WASHINGTON (AP) - Giancarlo Stanton tied a major league record with his 18th home run in August, but Anthony Rendon had four RBIs and the Washington Nationals beat the Miami Marlins 8-3 on Tuesday night.
Stanton hit a long homer in the first inning off Edwin Jackson (5-3), his 51st this season, to open the scoring following a 26-minute rain delay. His August output matched the mark set by Rudy York with the Detroit Tigers in 1937. Sammy Sosa set the record for homers in a month when he hit 20 in June 1998, and Stanton has two games left this month to catch the former Cubs slugger.
Stanton added an RBI with a deep sacrifice fly in the fifth inning.
Rendon’s three-run double in the seventh came after Washington’s bullpen thwarted a rally earlier in the inning. Daniel Murphy also had a two-run single.
The Nationals, 16-7 since Aug. 6, had five runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings against Vance Worley (2-4).
RED SOX 3, BLUE JAYS 0
TORONTO (AP) - Chris Sale and two relievers combined on a four-hitter, Hanley Ramirez hit a solo home run and Boston beat Toronto.
Sale (15-6) fanned 11 in his major league-best 17th double-digit strikeout game, raising his league-leading total to 264. His 15 wins lead the AL.
Sale, who matched a season-worst by allowing seven runs in his previous outing, pitched seven innings. The left-hander has not allowed a run in 22 innings against the Blue Jays this season.
Craig Kimbrel finished for his 31st save in 35 chances.
Promoted from Triple-A Buffalo to make his first start for the Blue Jays, left-hander Brett Anderson (2-3) allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings.
ORIOLES 4, MARINERS 0
BALTIMORE (AP) - Dylan Bundy threw a one-hitter for his first career shutout, Manny Machado hit two of Baltimore’s four solo homers, and the Orioles extended their winning streak to six games.
Bundy (13-8) allowed just a bunt single to Kyle Seager in the fourth inning and set a career high with 12 strikeouts. The right-hander has a 2.00 ERA in August and has struck out 10 or more in three of his last four starts.
Jonathan Schoop and Welington Castillo also went deep for the Orioles, who moved two games over .500 for the first time since June 10.
Schoop collected his 29th homer of the season and 500th career hit with a solo shot in the first off Erasmo Ramirez (5-5).
ROYALS 6, RAYS 2
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Whit Merrifield, Jorge Bonifacio and Eric Hosmer homered as Kansas City snapped a 45-inning scoreless streak on the way to a victory over Tampa Bay.
Merrifield’s 16th home run with two outs in the third ended the Royals’ drought, three innings shy of the major league record. The 1906 Philadelphia Athletics and 1968 Chicago Cubs share the mark with 48 scoreless innings.
Bonifacio homered with two outs in the sixth off Alex Cobb (9-9).
Cobb gave up a run on three singles and three wild pitches in the fourth. Hosmer scored on Mike Moustakas’ single, but the Royals stranded runners at second and third.
Royals rookie Jake Junis (6-2) did not allow a hit until a one-out single in the fifth.
CUBS 4, PIRATES 1
CHICAGO (AP) - Jake Arrieta continued his dominant second half with six innings of two-hit ball, Ben Zobrist homered and Chicago beat Pittsburgh.
Anthony Rizzo went 3 for 4 with an RBI, Alex Avila had an RBI single and Jason Heyward added a sacrifice fly for NL Central-leading Chicago.
Arrieta (14-8) struck out four and retired the last seven batters he faced, leaving after 97 pitches with a 3-0 lead. He hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs in any of his nine starts since the All-Star break, going 6-1 with a 1.59 ERA during that span.
Wade Davis got the final three outs for his 27th save in 27 chances to establish a new Cubs record for consecutive saves opportunities converted.
Chad Kuhl (6-10) allowed three runs in 5 1/3 innings.
CARDINALS 10, BREWERS 2
MILWAUKEE (AP) - Matt Carpenter hit a two-run homer and Luke Voit drove in four runs, backing Luke Weaver’s 10-strikeout night in a 10-2 win Tuesday over the Milwaukee Brewers.
Carpenter’s shot to right in the fifth had added importance for the third baseman after he had pledged $10,000 for every home run that he hit the rest of the season to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. The Galveston, Texas native looked up and pointed two fingers toward the night sky as he touched the plate to extend the Cardinals’ lead to 9-1.
St. Louis chased Matt Garza (6-8) with one out in the fourth. The right-hander walked five and allowed six runs, though only three were earned after the Brewers committed two errors in the third.
The loss dropped the second-place Brewers to 3 1/2 games back of the NL Central-leading Cubs, who won on Tuesday.
