Jeffers hits pinch homer to lift Twins to 7-5 win, Rangers’ 7th loss in row

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Pinch-hitter Ryan Jeffers broke a tie with a two-run, two-out homer off Will Smith in a three-run eighth inning, and the Minnesota Twins beat Texas 7-5 on Thursday night and sent the Rangers to a season-high seventh straight loss.

In a matchup of division leaders. Minnesota tied a season high with five homers and overcame a 5-2, fifth-inning deficit. Michael A. Taylor homered twice for Minnesota, and Royce Lewis and Kyle Farmer also went deep.

Texas, which has led the AL West since April 9, is just one game ahead of Houston and Seattle. AL Central-leading Minnesota opened a six-game lead over second-place Cleveland.

Carlos Correa hit a tying double off Josh Sborz (5-6). Josh Winder (2-0) pitched three hitless innings and Griffin Jax got his second save.

ORIOLES 5, BLUE JAYS 3

BALTIMORE (AP) — Anthony Santander and Cedric Mullins homered off José Berríos (9-9), who had been 10-0 against Baltimore, and the Orioles maintained their two-game AL East lead over Tampa Bay.

Félix Bautista got three straight outs for his 33rd save as Baltimore (79-48) won the season series 10-3 and moved 31 games over .500 for the first time since 2014.

Not PARSE.LY: MLB

Cleveland’s José Ramírez hits 3 homers and claims another piece of Guardians history

 

José Ramírez blasts 3 homers to lead the Cleveland Guardians past the Angels, 8-6

 

Phillies hand Dodgers their first loss of the season

 

Kyle Gibson (13-7) gave up three runs and six hits over eight innings.

RED SOX 17, ASTROS 1

HOUSTON (AP) — Alex Verdugo had four hits that included a leadoff homer and rookie Wilyer Abreu got his first major league home run among four hits and four RBIs. Boston set a season high for runs and had 24 hits, its most since 2015.

Boston led 13-1 before catcher Martín Maldonado gave up four runs and five hits in the ninth, including Connor Wong’s homer.

J.P. France (9-5) gave up 10 runs and 11 hits without getting out of the third. Brayan Bello (10-7) allowed one run and nine hits in seven innings.

NATIONALS 6, YANKEES 5

NEW YORK (AP) — Alex Call hit a go-ahead, two-run homer off Tommy Kahnle (1-3) in a four-run seventh inning, CJ Abrams followed with a solo shot and last-place New York (61-66) lost for the 10th time in 11 games.

A day after his first career three-homer game, Aaron Judge homered on his first pitch from Patrick Corbin (9-11).

New York has not won consecutive games since Aug. 2-3 and is 1-11-3 in its last 15 series, losing seven straight rubber games. Giancarlo Stanton had his first four-hit game since May 4, 2021.

Kyle Finnegan got four outs for his 23rd save.

RAYS 5, ROCKIES 3

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Josh Lowe broke a 3-3 tie with a two-run homer in the eighth off Matt Koch (2-2), and Tampa Bay completed a three-game sweep.

Luke Raley and Isaac Paredes also homered for the Rays, who have won four straight games and six of seven.

Jason Adam (4-2) struck out five of six batters and Pete Fairbanks struck out three around a single in the ninth for his 16th save.

DODGERS 6, GUARDIANS 1

DODGERS 9, GUARDIANS 3

CLEVELAND (AP) — Mookie Betts matched his career high with five hits and drove in two run in the completion of a game suspended after two innings Wednesday. Kiké Hernández homered and doubled twice in the scheduled game and had four hits on the day.

Betts singled four times in the first six innings and had a two-run double in the eighth for the NL West-leading Dodgers, who are 19-3 in August.

Gus Varland (1-0) worked 1 1/3 innings for his first big league win as seven pitchers combined for a four-hitter in the suspended game. Xzavion Curry (3-2) gave up three runs in three innings.

Ryan Pepiot (1-0) allowed one run in four innings in the scheduled game. Rookie Gavin Williams (1-5) gave up a season-high seven runs in 4 1/3 innings and is winless in eight straight starts.

DIAMONDBACKS 3, REDS 2

PHOENIX (AP) — Rookie Corbin Carroll hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning, Merrill Kelly struck out 12 in seven innings before leaving because of a cramped right hamstring and Arizona beat Cincinnati.

The D-backs have won five straight while the Reds had a three-game winning streak snapped. Arizona moved a half-game ahead of the Reds and Giants for the final wild-card position.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. coaxed a leadoff walk in the eighth before Carroll followed with his 22nd homer of the season, a line drive shot to right off reliever Alex Young (4-2).

Reliever Miguel Castro (6-6) got the win. Paul Sewald worked the ninth for his 28th save, and seventh since coming to the D-backs in a trade with the Mariners.

CUBS 5, PIRATES 4, 10 INNINGS

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Ian Happ hit broke a 3-3 tie with a 10th-inning single off Thomas Hatch (1-1) and another run scored when right fielder Connor Joe bobbled the ball for an error.

Joe hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom half off Adbert Alzolay, who got his 20th save.

Daniel Palencia (4-0) struck out two in a hitless eighth for Chicago (67-60), which has won five of six. The Cubs hold a wild card spot and closed within three games of NL Central-leading Milwaukee.

ATHLETICS 8, WHITE SOX 5

CHICAGO (AP) — Shea Langeliers homered twice off Jesse Scholtens and Zack Gelof hit a tiebreaking two-run drive in the seventh against Jimmy Lambert (2-3).

The teams combined for eight homers on a hot and humid night, with the Athletics hitting five on the way to their third win in four games. Chicago has dropped nine of 12.

Lucas Erceg (3-3) worked an inning and Trevor May came on in the ninth for his 14th save.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB