PITTSBURGH — Reds starter Hunter Greene and reliever Art Warren combined to allow zero hits in a complete game, but it didn’t count as a no-hitter — or even a win — because the Pittsburgh Pirates eked out a run in the bottom of the eighth inning for a 1-0 victory Sunday.
Ke’Bryan Hayes’ RBI grounder helped the Pirates become the sixth team in big league history since 1901 to win despite not getting any hits. It last happened in 2008 when Jered Weaver and Jose Arredondo of the Angels lost while holding the Dodgers hitless.
By Major League Baseball record-keeping rules, Cincinnati’s accomplishment isn’t an official no-hitter because its pitchers didn’t go at least nine innings. And in a season in which most everything has gone wrong for the Reds, this surely had to be the topper.
Greene (1-6), the prized Reds rookie, struck out nine and was pulled after one-out walks in the eighth to Rodolfo Castro and Michael Perez. Greene threw 118 pitches, the most by any pitcher in the majors this year.
Pirates starter José Quintana held the Reds scoreless through seven innings, giving up three hits while striking out five. Chris Stratton (2-1) pitched around a two-on, one out jam in the eighth. David Bednar worked a clean ninth for his seventh save.
CARDINALS 15, GIANTS 6
ST. LOUIS — Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina set a major league record for wins by a starting battery as St. Louis routed San Francisco in a game that ended with veteran slugger Albert Pujols on the mound.
Molina homered and drove in four runs, Wainwright pitched six effective innings and St. Louis roughed up Carlos Rodón (4-2) early. Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado each added a two-run homer for the Cardinals, who took two of three in the series.
Pujols, the Cardinals’ designated hitter, entered to pitch for the first time in his 22-year career in the ninth inning. He gave up a three-run homer to Luis Gonzalez and a solo shot to Joey Bart but managed to get the final three outs with plenty of margin to spare.
The 42-year-old Pujols became the oldest player to make his big league pitching debut since Lena Blackburne brought himself in at age 42 in his final game as a player/manager for the 1929 Chicago White Sox.
Wainwright (4-3) and Molina broke the major league mark with their 203rd victory as a starting battery. They passed Warren Spahn and Del Crandall, who amassed 202 wins for the Boston and Milwaukee Braves from 1949-63.
MARINERS 8, METS 7
NEW YORK — Prized rookie Julio Rodríguez hit a tying homer as part of a four-hit game, Cal Raleigh added a go-ahead, two-run drive and reliever Diego Castillo struck out Pete Alonso with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to lift Seattle over New York.
New York trailed 4-1, then burst ahead in the fourth against Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray (4-3) when J.D. Davis and Brandon Nimmo became the first pair of Mets in the team’s 61-season history to hit two-run triples in the same inning.
The homers from Rodríguez off Chasen Shreve (1-1) and Raleigh helped Seattle climb back ahead, but the Mets rallied again in the ninth. Eduardo Escobar hit the Mets’ third triple with one out, Jeff McNeil had an RBI single and Brandon Nimmo a run-scoring double. With runners on second and third, Castillo relieved and struck out Starling Marte.
Manager Scott Servais intentionally walked Francisco Lindor, setting up a bases-loaded showdown with Pete Alonso. Castillo threw six straight sliders, and Alonso failed to check his swing on a 3-2 pitch. Castillo got his second save, and the Mets took their first series loss this season.
YANKEES 5, WHITE SOX 1
CHICAGO — Nestor Cortes pitched a career-high eight innings and New York took advantage of Michael Kopech’s one wild stretch to beat Chicago.
The Yankees managed just two hits: a second-inning single for Isiah Kiner-Falefa and a two-run homer by Joey Gallo in the ninth.
Cortes (2-1), who carried a no-hitter into the eighth in his previous outing against Texas, allowed three hits, struck out seven and walked none.
Clay Holmes finished the four-hitter for New York’s 18th win in 21 games.
Kopech (0-1) pitched six innings of one-hit ball for Chicago.
ANGELS 5, ATHLETICS 1
OAKLAND, Calif. — Shohei Ohtani homered for the second consecutive game, leading Los Angeles over Oakland.
A day after becoming the third Japanese-born player to reach 100 homers in the major leagues, Ohtani belted No. 101. His eighth homer this season was a 425-foot drive deep into the right-field stands off a first-inning sinker from Frankie Montas. Mike Trout, who singled ahead of Ohtani, scored.
Patrick Sandoval (2-1) pitched into the sixth inning and got back on track after a pair of rocky outings to help the Angels (24-13) move 11 games above .500 for the first time since July 28, 2015. Sandoval (2-1) allowed one run and four hits, lowering his ERA to 1.91 and overcoming a season-high four walks.
Jimmy Herget retired eight batters to complete the five-hitter and earn his first career save.
Montas (2-4) had a season-high 12 strikeouts in six innings and allowed four hits and two runs.
RANGERS 7, RED SOX 1
ARLINGTON, Texas — Adolis García and Kole Calhoun each hit two home runs, Martin Perez pitched six strong innings and Texas beat Boston.
Texas trailed 1-0 and didn’t have a hit until Calhoun led off the bottom of the fifth with an opposite-field homer into the visitors’ bullpen in left-center.
García broke the 1-1 tie with two out and two men on base in the sixth. He hit an 0-1 pitch from Boston’s Ryan Brasier (0-2) into the right-center field bullpen. He homered again in the eighth to tie his career high with five RBIs.
Perez (2-2) allowed five hits and struck out seven.
TIGERS 5, ORIOLES 1
DETROIT — Miguel Cabrera blasted his 505th career home run, Tarik Skubal equaled his career high with 11 strikeouts, and Detroit beat Baltimore for its first series sweep this season.