RANGERS 12, ASTROS 2
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Shin-Soo Choo homered and drove in four runs, helping Texas rout Houston in the opener of a series relocated to Florida due to flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey.
Adrian Beltre of the Rangers drove in three runs to pass Hall of Famer Ernie Banks for 28th on the career RBI list with 1,637, and Joey Gallo hit a two-run homer off Mike Fiers (8-9) before an announced crowd of 3,485 at Tropicana Field, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays.
The three-game series that concludes Thursday was moved from Minute Maid Park because of flooding in the Houston area, with the Astros serving as the home team after the Rangers declined a proposal to play the games in Arlington, Texas.
It’s only the fourth time in major league history that games have been relocated to neutral sites because of weather.
Martin Perez (10-10) pitched seven strong innings for the Rangers.
TWINS 6, WHITE SOX 4
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Jorge Polanco homered twice and Ervin Santana struck out seven while pitching into the seventh inning, leading Minnesota past Chicago.
Eduardo Escobar drove in two runs for the Twins, who started the day with a one-game lead over the Los Angeles Angels in the crowded race for the second AL wild card. Santana (14-7) matched his highest total for wins since he was a 17-game winner 2010 with the Angels.
Matt Belisle pitched the ninth for his fifth save. James Shields (2-5) has not won for the White Sox in 10 starts.
DIAMODNBACKS 7, DODGERS 6
PHOENIX (AP) - A.J. Pollock hit a two-run homer and Arizona roughed up Rich Hill in his follow-up to a near no-hitter.
Hill (9-6) pitched nine no-hit innings against Pittsburgh on Wednesday, losing the no-hitter and the game on Josh Harrison’s walk-off homer in the 10th.
The Diamondbacks scored 11 runs to complete a three-game sweep of San Francisco on Sunday and kept hitting after a day off, knocking around Hill in a five-run first inning.
Paul Goldschmidt homered and Fernando Rodney allowed a run-scoring single by Chris Taylor in the ninth before closing out his 33rd save. The wild card-leading Diamondbacks have won five straight.
Taylor hit a two-run homer and Yasiel Puig a solo shot off Zack Godley (6-7) for the NL West-leading Dodgers, who have lost three in a row for the first time since early June.
ROCKIES 7, TIGERS 3
DENVER (AP) - Nolan Arenado capped a four-run seventh inning with his 30th homer, and Colorado beat Detroit.
Arenado’s three-run shot broke open a close game and helped the Rockies win for the fourth time in six tries. Colorado increased its lead to four games over Milwaukee for the second NL wild card.
Colorado went ahead 4-3 on singles by Jonathan Lucroy and Trevor Story, and a sacrifice fly by pinch-hitter Carlos Gonzalez off starter Michael Fulmer (10-12).
Charlie Blackmon reached on a fielder’s choice. Warwick Saupold walked DJ LeMahieu, and Arenado followed with his three-run drive to reach 30 homers for the third straight season. He leads the majors with 111 RBIs.
Rockies starter German Marquez tied a career high with 10 strikeouts before leaving with one out in the seventh. Pat Neshek (2-1) got the last two outs of the inning.
ANGELS 8, ATHLETICS 2
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - C.J. Cron hit two homers, including a three-run drive in the first inning, and Los Angeles beat Oakland.
Ben Revere had two RBIs for the Angels, who have won three of four and are one game behind Minnesota for the second AL wild card.
Cron drove a three-run homer off Chris Smith (0-4) in the first inning and also had a solo shot in the eighth.
Jesse Chavez (7-10) threw four scoreless relief innings.
REDS 14, METS 4
CINCINNATI (AP) - Scott Schebler hit his first career grand slam, and Cincinnati ended its 14-game losing streak against New York.
The Reds hadn’t beaten the Mets since Sept. 6, 2014. They’d dropped their last eight to New York at Great American Ball Park, where the Mets are 30-16 all-time - the best winning percentage by any NL team.
Cincinnati put it away with a seven-run eighth inning that featured Adam Duvall’s three-run homer. Mets catcher Kevin Plawecki made his second appearance on the mound this season and induced a double-play grounder.
Reds rookie Sal Romano (4-5) made his third straight solid start, allowing three runs and six hits in six innings.
Schebler homered in the first off rookie Chris Flexen (3-3).
PADRES 6, GIANTS 3
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Manuel Margot and Jabari Blash homered to back Luis Perdomo’s six innings of solid pitching as San Diego beat San Francisco.
Perdomo (7-8) settled in after his pitch count climbed as he wiggled from jams in the first two innings. Brad Hand handled the ninth for his 13th save.
Matt Moore (4-13) was charged with five runs and eight hits, with a walk and a hit batter. He struck out two.
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