MLB: Hisashi Iwakuma throws fifth no-hitter in Mariners history, defeats Orioles
SEATTLE — Hisashi Iwakuma has become the second Japanese-born pitcher in major league history to throw a no-hitter, leading the Seattle Mariners to a 3-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday.
Iwakuma struck out seven and walked three in throwing the first no-hitter by an American League pitcher in nearly three years. He joins Hideo Nomo, who threw two no-nos, as the only Japanese-born pitchers to accomplish the feat.
Iwakuma is the fourth pitcher to throw a no-hitter this season, joining Philadelphia’s Cole Hamels — prior to his trade to Texas — Washington’s Max Scherzer and San Francisco’s Chris Heston.
Iwakuma is the first American League pitcher to throw a no-hitter since teammate Felix Hernandez tossed a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays on Aug. 15, 2012. Baltimore starter Kevin Gausman (2-4) took the loss.
DODGERS 3, NATIONALS 0
LOS ANGELES — Clayton Kershaw tied Sandy Koufax’s franchise record of six straight 200-strikeout seasons while tossing eight scoreless innings, and NL West-leading Los Angeles defeated Washington.
Kershaw (10-6) took a perfect game bid into the sixth inning, when Michael Taylor doubled to deep center field. Kershaw retired the next two batters on grounders to end the inning.
The 27-year-old left-hander struck out the side in the second to equal the mark set by Koufax from 1961-66. Koufax and Tom Seaver (1968-76) are the only pitchers in modern NL history to accomplish the feat in six or more consecutive seasons.
Kenley Jansen retired the side in the ninth to earn his 22nd save in 23 chances.
Jordan Zimmermann (8-8) nearly matched Kershaw, giving up two hits and one run in seven innings. He struck out a season-high nine, including Adrian Gonzalez three times, and walked one.
BLUE JAYS 10, ATHLETICS 3
TORONTO — Toronto surged to the top of the AL East with its 10th straight win, beating Oakland behind a pair of three-run homers from Chris Colabello and Justin Smoak.
The Blue Jays trailed the Yankees by six games on July 31. But after making several bold trades, they have gone on a streak that included a sweep of New York, losing only once since Troy Tulowitzki joined the team to move a half-game up in the division.
Josh Donaldson had two hits and two RBIs, boosting his major league-leading total to 85.
R.A. Dickey (7-10) won his won his fourth straight decision, allowing three runs and six hits in six innings.
Right-hander Aaron Brooks (1-1) was hit hard by the Blue Jays for the second time in his career.
Toronto, which won 11 straight in June, is the first team with two winning streaks of 10 games or more in single season since Atlanta in 2013. The last AL team to do it was Kansas City in 1977.
INDIANS 2, YANKEES 1
CLEVELAND — Danny Salazar pitched neatly into the eighth inning, and Cleveland dropped New York out of first place in the AL East.
The Yankees, who have lost five straight, trail surging Toronto by a half-game in the division and fell out of the top spot for the first time since July 2. New York has scored six runs in its losing streak.
Abraham Almonte’s RBI single broke a 1-all tie in the sixth and Cleveland won its fourth straight.
Salazar (10-6) was pulled after issuing one-out walks to Brett Gardner and Chase Headley in the eighth, but Cody Allen got Alex Rodriguez to hit into a double play to end the inning. Salazar gave up one run in 7 1/3 innings.
Cody Allen earned his 23rd save.
CC Sabathia (4-9) allowed two runs in six innings.
METS 3, ROCKIES 0
NEW YORK — Jacob deGrom conceded only two hits and struck out 10 in seven innings, pitching New York past Colorado.
Yoenis Cespedes hit his first home run for the surging Mets, who have won 10 of 12. Juan Uribe stroked an RBI double in the fourth and Michael Cuddyer followed with a run-scoring single on a night when both players reached 1,500 career hits.
Surprise leaders in the NL East, the Mets (62-52) matched their season high at 10 games over .500. They handed Colorado its ninth defeat in a row at Citi Field since 2013 — after the Rockies won eight straight at the ballpark the previous two years.
