BOSTON (AP) - Mookie Betts homered on the second pitch in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Boston Red Sox a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.
Betts’ first career game-ending homer capped a wild last few innings. The Twins rallied from a 2-1 deficit to take a one-run lead in the top of the ninth. Rafael Devers hit a leadoff homer in the bottom of the inning to force extras. Betts drove Matt Belisle’s first pitch of the night over the Green Monster setting off a celebration to end a hot, muggy night at Fenway Park.
Betts’ teammates cooled him off by dousing him with a cooler full of ice water when the All-Start right fielder stepped out of the dugout for a curtain call.
Belisle (1-1) faced only Betts, who ended it with his 25th homer of the season. Tyler Thornburg (1-0) held the Twins scoreless in the 10th after Craig Kimbrel blew a shot at his 33rd save in the ninth.
Eddie Rosario hit a two-run double with two outs in the ninth to give Minnesota its first lead.
Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a two-run homer in the fifth for Boston and Chris Sale struck out 10 over six scoreless innings.
DODGERS 4, BRAVES 1
ATLANTA (AP) - Clayton Kershaw pitched 7 2/3 strong innings, added a two-run single and reached four times, helping Los Angeles beat Atlanta.
Kershaw (4-5) allowed one run and six hits and striking out eight. The three-time Cy Young Award winner and 2014 NL MVP is 4-0 with a 1.43 ERA in 10 career starts against the Braves.
He surprised the capacity crowd at SunTrust Park by doubling down the left-field line to put Los Angeles up 4-1 in the fourth. The inside-out swing that scored Matt Kemp and Chris Taylor didn’t draw too loud of a reaction from the fans, but they had seen enough in the eighth when Kershaw walked for the third time. Kenley Jansen got the last four outs to earn his 30th save
Los Angeles has won two straight, improving its NL-best road record to 30-22. The Dodgers are 32-16 overall since June 1, tops in the NL over that span.
Alex Verdugo and Yasmani Grandal homered off Mike Foltynewicz (7-7).
PIRATES 5, METS 4
PITTSBURGH (AP) - David Freese drove in five runs, including an RBI single in the ninth inning that lifted Pittsburgh past New York.
Freese homered in going 3 for 3 with two walks, helping the Pirates win for the 12th time in 14 games.
The Mets had won three in a row. They beat the Pirates 12-6 on Thursday night behind Asdrubal Cabrera’s homer and two doubles - and Cabrera was traded to Philadelphia on Friday.
Josh Harrison led off the Pittsburgh ninth with an infield single against rookie reliever Tim Peterson (2-2). A single by Gregory Polanco put runners at the corner and Elias Diaz was intentionally walked to load the bases. Freese hit a drive over center fielder Brandon Nimmo for the win.
Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez (4-2) got the win after striking out two in a scoreless ninth.
RANGERS 11, ASTROS 2
HOUSTON (AP) - Robinson Chirinos hit a two-run homer, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Jurickson Profar added solo shots and Texas routed Houston.
Texas snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Astros and ended a four-game skid overall.
Texas starter Yovani Gallardo (5-1) allowed two hits while walking four in 5 1-3 scoreless innings for his second straight win. Dallas Keuchel (8-9) was the loser.
Evan Gattis hit his 20th homer for Houston.
Houston played without reigning American League MVP Jose Altuve, who sat out after leaving Wednesday’s game with a sore right knee.
CARDINALS 5, CUBS 2
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Paul DeJong had three hits and three RBIs, Yadier Molina also had three hits and drove in a run, and St. Louis beat Chicago before a season-high crowd of 47,169 at Busch Stadium.
DeJong’s RBI triple, just the sixth for the Cardinals this season, tied it at 1 in the third, and Jose Martinez followed with an RBI single to give St. Louis the lead.
DeJong added a two-run single in the fourth.
Cardinals starter Luke Weaver (6-9) gave up two runs in six innings. Mike Mayers and Jordan Hicks pitched perfect innings of relief and Bud Norris earned his 20th save.
Mike Montgomery (3-4) allowed five runs and 12 hits in five innings.
Anthony Rizzo’s 427-foot homer gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead in the third. Javier Baez added another solo blast, reaching the 20-homer mark for the second consecutive season, in the sixth.
NATIONALS 9, MARLINS 1
MIAMI (AP) - Max Scherzer allowed one unearned run and struck out 11 in eight innings on his 34th birthday, and Washington beat Miami.
Juan Soto homered, tripled and had three RBIs, Matt Adams had three hits and two RBIs and Bryce Harper drove in two. Washington beat Florida for the 16th time in 17 games, including eight straight in Miami.
Scherzer (14-5) allowed three hits and did not walk a batter while throwing 74 of his 106 pitches for strikes. He lowered his ERA to 2.30 and reached the 200-strikeout mark for the seventh consecutive season, tying Roger Clemens and Walter Johnson for the second-longest streak in major league history.
Pablo Lopez (2-2) was the loser.
BLUE JAYS 10, WHITE SOX 5
CHICAGO (AP) - Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit two of Toronto’s five home runs, Curtis Granderson led off the game with a homer and the Blue Jays beat Chicago.
Gurriel followed Granderson’s blast by hitting the next pitch into the left-field seats. He added another solo shot in the fourth and a double in the eighth and had his ninth straight multihit game.
Randal Grichuk added a two-run homer and Kendrys Morales also connected for the Blue Jays in the opener of a 10-game trip. The Blue Jays tagged White Sox starter Reynaldo Lopez (4-9) for all five homers.
