MLB roundup: Yankees make homer history in series sweep

Brett Gardner, DJ LeMahieu, and Luke Voit homered in a span of three pitches in the fourth inning, and the New York Yankees became the seventh team in baseball history to homer five times in an inning during a 10-7 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays Thursday night.

The Yankees hit 19 homers in the series, a major league record over a three-game span, and became the first team to hit five homers in an inning since the Washington Nationals did it against the Milwaukee Brewers on July 27, 2017.

Giancarlo Stanton, who collected four hits in his second game back from a strained left hamstring, and Gleyber Torres also went deep in the second inning. All five blasts came against Chase Anderson (0-2)

Gary Sanchez added New York’s sixth homer of the night in the seventh. It marked the first time any team hit at least six homers in three straight games. Masahiro Tanaka (3-2) allowed three runs in seven innings and Aroldis Chapman logged his third save as the Yankees posted their eighth consecutive win.

White Sox 4, Twins 3

Jose Abreu and Edwin Encarnacion each homered, leading Chicago to its first playoff berth in 12 years with a win over visiting Minnesota. Yasmani Grandal and Jarrod Dyson each added two hits for the White Sox, who increased their American League Central lead to three games over the Twins.

Codi Heuer (3-0) picked up the win in relief, allowing no runs on two hits over 1 2/3 innings while striking out three. Alex Colome recorded the final four outs to notch his 12th save.

Byron Buxton continued his hot September with three more hits, including a pair of solo home runs, and Josh Donaldson was ejected after hitting the go-ahead home run in the sixth inning for Minnesota.

Red Sox 5, Marlins 3

Nathan Eovaldi pitched five scoreless innings against his former team as Boston defeated host Miami to win the three-game series.

Kevin Plawecki snapped a scoreless tie with a two-run single in the sixth, and Rafael Devers hit a three-run homer in the seventh to lead Boston’s offense. Teammate Alex Verdugo went 3-for-5 for the game and 7-for-14 in the series.

Eovaldi (3-2), who went 13-27 in parts of three seasons (2012-14) with the Marlins, allowed two hits and no walks, striking out seven. Jose Urena (0-2) took the loss as he allowed two runs, five hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings for Miami. He struck out six.

Giants 6, Mariners 4

Wilmer Flores’ two-run triple scored the go-ahead run in the seventh and San Francisco’s bullpen combined for seven scoreless innings in a win over Seattle.

Darin Ruf homered for the Giants, who swept the two-game series in which the Mariners were considered the home team at Oracle Park. The series was delayed a day and moved from Seattle because of hazardous air quality in the Puget Sound region due to wildfires in Washington and Oregon.

Right-hander Rico Garcia (1-1) pitched a scoreless inning of relief for his first major league victory and lefty Sam Selman worked the ninth for his first-ever save. Giants starter Tyler Anderson was ejected by home-plate umpire Edwin Moscoso in the bottom of the third for arguing balls and strikes.

Angels 7, Diamondbacks 3

Jared Walsh had a run scored and an RBI for a franchise-record ninth straight game to help host Los Angeles defeat Arizona in the finale of a three-game series.

David Fletcher and Taylor Ward had three hits each, Anthony Rendon doubled and homered, Mike Trout drove in two runs, and Albert Pujols contributed two hits for the Angels, who avoided getting swept.

Angels starter Griffin Canning (1-3) needed a career-high 104 pitches to get through five innings and qualify for his first win in his 10th start of the season. He allowed two runs (one earned), six hits, struck out seven and walked two.

Rays 3, Orioles 1 (Game 1)

Yoshi Tsutsugo and Brandon Lowe each drove in a run in the top of the seventh as Tampa Bay defeated host Baltimore in the first game of a doubleheader.

Starter Blake Snell gave the Rays 5 1/3 strong innings. He allowed one run on two hits while striking out four and walking just one, pitching well. The veteran left-hander battled Baltimore rookie Dean Kremer in a pitcher’s duel.

