PITTSBURGH (AP) — Martín Pérez pitched six scoreless innings, Rowdy Tellez homered into the Allegheny River and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat St. Louis 5-0 on Wednesday to take two of three games from the Cardinals.
Pérez (2-5) allowed four hits, three in his final two innings, and walked five with two strikeouts. The 33-year-old left-hander entered with a 5.61 ERA after allowing 11 runs in 8 1/3 innings over his last two starts.
“I got confidence,” Pérez said. “It doesn’t matter. Every outing I’m always going to trust my stuff. That happened today. I was able to compete and throw a lot of pitches in the strike zone.”
Tellez chased Matthew Liberatore (2-3) at the start of the fourth inning by sending a fastball 447 feet into the river beyond the wall in right field, extending the Pirates’ lead to five runs.
TWINS 5, PHILLIES 4
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Max Kepler’s infield single drove in the winning run with one out in the ninth inning, giving Minnesota a series-clinching win over Philadelphia.
Trevor Larnach was hit by a pitch by Philadelphia left-hander Gregory Soto (2-4) to open the bottom of the ninth. Larnach advanced to second on a wild pitch and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Austin Martin. Kepler hit a two-hopper up the middle against a drawn in infield that was backhanded by diving second baseman Bryson Stott, who had no chance to get Larnach at home or Kepler at first.
The Twins claimed their fifth walk-off victory of the season. The National League-leading Phillies (64-38) lost their third straight series.
Minnesota closer Jhoan Duran (6-5) worked a perfect ninth against Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner and Bryce Harper to earn the win.
BREWERS 3, CUBS 2
CHICAGO (AP) __ William Contreras hit a tiebreaking double in the ninth inning and Milwaukee beat the Chicago Cubs.
Blake Perkins singled leading off the ninth against Héctor Neris (8-3). Contreras put Milwaukee on top one out later when he lined a double to left-center, helping the NL Central leaders end a rough day on a winning note.
Before the game, the Brewers placed Christian Yelich on the 10-day injured list because of inflammation in his lower back and they were bracing for the possibility that their All-Star outfielder misses significant time.
Milwaukee reliever Bryse Wilson entered in the second and held Chicago to one run over four innings. Jakob Junis (3-0) then pitched one-hit ball for three innings before Joel Payamps worked the ninth for his fifth save.
Jackson Chourio and Brice Turang each singled in a run, and the Brewers pulled out the win despite stranding 10 runners.
ROCKIES 20, RED SOX 7
DENVER (AP) — Brenton Doyle hit a grand slam, one of four home runs by Colorado, and the Rockies tied a franchise record for runs in a victory over Boston.
Ezequiel Tovar homered and singled twice, extended his hitting streak to 11 games with his homer. Jacob Stallings also homered, Brendan Rodgers had four hits and Kris Bryant singled three times for the Rockies.
Cal Quantrill (7-7) tossed six solid innings as Colorado took two of three from the scuffling Red Sox. Boston has lost five of its first six to begin the second half of the season.
The Red Sox used four relievers to get through seven innings and infielder Dominic Smith pitched the eighth. He threw a clean inning on eight pitches.
ASTROS 8, ATHLETICS 1
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Hunter Brown had eight strikeouts in six innings to remain one of the hottest pitchers in baseball, helping Houston beat Oakland.
Chas McCormick homered for the first time in more than a month and Jose Altuve had three hits and two RBIs as the Astros bounced back to win the last game of the series after losing the first two in likely their final regular-season trip to the Coliseum.
The game was played before 14,978 fans, the third-largest crowd at the Coliseum this season.
Seth Brown had three hits for the A’s. Oakland had won five of six.
ANGELS 2, MARINERS 1
SEATTLE (AP) — Brandon Drury drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI single in the eighth inning as the Los Angeles Angels completed a three-game sweep of struggling Seattle.
The Mariners were booed by fans after losing for the eighth time in nine game and for the 20th time in 29 games, slipping to 53-51 overall. Despite its extended troubles, Seattle is a game behind first-place Houston (53-49) in the AL West.
Angels pitching held the Mariners to one run in all three games of the series.
Mariners starter Luis Castillo worked six shutout innings before the Angels finally scored against the Seattle bullpen. Nolan Schanuel led off the eighth with a single against reliever Gregory Santos and later scored on a two-out single by Willie Calhoun, knotting the score at 1-all.