New York improved to 41-18 at home, surpassing its 2014 win total (40) in the cozy stadium.
Last season’s NL Rookie of the Year, deGrom (11-6) entered with the second-lowest ERA in the National League at 2.13. He finished with his eighth career double-digit strikeout game and fourth this season. Jeurys Familia got his 32nd save.
Jorge De La Rosa (7-5) gave up two runs and four hits over six innings for the last-place Rockies.
CARDINALS 4, PIRATES 2
ST. LOUIS — Yadier Molina tripled in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning when right fielder Gregory Polanco missed an attempted shoe-top catch and Michael Wacha got his 14th win to tie for the major league high as St. Louis beat Pittsburgh.
The game didn’t live up to the anticipated marquee pitching matchup between Wacha (14-4) and Gerrit Cole (14-6), both of whom were gone by the seventh inning. Seattle’s Felix Hernandez also has 14 wins.
St. Louis gift-wrapped a run, too, when center fielder Randal Grichuk badly misplayed an attempted diving catch on Andrew McCutchen’s RBI triple that tied it at 2 in the fifth. Grichuk landed early and bounced as the ball rolled past him to the wall.
Kevin Siegrist worked two perfect innings and Trevor Rosenthal finished for his 35th save in 37 chances.
CUBS 3, BREWERS 2, 10 INNINGS
CHICAGO — Miguel Montero homered in the bottom of the 10th inning to give Chicago a victory over Milwaukee for the Cubs’ sixth straight win and 12th in 13 games.
Montero, who allowed a couple wild pitches to get past him in the ninth as the Brewers rallied to tie the score, led off the 10th with a solo blast to left field off Michael Blazek (5-3).
Tommy Hunter (3-2) pitched a scoreless 10th to get the win.
Kris Bryant homered and Anthony Rizzo made a circus catch falling into the stands to lead the keep the Cubs surging.
Ryan Braun went 3 for 4 with a home run for the Brewers.
ASTROS 2, GIANTS 0
SAN FRANCISCO — Colby Rasmus homered to lead off the seventh inning to help Scott Feldman earn his first win in more than two months, and Houston held on to beat San Francisco.
Jed Lowrie also homered for the Astros, who stumble back to Minute Maid Park with a slimmer AL West division lead after going 2-7 on their nine-game road trip.
Feldman (5-5) missed 45 games earlier this season with a torn meniscus and had been winless in four starts since coming off the disabled list in July. He combined with four relievers on the five-hit shutout.
The Astros right-hander — winless since May 26 — gave up four hits over six innings, walked one and struck out four while allowing only one runner past second base.
Luke Gregerson pitched the ninth for his 23rd save.
Giants starter Chris Heston (11-7) allowed one run and over 6 1/3 innings.
WHITE SOX 3, ANGELS 2, 13 INNINGS
CHICAGO — Avisail Garcia’s line-drive double to the wall with one out in the 13th inning drove in Jose Abreu from first base and lifted Chicago to a win over Los Angeles to finish a three-game sweep.
Matt Albers (2-0), Chicago’s sixth reliever, pitched two scoreless innings for the win.
Cesar Ramos (2-1), the Angels’ sixth pitcher out the bullpen, gave up a single to Abreu and then Garcia’s double to left-center as Los Angeles dropped its ninth straight on the road.
This one went to extra innings when Abreu botched a play at first in the ninth, allowing Angels pinch runner Taylor Featherston to race home from third and tie the game at 2 on Conor Gillaspie’s grounder to first.
TIGERS 7, ROYALS 4
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Ian Kinsler doubled home two runs and Detroit batted around in a four-run eighth inning to defeat Kansas City.
The loss snapped the Royals’ eight-game home winning streak, their longest since winning their first 11 games in 2003 at Kauffman Stadium.
Royals right-hander Edinson Volquez (11-7) had retired 13 straight batters entering the eighth, which James McCann led off with a single. Volquez walked Anthony Gose, and Jose Iglesias had an infield single to load the bases with none out.
Kinsler doubled down the left field line to score McCann and Gose to finish Volquez’s night. J.D. Martinez’s single scored Iglesias. Kinsler scored on Collins’ fielder’s choice grounder as Detroit sent 10 to the plate in the inning.
