ST. LOUIS (AP) — Josh Palacios hit a pinch hit home run off Drew VerHagen in the top of the ninth inning to help the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-6 for their fifth straight win.
VerHagen (4-1) entered the game with one out in the ninth inning and hit Andrew McCutchen before Palacios, pinch hitting for Connor Joe, hit a 3-1 pitch into the right field seats for his seventh home run of the season.
Jordan Walker, Lars Nootbaar and Tyler O’Neill all homered for the Cardinals.
Cody Bolton (1-0) pitched a perfect eighth inning for his first major league win, and David Bednar surrendered a single to Tommy Edman and hit Walker with a pitch before retiring Masyn Winn, Nootbaar and Paul Goldschmidt for his 31st save.
ATHLETICS 2, ANGELS 1
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Brent Rooker hit his team-leading 23rd home run, Paul Blackburn pitched five innings for his second victory in six starts, and last-place Oakland beat Shohei Ohtani and Los Angeles.
Blackburn (4-4) allowed four hits and one run with four strikeouts, raising his season total to a career-high 90. Five relievers followed Blackburn and combined for four innings of two-hit ball, with Trevor May getting the final three outs for his 16th save.
Mike Moustakas had two hits for the Angels while Luis Rengifo extended his hitting streak to 10 games, matching his career high. Northern California native Kyren Paris got his first major league hit, a day after making his debut with Los Angeles.
Ohtani, the two-way Japanese star facing a possible second Tommy John surgery, leads the majors with 44 home runs but went 0 for 2 with three walks — two intentional.
Griffin Canning (7-5) struck out seven but allowed four hits and two runs in six innings for the Angels.
GUARDIANS 7, RAYS 6, 11 INNINGS
CLEVELAND (AP) — Steven Kwan hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Bo Naylor with the winning run after Jose Tena tied the score with a single in the 11th inning to lift Cleveland.
Rays center fielder Jose Siri had an opportunity to cut down Naylor at the plate but his throw sailed wide and Chris Devenski (3-3) took the loss in his first appearance with the team.
Tampa Bay, which has a commanding lead atop the AL wild-card standings, lost for just the third time in its last 11 games. The Rays trail Baltimore by two games in the East.
Brandon Lowe gave Tampa Bay a 6-5 lead in the top of the 11th with a sacrifice fly off Sam Hentges (3-2).
Cleveland has won four in a row and moved within 4 1/2 games of first-place Minnesota in the AL Central.
Kwan forced extra innings with a two-out single in the ninth off closer Pete Fairbanks, scoring Myles Straw.
REDS 2, CUBS 1
CINCINNATI (AP) — Elly De La Cruz hit a tying single and newcomer Hunter Renfroe beat out a double-play ball to drive in the winner as Cincinnati rallied past Chicago with two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning for the second straight night.
In a matchup of National League playoff contenders, Javier Assad pitched a season-high eight shutout innings and Jeimer Candelario launched his career-best 20th homer to help the Cubs take a 1-0 lead into the ninth.
Jake Fraley led off with a double and the Reds loaded the bases against Mark Leiter Jr. (1-3) with nobody out before scoring twice to win it.
Sam Moll (1-3) worked a hitless inning for the victory.
In the second game of Friday’s doubleheader, the Reds erased a 2-1 deficit in the ninth against Cubs closer Adbert Alzolay to earn a split.
BREWERS 7, PHILLIES 5
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Carlos Santana had a two-run homer, Mark Canha doubled twice and Milwaukee withstood a late comeback attempt to beat Philadelphia.
The Phillies lost their third straight even though Trea Turner tied a franchise record by homering in a fifth consecutive game. Kyle Schwarber led off the game with a homer for the second straight night and J.T. Realmuto also went deep.
The Phillies had runners on third and second in the ninth when Devin Williams struck out Turner swinging at a 3-2 pitch to end the game and earn his 32nd save in 36 opportunities.
Milwaukee’s William Contreras, Brice Turang and Andruw Monasterio had two hits each as the Brewers extended their NL Central lead to 4 1/2 games over the Chicago Cubs.
Andrew Chafin (3-3) earned the win with one inning of scoreless relief.
Aaron Nola (12-9) allowed seven earned runs – a season high and one off his career high – and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out five and walked three.
RED SOX 9, ROYALS 5
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Triston Casas hit a two-run homer and Alex Verdugo finished a homer short of hitting for the cycle as Boston beat Kansas City.
Six Boston batters drove in a run and all but one Red Sox starter had a hit. Boston snapped a five-game skid with the win after allowing four runs for the 12th time in 13 games.
Tanner Houck (4-8) worked five innings and allowed four runs and seven hits while walking one and striking out five.
Royals starter Alec March (0-8) was knocked out of the game early after allowing six runs on seven hits. He walked two and struck out one in 2 ⅔ innings.
Kansas City has lost 11 of its last 13 games.
MARLINS 11, NATIONALS 5
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jake Burger hit two of Miami’s four home runs, Johnny Cueto struck out four in his return from a viral infection and the Marlins won their third straight.
Jesús Sánchez and Bryan De La Cruz each hit a three-run home run off Washington starter Trevor Williams (6-9). Burger’s two gave him 30 homers this season and five since arriving in a trade Aug. 1 from the Chicago White Sox.
Cueto (1-3) allowed two solo home runs in five-plus innings, including one to Lane Thomas in the sixth that ended his afternoon after allowing three earned runs on 77 pitches.
De La Cruz and NL-batting leader Luis Arraez each went 4 for 5. Arraez, making a rare start at first base, picked up his first four-hit game since July 15 to raise his average to .355.
TIGERS 10, WHITE SOX 0
CHICAGO (AP) — Andre Lipcius’ first hit in the major leagues was a two-run homer in a four-run first inning, Miguel Cabrera had four hits and three RBIs and rookie Reese Olson pitched seven scoreless innings as Detroit routed Chicago.
Spencer Torkelson went 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles, two RBIs and two runs scored. Kerry Carpenter and Akil Baddoo added three hits apiece as Detroit pounded out 18 total hits in its third straight win.
Olson (3-6) struck out one and allowed just four singles to listless Chicago in his longest of 15 starts this season.
Mike Clevinger (6-7) took the loss as the White Sox dropped their second straight after chairman Jerry Reinsdorf promoted Chris Getz to general manager on Thursday.
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