Cubs cruise past the Orioles
Michael Busch and Ian Happ homered, and Jameson Taillon and three relievers combined for a five-hitter as the Chicago Cubs beat the Baltimore Orioles 9-2 on Tuesday night.
Taillon (6-4) allowed two runs and four hits with seven strikeouts and a walk over six innings. The 32-year-old right-hander retired the last 11 batters he faced.
The Cubs improved to 10-4 against the Orioles since 2014, and have won four of the last five games since Aug. 18, 2022.
Happ’s three-run homer gave Chicago a 7-2 lead in the fourth inning. With his 395-blast to right field, Happ joined Jason Heyward (July 14, 2017) as the only Cubs players to have a homer land on Eutaw Street. Happ, who entering the game with a .171 average on the road — the lowest in the majors among qualifying hitters, according to STATS — finished 2 for 4 with a walk.
PHILLIES 10, DODGERS 1
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Trea Turner hit his sixth career grand slam, Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh also went deep and Philadelphia welcomed back Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber from injuries with a win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Phillies lost ace Zack Wheeler on a steamy night with left low back tightness after five innings. A 2024 All-Star, Wheeler (10-4) joined Aaron Nola and Ranger Suárez as a trio of Phillies pitchers with 10 wins before the All-Star break. It’s the first time in franchise history the Phillies have three pitchers with 10 wins before the break.
After a modest 5-4 mark with Harper and Schwarber sidelined — that included dropping two of three over the weekend in Atlanta — the Phillies flexed their muscle early against the Dodgers in a matchup of NL division leaders.
Schwarber hit a two-RBI single in the second inning for a 3-0 lead.
RAYS 5, YANKEES 3
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — All-Star Isaac Paredes hit a three-run homer and Tampa Bay held on to beat struggling AL East rival New York — the Yankees’ 17th loss in 23 games.
Paredes went deep during a four-run first inning against Carlos Rodón (9-7). Right-hander Ryan Pepiot (5-5) limited one of baseball’s best offenses to one run and four hits over 5 2/3 innings, and Tampa Bay won despite only having two hits after the third inning.
Three days after becoming the first Yankees rookie to homer three times in a game, Ben Rice hit a two-run shot that trimmed Tampa Bay’s lead to 4-3 in the seventh inning. The Rays scored on Johnny DeLuca’s double for a two-run cushion before things got dicey again in the ninth.
DJ Mahieu singled with one out, bringing Rice to the plate as the potential tying run. But Pete Fairbanks met the challenge, striking out Rice and getting Juan Soto to fly out to the warning track in center field for his 15th save in 17 opportunities.
RED SOX 12, ATHLETICS 9
BOSTON (AP) — Brayan Bello fanned a career-high 11 batters – getting each of his first 10 outs by strikeout – and Wilyer Abreu and Dominic Smith homered on back-to-back pitches in an eight-run second inning Tuesday night to help Boston beat Oakland.
On the day he was scratched from the All-Star Game with a sore shoulder, Rafael Devers had two hits and a walk, driving in three runs and scoring twice as the Red Sox won for the seventh time in eight games and improved to a season-high 10 games over .500.
Bello (9-5) is the first Red Sox pitcher since at least 1961 – and the first in the majors this year – to record his first 10 outs by strikeout. Even as he struggled in the first inning, when the A’s took a 2-0 lead on three hits and a wild pitch, Bello got all three outs on K’s.
ASTROS 4, MARLINS 3
HOUSTON (AP) — Alex Bregman had three RBIs and his tiebreaking two-run home run in the seventh inning lifted Houston to a win over Miami.
The game was tied at 2 with one out in the seventh when Chas McCormick reached on a throwing error by rookie shortstop Xavier Edwards. There were two outs in the inning when Bregman sent an off-speed pitch from Huascar Brazobán (1-2) into the seats in left field to make it 4-2.
The victory was Houston’s seventh straight at home and comes after the Astros dropped the final two games of a series at Minnesota last weekend.
Ronel Blanco (9-3) allowed four hits and two runs with seven strikeouts in seven innings for the win.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a leadoff homer for the Marlins and Jesús Sánchez’s solo homer tied it in the seventh before Bregman’s go-ahead shot.
METS 7, NATIONALS 5
NEW YORK (AP) — Jose Quintana permitted one hit in seven shutout innings, Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor both homered and drove in three runs, and the New York Mets beat Washington.
Harrison Bader had three hits and scored twice from the bottom of the batting order for the Mets, who moved back to .500 at 45-45. Lindor also had three hits and scored two runs in the leadoff spot.
Pinch-hitter Ildemaro Vargas put the Nationals on the board with a two-run homer in the eighth against reliever Adam Ottavino, booed off the mound by the Citi Field crowd of 31,243.
Keibert Ruiz added a two-run homer off Reed Garrett in the ninth, and Jacob Young scored from second base on a wild pitch by Edwin Díaz before the closer struck out All-Star CJ Abrams for his ninth save in 14 opportunities.
GUARDIANS 9, TIGERS 8, 10 INNINGS
DETROIT (AP) — Jose Ramirez became the second player to get intentionally walked three times and to have three hits in a game since Major League Baseball began tracking free passes in 1955 as Cleveland held on to beat Detroit Tigers in 10 innings.
Ramirez joined Paul Goldschmidt, who pulled off the feat for Arizona against Milwaukee in 2015, according to Sportradar. The Home Run Derby participant is also the first to have three intentional walks in a game since San Diego’s Jake Cronenworth did it nearly three years ago, according to Sportradar.
Josh Naylor hit a tiebreaking single in the 10th for his fourth RBI and Brayan Rocchio added a sacrifice fly in the extra inning for the AL Central-leading Guardians, who blew a 6-0 lead early in the game.
Scott Barlow (3-3) gave up a walk in the ninth for the win and Emmanuel Clase closed the game for his 28th save in 31 chances.
