Harper’s 300th homer not enough as Angels rally to beat Phillies 10-8
Philadelphia Phillies’ Bryce Harper reacts after hitting a two-run home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bryce Harper put the Philadelphia Phillies ahead in the eighth inning with his 300th home run, but Brandon Drury capped a three-run ninth with a tiebreaking, two-run homer than lifted the Los Angeles Angels to a 10-8 victory on Wednesday that prevented a three-game sweep.
In a game with four lead changes, Los Angeles led 7-6 before Harper’s two-run homer in the eighth off Matt Moore (4-1). Harper and Moore were 1-2 among Baseball America’s top prospects in 2012.
Harper’s homer, his 15th this season and 10th in August, came in the 30-year-old’s 1,481st game. He homered in three straight games for the second time this month and has 10 homers in August. Moore was the 224th pitcher he went deep against.
Pinch-hitter Mike Moustakas struck out leading off the ninth but reached on a wild pitch by Craig Kimbrel (7-5). Nolan Schanuel’s single put runners at the corners, giving him a team-record 10-game hitting streak at the start of his big league career.
CUBS 3, BREWERS 2
CHICAGO (AP) — Cody Bellinger drove in the tiebreaking run with a ricochet infield single in the eighth inning and the Chicago Cubs beat Milwaukee to pull within three games of the first-place Brewers in the NL Central.
Bellinger’s sharply hit ball up the middle glanced off the right ankle or foot of reliever Joel Payamps and to third baseman Andruw Monasterio. Bellinger beat out Monasterio’s throw, allowing Mike Tauchman to score from third.
After dropping the first game of the series Monday, the Cubs came back to take the next two with solid pitching and defense. At 71-62, Chicago is a season-high nine games above .500.
Adbert Alzolay (2-4) got the final four outs in this one for the win, despite hitting Mark Canha with bases loaded in the eighth to force in the tying run. Payamps (4-4) took the loss.
WHITE SOX 10, ORIOLES 5
BALTIMORE (AP) — The White Sox hit three home runs off 13-game winner Kyle Gibson to rally from an early four-run deficit and beat the Orioles, avoiding a three-game sweep.
Anthony Santander homered for the AL East-leading Orioles, who led 4-0 in the first inning before fading to their third loss in 12 games.
Luis Robert Jr. hit his 35th home run in the third inning to put Chicago ahead for good. Andrew Vaughn and Óscar Colás also went deep for the White Sox, who were outscored 18-3 in the first two games of the series.
Gibson (13-8) allowed seven runs and nine hits over 4 1/3 innings. The right-hander gave up only 16 home runs in his first 27 starts, but in this one he allowed three homers to the first 11 batters he faced.
Dylan Cease (6-7) overcame a 30-pitch first inning to earn only his second victory in eight starts since July 16. He allowed five runs and six hits in six innings, walking three and striking out seven.
YANKEES 6, TIGERS 2
DETROIT (AP) — The Yankees ended a 10-series winless streak as Gleyber Torres homered for the third straight game in a victory over the Tigers.
DJ LaMahieu and Giancarlo Stanton also homered for the Yankees, who have won the first three games of the four-game set. They hadn’t won a series since sweeping three games from Kansas City from July 21-23 and hadn’t taken a road series since winning two of three at Oakland from June 27-29.
Stanton reached 20 homers for the 12th time in 14 seasons, the most times at 20 in the major leagues since 2010. He has 398 homers in his big league career.
Gerrit Cole (12-4) allowed two runs and four hits in six innings, winning back-to-back starts for the first time since May 28 and June 3. His 2.95 ERA dropped into second in the AL behind Minnesota’s Sonny Gray at 2.92.
Ian Hamilton finished a four-hitter for his second save.
Brendan White (2-3) took the loss.
DODGERS 7, DIAMONDBACKS 0
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Freddie Freeman and Jason Heyward hit two-run homers in the third inning, Mookie Betts had his 18th multi-hit game in August and the Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks for a three-game sweep.
The NL West leaders won their fourth in a row overall and fifth straight at home, outscoring the D-backs 23-5 in the series and finishing with their 13th shutout of the season. The Dodgers outhit the D-backs 38-20.
