BALTIMORE (AP) — Pete Alonso hit a two-run single, Tyler O’Neill had his third pinch-hit homer of the season, and the trade-depleted Baltimore Orioles beat the Los Angeles Angels 3-1 on Tuesday night.
Cade Povich pitched six scoreless innings in his first start in nearly three months for the Orioles, who traded away Adley Rutschman, Taylor Ward, Tyler Wells and Dean Kremer at the deadline but remain in contention for a wild-card playoff berth.
Christian Franklin made his major league debut, starting in Ward’s former spot in left field, and scored on Alonso’s third-inning single against former Oriole Grayson Rodriguez (3-4).
O’Neill pinch-hit for leadoff batter Dylan Beavers in the eighth inning against Mitch Farris and connected for his eighth homer of the season. That restored Baltimore’s two-run lead after Los Angeles got within 2-1 in the top half on Vaughn Grissom’s RBI double against Andrew Kittredge.
Yennier Cano worked the ninth for his second save. Baltimore (55-58) moved within 1 1/2 games of Cleveland for the final AL wild-card spot but is one of several teams sitting a few games under .500.
METS 6, GUARDIANS 2
CLEVELAND (AP) — Luis Torrens had three hits — including a three-run homer in the second inning — and drove in four runs as New York defeated Cleveland to snap a three-game losing streak.
Bo Bichette and rookie Carson Benge also went deep for the Mets, who had dropped their last six games against the Guardians. Benge’s 451-foot drive to center field in the eighth was the longest home run at Progressive Field this season.
Sean Manaea (3-5) allowed two runs on seven hits and five walks while striking out seven in six innings. Nate Lavender worked 1 1/3 hitless innings in his major league debut before Kodai Senga, just shifted to a short-relief role, pitched a scoreless ninth.
Jo Adell had two hits in his Cleveland debut after being acquired from the Los Angeles Angels at Monday’s trade deadline. Steven Kwan extended his on-base streak to 21 games.
REDS 5, ATHLETICS 4
CINCINNATI (AP) — Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart drew walks leading off the eighth inning against Hogan Harris and both scored on wild pitches to help Cincinnati hand the Athletics a sixth straight loss.
Julian Garcia (2-2) struck out two in a scoreless eighth, and Emilio Pagán gave up two singles in the ninth before finishing for his 12th save.
Harris (3-1) threw a wild pitch to Eugenio Suárez on a full count, allowing the go-ahead run to score.
The Athletics had a 36-36 record on June 15 but have gone 9-32 since. The Reds (54-58) have won four of five.
Reds starter Brady Singer allowed three runs on five hits over six innings on his 30th birthday. He walked three and fanned six.
PHILLIES 5, NATIONALS 0
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Luis Arraez had two hits and two RBIs in his Philadelphia debut, Jesús Luzardo allowed four hits in eight innings and the Phillies beat Washington for their fourth straight victory.
Trea Turner added three hits and an RBI for Philadelphia, which began play with a two-game cushion in the NL wild-card race.
The Phillies acquired Arraez, a three-time batting champion and four-time All-Star, from the San Francisco Giants for a pair of minor leaguers on Monday to help their powerful but strikeout-heavy lineup, and it paid dividends immediately.
Batting fourth, Arraez drove in Turner from second base with an opposite-field single off Nationals opener Carson Palmquist (0-2) in the first to give Philadelphia a 1-0 lead and plated Turner again in Philadelphia’s three-run third inning with a double to right field off Zack Littell.
That was plenty of run support for the All-Star lefty Luzardo (10-5), who struck out seven. Philadelphia improved to 46-18 in contests in which either Luzardo, Zack Wheeler or Cristopher Sánchez start.
YANKEES 2, CARDINALS 0
NEW YORK (AP) — George Lombard Jr. homered in a memorable big league debut and New York beat St. Louis.
In the fifth inning, Lombard homered in his second at-bat by hitting an 0-2 sweeper over the middle of the plate from St. Louis starter Hunter Dobbins (2-2) into the left-field seats. As he completed his first home run trot in the majors, Lombard’s parents hugged in the stands.
Lombard’s 392-foot drive gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead. It was the first homer by a Yankees player in his major league debut since Jasson Domínguez went deep in the first inning against Justin Verlander in Houston on Sept. 1, 2023.
At 21 years, 63 days old, Lombard became the sixth-youngest Yankees player since 1985 to make his debut and the second-youngest shortstop in that span. Derek Jeter debuted May 29, 1995, in Seattle at 20 years, 337 days.
Lombard also helped Ryan Weathers (5-7) pitch six strong innings by starting inning-ending double plays in the third and fifth.
RED SOX 14, WHITE SOX 2
BOSTON (AP) — Caleb Durbin hit a grand slam, Patrick Sandoval earned his first major league win in more than two years and Boston extended their winning streak to six games with a victory over Chicago.
Wilyer Abreu launched a pair of solo homers for the rolling Red Sox, who hit four home runs for the second consecutive game and have won 24 of their last 27.
Sandoval (1-0) struck out five and allowed two runs on six hits and four walks over five-plus innings. It was his first win since May 7, 2024, when he pitched for the Angels before missing half that season and all of 2025 while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
The Red Sox had to come from behind in their previous six wins but broke this one open early with six runs in the first. Durbin did the bulk of the damage with a grand slam to left field and Jarren Durran followed with a shot to right. Ceddanne Rafaela, whose streak of three straight games with a homer came to an end, also had an RBI single in the inning.
Brayan Bello pitched the final three innings for Boston and picked up his first career save
BRAVES 4, MARLINS 2
ATLANTA (AP) — Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley hit home runs and Atlanta extended their winning streak to six games with a victory over Miami.
A day after the Braves failed to add another frontline starter, Grant Holmes (7-4) threw six scoreless innings, allowing five hits and a walk while working around an error by Albies. He lowered his ERA to 3.67.
Albies pulled the first pitch he saw in the second inning for a home run to right field, his 19th of the season. Riley crushed a two-run homer 433 feet to left-center off John King in the seventh. Matt Olson was 2 for 3 and was hit by a pitch for the Braves, who are 10-2 at home since the All-Star break.
Dylan Dodd came on in relief with a man on in the seventh, and induced a fly ball and ground ball double play to keep the shutout intact.
Raisel Iglesias gave up two runs in the ninth inning. With runners on first and second and two outs, the Braves closed out the win when Drake Baldwin threw out Jakob Marsee trying to steal third base.
ROYALS 8, TWINS 2
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Bobby Witt Jr. had three hits and two RBIs in his return to the lineup, leading Kansas City to a victory over Minnesota.
Witt, who missed two weeks with back tightness, went 3 for 5 with a two-run double and scored twice. Randy Dobnak (2-0) allowed one run and three hits in five innings against his former team to help the Royals stop a four-game losing streak.
Josh Bell homered late for the Twins, who have lost three in a row. They remained a game behind Cleveland for the final American League playoff spot.
Royce Lewis went 4 for 4 and is batting .382 (13 for 34) in his last nine games.
Minnesota starter Joe Ryan (6-8) gave up five runs — four earned — and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.
BREWERS 4, PIRATES 2
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jackson Chourio and Andrew Vaughn homered, Logan Henderson allowed two runs in six innings to win his sixth consecutive decision, and Milwaukee beat Pittsburgh.
Henderson (6-1), whose only loss was in early May, allowed four hits, including two solo homers, struck out eight and walked one.
Antonio Senzatela, acquired from the Rockies on Monday, tossed a scoreless seventh with the aid of a double play. Abner Uribe stranded runners on the corners in the eighth and Trevor Megill closed with a perfect ninth for his 19th save in 21 opportunities.
The NL Central-leading Brewers, who earned their major league-high 70th victory, won for just the second time in eight games this season against Pittsburgh.
CUBS 5, DODGERS 1
CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago spoiled Tarik Skubal’s debut with slumping Los Angeles, posting a victory behind key RBI singles by Nico Hoerner and Pete Crow-Armstrong.
Dansby Swanson connected for a solo homer as Chicago won for the third time in four games.
Skubal permitted two runs and four hits over six innings in his first start since he was acquired in a trade with Detroit on Saturday night. The two-time AL Cy Young Award winner threw 85 pitches, 51 for strikes.
Kyle Tucker homered for Los Angeles, which finished with four hits in its fifth consecutive loss. It’s the longest slide for the Dodgers since they also dropped five in a row in early September last year.
With two out and runners at the corners in the sixth, Hoerner hit a high chopper to the right of the mound. Alex Bregman scampered home on the infield single, giving Chicago a 2-1 lead.
The Cubs added two more in the seventh on singles by Crow-Armstrong and Seiya Suzuki, and Hoerner made it 5-1 with a solo homer off Edwin Díaz in the eighth.
