WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) - Josh Bell homered and drove in four runs to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates over the St. Louis Cardinals 6-3 in the Little League Classic on Sunday night.
The teams played at renovated Bowman Field, a minor league ballpark located 5 miles from where the Little League World Series is taking place. Sitting in the front rows were admiring Little Leaguers who got to mingle with the big league stars earlier in the day, part of a Major League Baseball initiative to celebrate youth baseball.
After the final out of MLB’s first regular-season game in Williamsport, the Pirates shook hands on the field as usual following a victory. Then - in a nod to Little League baseball - both teams lined up at home plate and shook hands with each other, throwing in some hugs and high-fives to finish off a feel-good day.
Bell hit a two-run homer off Mike Leake (7-12) in the first inning and a two-run single in the third. Adam Frazier homered for the second straight game for the Pirates, who were the “home” team and won their second in a row to split the four-game series.
Ivan Nova (11-10) gave up three runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. Felipe Rivero got three outs for his 14th save in 15 chances.
Jedd Gyorko hit a two-run homer for the Cardinals.
TIGERS 6, DODGERS 1
DETROIT (AP) - Justin Verlander and Kenta Maeda each took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, but only the Detroit star was able to keep his outstanding performance going as the Tigers beat Los Angeles.
Verlander (9-8) allowed a home run to Dodgers newcomer Curtis Granderson in the sixth. But shortly after his no-hit bid ended, the Tigers scored four times in the bottom of the inning against Maeda. The right-hander retired the first 15 Detroit batters before allowing five hits in the sixth.
The homer by Granderson was one of only two hits off Verlander. He walked one and struck out nine in eight innings.
Maeda (11-5) was pulled after the sixth and lost for the first time in seven starts.
Dixon Machado’s two-run double put Detroit up 2-1. Justin Upton had a two-run homer and Miguel Cabrera hit a two-run double for the Tigers, who snapped a six-game skid. They halted a six-game winning streak by the Dodgers (87-35), who have the best record in the majors.
MARLINS 6, METS 4
NEW YORK (AP) - Giancarlo Stanton hit his major league-leading 45th home run and Adam Conley struck out a career-high 11, leading Miami over New York.
Stanton connected for a three-run shot off Jacob deGrom (13-7) as the Marlins scored four times in the seventh inning for a 6-1 lead.
Conley (6-5) allowed one run and three hits in seven innings. Brad Ziegler pitched the ninth for his sixth save.
Yoenis Cespedes homered and hit an RBI double for the Mets, who have lost six of nine. They fell to 6-15 on Sundays this season, including 2-9 at Citi Field.
RED SOX 5, YANKEES 1
BOSTON (AP) - Jackie Bradley Jr. tripled in two runs and singled home another, and Rick Porcello pitched six innings of a combined three-hitter to help AL East-leading Boston extend its margin over New York to five games.
The Red Sox won for the 14th time in 17 games, taking two of three from New York for the second weekend in a row. The archrivals meet again in the first week of September for a four-game series at Yankee Stadium.
Porcello (8-14) allowed all three New York hits and won his fourth straight start. Three relievers provided a perfect inning apiece.
Sonny Gray (7-8) gave up two runs in five innings and failed to strike out a batter for the first time in his career. He lost for the fourth time in five starts and fell to 1-6 in nine road starts this season.
RAYS 3, MARINERS 0
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Blake Snell allowed only two hits in seven innings for his second consecutive win following a long drought, and Tampa Bay blanked Seattle.
Kevin Kiermaier hit a leadoff homer and Adeiny Hechavarria had a two-run shot for the Rays, who snapped a four-game skid and won for the first time in six tries against the Mariners this season.
Snell (2-6) ended a streak of 16 winless starts with a victory Tuesday at Toronto. This time, the left-hander retired 12 straight during one stretch. He gave up just a leadoff single to Nelson Cruz in the second inning and another single to Robinson Cano in the eighth.
Snell struck out eight and walked two, winning consecutive starts for the first time in his career. Alex Colome earned his 36th save.
Yovani Gallardo (5-9) gave up three runs and five hits in 6 1/3 innings.
ANGELS 5, ORIOLES 4
BALTIMORE (AP) - Pinch-hitter Cameron Maybin singled home the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning, Kole Calhoun and Andrelton Simmons homered and the surging Los Angeles Angels beat Baltimore.
