MLB roundup: Rays earn walk-off win over Orioles

[July 22, 2021]  Austin Meadows delivered a two-run, two-out walk-off single in the ninth inning as the Tampa Bay Rays rallied to beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-4 on Wednesday in St. Petersburg, Fla.

With the Rays down 4-3 in the ninth, Mike Zunino walked and Randy Arozarena -- who homered twice in the contest -- blooped a ball that fell into right field following a collision between Baltimore's Pat Valaika and Ryan Mountcastle.

Baltimore's Tanner Scott (3-4) then struck out Vidal Brujan, but with two strikes, Meadows drilled his second hit of the day to right-center field, giving Tampa Bay a second consecutive win and a series victory.

Mountcastle homered and broke a 3-3 tie with his RBI single in the sixth for the Orioles, who are 1-8 against the Rays this season.

Mets 7, Reds 0

Marcus Stroman allowed just one hit over eight shutout innings and Dominic Smith belted his second career grand slam as visiting New York blanked Cincinnati in the rubber game of a three-game series.

Stroman (7-8) threw just 90 pitches while striking out seven and walking one. Jeurys Familia finished the game by striking out the side in the ninth.

Jonathan Villar and Luis Guillorme also homered for the Mets, who homered 11 times in the three-game set and scored all seven runs via the long ball in the series finale.

Diamondbacks 6, Pirates 4

Pavin Smith and Daulton Varsho hit back-to-back home runs in the seventh inning to lead Arizona past Pittsburgh, completing a three-game sweep in Phoenix.

The Pirates tied the score at 4 with a bases-loaded walk in the top of the seventh, but Smith and Varsho hit their homers to right field to begin the bottom of the inning against Duane Underwood Jr. (2-3). Arizona protected the lead, and Joakim Soria pitched a perfect ninth for his sixth save, all coming this month.

Nick Ahmed led the Diamondbacks' 12-hit attack by going 3-for-4 with an RBI. Bryan Reynolds went 3-for-4 for the Pirates, who had 11 hits and left Arizona with a four-game losing streak.

Padres 3, Braves 2 (Game 1)

Chris Paddack pitched five shutout innings and Fernando Tatis Jr. belted his 29th home run to lift visiting San Diego over Atlanta in the first game of a doubleheader.

Paddack (6-6) allowed three hits and struck out one to become the first San Diego starter to throw five scoreless innings since June 22.

Tatis, who was 2-for-3, hit a long two-run homer into the left field bleachers off reliever Shane Greene in the fifth inning.

Padres 5, Braves 4 (Game 2, 4 1/2 innings, suspended)

San Diego and host Atlanta had Game 2 suspended after 4 1/2 innings with the Padres leading.

Rain began to fall at Truist Park in the top of the fifth, and the tarp was brought on to cover the infield before the bottom of the inning started. After a delay of nearly three hours, the umpires made the decision to suspend play.

There was no announcement about when the game would be finished. The Braves and Padres play a three-game series in San Diego from Sept. 24-26.

Royals 6, Brewers 3

Brad Keller pitched effectively into the seventh inning for his first victory since early June and visiting Kansas City capitalized on two Milwaukee errors en route to a victory.

The Royals erased a 3-2 deficit in the sixth against reliever Brent Suter (9-5). Carlos Santana singled and took second with one out when Andrew Benintendi reached on an error by first baseman Jace Peterson.

Hunter Dozier tied it 3-3 with an RBI single to center. Ryan McBroom's pinch-hit infield single loaded the bases and Nicky Lopez followed with a two-run double into the right field corner.

Rockies 6, Mariners 3

Austin Gomber won in his return from the injured list, Dom Nunez had a three-run double and Colorado scored five runs in the first inning while beating Seattle in Denver.

Gomber (7-5) had missed a month with left forearm tightness. He allowed three runs on three hits -- all home runs -- and struck out three in six innings in 71 pitches on Wednesday.

Mitch Haniger, Kyle Seager and Luis Torrens hit home runs for the Mariners. Darren McCaughan pitched five innings of relief in his major league debut, giving up one run, walking three but not allowing a hit.

Giants 4, Dodgers 2

Wilmer Flores hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning and San Francisco pulled out a win at Los Angeles.

