Astros sweep Dodgers at Dodger Stadium for first time since 2008

San Francisco Chronicle​

2 days ago

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Christian Walker, Yainer Diaz and Jose Altuve each homered, Ryan Gusto threw six strong innings, and the Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 on Sunday to complete their first three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium since May 9-11, 2008.
The Astros scored the go-ahead run in the sixth when No. 9 batter Zack Short capped an eight-pitch at-bat by drawing a two-out bases-loaded walk off reliever Will Klein (1-1) for a 2-1 lead.
Walker and Diaz opened the eighth with homers off Dodgers closer Tanner Scott for a 4-1 lead, and Altuve added a solo shot in the ninth off Anthony Banda, as the Astros improved to a major league-best 24-8 since June 1.
Gusto (6-3) wasn't dominant, allowing one run and four hits and striking out one, but he held the top four Dodgers batters — Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Andy Pages — to two singles in 12 at-bats.
Bennett Sousa, Bryan King and Bryan Abreu each threw scoreless innings of relief for Houston.
PHILLIES 3, REDS 1
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Zack Wheeler threw a one-hitter for his first complete game since 2021 in Philadelphia's victory over the Cincinnati.
Wheeler (9-2) — the National League's pitcher of the month in June — allowed only a leadoff homer to Austin Hays in the fifth inning. The right-hander struck out 12 and didn't walk a batter, throwing 108 pitches.
Since Wheeler returned from paternity leave June 9, he has allowed only three earned runs in 40 innings.
Wheeler has five career complete games, three in 2021. There have been 20 complete games in the majors this season.
Kyle Schwarber tied it in the fifth with a two-out RBI double, and Bryson Stott gave the Phillies the lead in the eighth with a two-run homer off Tony Santillan (1-2).
ORIOLES 2, BRAVES 1
ATLANTA (AP) — Jackson Holliday's two-run homer gave Baltimore an early lead and Trevor Rogers ended his career-spanning victory drought against Atlanta by giving up four hits in 6 2/3 scoreless innings as the Orioles beat the Braves to complete a three-game sweep.
Rogers (2-0) struck out six and walked two. Seranthony Domínguez gave up a homer to Sean Murphy with one out in the ninth and then allowed a single to Ozzie Albies before closing it out for his second save.
Rogers, who was acquired by Baltimore from Miami last July, had been 0-7 with a 5.57 ERA in nine career starts against Atlanta.
Braves manager Brian Snitker held outfielders Ronald Acuña Jr. and Michael Harris II and designated hitter Marcell Ozuna out of the starting lineup for the 11:35 a.m. start.
The Braves have lost four straight to fall a season-low 11 games under .500.
MIAMI (AP) — Brandon Woodruff pitched six strong innings in his first start in 651 days, Jackson Chourio homered and drove in three runs as Milwaukee beats Miami.
Woodruff (1-0) allowed a third-inning single and a homer in the fifth — both to rookie Heriberto Hernandez. He struck out eight and didn't walk a batter, throwing 53 of 70 pitches for strikes. Woodruff has a 47-26 record over eight seasons with the Brewers.
Christian Yelich had an infield hit in the third and stole his 13th base before Chourio hit his 15th homer on a 1-1 pitch from Edward Cabrera for a 2-0 lead. Yelich has reached base in 19 straight games.
Hernandez hit his third homer to cut it to 2-1. Chourio had a sacrifice fly in the eighth.
Trevor Megill worked the ninth for his 20th save in 23 opportunities.
Cabrera (3-3) yielded two runs in seven innings. He allowed two hits in seven innings in a 2-0 win over the Twins his last time out.
Miami lost for the third time in 13 games. Milwaukee went 3-3 on a six-game trip.
BLUE JAYS 3, ANGELS 2
TORONTO (AP) — Bo Bichette homered and scored the deciding run to lead Toronto to its season-high eighth straight victory by beating Los Angeles.
The American League East-leading Blue Jays improved to 52-38, sweeping a homestand of seven of more games for the first time since 1994 and second in franchise history.
Toronto drew even on with Bichette's leadoff homer in the fourth inning. His 12th homer came after his error in the top of the inning loaded the bases for the Angels. Davis Schneider drove in Bichette in the sixth inning with a single down the left-field line.