Neftali Feliz (2-3), the former Texas Rangers closer, picked up the victory, retiring all three batters he faced. Bruce Rondon worked the ninth to log his second save.
TWINS 11, RANGERS 1
MINNEAPOLIS — Aaron Hicks had four of Minnesota’s 17 hits, Miguel Sano homered twice and Mike Pelfrey picked up his first win since June as the Twins routed Texas.
Sano’s second home run drove in three in the fourth inning and reached the upper deck down the left field line. It gave the Twins a 7-0 lead.
Hicks got the Twins going with a leadoff homer in the first. He jumped on a 2-0 fastball from Nick Martinez (7-7) and drove it 432 feet off the facing of the upper deck in right-center for his seventh homer of the season.
Pelfrey (6-7) had gone 0-5 with 6.22 ERA in his last 10 starts, but he was sharp on Wednesday, scattering four hits and one walk while striking out four in seven innings.
REDS 7, PADRES 3
SAN DIEGO — Rookie Raisel Iglesias pitched six strong innings and Joey Votto scored the go-ahead run on a balk by James Shields and later homered to lead Cincinnati to a victory against San Diego.
Iglesias (3-4) retired 16 straight from the end of the first inning through the sixth to help the Reds avoid a three-game sweep. He allowed three runs and six hits while striking out eight and walking one. He had lost four of his previous five decisions.
Votto hit a two-run homer — his 20th — off Frank Garces with one out in the ninth. Votto had three hits and drove in three runs.
Shields (8-5), who signed a $75 million, four-year contract as a free agent in February, has just one win in his last 13 starts.
PHILLIES 7, DIAMONDBACKS 6
PHOENIX — Cameron Rupp homered and drove in a career-high four runs and Philadelphia avoided a series sweep with a win over Arizona.
Rupp capped a four-run sixth with a three-run shot off Arizona reliever Keith Hessler, who did not allow a batter to reach base in his two previous outings. Rupp’s homer broke a 4-all tie.
Rupp drove in another run with a sacrifice fly. Cody Asche scored on Rupp’s double-play grounder — not an RBI — in the fourth inning.
Phillies rookie Aaron Nola pitched five innings for the win. Nola (3-1) allowed four runs and nine hits for his third win in four starts.
The Phillies bullpen almost gave up the lead. Arizona scored once in both the seventh and eighth innings before Ken Giles got the last out in the eighth and three in the ninth for his seventh save. Chase Anderson (5-5) took the loss.
RAYS 9, BRAVES 6
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Curt Casali capped a six-run seventh inning with a two-run homer and Tampa Bay rallied for a victory over Atlanta.
Casali had just one hit in 26 at-bats since consecutive two-homer games against Detroit on July 27-28.
Tampa Bay has won four in a row, including three when trailing 3-0. The Rays also had comeback wins Saturday and Sunday over the New York Mets.
Pedro Ciriaco homered for the first time in more than two years and tied a career high with four RBIs for the Braves, who have lost 14 of 20.
The Rays scored five times off reliever Matt Marksberry (0-1) in the decisive seventh.
Alex Colome (5-4) got the win and Brad Boxberger picked up his 29th save.
MARLINS 14, RED SOX 6
MIAMI — Rookie J.T. Realmuto drove in six runs, including five in a franchise record-tying 10-run sixth inning, which helped Miami complete a two-game sweep in a series between last-place teams by beating Boston.
Realmuto hit an RBI single in the sixth to put the Marlins ahead 5-4, and then hit his first career grand slam later in the inning to make the score 14-4.
He’s the first Marlins player to drive in five runs in an inning.
David Ortiz drove in three with two homers for Boston.
Realmuto also drove in a run with his sixth triple, the most by a rookie catcher since Carlton Fisk of the Red Sox in 1972, according to STATS. Needing a double in the eighth to hit for the cycle, he struck out.
Rodriguez (6-5) allowed eight runs in five-plus innings. Rookie Kyle Barraclough (1-0) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings for his first major-league victory.
