Max Scherzer struck out 10 over seven innings in his Dodgers debut and Mookie Betts hit a pair of home runs to power Los Angeles to a 7-5 victory over the visiting Houston Astros on Wednesday.
Scherzer (9-4), who was acquired at Friday’s trade deadline from the Washington Nationals, gave up two runs on five hits with one walk in his fourth double-digit strikeout game of the season.
Will Smith and AJ Pollock also hit home runs as the Dodgers split a brief two-game series with the Astros. The teams split the season series 2-2 in a rematch of the 2017 World Series, won by Houston.
Michael Brantley, Carlos Correa and Kyle Tucker homered for the Astros. Houston starter Jake Odorizzi (4-6) was tagged for seven runs (six earned) on six hits and four home runs over three innings.
Reds 6, Twins 5
Joey Votto had a two-run double to highlight a four-run third inning and Luis Castillo allowed one run over six innings to win his third consecutive start as Cincinnati earned a split of its two-game series with visiting Minnesota.
Tyler Stephenson homered and had two hits and Jonathan India went 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI for the Reds, who won for the sixth time in their past eight games.
Castillo (6-10), who began the season with a 1-8 record, allowed six hits and a walk while striking out seven.
Rays 4, Mariners 3
Mike Zunino homered against his former team as Tampa Bay defeated Seattle in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Randy Arozarena added a two-run triple for the American League East-leading Rays, who avoided not only a sweep of the three-game series but also the seven-game season set against Seattle.
Josh Fleming (9-5) got the victory, going five-plus innings and allowing two runs on five hits. Fleming didn’t walk a batter and struck out six.
Brewers 4, Pirates 2
Rowdy Tellez ripped a three-run, pinch-hit home run in the seventh inning to rally host Milwaukee over Pittsburgh.
With the Brewers trailing 2-1 in the seventh, Luis Urias drew a two-out walk off Kyle Keller (0-1) and Manny Pina followed with an infield single off the glove of third baseman Rodolfo Castro. Left-hander Chasen Shreve came on and Tellez sent a 2-2 pitch 423 feet over the wall in right-center for his ninth home run.
Tellez, acquired in early July in a trade with Toronto, has five homers and 16 RBIs in 21 games with Milwaukee.
Athletics 5, Padres 4 (10 innings)
Matt Olson’s double off the right field wall scored the tying and winning runs as Oakland rallied for a walk-off victory over visiting San Diego.
The Padres took advantage of a Matt Chapman bobble at shortstop to go up 4-3 in the top of the 10th. However, the A’s wasted no time getting to San Diego’s fifth pitcher, Tim Hill (5-6), in the bottom of the inning.
Starling Marte singled inherited runner Mark Canha to third on the left-hander’s third pitch before Olson nearly missed a home run with his game-winner on the next offering. The two-run uprising was Oakland’s second in as many innings after the team trailed 3-1 entering the bottom of the ninth.
Royals 9, White Sox 1
Edward Olivares, Salvador Perez, Michael A. Taylor and Ryan O’Hearn homered as visiting Kansas City topped Chicago to snap a four-game losing streak.
Carlos Hernandez (3-1) handcuffed the White Sox for the second time in six days, yielding one run and two hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out six. It was a follow-up to a July 29 home start that saw him scatter four hits, one walk and four strikeouts in six shutout innings.
Olivares and Taylor connected for solo shots in the second and fourth innings, respectively, while Perez delivered a two-run blast in the third. O’Hearn contributed a two-run shot in the seventh.
Red Sox 4, Tigers 1
Enrique Hernandez hit a two-run homer and Boston pitchers struck out 18 Detroit batters as the visiting Red Sox snapped a five-game losing streak.
J.D. Martinez and Jarren Duran hit solo home runs for Boston. Eduardo Rodriguez (8-6) struck out 10 in five innings while allowing just two hits and walking four. Matt Barnes pitched the ninth for his 24th save and was one of four Red Sox relievers who recorded two strikeouts.
Tigers starter Casey Mize (6-6) allowed four runs on seven hits in five innings.