The Angels took advantage of nine walks to win the deciding matchup of a three-game series in which they hit 11 home runs. Los Angeles has won nine of 11 to move four games over .500 (64-60) for the first time since April 11.
Maybin missed the first two games of the series with a sore knee and was in a 5-for-27 funk since coming off the disabled list Aug. 7.
Cam Bedrosian (3-2) worked a hitless inning and Bud Norris got three outs for his 19th save.
Brad Brach (3-4) took the loss. Chris Davis homered for the Orioles, who have lost eight of 12.
BRAVES 8, REDS 1
ATLANTA (AP) - Tyler Flowers’ grand slam broke open a close game in Atlanta’s six-run fifth inning, Sean Newcomb earned his first home win and the Braves beat Cincinnati.
Newcomb (2-7) allowed five hits in five scoreless innings for his first victory since June 27 at San Diego. The rookie left-hander improved to 1-6 in eight starts at SunTrust Park.
The Braves led 2-0 before the big fifth against Reds reliever Drew Storen. Brandon Phillips and Freddie Freeman each had three hits for Atlanta.
The Reds were denied their first series sweep in Atlanta since 2009. Storen gave up six runs while getting only two outs.
Luis Castillo (2-6) gave up two runs in four innings. It was the shortest of the rookie’s 12 starts with the Reds.
ROYALS 7, INDIANS 4
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Cheslor Cuthbert homered and drove in three runs, Alcides Escobar also had three RBIs and Kansas City defeated Cleveland to avoid a three-game sweep.
Cam Gallagher also drove in a run for the Royals, who finally got their bats going after scoring just once in the first two games of the series. Kansas City piled up 12 hits and six runs off starter Danny Salazar (5-6), and finished with 15 hits for the day.
Jason Hammel (6-9) allowed three runs in six innings to win for the second time since June 19.
Francisco Lindor homered for the Indians, who finished 8-3 on their four-city road trip.
TWINS 12, DIAMONDBACKS 5
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Eddie Rosario hit a grand slam in a nine-run first inning and Minnesota routed Arizona to complete a three-game sweep.
Bartolo Colon (5-10) allowed four runs over six innings for his third win in five decisions since being signed by the Twins. The 44-year-old righty became the 18th pitcher in major league history to defeat all 30 teams.
Arizona lefty T.J. McFarland, making his first start since July 2014, was chased after getting only one out and allowing run-scoring hits to Byron Buxton, Jorge Polanco, Max Kepler and Chris Gimenez. McFarland (4-5) was charged with seven earned runs, raising his ERA in August to 14.34.
The score was 5-0 when McFarland gave way to Braden Shipley, just called up from Triple-A Reno. Brian Dozier worked his second walk of the inning to load the bases for Rosario, who homered on an 0-2 pitch to make it 9-0. It was the third time in team history the Twins scored nine runs in the opening inning.
Gimenez and Dozier added solo homers in the fifth.
Minnesota won its fourth consecutive game overall and eighth straight against National League opponents. Arizona lost for the fifth time in six games. Before J.D. Martinez homered in the fourth, the Diamondbacks had allowed 25 unanswered runs in the series.
ATHLETICS 3, ASTROS 2
HOUSTON (AP) - Marcus Semien wound up with a Little League home run when Houston kept throwing the ball away, Jharel Cotton pitched well into the seventh inning and Oakland edged the Astros.
A day after the AL West-leading Astros turned six double plays, their defense quickly fell apart. Boog Powell led off the game with a single and Semien followed with a grounder in the hole that shortstop Alex Bregman threw into right field trying for a forceout at second base.
Semien, who was credited with an infield hit, never stopped running. The relay from right went to first baseman Marwin Gonzalez, and his throw to third skipped into left field, allowing Semien to score easily on the two errors.
The A’s got their other run in the sixth on a passed ball by Juan Centeno.
Cotton (6-10) yielded two runs in 6 2/3 innings for his first win since June 23. He came off the disabled list July 30 and had given up 21 runs and 28 hits in four games since his return.
Blake Treinen tossed two scoreless innings for his seventh save.
Brad Peacock (10-2) pitched into the sixth and took the loss.
