Boston (AP) — Boston’s Triston Casas homered in his first three at-bats and drove in seven runs on Sunday in the opener of a split doubleheader, carrying the Red Sox to an 8-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins.
Winning for just the eighth time in their last 22 games, the Red Sox are just 23-36 since the All-Star break.
With a chance at tying history, the 24-year-old Casas grounded out in his fourth at-bat. He never got up again.
Trying to earn one of the AL’s wild-card spots, the Twins have lost 12 of their last 18 games and are just 11-21 since Aug. 17 when they were 17 games over .500.
The record for homers in a game is four, and it’s been done 18 times in MLB history.
PIRATES 2, REDS 0
CINCINNATI (AP) — Paul Skenes struck out nine and pitched two-hit ball through five innings, leading Pittsburgh to a win over Cincinnati.
Skenes (11-3) recorded his 16th game with seven or more strikeouts, surpassing Larry McWilliams (1983) for seventh-most by a Pirates starter in a season. In three starts against the Reds, the 22-year-old right-hander has allowed one earned run with 25 strikeouts in 17 innings.
Skenes lowered his ERA to 1.99 on Sunday, the second-lowest through 22 career starts behind Steve Roger’s 1.95 ERA in 1973-74 with the Montreal Expos.
Oneil Cruz hit his 21st homer in the first inning and Nick Yorke’s first career homer off Fernando Cruz in the fifth inning gave the Pirates a two-run lead. Pittsburgh won by shutout for the 12th time this season.
TIGERS 4, ORIOLES 3
BALTIMORE (AP) — Kerry Carpenter homered twice, Parker Meadows made a home run-saving grab and surging Detroit moved into a tie for the second American League wild card with a victory over Baltimore.
Carpenter’s third multi-home run game of the season ensured the Tigers their first winning season since 2016 as Detroit (82-74) moved into a tie with Kansas City (82-74) and a half-game in front of Minnesota (81-74) for the final AL wild card spot.
The Twins — who own the head-to-head tiebreak — could pull even with the Tigers in the second game of their double-header in Boston later Sunday.
The Tigers have won 11 of their last 14.
Baltimore (86-70) lost its fifth consecutive series and fell 5 1/2 games behind New York (91-64) in the AL East race with six to play but are still four games ahead of Kansas City and Detroit for the top wild card spot.
RAYS 4, BLUE JAYS 3
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Jonathan Aranda homered in a third straight game and Tampa Bay beat Toronto to complete a three-game sweep.
Aranda gave the Rays a 2-1 lead on his two-run drive against Zach Pop in the sixth inning. Aranda has connected for six of his 10 career homers against the Blue Jays.
Pinch hitter Christopher Morel had an seventh-inning sacrifice fly off Génesis Cabrera (3-3) before Brandon Lowe’s solo homer in the eighth made it 4-2. Lowe has 20 homers this season.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. got the Blue Jays within 4-3 with a single for his third hit of the game in the ninth off Edwin Uceta, who recovered to get his fourth save.
Guerrero had consecutive three-hit games, has 21 of them this season and is hitting .327.
BRAVES 5, MARLINS 4
MIAMI (AP) — Michael Harris II tripled, singled and scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning and Atlanta beats Miami.
Gio Urshela and Ozzie Albies homered while Matt Olson had two hits and an RBI for the Braves (85-71), who began Sunday two games behind the New York Mets for the third NL wild card.
Jorge Soler’s infield single with the bases loaded against Declan Cronin (3-4) in the seventh scored Harris from third and put the Braves ahead.
Miami loaded the bases with no outs against Aaron Bummer in the bottom half when Otto López and Derek Hill singled and Nick Fortes reached on a sacrifice after Bummer threw to third on an unsuccessful force out attempt. Bummer struck out Xavier Edwards before Daysbel Hernández relieved and struck out Connor Norby and retired Jesús Sánchez on a lineout to right.
Braves closer Raisel Iglesias pitched the final two innings for his 32nd save. It was Iglesias’ sixth two-inning appearance of the season.
RANGERS 6, MARINERS 5
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Marcus Semien’s line single into the left field corner scored Leody Taveras as Texas rallied from a five-run deficit in a walk-off win over Seattle.
