CINCINNATI (AP) — Christian Encarnacion-Strand homered in the ninth inning, and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Toronto Blue Jays 1-0 on Friday night in the opener of an interleague series between playoff contenders.
Encarnacion-Strand drove a 2-2 pitch from Jordan Hicks (2-8) deep to left for his fourth homer. It was Cincinnati’s fourth hit of the game.
Fighting for positioning in the NL playoff standings, the Reds (64-59) won for the third time in four games.
Toronto wasted a terrific performance by José Berríos, who struck out eight in 5 2/3 innings. The right-hander allowed one hit — Matt McLain’s one-out single in the sixth — and walked four.
The Blue Jays (67-56), who are in the mix for an AL wild card, dropped their second straight game.
BRAVES 4, GIANTS 0
ATLANTA (AP) — Spencer Strider struck out 10 and allowed one hit in seven innings in becoming the first 14-game winner in the majors and Atlanta blanked San Francisco for its third straight shutout.
It marked the first time since the final three games of 2015 against St. Louis that the Braves blanked an opponent in three straight games. Atlanta has five shutouts in its last eight games.
Matt Olson, Eddie Rosario, Austin Riley and Michael Harris II each drove in a run as the major league-leading Braves improved to 79-42. Harris went 4 for 5 with a double and a triple.
Strider (14-4) added to his MLB-leading strikeout total of 227, which is 40 more than the second-place Kevin Gausman of Toronto.
San Francisco managed just two hits. Alex Cobb (6-5) allowed four runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings.
TIGERS 4, GUARDIANS 2
CLEVELAND (AP) — Miguel Cabrera drove in a run to tie Mel Ott for 11th place on the career RBIs list and Akil Baddoo homered on the second pitch of the game, sending Detroit past Cleveland in the opener of a doubleheader.
Cabrera’s first-inning double scored Kerry Carpenter, giving him 1,868 RBIs in 21 major league seasons. It also was his 3,148th hit, putting the 40-year-old within four of tying Paul Waner for 18th all-time.
Baddoo’s second career leadoff homer came off rookie Gavin Williams (1-4), whose winless streak reached seven starts. The right-hander worked five innings, allowing three runs, and struck out four.
Tarik Skubal (3-2) pitched a season-high six innings of one-run ball in his first win against Cleveland in seven career outings. The left-hander allowed three hits, struck out seven and walked one.
Tyler Holton got six outs after Skubal departed, and Jason Foley surrendered one run while earning his sixth save.
NATIONALS 8, PHILLIES 7
WASHINGTON (AP) — CJ Abrams hit a three-run homer to cap a six-run fourth inning, and Washington defeated Philadelphia, spoiling Michael Lorenzen’s first start since throwing a no-hitter nine days earlier.
Jake Alu also drove in two runs for Washington, which has won 11 of 15 overall and 15 of 18 at home since July 8.
Kyle Schwarber homered twice for the Phillies, who have lost four of their last five games.
Lorenzen (7-8) didn’t make it out of the fourth inning in his first outing since no-hitting Washington on Aug. 9. The right-hander allowed seven runs, six earned and eight hits in 3 1/3 innings.
Jose A. Ferrer (3-0) , one of seven National pitchers in the game, worked the fifth. Kyle Finnegan picked up his 20th save.
ROYALS 4, CUBS 3
CHICAGO (AP) — Bobby Witt Jr. hit a go-ahead home run and Cole Ragans pitched six effective innings to help Kansas City end a three-game skid.
Ragans (4-4) struck out nine while allowing eight hits and all three Chicago runs. He struck out three straight batters to end his final inning.
The Cubs started the day 2 1/2 games behind Milwaukee in the NL Central standings and missed a chance to creep closer after striking out 13 times. Carlos Hernández, the last of four Royals relievers, pitched the ninth for his second save in five chances.
Jameson Taillon (7-8) was charged with two earned runs after allowing six hits and striking out three in the first six innings.
RED SOX 8, YANKEES 3
NEW YORK (AP) — Rookie Masataka Yoshida hit a three-run homer four batters into the game and drove in four runs, and Brayan Bello pitched six innings to lead Boston past skidding New York.
Justin Turner singled in each of his first three at-bats and hit a pair of RBI singles. Alex Verdugo also had an RBI single to start Boston’s three-run second that followed a fielding error by New York second baseman Gleyber Torres.
Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer in the eighth off Garrett Whitlock, but the Yankees dropped their sixth straight — their longest skid since losing seven in a row Sept. 4-10, 2021. New York also dropped two games under .500 this late in a season for the first time since it was 57-59 following an 11-6 win over the Angels on Aug. 31, 1995.
The Red Sox took a 4-0 lead 19 pitches in against rookie Jhony Brito (4-6) when they opened with four straight hits, including Turner’s RBI single and Yoshida;s 13th homer.
Bello (8-7) allowed one run and six hits to win for the third time in four starts.
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