The five home runs allowed by Lopez were one short of a modern day record.
Marcus Stroman (4-7) - who was also the starter when Jose Bautista and Josh Donaldson last started a Blue Jays game with back-to-back homers in 2016 - pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits.
REDS 6, PHILLIES 4
CINCINNATI (AP) - Mason Williams hit a three-run homer to snap a 2-2 tie in the fourth inning, and Cincinnati’s bullpen made it stand up against Philadelphia.
Eugenio Suarez added a solo shot and right-hander David Hernandez (4-0) turned in 2 1/3 innings of scoreless emergency relief to help the Reds, the NL Central’s last-place team, snap East Division-leading Philadelphia’s three-game winning streak.
Suarez led off the second against Nick Piveta (6-9) with his 24th homer. Suarez has homered in five straight games, tying a franchise record.
Jared Hughes got two outs with a walk in the eighth, and Raisel Iglesias gave up an unearned run before getting Rhys Hoskins to ground into a fielder’s choice for his 20th save.
INDIANS 8, TIGERS 3
DETROIT (AP) - Francisco Lindor hit two of Cleveland’s four home runs, and the Indians broke through in the final two innings to beat Detroit.
Yonder Alonso and Brandon Guyer also went deep to help AL Central-leading Indians improve to 29-13 against division opponents. Cleveland scored four runs in the eighth on a tiebreaking single by Alonso and a three-run homer by Guyer.
Victor Martinez hit a solo shot for the Tigers, but All-Star Joe Jimenez (4-2) couldn’t hold off the Indians in the eighth. Cody Allen (3-4) won in relief.
ORIOLES 15, RAYS 5
BALTIMORE (AP) - Adam Jones hit a three-run homer, Jonathan Schoop connected in a fifth consecutive game and Baltimore beat Chris Archer and Tampa Bay.
The rebuilding Orioles are looking to deal Jones before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, and he put on quite a show for any potential suitor. Jones hit an RBI single in the first inning, singled and scored in the fourth and homered off Austin Pruitt in an eight-run seventh.
Archer (3-5) allowed seven hits and three runs in six innings. Because Archer’s name has cropped up in trade rumors, there was speculation this could be his final start with Tampa Bay.
Andrew Cashner (3-9) gave up two runs in six innings to earn his first win in 10 starts since May 21. It was his first victory in 13 career starts at Camden Yards, including 11 this season.
ROCKIES 3, ATHLETICS 1
DENVER (AP) - Kyle Freeland threw six shutout innings, Nolan Arenado homered and Colorado cooled off Oakland.
Freeland (9-6) allowed five hits while striking out five, walking three and hitting a batter. Colorado’s starting pitching is 6-0 with a 1.65 ERA at Coors Field in July.
Ian Desmond and Garrett Hampson also drove in runs to help the Rockies win for the 14th time in 19 this month. Adam Ottavino threw a spotless ninth for his fourth save of the year.
Sean Manaea (9-7) allowed three runs on nine hits for the A’s. They had their season high-tying, six-game winning streak snapped.
ANGELS 4, MARINERS 3, 10 INNINGS
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Kole Calhoun homered on the first pitch of the bottom of the 10th inning, giving Los Angeles a victory over Seattle.
Calhoun finished with three RBIs, including his 12th home run of the season off Mariners reliever Juan Nicasio (1-5).
The Mariners were unsuccessful in trying to take the lead in the top of 10th, when Dee Gordon attempted to steal home on the back end of a double-steal with Jean Segura.
Segura broke for second base on a pitch from Angels reliever Jim Johnson (3-2). Gordon then broke for home with Angels second baseman Ian Kinsler firing a return throw to catcher Jose Briceno. Gordon was initially ruled safe by home plate umpire Kerwin Danley, but the call was overturned via replay.
BREWERS 3, GIANTS 1
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Ryan Braun hit an RBI single and drove in two runs to back Chase Anderson’s first victory in nearly a month, leading Milwaukee to another late rally and a win over San Francisco.
Joakim Soria pitched the seventh in his Milwaukee debut a day after being acquired in a trade from the White Sox. Soria came in to pitch the seventh with his team up 2-1 and immediately retired Brandon Crawford on a groundout. Following a walk to Evan Longoria, Soria induced Pablo Sandoval’s inning-ending double play.
Anderson (7-7) allowed one run on four hits in six innings with three strikeouts and no walks. He earned his first win in five July starts since beating the Reds on June 29 and Corey Knebel saved his second straight game for 14 on the year.
Madison Bumgarner (3-4) struck out five and walked one in eight strong innings but didn’t get enough support.
DIAMONDBACKS 6, PADRES 2
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Zack Greinke won his seventh straight decision by holding San Diego to three hits in seven innings, and Steven Souza Jr. had the big hit in the six-run third that carried Arizona.
The only big mistake by Greinke (12-5) was allowing Manuel Margot’s home run with one out in the second, his fourth. He allowed consecutive singles opening the fifth before retiring the side. He struck out six and walked none.
Greinke hasn’t lost since June 13 against Pittsburgh. He didn’t factor into the decision on July 8, when the Diamondbacks lost 4-3 in 16 innings against the Padres.
San Diego’s Luis Perdomo (1-6) continued to struggle. He allowed six runs on six hits and two walks in the third and got just one out before being lifted for Robbie Erlin. Besides Souza’s two-run double, Jon Jay, A.J. Pollock, Ketel Marte and Nick Ahmed also drove in runs.
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