Taveras had tied the score at 5-all with a solo homer in the seventh inning and finished with three hits — all from the sixth inning onward.
The Mariners built a 5-0 lead on Dylan Moore’s RBI single in the second inning, Cal Raleigh’s solo home run in the third and a three-run sixth that included Victor Robles singling in two runs, stealing second base and scoring when a pickoff attempt led to two Texas errors.
The Rangers countered by cutting the deficit to one run in the sixth on an RBI single by Josh Smith and a three-run homer by Wyatt Langford off starter Bryan Woo.
The Mariners are two games out of the last AL wild-card spot with six games remaining. Seattle closes out the season with three games at Houston and hosting the Oakland Athletics.
BREWERS 10, DIAMONDBACKS 9
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jake Bauers drove in the go-ahead run with a pinch-hit infield single that capped a four-run eighth inning as Milwaukee overcame an eight-run deficit and avoided a series sweep, rallying for a win over Arizona.
The Brewers trailed 8-0 in the third before chipping away and tying that game at 9 by scoring three runs with two outs in the eighth inning. Jackson Chourio walked, took second on Blake Perkins’ single, and scored on Garrett Mitchell’s RBI single to make it 9-7. Justin Martinez (5-6) relieved and Rhys Hoskins tied it with a two-run single to left.
Willy Adames doubled and Hoskins advanced to third base before Bauers hit a run-scoring slow-rolling grounder for a single to the left side.
Jared Koenig (9-4) earned the win and the Brewers’ Devin Williams worked a scoreless ninth for his 13th save in 14 chances.
Milwaukee rallied within 8-4 with a run in the third, two in the fourth and an unearned run in the sixth. Milwaukee made it 8-6 in the seventh on RBI doubles by Hoskins and Adames.
CARDINALS 2, GUARDIANS 1
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Lars Nootbaar scored the go-ahead run from second base on a wild pitch and Andre Pallante allowed one hit in seven innings as St. Louis beat Cleveland.
Myles Straw’s single in the sixth inning was the only hit Pallante (8-8) allowed in seven innings. Pallante walked two and struck out three.
Andrew Kittredge pitched a scoreless eighth inning, and Ryan Helsley pitched the ninth to earn his major league leading 47th save, breaking a tie with Guardians reliever Emmanuel Clase.
Gavin Williams allowed one run on four hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings for the Guardians, who clinched the American League Central Division title Saturday night. Williams has received just 18 runs of support in 16 starts this season.
ANGELS 9, ASTROS 8
HOUSTON (AP) — Zach Neto hit two home runs and drove in six, and Los Angeles came from behind twice to beat Houston.
The Angels trailed 4-0 in the sixth before scoring two runs in back-to-back innings, and then took the lead in the eighth on a solo shot from Neto. The Astros responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning before the Angels had a four-run ninth.
Leading 9-6, Jose Quijada gave up a pair of RBI singles to Yainer Diaz and Victor Caratini, making it a one-run game. The Angels called on Guillo Zuniga to close it out. He struck out Jeremy Pena with the tying run on third base. It was Zuniga’s second save of the season. Brock Burke (2-1) got the win.
Houston (85-71) begins a three-game series with Seattle (80-76) on Monday and has a chance to clinch the AL West with a win in that series.
GIANTS 2, ROYALS 0
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Blake Snell struck out nine in six strong innings and San Francisco completed a three-game series sweep with a win over Kansas City.
Kansas City was shut out for the second straight game and lost its seventh straight. The Royals dropped into a tie with Detroit (82-74) in the race for an AL wild card. Minnesota is a half-game back of Kansas City and the Tigers, pending the outcome of its second game of a doubleheader against Boston.
Snell (5-3) allowed two singles and a walk and didn’t allow a runner past first base. In his last 14 starts, he is 5-0 with a 1.23 ERA and 114 strikeouts.
Royals’ batters were 1 for 13 when Snell threw a first-pitch strike. Opponents are hitting .121 this season when the 31-year-old left-hander gets ahead in the count.
The Associated Press
