Will Benson crushed his first career home run in the bottom of the ninth, giving the Cincinnati Reds another stunning win over the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers, 8-6 on Wednesday night.
After TJ Hopkins drew a leadoff walk in a tie game, Benson sent a 2-2 cutter from Evan Phillips 420 feet deep into the right field bleachers. The long ball capped Benson’s 48th major league game over two seasons. Cincinnati topped Los Angeles 9-8 in the series opener on Tuesday by scoring three runs in the bottom of the ninth.
Alexis Diaz (2-1) pitched a perfect top of the ninth for the win. Phillips (1-2) faced two batters and retired none as the Dodgers lost their fourth straight. Mookie Betts launched his 42nd career leadoff homer, his 16th long ball of the season, to open the game.
Rookie sensation Elly De La Cruz again thrilled the home crowd with a tape-measure homer and a triple as the Reds won their third straight. The 458-foot blast was the fifth longest by a major league batter for his first homer in the Statcast era, dating back to 2015.
Rays 2, Twins 1
Randy Arozarena hit a walk-off homer leading off the bottom of the ninth inning to give Tampa Bay a victory over Minnesota in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Arozarena connected on an 0-1 splitter from Twins reliever Jhoan Duran (1-2), sending it over the fence in right field for his 12th homer of the season. Isaac Paredes also homered for Tampa Bay, which earned its fifth consecutive victory and improved to a majors-best 28-6 at home.
Minnesota managed just three hits in the contest, all singles. The Twins wasted a strong start by Pablo Lopez, who allowed just one run on five hits over seven innings. He walked one and struck out six in his 92-pitch outing.
Cardinals 1, Rangers 0
Alec Burleson broke a scoreless game with a home run in the eighth inning, which proved to be the only run scored as St. Louis defeated Texas in Arlington, Texas.
Burleson’s deep ball spoiled a terrific start by Rangers starter Jon Gray (6-2), who went the distance, allowing one run on four hits with a season-high 12 strikeouts over nine innings.
St. Louis starter Jack Flaherty threw six shutout innings, scattering three hits and five walks with eight strikeouts. The visitors’ bullpen delivered, too. Jordan Hicks (1-3) earned the win, Giovanny Gallegos pitched a perfect eighth and Ryan Helsley earned his seventh save with a 1-2-3 ninth.
Athletics 9, Pirates 5
Ryan Noda homered and visiting Oakland scored seven runs in the first inning to top Pittsburgh in the rubber match of a three-game series.
Jace Peterson added a two-run double, Brent Rooker had two RBIs and Jonah Bride and JJ Bleday each hit an RBI single for the A’s, who won back-to-back games for the third time this season. Oakland starter Hogan Harris (1-0), making his first major league start, allowed three runs in five innings.
Rodolfo Castro homered and hit a two-run double for the Pirates. Pittsburgh starter Roansy Contreras (3-5) got rocked for seven runs, six hits and two walks while recording just one out, a strikeout.
Padres 10, Mariners 3
Juan Soto had the first five-hit game of his career and drove in four runs and Gary Sanchez hit a three-run homer as San Diego cruised to a victory over visiting Seattle to split a two-game interleague series.
Soto went 5-for-5 with four singles and a double. Sanchez scored the Padres’ first run in the second before upping the lead to 4-0 an inning later with his fourth homer in the last eight games. Padres right-hander Michael Wacha gave up two hits and a walk with seven strikeouts in six scoreless innings to improve to 6-2.
Meanwhile, Seattle right-hander George Kirby (5-5), who entered the game with a 3.04 ERA, gave up five runs on a career-high 11 hits in just 3 2/3 innings. He didn’t issue a walk and had three strikeouts.
Marlins 6, Royals 1
Jesus Sanchez blasted a 445-foot homer and drove in four runs to lead host Miami past Kansas City for its sixth straight win.
