MLB Roundup: Ohtani’s RBI double helps Dodgers rally for streak-ending win vs. Tigers

DETROIT (AP) — Shohei Ohtani’s two-out RBI double gave the Los Angeles Dodgers a ninth-inning lead and they held on to beat the Detroit Tigers 4-3 on Friday, ending a four-game losing streak.

Chris Taylor singled off Jason Foley with one out in the ninth and took third on Austin Barnes’ pinch-hit single off Tyler Holton (4-2). Gavin Lux popped out, but Ohtani hit a 0-1 sinker to the deepest part of the outfield for what appeared to be a two-run double.

However, the ball bounced into the shrubbery beyond the centre-field fence, forcing Barnes to stop at third. After Tigers manager A.J. Hinch intentionally walked Will Smith to load the bases, right fielder Wenceel Pérez made a sliding catch to rob Freddie Freeman of a two-run single.

Daniel Hudson struck out Ryan Vilade to start the ninth, but walked Colt Keith and Pérez before retiring Matt Vierling and Riley Greene to record his fourth save.

The Dodgers trailed 3-2 in the eighth, but two-out singles by Smith and Freeman put runners on the corners. Foley came in, but Teoscar Hernández bounced a tying single between first and second.

Neither starter was involved in the decision. Tarik Skubal allowed two runs on two hits in six innings, striking out eight in his last start before the All-Star Game.

RAYS 2, GUARDIANS 0

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Taj Bradley allowed limited AL Central-leading Cleveland to five hits in seven innings to help Tampa Bay beat Guardians.

Bradley (4-4) struck out eight and walked two in his seventh consecutive strong start. The right-hander has given up five earned runs over his 42 innings.

Colin Poche struck out two in a perfect eighth before Jason Adam had three strikeouts in a 1-2-3 ninth to complete a five-hitter and get his fourth save. Tampa Bay improved to 47-47.

Major league batting leader Steven Kwan went 1 for 4 for the Guardians, who have lost 10 of 16. He is hitting .359.

Light-hitting catcher Alex Jackson had a leadoff double in the fifth off Carlos Carrasco (3-7), and scored to put the Rays up 2-0 on Yandy Díaz’s groundball double down the first-base line.

ATHLETICS 6, PHILLIES 2

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Lawrence Butler homered, Shea Langeliers drove in a two runs and Oakland beat Philadelphia.

Miguel Andujar and Brent Rooker also had RBIs for the A’s, who are in last place in the AL West and have the fourth-fewest wins (36) in baseball.

The Phillies have the most wins (61) and were coming off a three-game home sweep of the NL West-leading Dodgers while outscoring Los Angeles 19-5. But NL East-leading Philadelphia dropped the first in a three-game series against cellar-dwelling Oakland.

Ranger Suárez (10-4), one of a franchise-record seven Phillies All-Stars, continued his recent struggles, allowing four runs and six hits in six innings. Suárez had a 1.83 ERA through his first 16 starts but has an 8.62 mark in his last three outings.

Osvaldo Bido (1-1) tossed three scoreless innings of relief to get the win.

ROYALS 6, RED SOX 1

BOSTON (AP) — Bobby Witt Jr. and MJ Melendez each had solo home runs, Cole Ragans allowed one run over seven innings and Kansas City beat Boston for their fourth consecutive victory.

Adam Frazier, Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez all added RBIs for Kansas City, which opened the three-game series a game back of Boston for the AL’s final wild-card spot.

It was the 16th homer of the season for Witt, an All-Star who will be competing in Monday’s Home Run Derby.

Ragans (6-6) struck out seven and allowed four hits to earn his first victory since June 24 at Miami.

Ceddanne Rafaela had an RBI for the Red Sox.

Cooper Criswell (3-4) threw a career-high 104 pitches over six innings, yielding eight hits and five runs, but only two – including Witt’s home run – were earned.

YANKEES 4, ORIOLES 1

BALTIMORE (AP) — Aaron Judge hit his 33rd homer for his first RBI in over a week, and New York took the opener of their three-game set with AL East-leading Baltimore.

Benches cleared and there was some pushing and shoving in the bottom of the ninth after Orioles outfielder Heston Kjerstad was hit around the ear flap of his helmet by Clay Holmes’ pitch.

Gerrit Cole (2-1) pitched six solid innings for the Yankees, who pulled within a game of first place. Baltimore has dropped four in a row.

The teams met for the first time since the Orioles took two of three in New York last month. Since then, the Yankees are 6-13 and Baltimore is 8-12. That has allowed Boston to creep to within 5 1/2 games of the division lead.