CUBS 6, BLUE JAYS 5, 10 INNINGS
CHICAGO (AP) - Alex Avila capped Chicago’s three-run 10th inning with a two-run single, and the Cubs rallied past Toronto for a three-game sweep.
With two outs and the bases loaded, Avila lined a base hit into right field against Roberto Osuna (3-4). Ben Zobrist scored easily and Javier Baez slid in safely just ahead of the throw from Jose Bautista.
The improbable rally by the Cubs also included two batters reaching on swing-and-miss strikeouts, and Kyle Schwarber scoring on a wild pitch.
The Blue Jays grabbed the lead with two runs in the top of the inning on Kevin Pillar’s RBI single off Koji Uehara, and Norichika Aoki’s bases-loaded loaded walk against Justin Wilson (4-4).
Pillar also robbed Kris Bryant of extra bases with a spectacular leaping catch against the ivy-covered wall in center in the seventh.
Albert Almora Jr. hit a three-run double for NL Central-leading Chicago, which has won four of five.
Miguel Montero hit his second homer since the catcher was traded by the Cubs to Toronto.
WHITE SOX 3, RANGERS 2
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Miguel Gonzalez escaped early trouble and pitched six scoreless innings, leading Chicago over Texas.
The Rangers dropped 2½ games behind the Twins and Angels for the second AL wild card. They finished a 7-3 homestand, splitting the four-game series against the White Sox.
Gonzalez (7-10) pitched out of one-out, bases-loaded jams in both the second and third. After allowing singles to the first two batters in the fourth, he retired the last nine batters he faced.
Juan Minaya earned his second save, both in the last three games, despite giving up Rougned Odor’s two-run homer with two outs in the ninth.
Chicago scored all three of its runs in the fourth inning against A.J. Griffin (6-4). Tyler Saladino had a two-run double.
BREWERS 8, ROCKIES 4
DENVER (AP) - Jesus Aguilar homered twice, Chase Anderson won in his return from the disabled list and Milwaukee beat Colorado for its sixth victory in seven games.
Keon Broxton drove in two runs and Jonathan Villar added three hits as the Brewers remained two games behind first-place Chicago in the NL Central. They climbed within 2½ games of Arizona for the second NL wild card - and are just 3½ back of Colorado, which holds the league’s top wild card.
Anderson (7-2) allowed one run and two hits in five effective innings. He threw 73 pitches in his first start since straining his left oblique on June 28.
Corey Knebel got his 26th save.
Aguilar homered in the second off starter Kyle Freeland (11-8) and connected again in the seventh, a two-run shot off Tyler Chatwood.
One night earlier, Aguilar launched a pinch-hit homer against All-Star closer Greg Holland to put Milwaukee ahead with two outs in the ninth.
Mark Reynolds hit his 26th homer and drove in three runs for the Rockies.
NATIONALS 4, PADRES 1
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Gio Gonzalez allowed five singles and struck out eight as he almost got through the seventh inning to pitch Washington past San Diego.
The NL East-leading Nationals won three of four against the Padres.
Gonzalez (12-5) settled in after giving up an unearned run in the first. Sean Doolittle struck out the side in the ninth for his 11th save.
Daniel Murphy drove in two runs for the Nationals.
Padres rookie Dinelson Lamet (7-5) labored through 4 2/3 innings, allowing three runs and three hits while walking a season-high six and striking out eight.
PHILLIES 5, GIANTS 2
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Rookie slugger Rhys Hoskins homered again and Pedro Florimon contributed with his bat and arm, sending Philadelphia over San Francisco.
Hoskins connected for a solo drive in the ninth inning, giving him five home runs in his first 11 major league games.
Florimon hit a two-run single off Hunter Strickland (2-3) to cap a three-run eighth that made it 4-2. Florimon also had an RBI double off starter Madison Bumgarner in the second, then made a sparkling defensive play in left field to throw out Buster Posey at the plate in the bottom of the inning.
Adam Morgan (2-1) retired three batters to win, a day after throwing just one pitch and getting the victory.
Hector Neris pitched 1 1/3 innings for his 15th save. He struck out Pablo Sandoval with the bases loaded to end the eighth after hitting Posey in the back with a pitch, then fanned Denard Span with two on in the ninth to end it.
Bumgarner allowed one run and four hits in six innings. He stayed in despite taking a sharp line drive off his left shin in the second.
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