Altuve hits grand slam in 10th, Astros rally past Rangers

By The Associated Press 16 June 2021, 12:00AM

HOUSTON (AP) — Jose Altuve belted a grand slam in the 10th inning and the Houston Astros, saved by Carlos Correa’s tying homer in the ninth, beat the Texas Rangers 6-3 on Tuesday night to give manager Dusty Baker quite an exciting birthday gift.

After Texas drove in the automatic runner in the top of the 10th for a 3-2 lead, Rangers rookie reliever Demarcus Evans (0-2) walked Myles Straw and pinch-hitter Jason Castro to load the bases with no outs in the bottom half.

Altuve then launched his soaring shot into left field to put the Astros on top and start the party.

Altuve was doused with water at home plate before sharing a hug with Baker, who celebrated his 72nd birthday.

Correa hit a solo homer to the opposite field shot with two outs and two strikes in the ninth off Josh Sborz, making it 2-all.

Nate Lowe’s RBI single off Ryan Pressly (3-1) with two outs in the 10th put the Rangers up.

GIANTS 9, DIAMONDBACKS 8

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks blew a seven-run lead and lost their 21st straight road game, one short of the major league record, when Mike Yastrzemski hit a grand slam in the eighth inning for San Francisco.

Arizona was ahead 7-0 in the second, but couldn’t hold it and lost its 12th straight overall.

The Diamondbacks can match the record of 22 consecutive road defeats shared by the 1963 New York Mets and 1943 Philadelphia Athletics when they play the Giants at Oracle Park on Wednesday night. Arizona hasn’t won on the road since April 25 in Atlanta.

The Giants trailed 8-5 when Brandon Belt doubled leading off the eighth against Humberto Castellanos (0-1). San Francisco loaded the bases with two outs and Yastrzemski launched a 1-2 pitch into McCovey Cove for his first career slam.

Steven Duggar also homered to help San Francisco to its seventh straight win over Arizona. Belt had three hits and scored three runs.

Jimmie Sherfy (1-0) got the win and Tyler Rogers pitched the ninth for his ninth save.

Christian Walker had three RBIs for the Diamondbacks.

DODGERS 5, PHILLIES 3

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mookie Betts hit a go-ahead home run in the seventh inning and Los Angeles beat Philadelphia at Dodger Stadium before the largest crowd to attend a professional sports league game in the United States since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Betts led off the seventh by driving an 0-2 changeup from Ranger Suárez (2-1) over the left-center wall to give Los Angeles a 4-3 lead. Betts, who had three hits, added an RBI single in the eighth.

Phillies slugger Bryce Harper exited with lower back stiffness after he took an awkward swing in the fourth.

The Dodgers acquired Betts from the Boston Red Sox in February 2020, so this was the first time he got to play in front of a big crowd at Chavez Ravine.

The game was played before a sellout throng of 52,078 after California lifted many COVID-19 safety measures overnight, including allowing stadiums to go to full capacity.

Joe Kelly (2-0) worked a scoreless seventh and Blake Treinen earned his third save.

METS 3, CUBS 2

NEW YORK (AP) — Taijuan Walker struck out a career-high 12, Pete Alonso drove in three runs and surging New York threw out the potential tying run at the plate in the ninth inning to beat Chicago.

Walker (6-2) allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings, and he walked none for the third time.

Javier Báez put the Cubs ahead 2-0 in the third with his 15th home run. Alonso hit a two-run single in the bottom half and a sacrifice fly in the fifth.

Seth Lugo got six outs for his first save since returning on June 2 from elbow surgery, and the NL East-leading Mets won for the fifth time in six games to move nine games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2019 season.

Alec Mills (2-1) allowed three runs, five hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings.

CARDINALS 2, MARLINS 1

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Paul Goldschmidt hit a game-ending homer in the ninth inning and drove in both runs as St. Louis beat Miami.

St. Louis has won two in a row against the Marlins after dropping nine of 10 overall. Miami lost its third straight.

Goldschmidt had a tying RBI single in the sixth. He led off the ninth and drilled a 98 mph fastball from Yimi Garcia (3-5) to right-center field for his sixth career walk-off home run.

Alex Reyes (4-2) worked a scoreless ninth.

REDS 2, BREWERS 1, 10 INNINGS

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Cincinnati broke open a scoreless game in the 10th inning without the benefit of a hit and held on to beat Milwaukee.

Brett Anderson worked seven innings of one-hit ball for the Brewers and combined with three relievers on a two-hitter, but it all fell apart for Brad Boxberger (2-2) in the 10th.

Boxberger hit Tyler Stephenson with a pitch and walked Joey Votto to load the bases. Then he hit Eugenio Suárez with a pitch to score Nick Castellanos, who started the inning at second base. Stephenson scored on a sacrifice fly by Kyle Farmer.

Cincinnati's Luis Castillo allowed three hits in seven scoreless innings, and four relievers completed the four-hitter. Lucas Sims (4-1) pitched a scoreless ninth and Amir Garrett got the final out for his third save.

WHITE SOX 3, RAYS 0

CHICAGO (AP) — Dallas Keuchel pitched seven innings of crisp four-hit ball to win his fifth straight decision, leading Chicago past Tampa Bay.

Adam Engel hit a solo home run and Tim Anderson had three hits for the White Sox. Chicago won for the fifth time in six games and ended Tampa Bay’s four-game winning streak.