Freeman hit his MLB-leading 51st double in the fourth, leaving him one shy of tying Johnny Frederick (1929) for most in franchise history.
Betts, who singled in the first, reached on an infield single to short leading off the third. Freeman followed with a 440-foot blast — third-longest for the Dodgers this season — into right field for a 2-0 lead.
David Peralta was safe at first on a fielding error by D-backs starter Brandon Pfaadt (1-7). That set up Heyward, who homered to right for a 4-0 lead.
BRAVES 7, ROCKIES 3
DENVER (AP) — Darius Vines pitched six strong innings to win in his major league debut and Marcell Ozuna homered for the second time in as many games as the Braves beat the Rockies to complete a season sweep.
Kevin Pillar and Orlando Arcia also homered for the Braves, who finished 7-0 against the Rockies for their third season sweep of Colorado. Atlanta outscored Colorado 64-20 over the season sweep.
The Braves went 6-0 against Colorado in 2003 and 13-0 in 1993, the first year of the Rockies’ existence. Atlanta has won its last eight game at Coors Field against the Rockies, who lost for the ninth time in 10 games. The Braves are a major league-best 87-45, and have won 17 of their last 22.
GUARDIANS 5, TWINS 2, 10 innings
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kole Calhoun hit a three-run home run in the 10th inning to cap Cleveland’s late comeback against the Minnesota bullpen, and the Guardians beat the Twins to trim their deficit in the AL Central to five games.
Five relievers had a hand in squandering another stellar start by Sonny Gray, who gave the Twins seven scoreless innings. Emilio Pagán (5-2) took the loss despite pitching the best of the bunch. He got the first two outs in the 10th and intentionally walked José Ramírez before yielding to rookie Kody Funderburk, who made his major league debut Monday with two perfect innings against the Guardians.
Trevor Stephan (6-4) struck out the side in the ninth for the win. Emmanuel Clase pitched a perfect 10th for his 36th save in 45 chances. The Twins didn’t have a hit after the fifth inning.
REDS 4, GIANTS 1
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Christian Encarnacion-Strand homered and drove in three runs in his first four-hit game in the majors, and the Reds beat the Giants to avoid a three-game sweep.
Encarnacion-Strand, a Bay Area native who played at College Park High School in Pleasant Hill, finished a triple shy of the cycle.
Elly De La Cruz and Luke Maile each had two hits, and Hunter Greene outdueled Logan Webb (9-11) in his first career start against San Francisco.
Greene (3-6) struck out six in 5 1/3 innings in his first win since June 17. The right-hander, who missed much of this season with a right hip injury, allowed an unearned run and three hits.
Fighting for an NL wild card, Cincinnati (69-66) stopped a three-game slide and improved to 10-17 in August.
CARDINALS 5, PADRES 4, 11 innings
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Tommy Edman hit a two-run homer off Josh Hader in the 11th for his second walk-off hit in two days off the All-Star closer, and the Cardinals beat San Diego to drop the Padres to 0-12 in extra innings this season.
San Diego wasted a 3-0 lead and matched the expansion 1969 Montreal Expos, who had the most losses by a team that finished the season winless in extra-inning games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
St. Louis trailed 4-3 before Masyn Winn doubled off Hader (0-3) with two outs in the ninth and Edman sliced a sinker to the opposite field and into the Cardinals bullpen behind the right-field wall. Edman’s 10th-inning single on Tuesday night gave St. Louis a 6-5 win.
Andre Pallante (4-1) pitched a one-hit 10th.
BLUE JAYS 7, NATIONALS 0
TORONTO (AP) — Alejandro Kirk had three hits and three RBIs, Chris Bassitt and Jay Jackson combined on a five-hitter and the Blue Jays beat the Nationals.
Santiago Espinal had two hits and two RBIs and Ernie Clement had two hits and drove in a run as the Blue Jays took two of three from the Nationals, denying Washington a sixth straight series victory.
Kirk hit a two-run double in the first inning, doubled and scored in the fourth, singled and scored in the sixth and hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh.
Bassitt (13-7) allowed three hits in eight innings.
Nationals left-hander Patrick Corbin (9-12) lost for the first time in three starts.