Ryan Rolison (6-1) pitched a scoreless inning for the win.
RANGERS 5, GIANTS 4
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Ezequiel Duran drove in four runs, the last on a game-ending double, and Texas beat San Francisco to snap a season-worst six-game losing streak that knocked them out of the AL West lead.
Duran won it with a hit that bounced into the right-field seats, an inning after he lined a one-hopper off that wall for a two-run double that put the Rangers up 4-2. He also had an RBI single in the first inning, a night after going 4 for 4 in the series opener.
Jake Burger, who entered in the top of the ninth as a defensive replacement, led off the bottom of the inning with a double off Dylan Smith (0-4), the sixth Giants pitcher.
San Francisco got even in the ninth when pinch-hitter Bryce Eldridge hit a two-run single off All-Star closer Jacob Latz (3-1). It was Latz’s third blown save in 24 chances this season. He allowed two hits, a walk and a wild pitch.
ASTROS 7, BLUE JAYS 2
HOUSTON (AP) — Taylor Trammell hit a three-run homer, Jose Altuve had three hits and two RBIs, and Houston beat Toronto.
Altuve hit an RBI single that went off the glove of Blue Jays third baseman Kazuma Okamoto and stayed in play to score Yordan Alvarez in the fifth inning, then added another hit in the seventh to center field. He hit an infield single in the fourth.
Trammell’s homer came in the fifth inning, a 388-foot shot over the wall in right for his sixth of the year that made it 6-2. Yainer Diaz and Cam Smith hit back-to-back RBI singles to open the scoring for Houston in the fourth inning.
Astros starter Hayden Wesneski (2-0) pitched six innings, giving up two runs and four hits while striking out four and walking two.
RAYS 9, ROCKIES 7, 11 INNIGS
DENVER (AP) — Ben Williamson scored the tiebreaking run on a wild pitch in the 11th inning and Junior Caminero added a two-out RBI single as Tampa Bay rallied to Colorado after the Rockies roughed up Freddy Peralta in his Rays debut.
Williamson, the automatic runner at second base, went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Taylor Walls and scampered home on a wild pitch by Nick Frasso (0-1), who was making his major league debut. That gave Tampa Bay an 8-7 lead before Yandy Diaz doubled and scored on Caminero’s single.
Jonathan Aranda hit a two-run single off Rockies closer Jordan Romano to tie it at 7 in the ninth.
Liam Hicks launched a grand slam in his Rays debut off rookie Gabriel Hughes to give Peralta a 5-1 lead in the third. Hicks was acquired from Miami at the trade deadline Monday. The catcher’s 15th homer was the first slam for Tampa Bay this season.
PADRES 9, DIAMONDBACKS 4
PHOENIX (AP) — Manny Machado had three hits and four RBIs, Randy Vásquez threw six scoreless innings and San Diego jumped out to a big early lead in a win over Arizona.
The Padres won for the ninth time in 11 games, moving one game behind the D-backs for the third and final National League wild-card playoff spot.
Jackson Merrill had three hits and two RBIs, while Jake Cronenworth also had a three-hit night. Vásquez (7-6) gave up just two hits and walked one while striking out one.
The Padres jumped all over All-Star Eduardo Rodríguez in the first inning with leadoff hitter Fernando Tatis Jr. starting the game with a double to left. Machado followed with an RBI double before Merrill and Xander Bogaerts added run-scoring singles for a 3-0 lead.
San Diego extended its advantage to 6-0 in the second, partly because of Arizona’s sloppy defense. Jase Brown reached on a bunt single when there appeared to be confusion on who was covering first base and Ketel Marte’s error on a grounder led to a pair of unearned runs.
TIGERS 8, MARINERS 0
SEATTLE (AP) — Troy Melton threw seven sharp innings and Colt Keith hit a two-run single as Detroit beat Seattle Mariners to open their post-Tarik Skubal era.
Detroit (55-58) has won four straight and is one of several teams chasing the final AL wild card spot, moving within 1 1/2 games of Cleveland. Seattle (55-59) has lost nine of 13 and dropped 3 1/2 games behind Houston in the AL West.
The Tigers have scored at least eight runs in six straight games, tied for the longest such streak in franchise history.
Melton (7-1) continued his string of dominance since starting the season on the injured list. The right-hander, who has not allowed a run in his last 14 innings, struck out four, walked two and gave up three hits, lowering his ERA to 1.58 in 12 starts. He did not allow a Seattle batter to advance past second base.
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