Cole allowed a run and five hits, throwing 106 pitches in his longest outing — by both innings and pitches — since returning from elbow problems in the middle of June. Three relievers finished, with Holmes working a hitless ninth for his 21st save in 26 chances.

REDS 7, MARLINS 4

CINCINNATI (AP) — Rookie Rece Hinds hit his first career grand slam, Jonathan India and Jeimer Candelario had first-inning solo shots and Cincinnati beat Miami.

Reds starter Carson Spiers (3-2) struck out eight of the first 10 Marlins he faced and finished with a career-high nine in the opener of the final series before the All-Star break. Spiers allowed three runs and six hits through five innings.

The Reds, who took three of four from the Colorado Rockies this week, did their damage in the first three innings off Miami starter Yonny Chirinos (0-1).

India hit one out to centre field, his first lead-off homer since May 7, 2023, and Candelario’s shot went out to right, his 15th of the season.

Will Benson hit a two-out RBI double in the second, and Hinds hit a bases-loaded shot into the first row of seats in centre field in the third inning, his third homer in his first five games in the majors.

METS 7, ROCKIES 6

NEW YORK (AP) — Jose Iglesias and Harrison Bader each hit two of New York’s season-best five home runs, and they held off the last-place Colorado.

Mark Vientos also went deep and drilled an RBI double as the Mets (48-45) improved to 4-0 on a six-game homestand against the struggling Nationals and Rockies leading into the All-Star break. New York has won six of seven overall, improving to 24-10 since it was 11 games under .500 on June 2.

Sean Manaea (6-3) threw 74 of his season-high 107 pitches for strikes over seven effective innings, striking out nine to win his third straight decision. He handed a 7-3 lead to New York’s shaky bullpen, which barely held on.

Charlie Blackmon homered against Jake Diekman to start the eighth, and Brenton Doyle shaved it to 7-6 with a two-run shot off Phil Maton.

In between, Iglesias left his feet at third base to snare Elias Díaz’s 109.4 mph line drive, which got stuck in the webbing of his glove.

PIRATES 4, WHITE SOX 1

CHICAGO (AP) — Marco Gonzales made a promising return to the rotation hours after coming off the injured list and Pittsburgh won their second straight, over the Chicago.

Ke’Bryan Hayes had a pair of hits, an RBI and scored a run for the Pirates. They’ve won four of five.

Gonzales (1-0), who’d been out almost three months with a forearm strain, made his first start since April 13 and scattered seven hits over the five innings. He allowing an earned run, struck out four and didn’t walk a batter.

Pittsburgh erased a 1-0 deficit in the fifth thanks to RBIs from Jared Triolo and Michael A. Taylor and padded the lead an inning later when Nick Gonzales and Hayes drove in runs.

David Bednar, the last of three Pittsburgh relievers, worked the ninth for his 17th save.

ASTROS 6, RANGERS 3

HOUSTON (AP) — Jose Altuve hit a three-run homer, Hunter Brown struck out five over six innings and Houston won their 10th straight home game with a victory over Texas.

Alex Bregman and Jake Meyers also homered while Josh Hader converted his 18th straight save opportunity. The Astros have the best record in the majors at 25-11 since June 1 and notched their 50th win of the year.

Holding on to a 3-2 lead in the sixth, Altuve crushed a 1-1 changeup from Texas reliever José Ureña 365 feet into the left field seats to make it 6-2.

Houston’s defence kept the scorecard clean early for Brown. With two on in the first, Chas McCormick ended the frame with a diving grab in right field. The Astros then turned a pair of inning-ending double plays in the second and third innings.

Brown (7-6) held the Rangers to two runs on five hits, walked two and struck out five for his sixth win in his last seven starts.

NATIONALS 5, BREWERS 2

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jackson Rutledge struck out six in his first major league start, Jesse Winker hit his 11th home run and Washington beat Milwaukee to end a five-game losing streak.

Rutledge, Washington’s first-round pick in 2019 who had only pitched one inning during a May 14 doubleheader, held Milwaukee to three hits and two walks over 4 2/3 innings.

Robert Garcia (1-3) pitched 1 1/3 innings for the victory, and Kyle Finnegan struck out two in the ninth for his 24th save.

The Nationals staked Rutledge to a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Winker’s RBI double and added two more in the fourth before the Brewers got on the board with two in the bottom half.

Winker got one of those runs back in the fifth when he sent a 94.2 mph fastball from right-hander Freddy Peralta 403 feet to right-centre.