Mike Trout homered for the Angels with two out in the first.
After Bichette's homer, Toronto went ahead in the fourth on a two-out single from Joey Loperfido, who made his season debut. The Angels tied it in the fifth when Taylor Ward singled over Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman struck out nine in 5 2/3 innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and three walks. Tyler Anderson (2-6) yielded three runs on eight hits with two walks and two strikeouts in five-plus innings.
Reliever Ryan Burr (1-0) got the victory in his first outing of the season after dealing with a right-shoulder injury. Jeff Hoffman picked up his 22nd save.
TIGERS 7, GUARDIANS 2, 10 INNINGS
CLEVELAND (AP) — Trey Sweeney and Riley Greene homered during a six-run 10th inning on as Detroit beat Cleveland, extending its losing streak to 10 games.
Javier Báez had two hits and Tarik Skubal struck out 10 as the AL-best Tigers swept the three-game series.
Cleveland was one strike away from ending its skid when closer Emmanuel Clase threw a wild pitch, allowing pinch-runner Zach McKinstry to score the tying run with two outs in the ninth.
The Guardians' double-digit streak is the 11th in team history and the first since Cleveland dropped 11 in a row in 2012. The franchise record is 12 in 1931.
Cleveland's Steven Kwan had three hits, including an RBI double in the eighth.
Báez singled leading off the 10th with automatic runner Parker Meadows aboard and Sweeney followed with a three-run drive down the left-field line off Cade Smith (2-3) for a 4-1 lead.
Skubal — the reigning AL Cy Young winner and possible starter in next week's All-Star Game — allowed three hits in seven innings. It was his sixth double-digit strikeout game of the season and 13th of his career.
Chase Lee (4-0) pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
Cleveland's Gavin Williams allowed one hit in six innings and struck out eight.
RED SOX 6, NATIONALS 4
WASHINGTON (AP) — Trevor Story homered and Boston beat Washington to complete a three-game sweep, with the Nationals firing manager Dave Martinez and general manager Mike Rizzo hours after the game.
Mirred in their sixth consecutive losing season since winning the 2019 World Series, the Nationals are 37-53.
Left-hander Garrett Crochet (9-4) allowed two runs and struck out seven in five innings. He leads the majors with 151 strikeouts.
Ceddanne Rafaela ripped a ninth-inning solo homer as part of a three-hit game for the Red Sox (46-45), who have won six of eight and moved over .500 for the first time since they were 40-39 on June 22. Boston earned its first road sweep since July 2-4, 2024, at Miami.
Rookie Brady House had his first career three-hit game for the Nationals (37-53), who are a season-high 16 games under .500 after being swept for the fifth time. Washington stranded 15 men on base.
Boston scored four runs in the first against left-hander Shinnosuke Ogasawara, who made his major league debut.
YANKEES 6, METS 4
NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge hit his 33rd home run, left fielder Cody Bellinger started a pivotal double play and the New York Yankees stopped a six-game losing streak by beating the Mets to avoid a weekend Subway Series sweep.
Max Fried (11-2) improved to 9-1 in 12 starts after Yankees losses after Judge staked him to a 5-0 lead with a two-run homer in the fifth off Brandon Waddell, part of Judge's three-RBI day.
After Judge's sacrifice fly restored a two-run lead in the seventh, Juan Soto hit a sinking drive that Bellinger scooped with a shoestring catch that had 30% possibility. Bellinger made a 89.9 mph throw to first baseman Paul Goldschmidt that doubled up Francisco Lindor, who didn't slide.
That was the second of three double plays in consecutive innings by a Yankees defense that has been shaky of late. Hayden Senger grounded into a double play with the bases loaded in the sixth, and Judge followed with a tumbling catch on Starling Marte's liner. Goldschmidt turned an unassisted double play in the eighth, gloving Brett Baty's hard grounder, tagging Ronny Mauricio and stepping on first base.
The Yankees, who tumbled from the AL East lead by losing 16 of 22 games, had matched their longest losing streak. They stopped the Mets' four-game winning streak.
RAYS 7, TWINS 5, 10 INNINGS
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Yandy Díaz doubled in the go-ahead run in a three-run 10th inning, and Tampa Bay beat Minnesota to avoid a three-game sweep.
