ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Aaron Hicks homered and had four RBIs as the Baltimore Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Rays 8-6 after nearly blowing a seven-run lead Tuesday night in a matchup of the top two teams in the AL East.
Anthony Santander and Ryan O’Hearn also went deep, and Kyle Bradish (3-3) gave up two runs and four hits over five innings for the Orioles, who moved within four games of the first-place Rays. Félix Bautista, the fifth Baltimore reliever, got four outs to earn his 20th save on his 28th birthday.
Francisco Mejía had an RBI double off Bradish during a two-run fifth before Manuel Margot drove in two with a pinch-hit single in a four-run sixth against three Baltimore relievers as the Rays got within 7-6.
Tampa Bay dropped to 31-8 at home and has lost three straight overall. The Rays entered as the only team in the majors without a three-game skid this year.
Baltimore’s Austin Hays, who started the day leading the AL in batting, went 3 for 4 and raised his average from .320 to .327. He has a career-high streak of five multiple-hit games.
Hicks made it 4-0 with his three-run homer off Tyler Glasnow (2-1).
REDS 8, ROCKIES 6
CINCINNATI (AP) — TJ Friedl had a three-run homer on a four-hit night, rookie Elly De La Cruz added a solo shot and Cincinnati extended its winning streak to 10 games while handing Colorado its seventh straight loss.
Will Benson hit a solo homer in the sixth, helping the NL Central-leading Reds to their longest winning streak since 2012, when they also won 10 straight. De La Cruz had three hits as fans chanted “Elly! Elly!”
Alex Young (2-0), the second of six Cincinnati pitchers, worked a perfect fifth for the victory. Alexis Díaz allowed a run before escaping a bases-loaded jam his 20th save in 20 opportunities.
Noah Davis (0-2) gave up five runs in four innings. Jorge Alfaro hit a three-run homer in the eighth for the Rockies.
YANKEES 3, MARINERS 1
NEW YORK (AP) — Gerrit Cole stared down José Caballero and wagged a finger at Seattle's dugout 15 times after striking out the side in the seventh inning as New York snapped a four-game skid.
Cole's finger-wagging was a pointed response to repeated step-outs by Caballero. The Yankees' ace got Caballero swinging on a full-count fastball in the seventh.
Cole (8-1) allowed one run and four hits in 7 1/3 innings with eight strikeouts and a walk. He is 4-0 with a 1.87 ERA following a Yankees loss this season, and New York is 7-0 in those starts.
Clay Holmes got five straight outs for his ninth save in 11 chances.
Anthony Rizzo had an RBI double off the right-field wall in the first against George Kirby (6-6), and Billy McKinney hit a 432-foot, two-run homer in the second.
ASTROS 4, METS 2
HOUSTON (AP) — Alex Bregman hit a two-run homer and Framber Valdez threw eight strong innings to outpitch former teammate Justin Verlander as Houston beat New York to snap a five-game skid.
Valdez (7-5) didn’t allow a baserunner until the sixth and held the Mets scoreless until the eighth. His 2.27 ERA ranks second in the majors. Ryan Pressly pitched a scoreless ninth for his 13th save.
The Astros led by one in the third before Bregman connected off Verlander (2-4) for the 150th home run of his career to make it 3-0. Verlander allowed four runs in seven innings in his first meeting with his former team.
BRAVES 4, PHILLIES 2
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Spencer Strider struck out nine over six innings in his first start in Philadelphia since last year's postseason implosion, and Austin Riley and Matt Olson homered for Atlanta.
Strider (8-2) nimbly pitched out of jams until the fifth and helped the Braves win their seventh straight. Raisel Iglesias gave up a run in the ninth but struck out Kyle Schwarber with the tying run on base to pick up his 10th save.
Phillies reliever Jeff Hoffman (0-1) surrendered a walk and single to open the seventh and Ronald Acuña Jr. lined a one-out single for a 2-1 lead.
BLUE JAYS 2, MARLINS 0
MIAMI (AP) — Ernie Clement and George Springer hit consecutive RBI singles in the eighth inning and Toronto beat Miami.
Yusei Kikuchi allowed two hits and struck out six in six innings to help Toronto even the series after falling 11-0 in the opener Monday night. The Blue Jays ended a 19-inning scoreless streak in the eighth against Tanner Scott (4-2).