Yankees 10, Orioles 3
DJ LeMahieu drove in four runs, including a tiebreaking single in the seventh, and Giancarlo Stanton hit a bases-clearing double later in the inning as New York rallied for a victory over Baltimore.
The Yankees won for the seventh time in nine games and tied a season best by going nine games over .500 thanks to overcoming an early three-run deficit.
Anthony Rizzo homered off Matt Harvey and became the first Yankee to drive in a run in each of his first six games with the team. He also became the first player with an RBI in his first six games with any team since Bobby Murcer for the 1977 Chicago Cubs.
Phillies 9, Nationals 5
Rhys Hoskins belted a two-run homer and had an RBI double to propel visiting Philadelphia to a 9-5 victory over Washington.
Didi Gregorius added a two-run homer in the seventh inning for the Phillies, who overcame an early three-run deficit to win their fourth game in a row. Philadelphia looks to match a season-high winning streak on Thursday when it vies for a sweep of the four-game series.
Former Nationals star Bryce Harper collected three hits, two RBIs and two runs to improve to 9-for-19 with one homer, four RBIs and seven runs scored in his past five games.
Braves 7, Cardinals 4
Adam Duvall hit a two-run homer and Joc Pederson hit a two-run double to drive visiting Atlanta past St. Louis.
Jorge Soler hit a home run for the second straight game and Dansby Swanson went 4-for-4 and scored three runs for the retooled Braves, who reacquired Duvall and added Pederson and Soler with in-season trades.
The Braves won back-to-back games for the first time since their three-game winning streak July 7-10.
Blue Jays 8, Indians 6
George Springer had four hits, including a solo home run and a two-run double, and Toronto held on to defeat visiting Cleveland.
Corey Dickerson added a two-run double to help the Blue Jays take a 2-1 lead in the four-game series.
Owen Miller had a three-run double and Jose Ramirez and Oscar Mercado added solo homers for the Indians, who outhit the Blue Jays 15-10. Mercado had four hits.
Mets 5, Marlins 3
Javier Baez hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning, leading New York past host Miami.
Baez, acquired last week from the Chicago Cubs, went 2-for-5 with two runs. After his homer cleared the right field fence, Baez pointed at the Miami dugout and used a “talk too much” hand signal. It was the second consecutive night Baez had directed that gesture toward the Marlins.
Reliever Miguel Castro (3-3) pitched one perfect inning to earn the win as the Mets snapped a three-game losing skid. Trevor May tossed a 1-2-3 ninth for his fourth save in six chances as New York pitchers retired the last 11 batters they faced.
Angels 2, Rangers 1
Jack Mayfield homered for the second straight night and Shohei Ohtani pitched six innings of one-run ball as visiting Los Angeles beat Texas.
Mayfield had three hits in the No. 9 spot for the Angels, who improved to 4-25 when scoring two runs or fewer this season.
Ohtani (6-1) allowed four hits while striking out six. He did not walk a batter for the second straight outing and has issued just one walk in his past 26 innings.
Cubs 3, Rockies 2
Patrick Wisdom had three hits, Johneshwy Fargas finished with two hits and Chicago beat Colorado in Denver.
Rookie Manuel Rodriguez pitched the ninth for his first career save. All but one starting position player reached base for Chicago, which had lost five of its previous seven games.
Brendan Rodgers had three hits and Raimel Tapia and Ryan McMahon had two hits apiece for the Rockies. Colorado pounded out 10 hits but never more than one in an inning after the first.
Giants 7, Diamondbacks 1
Alex Dickerson smacked a three-run homer and Donovan Solano also went deep and had three RBIs as visiting San Francisco rolled past Arizona.
Buster Posey added a run-scoring double and Tommy La Stella had two hits and two walks as the Giants maintained their 3 1/2-game lead over the Dodgers in the National League West.
San Francisco’s Kevin Gausman (10-5) gave up one run and five hits over six innings to end a three-start winless stretch. He struck out eight and walked none as the Giants won for the seventh time in the past 10 games.
–Field Level Media