The Dodgers took a one-run lead into the ninth, but Kenley Jansen (1-3) gave up a leadoff single to Buster Posey and a two-run blast to Flores. Jansen departed with the bases loaded and one out, and Victor Gonzalez walked Curt Casali with two outs to make it 4-2.

Dodgers starter Julio Urias allowed one run and three hits over seven innings and was in line to become the majors' first 13-game winner before the Giants rallied.

Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Pavin Smith (26) scores a run in the second inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Tigers 4, Rangers 2

Robbie Grossman, Zack Short and Akil Baddoo homered and host Detroit extended its winning streak to a season-best six games by defeating slumping Texas.

Grossman's homer was his career-best 15th of the season. Harold Castro contributed two hits and a run. The long balls supported rookie Matt Manning (2-3), who pitched six strong innings after being recalled from Triple-A Toledo.

Texas starter Jordan Lyles (5-7) gave up four runs on six hits in seven innings with five strikeouts. John Hicks and David Dahl drove in the runs for the Rangers, who have lost eight consecutive games.

Marlins 3, Nationals 1 (10 innings)

Pinch hitter Jorge Alfaro drove in the go-ahead run with a 10th-inning double and Miami defeated Washington, snapping a four-game losing streak.

Lewis Brinson started the 10th as a pinch runner for Joe Panik on second base, and Sandy Leon sacrificed him to third. Brad Hand (5-3) walked Jon Berti, and Alfaro lined Hand's first pitch for a double, scoring Brinson. Miguel Rojas followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1.

Dylan Floro (3-4) tossed two scoreless innings for the win, and Yimi Garcia pitched the 10th for his 14th save.

Indians 5, Astros 4

Cesar Hernandez clubbed his 16th home run with one out in the seventh inning and Cleveland won a back-and-forth affair at Houston.

Hernandez snapped a 4-4 tie by drilling a 3-2 changeup from Austin Pruitt 425 feet into the home bullpen in right-center field.
 

The Indians won the series and season finale against Houston after entering the day 0-6 against the Astros. Cleveland blew leads of 1-0 and 4-2 before Hernandez delivered late.

Yankees 6, Phillies 5 (10 innings)

Ryan LaMarre hit a pinch-hit single with one out in the 10th inning as host New York survived blowing a three-run lead and beat Philadelphia.

The Yankees won their fourth straight and improved to 9-3 in their past 12 games. LaMarre batted for Brett Gardner and lifted a single to the warning track in right field off Ranger Suarez (4-3) to cap the four-hour, 17-minute marathon.

LaMarre's hit scored Gary Sanchez, who was sacrificed to third by Gleyber Torres. It also came as the Phillies deployed a five-man infield.

Twins 7, White Sox 2

Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco homered to back five strong innings from Michael Pineda and boost visiting Minnesota to a victory against Chicago.

Kepler and Polanco, who both also homered Tuesday, combined for five of the Twins' 11 hits as Minnesota salvaged a split of the four-game series. Polanco went 3-for-4 and finished a triple short of the cycle.

Chicago stranded eight runners and went 2-for-8 with men in scoring position while grounding into four double plays.

Cardinals 3, Cubs 2 (10 innings)

Yadier Molina delivered a walk-off RBI single in the 10th inning for host St. Louis after Chicago tied the game in the ninth.

Molina's hit with one out against Craig Kimbrel (1-3) scored Paul Goldschmidt, who began the 10th inning as the automatic runner at second base. T.J. McFarland (1-0) earned the win for St. Louis, whose bullpen struggled for the second straight game.

Kyle Hendricks allowed two runs on eight hits and no walks over 6 1/3 innings for Chicago. He struck out three batters and has pitched six-plus innings in 13 consecutive starts, the longest active streak in the majors.
 

Red Sox 7, Blue Jays 4

Enrique Hernandez hit a two-run blast to lead a home run barrage and visiting Boston defeated Toronto at Buffalo.

Rafael Devers, Michael Chavis, J.D. Martinez and Hunter Renfroe added solo shots for the Red Sox, who hit 11 home runs in sweeping the two-game series.

George Springer socked a two-run homer for Toronto and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Teoscar Hernandez belted solo homers.

--Field Level Media

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