LDN - Sports

MLB roundup: Red Sox stop Astros' streak on walk-off hit

[September 10, 2018] Mitch Moreland hit a walk-off single with two outs in the ninth inning, and the Boston Red Sox averted a series sweep with a 6-5 victory over the Houston Astros on Sunday at Fenway Park.

Moreland finished 2-for-2 after entering as a pinch hitter. His single to left field scored pinch runner Tzu-Wei Lin and came against right-hander Hector Rondon (2-3). Lin was in scoring position thanks to Xander Bogaerts, who capped a 4-for-4 night with a single that placed a runner in scoring position against Rondon.

The Astros had their seven-game winning streak snapped and their lead in the American League West shaved to three games in the loss column over the Oakland Athletics. Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel (5-1) recorded the win by working a perfect top of the ninth inning.

J.D. Martinez struck the initial big blow for Boston in the fifth, his three-run homer off Astros starter Dallas Keuchel turning a one-run advantage into a 5-1 lead. It was Martinez's 40th homer of the season.

Mariners 3, Yankees 2

Seattle's bullpen combined for four scoreless innings of one-hit relief, and Mitch Haniger scored the go-ahead run in eighth inning as the Mariners defeated visiting New York to avoid a season sweep.

The Yankees had won the first two games of the three-game weekend series after sweeping the Mariners in three straight games in June in New York.

Alex Colome (6-5) got the victory after delivering a scoreless eighth, and Edwin Diaz pitched the ninth for his major-league-leading 54th save of the season.

Rays 8, Orioles 3

Brandon Lowe hit a three-run home run to cap a five-run first inning as Tampa Bay continued its surge with a 8-3 victory over visiting Baltimore.

Lowe made it 5-0 when he hammered an 0-1 slider by Josh Rogers (1-2) into the right field seats. The rookie second baseman's fourth homer helped Tampa Bay move 14 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2013 season. The Rays also matched the 2008 team record by recording their 11th straight home win.

Lowe's homer also helped the Rays win for the 16th time in their past 19 games. During that stretch, Tampa Bay has outscored foes 111-57.

A's 7, Rangers 3

Oakland scored two runs on Nick Martini's infield single in a five-run fourth inning, creating a lead the A's turned into an easy victory over visiting Texas and a sweep of the three-game series.

The Oakland bullpen shut out the Rangers on two hits over the final 6 1/3 innings, helping the A's rally from a 3-0 deficit to a win that cut their deficit in the American League West to 2 1/2 games behind the Astros.

A's starter Trevor Cahill was pulled after walking six in 2 2/3 innings. He was charged with three runs on two hits. Seven A's relievers combined to bail out Cahill, with Shawn Kelley (2-0) getting credit with the win after retiring all four batters he faced in the third and fourth innings.

Braves 9, Diamondbacks 5

Ender Inciarte hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the ninth inning, and Lucas Duda and Johan Camargo also homered in the six-run frame as visiting Atlanta rallied to defeat Arizona.

Tyler Flowers and Ozzie Albies singled to open the ninth inning off closer Brad Boxberger (2-7) before Inciarte, who squared to bunt on the first four pitches, hit a 3-2 pitch for his 10th homer of the season and a 6-4 lead.

Duda had a pinch-hit homer and Camargo added a two-run homer in the ninth, both off right-hander Yoan Lopez in his major league debut. The Braves took their third victory in the four-game series, all coming in their final at-bat. Camargo had three homers in the series.

Mets 6, Phillies 4

Michael Conforto hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the fifth inning for host New York, which scratched National League Cy Young Award contender Jacob deGrom but still managed to beat visiting Philadelphia.

The Mets won two of three from the Phillies, who haven't won a series in their past 10 tries (nine losses, one split). Philadelphia dropped 4 1/2 games behind Atlanta in the NL East.

DeGrom, who leads the majors with a 1.68 ERA, was scheduled to start Sunday, but with constant rain in the forecast, the Mets decided to start rookie Corey Oswalt instead. DeGrom is expected to start Monday, when New York opens a four-game series against the visiting Miami Marlins.

Cardinals 5, Tigers 2

John Gant pitched 6 2/3 innings and the St. Louis offense erupted for five seventh-inning runs in salvaging the finale of a three-game series over host Detroit.