MARINERS 5, ATHLETICS 4
SEATTLE (AP) — J.P. Crawford dropped a two-run single into left field in the seventh inning to give Seattle the lead, and the Mariners closed out the winningest month in franchise history by beating the Athletics.
Seattle rallied from a pair of deficits to finish August on a high note. Seattle went 21-6 in the month, bettering the previous franchise record of 20 victories in a month.
The Mariners have won 13 of their last 15 games and will head into September in the middle of an AL West title race with Houston and Texas.
Justin Topa (4-4) got the victory despite giving up the lead in the seventh.
Kirby Snead (1-2) took the loss.
ASTROS 7, RED SOX 4
BOSTON (AP) — Framber Valdez, who pitched seven no-hit innings in his previous start, retired the first 10 Boston batters on Wednesday and took a shutout into the sixth inning to help the Astros complete their first sweep at Fenway Park.
Houston, which played in the NL for 50 years before switching in 2012, has won five straight as it fights for a third consecutive AL West title. The Astros entered the day essentially tied with — .001 behind — the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners; all three teams remain in contention for the AL wild-card spots if they falter.
The Red Sox lost for the fifth time in six games and are fifth in the race for the three AL wild-card berths, four games behind Toronto and seven back from the AL West pack heading into Wednesday night’s game.
Valdez (10-9) no-hit the Guardians on Aug. 1 and left Friday’s start against Detroit with a no-hitter intact before the bullpen took the loss.
Red Sox starter Kutter Crawford (6-7) gave up six runs on seven hits and a walk, striking out one in 2 2/3 innings.
RAYS 3, MARLINS 0
MIAMI (AP) — Josh Lowe hit a tiebreaking single during Tampa Bay’s three-run 10th inning, and the Rays beat the Marlins for their fourth straight victory.
Four Tampa Bay pitchers combined on a four-hitter. After going 8-17 in July, the Rays closed out a 17-8 August and pulled within 1½ games of AL East-leading Baltimore.
Jonathan Aranda opened the 10th with an infield single for the Rays’ third hit of the game, moving automatic runner Jose Siri to third. Lowe, hitting for Vidal Brujan, then singled back up the middle against David Robertson (4-6).
Randy Arozarena added a two-run single as the Rays won for the eighth time in nine games overall.
Shawn Armstrong (1-0) threw 1 2/3 hitless innings for the win, and Pete Fairbanks closed with a perfect 10th for his 18th save.
METS 6, RANGERS 5, 10 innings
NEW YORK (AP) — DJ Stewart homered twice, then forced in the winning run when he was hit by an Aroldis Chapman pitch with the bases loaded in the 10th inning as the Mets beat Texas 6-5 and dropped the Rangers into third place in the tight AL West.
Stewart also made a running backhand catch while crashing into the fence in the ninth inning, robbing Marcus Semien of an extra-base hit.
Texas (75-58) lost for the 10th time in 13 games and fell from a first-place tie with Seattle (76-57), also dropping behind Houston (77-58). The Rangers finished 3-6 trip and is 10-17 on the road since July 1.
The Rangers loaded the bases with no outs in the 10th against Jeff Brigham (1-2) before Heim lined out and Travis Jankowski grounded to Pete Alonso, who started a 3-2-4 double play that ended with second baseman Jeff McNeil covering first.
With McNeil at second as the automatic runner in the bottom half, Chapman (5-3) walked Alonso and Francisco Álvarez, then hit Stewart with his next pitch.
PIRATES 4, ROYALS 1
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Andre Jackson pitched two-hit ball into the sixth inning in his first major league win, and the Pirates beat the Royals for a three-game sweep.
Jackson (1-1) struck out a career-high seven and walked two in 5 2/3 innings. The 27-year-old right-hander, who made his big league debut in 2021 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, allowed one run in his 20th major league appearance.
Bryan Reynolds and Jack Suwinski homered for the Pirates (61-73), and Vinny Capra hit an RBI double.
It was the first sweep for Pittsburgh since June 27-29 versus San Diego. The Pirates limited the Royals to four runs and 12 hits in the series.
Kansas City was swept for the 12th time this year. The Royals (41-94) have dropped six in a row and are on pace for 113 losses, breaking the club record of 106.
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