HOUSTON (AP) — Justin Verlander pitched a two-hitter and lost, allowing homers to John Hicks and Ronny Rodriguez as the Detroit Tigers beat the Houston Astros 2-1 on Wednesday night.
Hicks led off the ninth with a tiebreaking blast to left-center field off Verlander (15-5), who leads the majors in strikeouts with 239 but ranks second in homers allowed with 33.
The veteran right-hander retired the first 14 batters, with six strikeouts, before Rodriguez homered to the seats in right with two outs in the fifth. Verlander sat down another 10 straight before Hicks connected.
METS 4, INDIANS 3,
10 INNINGS
NEW YORK (AP) — J.D. Davis lined an RBI single with two outs that capped a two-run rally in the 10th inning, and New York beat Cleveland.
All-Star reliever Brad Hand’s failure to cover first base on a potential game-ending double-play grounder cost Cleveland. Davis made the Indians pay with his first career game-ending hit.
DODGERS 2,
BLUE JAYS 1,
10 INNINGS
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Max Muncy homered in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift Los Angeles over Toronto for its 50th home victory of the season.
Will Smith also went deep and Walker Buehler threw seven shutout innings for the major league-leading Dodgers, who have baseball’s best home record as well at 50-16.
BREWERS 5,
CARDINALS 3,
7½ INNINGS
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Mike Moustakas homered and Keston Hiura drove in a pair of runs to lead Milwaukee over St. Louis in a rain-shortened game.
The game was stopped after 7½ innings and made official following a rain delay of 66 minutes.
PHILLIES 5,
RED SOX 2
BOSTON (AP) — Bryce Harper homered to give Philadelphia a fifth-inning lead, and Corey Dickerson drove in two runs with a triple and a single to help the Phillies sweep a two-game series with Boston.
Jared Hughes (4-5) earned the win with 1 1/3 hitless innings of relief after Drew Smyly lasted just 3 2/3 innings. Héctor Neris pitched the ninth for his 23rd save.
RAYS 7, MARINERS 6
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Kevin Kiermaier drove in four runs, including a solo homer during a two-run ninth inning, and Tampa Bay beat Seattle to avoid a three-game sweep.
Kiermaier tied it at 6-6 on a leadoff homer against Matt Magill (3-1). The Rays then loaded the bases on Willy Adames’ single, a double by Mike Brosseau and an intentional walk to pinch-hitter Ji-Man Choi with no outs before Magill’s wild pitch with Tommy Pham batting allowed Adames to score the winning run.
WHITE SOX 4,
TWINS 0
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Lucas Giolito pitched a three-hit shutout of the second-highest scoring team in the major leagues, racking up 12 strikeouts as Chicago took the series from AL Central-leading Minnesota.
Giolito (14-6) allowed only runner past first base, a double by Jonathan Schoop in the eighth. The 25-year-old fanned Jake Cave to finish that inning and reach double-digit strikeouts for the third straight time, the first White Sox starter to do so since Chris Sale did so in eight consecutive turns in 2015.
BRAVES 5, MARLINS 0
ATLANTA (AP) — Adeiny Hechavarría and Ronald Acuña Jr. each hit a two-run homer, Julio Teheran struck out a season-high nine and Atlanta beat Miami.
The Braves are 14-4 against Miami this year after winning the 2018 season series between the NL East rivals 14-5.
NATIONALS 11, PIRATES 1
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Patrick Corbin pitched eight scoreless innings to remain unbeaten in more than two months, and Asdrúbal Cabrera’s three-run home run capped a six-run third as Washington rolled past Pittsburgh.
Corbin (10-5) struck out four and walked two while throwing 93 pitches to help the Nationals maintain their lead atop the NL wild-card standings.
ORIOLES 8, ROYALS 1
BALTIMORE (AP) — Baltimore tied a major league record by allowing its 258th home run this season but hit four of its own to beat Kansas City.
Anthony Santander and Renato Núñez hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning for the Orioles, who won their first series since July 25-27 at the Los Angeles Angels. Jonathan Villar and Hanser Alberto also went deep.
RANGERS 8,
ANGELS 7
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Hunter Pence drove in three runs, including an RBI single in the ninth inning that pushed Texas past Los Angeles.
Elvis Andrus led off the ninth with a single up the middle off Trevor Cahill (3-8), the seventh Angels pitcher. After two wild pitches got Andrus to third, Pence grounded a single through the left side of the infield.
REDS 4, PADRES 2
CINCINNATI (AP) — Luis Castillo shook off his worst career start to pitch six solid innings and José Iglesias hit a solo home run to pace the Reds.
Castillo (12-5), who allowed nine hits and eight runs on Friday against St. Louis, bounced back to limit San Diego to five hits and one run with four strikeouts.
ROCKIES 7,
DIAMONDBACKS 2
PHOENIX (AP) — Tim Melville pitched seven innings of two-hit ball in his first major league appearance in almost two years, and Colorado cruised past Arizona.
Melville (1-0), a 29-year-old right-hander with just six previous big-league appearances who started this season in independent ball, limited Arizona to a first-inning double and a sixth-inning home run to go with four strikeouts and two walks.