Miami’s Luis Arraez went 1 for 4, dropping his major league-leading batting average to .398. The Marlins had won five in a row.
Yimi García (2-3) was the winner, pitching the seventh. Jordan Romano closed with a scoreless ninth for his 21st save.
RED SOX 10, TWINS 4
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Christian Arroyo had a career-high five hits and drove in four runs, Kutter Crawford (2-3) pitched five scoreless innings and Boston beat Minnesota for its sixth straight win.
Adam Duvall and Arroyo hit solo homers in the fourth to start the scoring, and Masataka Yoshida added a two-run shot in the eighth. Arroyo also hit a three-run double as part of a five-run seventh for Boston.
Corey Kluber allowed four runs on three homers but pitched the final three innings for his first career save.
Bailey Ober (4-4) surrendered three runs in six innings for AL Central-leading Minnesota, which has lost five of six and fell to a season-worst two games under .500 (36-38).
GUARDIANS 3, ATHLETICS 2, 10 INNINGS
CLEVELAND (AP) — Andrés Giménez’s single in the 10th brought home José Ramírez from third base and Cleveland handed Oakland its sixth straight loss.
With the bases loaded and none out, Giménez dropped his single off Trevor May (2-4) just inside the right-field line for Cleveland’s fourth walk-off win this season.
The Guardians were blanked for six innings before tying it in the seventh on Amed Rosario’s RBI single and Ramírez’s run-scoring double.
Enyel De Los Santos (3-1) kept the A’s from taking the lead in the 10th.
Oakland dropped to 19-56, the club’s worst record since the 1920 Philadelphia A’s started with the same mark.
CUBS 4, PIRATES 0
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Marcus Stroman allowed five hits over seven innings as Chicago handed Pittsburgh its eighth straight loss.
Stroman (9-4) struck out five, walked one and never let the Pirates get to third base while winning his seventh straight start. He needed just 97 pitches to get 21 outs, dropping his ERA to 2.28, tops in the National League.
Tucker Barnhart hit his first home run of the season for the Cubs. Mike Tauchman homered for the second time in three games as Chicago won for the seventh time in eight games.
Pittsburgh’s offense offered no support to starter Johan Oviedo (3-7).
TIGERS 1, ROYALS 0
DETROIT (AP) — Daniel Lynch allowed one hit over seven innings for his first major league win in almost 11 months and Kansas City beat Detroit.
Kansas City had lost 12 of 13. Matt Beaty, making his first start for the Royals, drove in the only run with a sixth-inning double off Tigers starter Michael Lorenzen (2-5).
Javier Báez doubled with one out in the ninth for Detroit, but Scott Barlow retired the next two hitters for his eighth save, completing the two-hitter.
The Tigers were shut out for the 10th time this season and the sixth time in their last 20 games.
Lynch (1-3) had gone 0-9 in 15 starts since beating the Chicago White Sox last Aug. 1.
BREWERS 7, DIAMONDBACKS 5
MILWAUKEE (AP) — William Contreras hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the seventh inning and Milwaukee rallied from a 4-0 deficit to beat Arizona.
Jesse Winker hit his first homer of the season for the Brewers. Hoby Milner, Bryse Wilson (2-0), Joel Payamps and Devin Williams combined for 3 2/3 innings of shutout relief. Williams worked around a one-out walk in the ninth to earn his 13th save in 14 opportunities.
Ketel Marte went 3 for 5 with a three-run homer and double for the NL-West leading Diamondbacks.
Austin Adams (0-1) retired the side in order in the sixth but exited after allowing a walk and two leadoff singles to start the seventh. All three runners came around to score.
CARDINALS 9, NATIONALS 3
WASHINGTON (AP) — Dylan Carlson homered twice, Willson Contreras went 3-for-4 with two doubles to break out of a slump, and St. Louis beat skidding Washington for its fourth straight win.
Paul DeJong also homered for the Cardinals.
Jordan Montgomery (4-7) matched a season high by pitching seven innings, allowing one run on four hits with six strikeouts.
MacKenzie Gore (3-6) gave up five runs on nine hits in six innings for the Nationals, who have lost five straight and 13 of 15.
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