Marlins second baseman Luis Arraez, who leads the majors with a .403 batting average, went 2-for-4. He has five consecutive multi-hit games. Edward Cabrera (5-4) earned the win despite leaving after five innings due to a blister. He allowed one run.
Royals starter Jordan Lyles (0-10) allowed five runs and six hits in seven-plus innings.
Diamondbacks 6, Nationals 2
Corbin Carroll had four hits, including a two-run homer, and Zach Davies pitched into the seventh inning as Arizona defeated host Washington.
Emmanuel Rivera added three hits and two RBIs for the Diamondbacks, who have won eight of their last 10 games. Ketel Marte had three hits and Carroll scored three runs. Davies (1-1) went 6 2/3 innings, giving up two runs on five hits. He struck out eight and walked one.
Joey Meneses and Dominic Smith had two hits apiece for Washington, which has lost four in a row. Patrick Corbin (4-6) made it through six innings while allowing three runs on 11 hits. He walked one and struck out four.
Blue Jays 3, Astros 2
Chris Bassitt pitched eight strong innings, pinch hitter Alejandro Kirk hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the seventh and Toronto defeated visiting Houston.
Bo Bichette and Brandon Belt hit solo home runs for the Blue Jays, who have won two straight. Bassitt (7-4), who was coming off consecutive rough outings, allowed two runs and four hits. The right-hander struck out five and didn’t issue a walk.
Yordan Alvarez hit a two-run home run for the Astros. Houston right-hander Ronel Blanco gave up two runs, three hits and four walks in six innings. He struck out five in his second career start.
Guardians 5, Red Sox 2
Amed Rosario had three hits, scored twice and drove in a run in his return to the starting lineup as Cleveland evened its three-game series against visiting Boston.
Josh Naylor went 3-for-4 with an RBI and Josh Bell drove in two runs for Cleveland, which outhit the Red Sox 10-5 and bounced back from a 5-4 loss in the series opener. Tanner Bibee (2-1) allowed two runs (one earned) over five innings for the win.
Boston, which finished 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position, claimed an early lead on Rafael Devers’ run-scoring single with one out in the first inning. Kutter Crawford (1-3) gave up three runs (two earned) on five hits with three strikeouts over three-plus innings.
Braves 7, Mets 5
Michael Harris II slammed a tiebreaking, two-run homer to straightaway center field in the eighth inning, leading Atlanta to a win over visiting New York.
Harris, last year’s National League Rookie of the Year, emerged from a slump to go 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs. The winning pitcher was Nick Anderson (4-0), who tossed a scoreless eighth. A.J. Minter earned his eighth save with a perfect ninth.
Brooks Raley (1-1), who allowed a double to Marcell Ozuna ahead of the Harris homer, was charged with the loss. The Mets’ lineup took a blow in the first inning when Pete Alonso, the major league leader in home runs, had to leave the game after being hit in the left wrist by a Charlie Morton pitch. X-rays came back negative.
Brewers 10, Orioles 2
Joey Wiemer went 4-for-4, homered twice and drove in five runs and Corbin Burnes pitched eight scoreless innings to power Milwaukee to a rout of visiting Baltimore.
Willy Adames also homered for the Brewers. Burnes (5-4) allowed just two hits and no walks while striking out a season-high nine.
Orioles starter Dean Kremer (6-3) gave up nine hits and six runs in five innings. Baltimore ended the Brewers’ shutout bid with two runs in the ninth.
Giants 5, Rockies 4
Austin Slater and LaMonte Wade Jr. had two hits each, and San Francisco came back from down 4-0 to beat Colorado in Denver.
Taylor Rogers (2-2) pitched an inning of relief and Camilo Doval earned his 15th save for the Giants, who have won 10 straight against Colorado. San Francisco starter Logan Webb Webb gave up four runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out three.
Nolan Jones homered among his two hits and Ezequiel Tovar also had two hits for the Rockies. Colorado starter Connor Seabold allowed two runs on two hits, walked two and struck out four in six-plus innings.
–Field Level Media