Gant (7-5) allowed two runs on five hits and struck out six. Carlos Martinez got the last three outs for his second save. Carson Kelly had two hits and an RBI, and Paul DeJong added two hits and scored a run. St. Louis lost the first two games of the series in walk-off fashion.

Detroit starter Michael Fulmer (3-11) was perfect through five but was charged with five runs, three earned, on five hits in 6 1/3 innings. Nicholas Castellanos had two hits for the Tigers.

Dodgers 9, Rockies 6

Justin Turner homered among his four hits, Enrique Hernandez also homered, and Los Angeles beat Colorado in Denver.

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Red Sox first baseman Mitch Moreland (18) hits a walk off single against the Houston Astros during the ninth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports

Rich Hill (8-5) struck out seven in five innings, and Scott Alexander earned his third save for Los Angeles, which moved within a half-game of the National League West-leading Rockies.

Charlie Blackmon homered twice, and Nolan Arenado also hit a home run for the Rockies.

Brewers 6, Giants 3

Jonathan Schoop belted a grand slam off San Francisco ace Madison Bumgarner to rally host Milwaukee from a sixth-inning deficit. The Brewers completed a three-game sweep.

Zach Davies pitched effectively for the second straight time since returning from a shoulder injury that cost him three months, helping the Brewers pull within two games of the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central.

The Giants took their eighth loss in a row, equaling their longest losing streak since April 2015, and they completed an 0-6 trip.

Blue Jays 6, Indians 2

Justin Smoak hit a two-run homer and had three RBIs, Teoscar Hernandez hit a three-run homer, and Toronto defeated visiting Cleveland.

Thomas Pannone (2-1), acquired from Cleveland in a trade last season, allowed two runs and four hits in 6 1/3 innings in his third career major league start to help Toronto gain a split in the four-game set and win the season series 4-3.

Blue Jays right fielder Randal Grichuk left the game in the fourth after his head hit a security guard's chair while he tried to catch a foul ball. The team later announced that initial concussion tests and a CT scan of his head and face were negative and that Grichuk would be re-evaluated Monday morning.

Angels 1, White Sox 0

Andrew Heaney pitched seven scoreless innings with a career-high 12 strikeouts, and visiting Los Angeles held on for a win over Chicago to complete a three-game sweep.

Heaney (9-9) allowed only three hits and walked none to earn his second win in the past three starts. The fifth-year southpaw struck out at least one batter in six of the seven innings he worked. Los Angeles climbed one game within .500 after wrapping up its 10-game road trip with a 7-3 record.

Chicago lost its fifth game in a row. The White Sox were shut out for the 11th time this season.

Padres 7, Reds 6

Eric Hosmer broke a tie by opening the ninth inning with his third homer in as many games, giving visiting San Diego a one-run victory in Cincinnati and a split of the teams' weather-impacted four-game series.

Hosmer's 16th homer of the season came off Raisel Iglesias (2-4), the sixth Reds pitcher. It marked the first time in his career that Hosmer homered in three straight games. Craig Stammen (7-2) got the win, and Kirby Yates picked up his seventh save.

The start of the game was pushed back three hours due to forecasted rain in Cincinnati. There was also a 1-hour, 32-minute rain delay in the middle of the eighth inning, bringing to 5 hours, 22 minutes the total time lost to rain in the four-game series.

Twins 3, Royals 1

Willians Astudillo hit a two-run walk-off homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Minnesota a victory over visiting Kansas City.

It was just the 11th hit and third homer of the major league career for the 26-year-old Astudillo, who clobbered a 1-0 hanging slider off Jason Hammel (2-13) deep into the bleachers in left-center field.

Adalberto Mondesi homered for the Royals, who finished with just three hits off four Twins pitchers.

Cubs-Nationals, ppd.

The game between Chicago and Washington was postponed due to rain. Both teams will be making the trip back to Nationals Park to make up the contest at 4:05 p.m. ET on Thursday.

Marlins-Pirates, ppd.

The game between Miami and Pittsburgh was washed out after remaining rainfall from Tropical Storm Gordon forced a postponement at PNC Park. The teams rescheduled the game for Oct. 1, a day after the scheduled end of the regular season, at a time to be determined.

--Field Level Media

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