MLB: Albers’ 1st hit since 2007 leads ChiSox over Mets 2-1 in 13
NEW YORK — Relief pitcher Matt Albers doubled leading off the 13th inning for his first hit since 2007 and scored the tiebreaking run, his first in the majors, to help the Chicago White Sox beat the New York Mets 2-1 on Wednesday.
Todd Frazier tied the score in the seventh with his major league-leading 17th homer for the White Sox, who overcame 13 walks by their pitching staff.
Albers (2-4) relieved closer David Robertson to start the 12th and led off the 13th in his first at-bat since 2009. With the outfield playing shallow, he drove a 1-2 pitch from Logan Verrett (3-3) to left-center, and the ball rolled to the fence on two hops. Unaccustomed to baserunning, Albers didn’t slide at second and steadied himself against second baseman Neil Walker to avoid coming off the base.
A 33-year-old right-hander who has spent most of his career in the American League, Albers had been 2 for 34 (.059) at the plate in the majors and had not even batted since 2009. He chugged to third on a wild pitch that went to the backstop and scored standing up on Jose Abreu’s sacrifice fly.
ATHLETICS 5, TWINS 1
OAKLAND, Calif. — Danny Valencia had three hits, including a pair of doubles, Billy Butler added two hits and an RBI, and Oakland beat Minnesota to win its fifth straight game.
Jake Smolinski homered, Jed Lowrie singled twice and scored two runs and Sean Manaea (2-3) pitched six innings for his second career win.
Pat Dean (1-2) allowed four runs and nine hits over five innings in his third major league start.
BREWERS 3, CARDINALS 1
MILWAUKEE — Zach Davies had a career-high nine strikeouts over eight shutout innings and Milwaukee averted a three-game sweep by St. Louis.
Davies (3-3) allowed three hits and retired 13 in a row to finish the longest outing of his young career before yielding to Jeremy Jeffress. The closer gave up a pinch-hit homer to Brandon Moss before retiring the final three batters for his 13th save.
The Brewers scratched out two runs in the first off Jaime Garcia (4-5) and added insurance with Martin Maldonado’s solo homer in the sixth.
CUBS 2,DODGERS 1
CHICAGO — Jon Lester pitched a four-hitter for his first complete game of the season, helping Chicago edge Los Angeles despite another lackluster night at the plate.
The Cubs finished with just three hits against Mike Bolsinger (1-2) and two relievers after they managed only one in Tuesday night’s 5-0 loss to Los Angeles. But one of Chicago’s hits was a long, two-run homer to center field by Kris Bryant in the third inning, and Lester (6-3) took over from there.
The left-hander struck out 10 and walked none in his second straight win, settling down quite nicely after Kike Hernandez’s leadoff homer on his second pitch. He retired his last 15 batters and threw 113 pitches in his 13th career complete game and first since a 2-1 win at Pittsburgh on Sept. 15.
The major league-leading Cubs (36-15) won for the seventh time in eight games.
ORIOLES 13, RED SOX 9
BALTIMORE — A wild, back-and-forth slugfest turned on a rare error by Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia, and Baltimore overcame five Red Sox home runs to win.
Matt Wieters had three RBIs for the Orioles, who reached a season high in runs without benefit of a homer. Hyun Soo Kim and Pedro Alvarez each had three hits, and Chris Davis drew four walks to help Baltimore secure its third win in 10 games.
Xander Bogaerts extended his hitting streak to 25 games — second-longest in the majors this season — and Mookie Betts added two homers to go with the three he clocked on Tuesday night. After connecting in the first and second innings of this game, Boston’s leadoff hitter had five home runs in seven at-bats.
Chris Young also homered twice for the Red Sox, and David Ortiz had a solo shot to move into a tie with Jim Rice for third place on the team’s RBI list with 1,451.
Brad Brach (5-0) was the winner, and Zach Britton got four outs for his 15th save.
Clay Buchholz (3-6) took the loss.
INDIANS 5, RANGERS 4,
11 INNINGS
CLEVELAND — Yan Gomes’ single scored Lonnie Chisenhall with the winning run in the 11th inning, and Cleveland defeated Texas.
Alex Claudio (1-1) gave up Chisenhall’s double to start the inning. Gomes, who came into the game batting .171, fouled off a bunt attempt on the first pitch before bouncing his hit up the middle for Cleveland’s first walk-off win of the season.
Tom Gorzelanny (1-0), called up from the minors before the game, got one out and the Indians avoided a three-game sweep against the AL West leaders.
Juan Uribe’s two-out single in the eighth broke a 3-all tie, but Texas rallied in the ninth off closer Cody Allen, who blew his first save in 12 chances this season.
Mike Napoli hit a two-run homer for the Indians.
TIGERS 3, ANGELS 0
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Michael Fulmer took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and completed 7 2/3 dominant innings to lift Detroit over Los Angeles.
The rookie right-hander shut down the Angels a day after they scored 11 runs on 17 hits. Fulmer (5-1) did not allow a hit until C.J. Cron’s broken-bat single on a 98 mph fastball with two outs in the seventh.
Fulmer allowed two hits, struck out eight and walked two. He has won his last four decisions and has a 3.24 ERA.
Francisco Rodriguez got four outs for his 15th save. The Tigers had 11 hits, including three from third baseman Nick Castellanos.
Matt Shoemaker (3-6) allowed two runs in seven innings while striking out eight for Los Angeles. The Angels had won nine consecutive home games against the Tigers.
BLUE JAYS 7, YANKEES 0
TORONTO — Aaron Sanchez (5-1) pitched 6 2/3 innings to win his fourth straight decision, Edwin Encarnacion had two RBIs and Toronto beat New York to complete a three-game sweep.