Díaz drove in automatic runner Danny Jansen on a 2-1 pitch from Justin Topa (1-3). Díaz scored when Topa threw wild to first on a sacrifice bunt by José Caballero, who scored on a sacrifice fly by Junior Caminero.
Harrison Bader, whose two-run pinch-hit homer off Mason Montgomery in the eighth tied it at 4-all, drove in automatic runner Byron Buxton with a groundout in the bottom of the 10th off Eric Orze, who finished for his third save.
Pete Fairbanks (4-2) got five outs for the win. Joe Boyle allowed two hits and an unearned run in five innings in relief of opener Drew Rasmussen.
Buxton drove Rasmussen's second pitch of the game to left field for his 20th homer.
Taylor Walls led off the third against Joe Ryan with his third homer. Ryan allowed two runs in six innings while striking out eight.
Jose Aranda had three hits and drove in two runs for the Rays.
ROCKIES 6, WHITE SOX 4
DENVER (AP) — Mickey Moniak finished a double shy of a cycle, Michael Toglia hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the fifth inning and Colorado beat Chicago to avoid a sweep in a series between the two worst teams in the majors.
At 21-69, the Rockies also avoided tying the 1907 St. Louis Cardinals and 1916 Philadelphia Phillies for the most losses in the first 90 games of a season in the modern era.
Moniak had a leadoff home run in the first inning and a two-run triple in the fifth. The former No. 1 overall pick has 13 homers this season, eight in the past month.
In his third career MLB game, Colson Montgomery had two hits and an RBI for the White Sox. With two hits and an RBI, Mike Tauchman improved his batting average to .372 over the past 11 games.
Zach Agnos (1-3) got the win for the Rockies after giving up one earned run in 1 1/3 innings. Seth Halvorsen pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his eighth save.
ROYALS 4, DIAMONDBACKS 0
PHOENIX (AP) — Michael Lorenzen struck out seven in seven dominant innings, Bobby Witt Jr. homered and Kansas City beat Arizona.
Lorenzen (5-8) kept the Diamondbacks off-balance all afternoon with a mix of mid-90s fastballs and changeups. He struck out the side in the first inning and didn't allow a hit until Randal Grichuk's two-out double in the fifth.
Lorenzen allowed two hits and walked one.
Witt hit a solo homer off Anthony DeSclafani (0-1) in the fifth inning to extend his team-record road hitting streak to 26 games. Salvador Perez also hit a solo homer in the Royals' fourth win in six games.
Arizona had three hits and didn't get a runner past second base to lose for the fourth time in five games.
MARINERS 1, PIRATES 0
SEATTLE (AP) — Randy Arozarena homered, George Kirby tossed 6 1/3 crisp innings and Seattle shut out the punchless Pirates for the third straight game, winning as Pittsburgh wasted another strong start by All-Star Paul Skenes.
Arozarena hit his 14th longball of the season and sixth in seven games when he turned on a low fastball in the sixth inning from reliever Carmen Mlodzinski (2-6).
Skenes had a short but effective outing, striking out 10 and allowing five hits in five innings. He threw 52 of his 78 pitches for strikes and lowered his ERA to 1.94 but is just 4-7 this season.
Pittsburgh was beaten 6-0 on Friday and 1-0 on Saturday during its scoreless weekend in Seattle. Before making the trip, the Pirates blanked St. Louis three straight times at home. The streak of playing in six straight shutouts is tied for the longest in major league history.
Kirby (3-4) struck out nine, allowed four singles and walked none.
CUBS 11, CARDINALS 0
CHICAGO (AP) — Matthew Boyd struck out nine in five innings hours after being named to his first All-Star team, helping Chicago rout St. Louis.
Boyd (0-3) allowed only three hits and lowered his ERA to 2.52.
The Cubs got on the board early, then surged ahead with a five-run third inning. Chicago scored a run in each of the first five innings to jump out to an 11-0 lead.
Nico Hoerner was 3 for 4 with three runs and finished a home run shy of the cycle. Seiya Suzuki and Pete Crow-Armstrong were each 2 for 5, with Suzuki hitting his 25th homer.