Keuchel (6-1) struck out five and walked one. Aaron Bummer pitched a scoreless eighth and Liam Hendriks worked around two singles in the ninth for his 18th save.

Rookie Shane McClanahan (2-2) allowed two earned runs on seven hits in five innings.

ROCKIES 8, PADRES 4

DENVER (AP) — Ryan McMahon homered, tripled and drove in four runs as Colorado rallied from an early deficit to beat skidding San Diego.

Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his NL-leading 20th home run of the season for San Diego, which has lost 11 of 15.

It was 4-all when Garrett Hampson, pinch-hitting for reliever Carlos Estévez (1-0), tripled off Tim Hill (3-3) in the seventh. Tapia followed with a double, extending his hitting streak to 12 games, and scored on a sacrifice fly by McMahon.

The Padres gave starter Yu Darvish a 4-0 lead after two innings, but he couldn’t hold it. He allowed four runs and five hits in five-plus innings.

YANKEES 6, BLUE JAYS 5

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Clint Frazier snapped an eighth-inning tie with a pinch-hit double and the New York Yankees hit three solo homers to beat Toronto.

Frazier hit a grounder inside the third-base line to score pinch-runner Tyler Wade from second as the Yankees completed a comeback from a 5-2 deficit and won for the third time in 10 games.

Bo Bichette homered and had a two-run single for the Blue Jays.

Jonathan Loaisiga (6-2) worked one inning to earn the win. Tim Mayza (1-1) allowed a leadoff single to Miguel Andújar in the eighth and took the loss. Aroldis Chapman worked a perfect ninth for his 13th save.

RED SOX 10, BRAVES 8

ATLANTA (AP) — Alex Verdugo hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer off Chris Martin in the eighth inning, Rafael Devers added a three-run homer and drove in four runs, and Boston beat Atlanta.

Verdugo’s ninth homer came with two outs and made it 10-7. Martin (0-3) gave up three hits and three runs.

Xander Bogaerts hit his 13th homer for the Red Sox, who have won four of six.

Hirokazu Sawamura (3-0) worked a flawless seventh. Matt Barnes earned his 15th save in 18 chances after facing five batters and giving up a run in the ninth.

NATIONALS 8, PIRATES 1

WASHINGTON (AP) — Yan Gomes connected for a grand slam and Trea Turner got four hits, leading Patrick Corbin and Washington past Pittsburgh.

The Nationals won their third in a row and sent Pittsburgh to its ninth straight loss.

Corbin (4-5) pitched 8 1/3 innings, allowing one run and eight hits. He struck out seven and walked one while going at least eight innings for the first time since Aug. 21, 2019.

Gomes’ slam finished a five-run first inning against Tyler Anderson (3-7). It was Gomes’ first grand slam since joining the Nationals in 2019 and the fourth of his career.

INDIANS 7, ORIOLES 2

CLEVELAND (AP) — Eddie Rosario hit a two-run double and Bobby Bradley homered for Cleveland, and Baltimore lost its 17th straight on the road.

The Orioles made four errors and moved closed to the major league record of 22 consecutive road losses, shared by the 1943 Philadelphia Athletics and 1963 New York Mets.

Amed Rosario got three hits, stole a base and drove in a run for Cleveland, which has won four of five and is a season-high eight games over. 500.

James Karinchak (4-2) struck out all three batters he faced in the eighth.

Matt Harvey (3-8) suffered his career-high seventh straight loss and gave up six runs, five earned, in 3 1/3 innings.

TIGERS 4, ROYALS 2

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Casey Mize turned in his eighth quality start in his last nine games, Miguel Cabrera got two more hits and Detroit sent Kansas City to its fifth straight loss.

Mize (4-4) allowed three runs on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. Gregory Soto pitched the ninth for his sixth save in as many chances.

Cabrera, stuck in a slump for most of the season, doubled and singled to drive in one run and score another.

Mike Minor (5-4) gave up four runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings.

ATHLETICS 6, ANGELS 4

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Sean Murphy homered for the second consecutive night, Elvis Andrus hit a two-run double and Frankie Montas pitched Oakland past Los Angeles for its fifth straight win.

Shohei Ohtani hit his 18th home run in the eighth inning for the Angels.

Montas (7-6) struck out eight with one walk over seven innings to win for the second time in six starts. He allowed two runs and five hits, including RBI singles by Justin Upton and David Fletcher.

Pinch-hitter Seth Brown delivered a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the sixth and Andrus followed with his double to make it 5-2.

Yusmeiro Petit gave up a leadoff homer to Jared Walsh in the ninth but finished for his second save.

Andrew Heaney (4-4) had his three-start winning streak snapped.

MARINERS 10, TWINS 0

SEATTLE (AP) — J.P. Crawford homered on J.A. Happ’s first pitch, Shed Long Jr. hit a three-run triple an inning later and Seattle thumped Minnesota.

Mariners starter Chris Flexen (6-3) tossed eight sharp innings while striking out a career-high eight, and was backed by an early offensive outburst that plated five runs in the first two innings.

Crawford became the first Mariners player to homer on the opening pitch since Dustin Ackley in 2012.

Luis Torrens and Ty France hit solo homers late. Seattle set a season high for runs and matched its season best in hits with 14.

Happ (3-3) allowed nine hits in four innings.

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More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

By The Associated Press 16 June 2021, 12:00AM
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