close
close

Braves sweep Tigers | AP News

Braves sweep Tigers |  AP News

ATLANTA (AP) — Sean Murphy hit two two-run homers, Reynaldo López pitched five scoreless innings and the Atlanta Braves completed a three-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers with a 7-0 victory Wednesday.

López (5-2) lowered his MLB-leading ERA to 1.57. He allowed seven hits, walked one and struck out six. López has allowed just four runs in 40 2/3 innings in six home starts this year.

The Braves are 5-1 over a six-game homestand and have won six of their last seven games. They only allowed two combined runs in the series.

Murphy, who made the National League All-Star team last season, was hitting just .135 in 15 games this season before the game. The catcher went 4-for-4 with 4 RBIs.

PIRATES 1, REDS 0

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Bryan Reynolds hit a home run in the bottom of the eighth inning and Pittsburgh edged Cincinnati.

Reynolds pounced on an 80 mph changeup from Nick Martinez (2-5) and sent it just over the wall in center field for his 10th homer of the season as the Pirates took two of three in Cincinnati.

Colin Holderman (3-0) retired all three batters he faced in the eighth after replacing a brilliant Mitch Keller. David Bednar had a perfect ninth for his 16th save.

The teams combined for just five hits on a torrid day at PNC Park in which Keller and Hunter Greene dominated.

PADRES 5, PHILLIES 2

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Matt Waldron used his knuckleball to strike out six in seven innings and San Diego avoided a 10th straight road loss with a late rally in front of the Philadelphia bullpen.

A day after the Phillies used four consecutive hits in the ninth inning to rally for a 4-3 victory, Waldron (5-6) and two relievers helped the Padres end a five-game skid that started against the Mets. The Padres avoided their first 0-6 game since 2009 and have lost nine straight on the road. They had not lost 10 consecutive games since 2013.

Bryce Harper homered twice for the Phillies, his 27th career multi-homer game and second of the season. His 17 homers are tied with Kyle Schwarber for the team lead.

Robert Suárez worked the ninth for his 18th save.

MARLINS 4, CARDINALS 3

MIAMI (AP) — Otto Lopez hit a two-out single in the bottom of the ninth to drive in Tim Anderson and Miami beat St. Louis.

Lopez’s liner to Ryan Fernandez (0-2) was bumped by right fielder Alec Burleson, but it’s doubtful he would have played. Tanner Scott (6-5) earned the win after pitching a scoreless start to the ninth.

The NL-worst Marlins took two of three from the Cardinals, who fell back below .500 at 36-37.

Kyle Gibson was expected to start for the Cardinals after being on the bereavement list this week following a death in his family, but was scratched just before the game due to back tightness.

Emergency starter Matthew Liberatore gave up home runs to the Marlins’ first two hitters, Bryan De La Cruz, his 13th of the season, and Jesús Sánchez, his sixth. Josh Bell followed with a double and Jake Burger walked, but a double play and a fly out got Liberatore out of the first inning.

CUBS 6, GIANTS 5

CHICAGO (AP) – Ian Happ hit a 442-foot home runDansby Swanson hit back-to-back long balls and the Chicago Cubs held on to beat San Francisco.

Jorge Soler made things interesting in the eighth inning with a 444-foot grand slam over the stands in left field against Tyson Miller that brought the Giants within one, but Colten Brewer threw back-to-back strikes to Wilmer Flores and Brett Wisely in the ninth and finished for his first save.

Kyle Hendricks (1-4) pitched perfectly in the sixth inning, allowing one run on two hits in his longest outing of the season and lowering his ERA from 8.20 to 7.46.

NATIONALS 3, DIAMONDBACKS 1

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jesse Winker hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning and Washington beat Arizona.

Ildemaro Vargas added an RBI single for Washington, which has won nine of its 11 games overall and seven of its last eight at home.

Arizona (36-38) was denied a return to .500 for the first time since April 16, when it was 9-9.

Arizona starter Brandon Pfaadt went five scoreless innings on just 50 pitches, allowing only one runner to reach scoring position.

But with two outs in the sixth and Washington trailing 1-0, Lane Thomas drew a walk. Winker then ripped a four-seam fastball to center for his seventh home run this season. The left fielder is hitting .452 (19-for-42) over his last 14 games.

GOALKEEPERS 8, SAILORS 0

CLEVELAND (AP) — Tanner Bibee hit a career-high 12 in six innings, Josh Naylor hit two home runs and had four RBIs, and Cleveland beat Seattle in a battle of the American League division leaders.

Bibee (5-2) struck out multiple batters in each of the first five innings, allowing three hits and one walk. The right-hander had 11 strikeouts in his previous start on June 12 at Cincinnatihis first double-digit game in the majors.

Steven Kwan hit a two-run homer and José Ramírez and Bo Naylor each had two hits for the Guardians, who are five games ahead of Minnesota in the Central and have won 22 of 31 games at Progressive Field this season.

Seattle, which leads the West, lost for the second time in 10 games and is 17-6 since May 26. Manager Scott Servais and shortstop JP Crawford were both thrown out in the fifth by Doug Eddings, who had retired Crawford on strikes.

RED SOX 7, BLUE JAYS 3

TORONTO (AP) — Jarren Duran and Enmanuel Valdez hit solo home runs, Brayan Bello pitched six innings to end a three-start winless streak and Boston beat Toronto to complete a three-game sweep.

Duran, who had two hits and two RBIs, extended his hitting streak to 10 games. Valdez homered all three times he reached base as the Red Sox earned their fifth straight victory and eighth time in their last 10 games.

The last eight series between Boston and Toronto have all ended in sweeps, with the Red Sox winning three. The Blue Jays and Orioles also completed eight straight meetings in 2009 and 2010.

Toronto made four errors. The Blue Jays are 9-20 when they make at least one error.

Bello (7-4) allowed two runs and six hits to win for the first time since May 28 in Baltimore.

Justin Slaten pitched two innings, giving up a run on a wild pitch in the seventh, and Chris Martin finished for Boston.