past five games and is looking to regain a foothold in the National League Central. Monday was the opening of a three-game set against the first-place Brewers. Milwaukee has lost three straight. The fourth-place Pirates climbed to within six games of the Brewers.

The starters, Williams and Milwaukee's Jhoulys Chacin, dueled into the seventh inning. Williams (6-4) threw a one-hitter over seven innings, with seven strikeouts and two walks. He threw 96 pitches. The only hit against him was Jonathan Villar's two-out single in the fourth. Chacin (6-2), who had won his past six decisions, gave up one run and six hits in 6 1/3 innings, with two strikeouts and two walks. He lasted at least six innings for the third straight start.

Diamondbacks 7, Angels 4

Paul Goldschmidt, Ketel Marte and Nick Ahmed hit home runs, Zack Greinke threw 6 1/3 solid innings and Arizona beat Los Angeles in Anaheim, Calif.

Goldschmidt's two-run homer in the first inning got the ball rolling for the D-backs, who increased their lead to 6-0 before the Angels could get anything across against Greinke.

Justin Upton and Albert Pujols hit back-to-back homers off Greinke in the fourth inning to narrow the Angels' deficit to 6-2, but the team's seventh-inning rally was stifled when center fielder Jarrod Dyson reached over the wall to take away a potential grand slam from Upton. Archie Bradley got the final four outs for his third save.

Dodgers-Cubs (ppd.)

After waiting nearly three hours to begin action, the game between Los Angeles and Chicago was postponed due to rain and a limited power outage at Wrigley Field.

In addition to showers in the area, a small power outage affected the operation of the right field lights.

The game will be made up as part of a split doubleheader on Tuesday, with the first game scheduled for a 1:05 p.m. ET start time. The night game is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. The three-game series is the Dodgers' only trip to visit the Cubs this season.

--Field Level Media

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