REDS 9, BRAVES 4
ATLANTA (AP) — Spencer Steer drove in three runs with three extra-base hits, Elly De La Cruz also had three hits, including a home run, and Cincinnati beat slumping Atlanta.
The second game of a scheduled split doubleheader was postponed due to inclement weather and has been rescheduled for Sept. 9.
Steer drove in a run with a first-inning triple off Allan Winans (0-2) and had a two-run double in the fourth. Steer added another double and scored two runs. Jake Fraley also had three hits, including a two-run homer in the first.
Winans gave up seven runs in only 2 2/3 innings in the Braves’ fourth consecutive loss. The Braves may look to boost their depleted rotation before the July 30 trade deadline.
GUARDIANS 2, TIGERS 1
CLEVELAND (AP) — Josh Naylor singled with two outs in the eighth inning, scoring younger brother Bo Naylor with the go-ahead run, as AL Central-leading Cleveland edged Detroit.
Bo Naylor drew a walk against Beau Brieske (1-1), then stole second base. Following an intentional walk to José Ramírez, Josh Naylor lined a ball up the middle that second baseman Colt Keith could only deflect into center field.
Hunter Gaddis (4-2) struck out all three batters in the eighth, and Emmanuel Clase pitched the ninth for his AL-high 31st save to complete a combined two-hitter.
Guardians ace Tanner Bibee left after five innings with leg cramps. The right-hander winced while walking onto the field to begin the sixth and spent several minutes stretching his legs, to no avail.
MARLINS 6, ORIOLES 3
MIAMI (AP) — Jazz Chisholm Jr. broke a seventh-inning tie with a two-run double and Miami beat Baltimore.
Xavier Edwards reached on a leadoff single against reliever Jacob Webb (1-5) in the seventh, and Cionel Pérez walked Nick Gordon. Ali Sánchez’s sacrifice bunt advanced both runners before Chisholm hit a high bouncer over third baseman Ramon Urías for a 5-3 lead.
Bryan De La Cruz capped the three-run inning with an RBI single.
Josh Bell homered and Edwards had three hits and a walk for the NL-worst Marlins (37-65), who have won four of six since the All-Star break — including the first two in a three-game series against the AL East-leading Orioles (60-41).
PADRES 12, NATIONALS 3
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jurickson Profar homered for the second consecutive game, Kyle Higashioka also went deep, and San Diego beat Washington.
Jackson Merrill came within a home run of hitting for the cycle and matched a career high with four hits for San Diego, which has won four in a row. Xander Bogaerts had a season-high four hits as the Padres finished with a season-high 20.
It was the Padres’ highest scoring total since a 13-1 win against Arizona on June 8.
Juan Yepez homered to extend his hitting streak to 15 games for Washington, which is 0-5 against the Padres this season. It was the most runs allowed by the Nationals since a 12-3 loss to Philadelphia last Aug. 19.
BLUE JAYS 6, RAYS 3
TORONTO (AP) — Justin Turner hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered for the fifth time in six game, and Toronto beat Tampa Bay.
Turner went 3 for 4 with three singles. His line drive hit off right-hander Jason Adam (4-2) in the eighth scored George Springer from second base and sparked a four-run rally.
Daulton Varsho followed with an RBI single, and Turner scored on a passed ball by catcher Ben Rortvedt.
Alejandro Kirk followed with a high pop up but the ball hit off the glove of Rays shortstop Taylor Walls and dropped for an error, allowing Varsho to score.
The Blue Jays are 38-6 when they score five or more.
METS 12, YANKEES 3
NEW YORK (AP) — Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor and Tyrone Taylor homered off Gerrit Cole, Lindor added a three-run shot against the bullpen and the New York Mets routed the Yankees to sweep the season Subway Series for the first time since 2013.
Lindor hit a two-run drive left-handed against Cole and connected right-handed off Caleb Ferguson for a season-high five RBIs and his 18th multi-homer game, his third this year. Lindor has 21 homers and 60 RBIs.
Mark Vientos went deep against Tim Hill in a five-run eighth as the Yankees allowed four or more homers for the third time in five games.
The Mets finished 4-0 against the Yankees this year, matching their sweep in 2013, and outscored them 36-14. The Mets improved to 29-13 after a 24-35 start.