Cabrera had two hits, scored two runs and knocked in two more for the Tigers. Harold Castro added three hits, a run scored and two RBIs.
Skubal (3-2) lasted six innings, limiting Baltimore to three hits and two walks.
Trey Mancini’s homer off Rony Garcia in the ninth prevented the Orioles from being shut out in back-to-back games. Baltimore starter Tyler Wells (1-3) allowed three runs on eight hits in four-plus innings.
RAYS 3, BLUE JAYS 0
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Third baseman Matt Chapman’s throwing error allowed Tampa Bay to break a scoreless tie in the sixth inning and beat Toronto.
Jeffrey Springs combined with four relievers on a five-hitter for the Rays, who took two of three in the series. Matt Wisler (2-1) took over with two outs in the fifth and worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings, and Andrew Kittredge pitched the ninth for his fifth save in seven attempts.
Chapman threw wildly to second base after fielding a chopper, allowing Brandon Lowe to score. The Rays added two more runs in the sixth against Alex Manoah (4-1).
BREWERS 7, MARLINS 3
MIAMI — Kolten Wong homered, singled and had three walks to help Milwaukee beat Miami.
Jace Peterson and Rowdy Tellez also homered to back Brandon Woodruff, who limited Miami to three runs and five hits in his five-inning outing. Woodruff (4-2) walked two and struck out six.
Aaron Ashby relieved Woodruff and pitched four hitless innings while striking out eight for his first save.
Milwaukee chased Miami starter Elieser Hernández (2-3) during a four-run fifth. Peterson and Wong hit consecutive solo homers off Hernández while Tellez and Omar Narváez had RBI singles against reliever Louis Head.
ASTROS 8, NATIONALS 0
WASHINGTON — Yuli Gurriel went 3 for 4 with a homer, Justin Verlander pitched five scoreless innings and Houston beat Washington.
Jose Altuve, Martin Maldonado and Chas McCormick also homered for the Astros. Gurriel finished the series 8-for-12 with two homers and four RBIs.
After taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning in his last start, Verlander (5-1) didn’t allow a hit Sunday until surrendering back-to-back singles with one out in the fifth. He struck out five and walked three in his in his seventh start since returning from Tommy John surgery.
Nationals starter Patrick Corbin (0-6) was solid early before allowing home runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. He allowed five runs on six hits over six-plus innings. Washington has lost each of Corbin’s eight starts.
TWINS 3, GUARDIANS 1
MINNEAPOLIS — Joe Ryan allowed one run over six innings and was backed by solo homers from Byron Buxton and Gio Urshela as Minnesota beat Cleveland.
Ryan (4-2) threw a career-high 103 pitches and struck out five, with his only blemish a fourth inning changeup that José Ramírez hit over the right field fence for his eighth home run of the season.
Buxton hit his 11th home run of the season in the fifth inning.
Guardians starter Triston McKenzie (2-3) allowed three runs on three hits and two walks. He struck out four in seven innings.
PADRES 7, BRAVES 3
ATLANTA — Ha-Seong Kim had a run-scoring double to give San Diego the lead in a four-run 11th inning.
Kim’s double to left field off Jackson Stephens (0-1) drove in Jake Cronenworth, who opened the inning as the automatic runner on second.
Kim moved to third on a throwing error by shortstop Dansby Swanson and scored on Jurickson Profar’s grounder to second base, beating Ozzie Albies’ throw to the plate. The Braves committed three errors in the game. Wil Myers added a two-run single.
Nabil Crismatt (2-0) had four strikeouts in two scoreless innings.
DODGERS 5, PHILLIES 4
LOS ANGELES — Gavin Lux atoned for an early fielding mistake with a walk-off, two-run double in the ninth inning, and Los Angeles avoided a four-game series sweep.
Cody Bellinger got a two-out triple off Corey Knebel (0-3) and Chris Taylor walked before Lux drove them both home. Lux made a two-out error on a routine grounder in the second inning, allowing the Phillies to score four unearned runs.
Aaron Nola left with a 4-2 lead after throwing seven innings of four-hit ball, but Philadelphia’s latest bullpen misadventure doomed its four-game winning streak.
Mookie Betts had a homer and an RBI double for the Dodgers, who avoided their first five-game skid since April 2019. Shane Greene (1-0) pitched two scoreless relief innings in his season debut for Los Angeles.
ROYALS 8, ROCKIES 7
DENVER — Salvador Perez hit a go-ahead, two-run single in the ninth inning and Kansas City recovered from blowing a six-run lead to beat Colorado.
Bobby Witt Jr., Whit Merrifield and Emmanuel Rivera homered for the Royals, who took two of three from Colorado.
Andrew Benintendi drew a leadoff walk from Rockies closer Daniel Bard (1-1) in the ninth and Ryan O’Hearn singled. A wild pitch and a one-out walk to Michael A. Taylor loaded the bases for Perez, who laced a single to left field.
Josh Staumont (1-0) pitched the eighth inning and Scott Barlow got three outs for his fourth save.
CUBS 3, DIAMONDBACKS 2
PHOENIX — Frank Schwindel hit a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning and Chicago beat Arizona.
Patrick Wisdom and Rafael Ortega also homered for the Cubs, who have won four of six after a 3-14 stretch.
Wisdom doubled to deep center field to lead off the ninth against Ian Kennedy (2-2) and Schwindel reached out and hit a soft line drive over first base.
Scott Effross (1-1) gave up a single to open the ninth. Rowan Wick allowed a single to the first batter he faced before getting his fourth save in as many chances on a foul-out and double-play grounder.