September 9 – Pavon Smith homered in each of his first three at-bats and the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks saved a three-game series with a 12–6 victory over the Houston Astros on Sunday night.
Smith had the first multi-homer game of his career and had a career-high eight RBIs in leading Arizona (80-64) to a win. He hit a three-run home run in the top of the second inning and the third grand slam of his career in the third, both off Astros starter Justin Verlander (3-6).
Smith then hit a home run off Houston reliever Caleb Alter to start a fifth inning that ended with four runs and three walks.
Verlander gave up eight runs on eight hits in three innings, allowing one base hit and four walks. He has not been out since rejoining the rotation after going on the injured list with neck discomfort and is now 0-4 with a 9.68 ERA in four starts.
Dodgers 4 games, Guardians 0 games
Shohei Ohtani hit his 46th home run and Jack Flaherty continued to establish himself as the leader of the rotation with 7 1/3 scoreless innings as Los Angeles beat Cleveland.
Max Muncy homered and Will Smith had an RBI single in the fourth inning, giving the Dodgers a win for the eighth time in their last 11 games. In addition to his career-high 46 home runs, Ohtani also had 46 stolen bases and became the first 50–50 player in MLB history with 19 games remaining.
The Dodgers are six games ahead of the San Diego Padres in the National League West. Guardians right-hander Tanner Beebe (11-7) allowed two runs on four hits in five innings, while Cleveland’s offense was limited to six hits. The Guardians are 2.5 games ahead of the Kansas City Royals in the American League.
Rays 2, Orioles 0
Johnny DeLuca hit a two-run homer and Zach Little led five pitchers in five scoreless innings as Tampa Bay beat host Baltimore.
Little (6-9) limited the Orioles to three hits and one walk while striking out four in five innings. Rays relievers Richard Lovelady, Kevin Kelly, Garrett Clevenger and Edwin Uceta all contributed a total of five hits.
Baltimore ace Corbin Burnes (13-8) allowed seven hits in six innings, allowed two bases and struck out three. Gunnar Henderson struck out three of the Orioles’ five hits.
Braves 4, Blue Jays 3 (11 innings)
Sean Murphy’s two-run double on an infield grounder in the 11th inning gave Atlanta a win over Toronto in the rubber game of the three-game series.
In the 11th inning, the Braves got a run on Zach Popp (1-4) at the corner after Eli White hit the bases. Automatic runner Michael Harris II scored, third baseman Addison Barger made a wild throw after catching Adam Duvall’s grounder, and White advanced to third. Matt Olson was walked to load the bases, and Murphy hit the first pitch to second base, but White hit the ball to home plate.
George Springer gave the Blue Jays the lead with an RBI single to center field in the 11th inning, ending the 26-inning scoreless record (5-1) of Braves reliever Raisel Iglesias, who got the win in two innings of work.
Royals 2, Twins 0
Michael Wacha pitched seven scoreless innings for his 100th career win and Kansas City completed a three-game weekend sweep by beating visiting Minnesota.
Wacha (12-7) has faced the fewest runs since then, allowing four hits and striking out seven, and has allowed three runs or fewer in 17 of his last 19 starts, improving his achievement to 11-3 in that span. In the fifth inning, Garrett Hampson hit a sacrifice fly and Salvador Perez lined an infield single to third base for a 2-0 lead.
Simeon Woods Richardson (5-4) allowed two runs on three hits and struck out three in 4 1/3 innings. Christian Vazquez had three singles and five hits for the Twins, who had 14 hits in the series. Minnesota was shut out for the 10th time and the third time in the past nine games.
White Sox 7, Red Sox 2
Chicago saved the final game of the three-game series by outscoring Boston with five runs in the ninth.
Chicago (33-111) allowed five runs on five hits against Boston reliever Zach Kelley (6-3) and tied the game 2-2. Fraser Allard (2-2) got the win for the White Sox, who have lost 20 consecutive starts under Chris Flexen. Friesen struck out six in six innings and allowed two runs on two solo homers.
Connor Wong (3-for-4) and Wilier Abreu (2-for-4) each had a double and a homer to lead the Red Sox (72-71). Richard Fitts allowed two runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings and Luis Guerrero both made their MLB debuts on the mound for Boston.
Marlins 10, Phillies 1
Connor Norby hit a pair of two-run homers and Edward Cabrera pitched seven scoreless innings to lead host Miami past Philadelphia.
Nobby has been impressive since being traded by the Orioles on July 30. Cabrera (4-6) was perfect through three innings and allowed no hits through five innings. Cabrera allowed three hits, walked two and struck out six.
Marlins rookie center fielder Javier Sanoja made his first major league start and went 2 for 4 with two runs and an RBI. The versatile Sanoja finished the game at shortstop. Philadelphia starter Seth Johnson made his major league debut, but he gave up eight hits, three walks and nine runs in 2 1/3 innings and lost the game.