Kremer was making his third major league start and now has allowed just one run in each. In this game, Kremer gave up just one run on three hits, struck out six and walked three. His ERA sits at 1.69 after his first three starts.

Rays 10, Orioles 6 (Game 2)

Willy Adames and Joey Wendle both homered and drove in three runs as visiting Tampa Bay completed a sweep of a doubleheader with a victory over Baltimore, clinching a spot in the American League playoffs.

Nate Lowe’s single snapped a 6-6 tie in the fifth, and Kevan Smith singled on a slow roller up the third-base line that pitcher Dillon Tate couldn’t make a play on. That made it 8-6 before Wendle and Randy Arozarena both added sacrifice flies to complete the scoring at 10-6.

Pete Fairbanks (5-3) got the win while Cole Sulser (1-5) was tagged with the loss. Sulser gave up three runs in 1/3 of an inning while Fairbanks pitched a scoreless inning of relief.

Astros 2, Rangers 1

Framber Valdez matched his career high for strikeouts, Kyle Tucker slugged a two-run home run, and Houston claimed the rubber match of a three-game series against visiting Texas.

Valdez (4-3) recorded 11 strikeouts, matching his total from an 11-4 win over the visiting Los Angeles Angels on Aug. 24. He allowed one run on four hits and walked one batter over 6 1/3 innings. Brooks Raley retired the side in the ninth on five pitches to earn his first career save.

After Tucker’s homer in the second inning, the only scoring came on Eli White’s RBI single in the seventh. Rangers starter Jordan Lyles (1-5) surrendered two runs on three hits and one walk with two strikeouts over seven innings.

Dodgers 9, Rockies 3

Corey Seager homered and finished with three hits, Edwin Rios also went deep and added a single, and Los Angeles beat Colorado in Denver.

Justin Turner also had two hits for L.A., which increased its NL West lead to four games over the San Diego Padres.

Trevor Story homered and doubled while Kevin Pillar also had two hits for the Rockies, who fell further behind in their chase for an NL wild-card spot.

Mets 10, Phillies 6

Brandon Nimmo homered to lead off the ninth inning and spark a four-run rally to lift visiting New York past Philadelphia

Nimmo finished with three hits and three RBIs, Pete Alonso homered and Dominic Smith had three hits for the Mets. Robinson Cano homered in the ninth to cap off a four-RBI night.

The Phillies hit three home runs in the first inning and four on the night but the bullpen couldn’t hold on to a 6-3 lead, giving up five runs in 3 2/3 innings of relief. The Mets scored three runs in the sixth and four in the ninth.

Indians 10, Tigers 3

Jose Ramirez homered twice and drove in four runs and Shane Bieber took a shutout into the eighth inning as visiting Cleveland snapped an eight-game losing streak by beating Detroit.

Ramirez had four hits and scored three runs, while Cesar Hernandez supplied three hits, scored three runs and drove in a run. Franmil Reyes added two RBIs for Cleveland. Bieber (8-1) gave up three runs on four hits and struck out 10 in the opener of a four-game series.

Detroit rookie starter Casey Mize (0-2) allowed five runs, three earned, on four hits and three walks in 3 2/3 innings. Willi Castro hit a three-run homer for the Tigers off Bieber in the eighth.

Pirates 5, Cardinals 1

Gregory Polanco hit a three-run homer and left-hander Steven Brault pitched his first career complete game as Pittsburgh ended its eight-game losing streak with a win over visiting St. Louis.

Brault (1-3) gave up two hits, both singles, struck out eight and walked two while delivering a career-high 110 pitches. He retired the final 16 Cardinals batters in winning his first game since Sept. 1, 2019.

St. Louis, which has dropped five of its past seven games, also lost starter Dakota Hudson because of right-elbow tightness after two strong innings. There was no immediate update on the severity of the problem.