Darwin Barney reached base four times and Michael Saunders had two doubles as Toronto won its season-high fifth straight and improved to 7-2 against the Yankees this season. The Blue Jays have won 10 of 13 following a season-worst five-game losing streak.
Masahiro Tanaka (3-1) allowed two runs, one earned, in six innings but lost for the first time in 11 starts.
New York has dropped three straight and six of eight. The Yankees have scored five runs in their past four games.
NATIONALS 7, PHILLIES 2
PHILADELPHIA — Max Scherzer had 11 strikeouts in eight sharp innings, Wilson Ramos hit a three-run homer and Washington finished a three-game sweep of Philadelphia.
Ramos had three hits and four RBIs and Danny Espinosa also went deep for the Nationals, who have won four straight. NL MVP Bryce Harper missed his second straight game after bruising his right knee when hit by a pitch Monday.
Scherzer (6-4) bounced back from a rough start against the Cardinals. He gave up two runs and five hits to earn his sixth win in seven decisions against Philadelphia.
Tyler Goeddel hit a two-run homer for the Phillies, who have lost six straight and 10 of 12. Adam Morgan (1-4) allowed six runs and nine hits in six innings.
MARLINS 3, PIRATES 2
MIAMI — Adeiny Hechavarria hit a tiebreaking double in the eighth inning to lift Miami over Pittsburgh.
Marlins starter Adam Conley took a no-hitter into the sixth and tied a career high with nine strikeouts in six shutout innings. David Phelps (4-3) pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings in relief for the win and A.J. Ramos got three outs for his 17th save.
Ramos has converted 26 consecutive saves dating to last season
Giancarlo Stanton, back in the Marlins’ lineup after missing seven games with soreness in his right side, went 0 for 3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
Matt Joyce tied the score for the Pirates with a two-run single in the seventh. Tony Watson (1-1) took the loss.
BRAVES 5, GIANTS 4,
11 INNINGS
ATLANTA — Freddie Freeman homered leading off the 11th inning to give Atlanta a victory over San Francisco.
Freeman’s ninth homer, off Derek Law (1-1), came after Giants closer Santiago Casilla couldn’t hold a 4-3 lead in the ninth.
Chris Withrow (1-1) pitched a perfect inning for the win.
The Giants lost right fielder Hunter Pence to a right hamstring strain in the fourth inning. Brandon Belt hit a two-run homer for San Francisco.
ROYALS 6, RAYS 3
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Danny Duffy pitched six effective innings and rookie Whit Merrifield had two hits and scored a run as Kansas City beat Tampa Bay to complete a 6-0 homestand.
The last time the Royals had a homestand of 6-0 or better was June 2-8, 1988, when they went 7-0.
Duffy (1-0) yielded three runs and seven hits while walking none and striking out six in his longest outing since moving into the rotation on May 15.
Royals relievers Joakim Soria, Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis held the Rays scoreless over the final three innings. Davis picked up his 16th save in 17 chances.
Merrifield has hit in his first 11 career starts, a Royals record. He has scored a run in nine consecutive games, which matches a club rookie record set by Mike Aviles in 2008.
Lorenzo Cain was 3 for 4 with an RBI and two runs.
Chris Archer (3-7) gave up five runs, four earned, over six innings. Curt Casali homered for the Rays.
REDS 7,ROCKIES 2
DENVER — John Lamb overcame a liner off his left leg to throw a career-high seven innings and help Cincinnati beat Colorado.
Lamb (1-3) allowed one run and kept the Rockies in the park a night after they tied a franchise record with seven homers.
Billy Hamilton hustled out two doubles, including one that brought in two runs, and Jay Bruce added a solo homer to power the Reds.
Tyler Chatwood (6-4) gave up five runs, four earned, in 5 2/3 innings.
ASTROS 5, DIAMONDBACKS 4, 11 INNINGS
HOUSTON — George Springer homered with two outs in the 11th inning to lift Houston over Arizona for the Astros’ fifth straight win, and third in a row against the Diamondbacks.
Springer hit the first pitch he saw from Tyler Clippard (2-2) off the facade in left-center for his 13th home run of the season and first career walk-off shot.
Michael Feliz (4-1) pitched two innings for the win.
Michael Bourn hit an RBI double to cut Houston’s lead to 4-2 in the ninth before Jake Lamb hit a two-run homer off Luke Gregerson to tie it.
Carlos Correa had a two-out RBI single and Evan Gattis followed with his homer to give the Astros a 3-1 lead in the fifth.
Houston won for the eighth time in nine games. Mike Fiers allowed one run in six innings.
PADRES 14, MARINERS 6
SAN DIEGO — Alexei Ramirez homered twice and matched his career high with five RBIs, Adam Rosales and Wil Myers also went deep and San Diego routed Seattle hours after Padres executive chairman Ron Fowler strongly criticized the team’s poor play.
Ramirez hit a pair of two-run homers and an RBI single. Jon Jay had four hits and Myers finished a triple shy of the cycle. The Padres snapped a four-game losing streak, winning for the second time in 10 games.
In the morning, Fowler told the team’s flagship radio station, the Mighty 1090, that the Padres’ recent performances have been “embarrassing” and “pathetic.” His comments came a day after James Shields allowed 10 runs in 2 2/3 innings of a 16-4 loss at Seattle.
A few hours after Fowler chastised them, the Padres found out they didn’t have to face Felix Hernandez, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a right calf strain.
James Paxton (0-1) started in Hernandez’s place and was roughed up.
Christian Friedrich (2-1) won despite allowing an early three-run homer to Robinson Cano.