Pirates 7, Citizens 3
Joey Bart hit a two-run homer and rookie Jared Jones pitched seven strong innings as Pittsburgh beat visiting Washington to win the series in four games.
Andrew McCutchen and former National Team player Michael A. Taylor hit the only home runs for the Pirates (67-76), who swept Saturday’s doubleheader in a rebound. Pittsburgh first baseman Billy Cook, who was called up from Triple-A Indianapolis on Sunday, had a two-run double and a single in his major league debut.
Jones (6-7) allowed two runs on four hits and struck out nine with no walks. C.J. Abrams homered for the Nationals (64-79).
Rockies 4, Brewers 1
Sam Hilliard hit a three-run homer and Kyle Freeland allowed one run in six innings as visiting Colorado beat Milwaukee in the deciding game of a three-game series.
Hilliard hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning to give Colorado (54-90) a 4-1 lead. Freeland (5-7) allowed just three singles — all in the first two innings — and retired the last 14 batters he faced. He struck out four but didn’t walk.
Peralta (10-8) was tagged after allowing three runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings, striking out four and walking two.
Reds 3, Metropolis 1
Santiago Espinal hit a game-winning two-run double with one out in the ninth inning against Phil Maton and Cincinnati ended New York’s streak of nine consecutive wins.
Noelvi Marte tied the game for the Reds with a single in the seventh inning. Cincinnati rookie Julian Aguirre allowed two hits in 4 2/3 innings, and Tony Santillan gave up a run to Starling Marte in the sixth, putting the Mets ahead 1-1.
Justin Wilson and Buck Farmer (3-0) pitched scoreless innings after reliever Emilio Pagan started the sixth inning. Alexis Diaz easily picked up his 26th save in 30 chances in the ninth inning.
Cubs 2, Yankees 1
Jameson Taillon pitched six strong innings and Isaac Paredes drove in two runs to help Chicago avoid a three-game deficit against visiting New York.
Tyrone (10-8) allowed one run on six hits, walked one and struck out six. Nate Pearson pitched two scoreless innings before Porter Hodge got his fourth save.
Yankees starter Gerrit Cole (6-4), pitching on his 34th birthday, allowed two earned runs on three hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out seven. New York scored its only run in the second inning. Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a double, moved to third on Anthony Rizzo’s single and scored on Anthony Volpe’s sacrifice fly.
Rangers 7, Angels 4
Marcus Semien, Nathaniel Lowe and Ezequiel Durán hit home runs to help Texas defeat Los Angeles in the final game of the four-game series.
Travis Jankowski had two hits and an RBI for the Rangers, who have won five of six games. Starter Andrew Heaney (5-13) earned his first win since July 21, allowing four runs (3.0 ERA) and three hits in six innings while striking out eight. Kirby Yates earned his 29th save and ninth save of the game.
Charles LeBlanc hit a three-run homer for Los Angeles, which lost the series in three quarters. Kaden Dana (1-1) struggled in his second big league start. The 20-year-old right-hander allowed no outs in the second inning and was tagged for five runs and seven hits.
Mariners 10, Cardinals 4
Randy Arozarena and Jorge Polanco each hit two home runs in Seattle’s win over St. Louis. Luke Reilly and Mitch Garver had two each and Reilly, Arozarena, Julio Rodriguez and Justin Turner scored two each for the Mariners (73-71), who improved to five games over.
Luis Castillo allowed two runs on five hits while retiring nine batters before leaving with a hamstring injury. Reliever Trent Thornton (4-3) also pitched two scoreless innings to get the win.
José Fermin and Jordan Walker scored two each for the Cardinals (72-71), who had lost two of three games to the Mariners after an Aug. 16-18 stretch against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Tiger 9, Track and Field 1
Trey Sweeney had the first four-hit game of his career and Parker Meadows followed with a two-run double in a six-run eighth inning to beat host Detroit for the second time in a row.
The Tigers were only ahead 3-1 in the eighth inning, but singles by Spencer Torkelson and Sweeney set the stage for Meadows’ two-run double. Matt Vierling, Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter and Colt Keith homered in consecutive runs. Ty Madden (1-0) earned his first major league win with five strong innings behind opener Beau Brieske and allowed one run and five hits to the Athletics.
Jack Gelfo’s RBI single in the sixth inning sealed the Athletics’ only win. Glover and teammate Shea Langriers had two hits each.
Giants 7, Padres 6
Matt Chapman, Jerar Encarnacion and Luis Matos each hit six-run home runs in the fourth inning as San Francisco narrowly defeated San Diego.
Eric Miller (4-5) pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings in the bullpen to get the win. Joe Musgrove (5-5) was out after 4 1/3 innings, his first poor start since coming off the injured list on Aug. 12. Grove allowed six runs on eight hits.
Musgrove, who allowed only four runs in his first five starts while on the injured list, lasted three innings before hitting a home run in the fourth. Chapman broke the scoreless tie with a two-run blast, his 23rd home run of the year.
–Visual-level media