CUBS 5, CARDINALS 1

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Kyle Hendricks allowed five hits in seven shutout innings and Nico Hoerner and David Bote each drove in two runs as Chicago extended their season-best winning streak to five games with a victory over St. Louis.

Hendricks (2-7) didn’t allow a runner to reach second base and finished with three strikeouts and a walk. The 34-year-old right-handler has not allowed a run in 11 1/3 innings over two appearances against St. Louis this season and is 14-4 with a 2.51 ERA lifetime in 27 appearances (26 starts) versus the Cardinals.

The Cardinals’ Sonny Gray (9-6) allowed three runs on nine hits and struck out six in seven innings. St. Louis has dropped three straight games after winning six of its previous eight.

Masyn Winn and Willson Contreras walked, and Paul Goldschmidt hit an RBI single in the ninth inning off Hunter Bigge to snap a streak of 32 2/3 scoreless innings by Cubs pitching.

Héctor Neris allowed a two-out walk to Nolan Arenado to load the bases before striking out Lars Nootbaar to earn his 13th save in 17 chances.

BRAVES 6, PADRES 1

SAN DIEGO (AP) — All-Star Marcell Ozuna warmed up for the Home Run Derby with blasts of 413 and 422 feet, and Orlando Arcia had a two-run shot for Atlanta, who beat San Diego for their fifth win in seven games.

Ozuna left no doubt with his powerful shots. He led off the fifth with a 413-foot homer to left off knuckleballer Matt Waldron (5-8) that tied the score at 1 and then led off the ninth with a 422-footer to center off Enyel De Los Santos.

Ozuna has 26 homers this season. He was named an All-Star reserve and will participate in the Home Run Derby on Monday night.

Ozuna, who hit a career-high 40 homers last year, went deep in both games of a doubleheader against the Padres in Atlanta on May 20.

The Padres lost their fifth straight game and dropped to one game above .500.

DIAMONDBACKS 5, BLUE JAYS 4

PHOENIX (AP) — Geraldo Perdomo brought home Corbin Carroll with a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning, and Arizona rallied to beat Toronto.

The Diamondbacks jumped above .500 for the first time since April 3, improving to 48-47. Arizona had lost five straight times prior to Friday when it had a chance to push to a winning record.

Arizona trailed 4-2 in the eighth before a two-out, two-run single by Alek Thomas that scored Perdomo and Eugenio Suarez. Both reached via a walk against reliever Trevor Richards and both advanced a base on a wild pitch.

Carroll started the ninth with a walk off Chad Green (2-2). Gabriel Moreno then struck out before Ketel Marte got another free pass. Carroll and Marte executed a perfect double steal and Christian Walker was intentionally walked to load the bases.

ANGELS 6, MARINERS 5, 10 INNINGS

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Willie Calhoun hit a two-run, walk-off homer in the 10th inning, sending Los Angeles to a victory over Seattle.

Calhoun also hit a two-run homer in the first inning, then added a no-doubt shot to right field in the 10th on the second pitch by Austin Voth (2-3).

Calhoun, who had hit just one homer since May 12, connected for his third career multi-homer game as the Angels snapped the Mariners’ three-game winning streak and earned just their third victory in nine games.

Mitch Garver bounced a one-out double into the stands off Hans Crouse (2-0) in the Mariners’ half of the 10th, scoring automatic runner Josh Rojas from second. Crouse struck out Rodriguez and Ty France to limit the rally.

Cal Raleigh hit his fifth homer in four days for Seattle, and Julio Rodríguez hit a two-run homer in the first inning.

GIANTS 7, TWINS 1

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Kyle Harrison pitched five strong innings, Brett Wisely had three hits and two RBIs, and San Francisco beat Minnesota.

The Giants had lost four of five coming into the game, but Harrison (5-4) improved to 4-2 in starts following a Giants loss. Wisely went 3 for 3 with a walk, finished a home run shy of the cycle and made a leaping grab at shortstop in the fifth to take away a run.

Harrison, helped by stellar defensive plays from Wisely and Heliot Ramos, kept the Twins – who came into the game second in the American League in batting average – off the scoreboard into the fifth inning.

San Francisco led two batters into the first after Jorge Soler led off with a triple and LaMonte Wade Jr, drove him in with a sacrifice fly. Wisely and Mike Yastrzemski knocked in runs in the second, and Soler had an RBI single in the fifth to give the Giants a 4-0 lead. Michael Conforto hit a two-run double in the seventh to pad the advantage to 7-1.

Twins starter Joe Ryan (6-6) allowed four runs in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out six, and also recorded his 500th career strikeout. Willi Castro knocked in Minnesota’s lone run in the fifth on an RBI ground out.

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