CHICAGO – Pinch-hitter Josh Bell hit a three-run homer and the Washington Nationals rallied with five runs in the ninth inning off Cubs closer Daniel Palencia to stun Chicago 6-3 on Sunday with the help of a trio of former TinCaps.
The Cubs entered the ninth leading 3-1, but Palencia (1-6) failed to retire any of the five National hitters he faced before leaving with right shoulder tightness. The right-hander blew his third save in 25 chances.
Former TinCap Robert Hassell III led off with a homer to cut it to 3-2. Following an infield hit by another one-time TinCap, CJ Abrams, and walk to James Wood, Bell lofted the first pitch he saw to the basket in left-center for his 17th homer.
Daylen Lile tripled off Palencia and came home on Brady House’s second sac fly of the game to complete the scoring. Lile finished with two hits and is batting .481 in September.
Washington took the rubber match of the three-game series for its fifth win in six. The Cubs fell 7 1/2 games behind first place Milwaukee in the NL Central.
Former TinCap Mason Thompson (1-0) pitched the eighth, getting the win despite allowing a run and two hits. Jose Ferrer worked the ninth for his seventh save.
Nationals starter Andrew Alvarez yielded two runs on three hits and three walks in his second career appearance. The left-hander tossed five shutout, one-hit innings to win his major league debut Monday against Miami.
REDS 3, METS 2: At Cincinnati, Hunter Greene tied a season high with 12 strikeouts and Cincinnati took two of three from New York to move back above .500 at 72-71.
The Reds have identical records as Arizona and San Francisco, all four games back of the Mets (76-67) for the final NL wild card.
New York’s Brandon Sproat (0-1) held the Reds hitless through 51/3 innings in his major league debut before allowing three consecutive hits – Noelvi Marte’s single, Elly De La Cruz’s tiebreaking RBI double and Austin Hays’ run-scoring single.
Hays had a sacrifice fly in the fourth that scored Marte, who walked, stole second and advanced on a groundout.
Greene (6-4) allowed one hit in seven innings, a third-inning home run by Brett Baty on a slider. He threw 30 pitches of 100 mph or higher and increased his season total to 346, most among starting pitchers.
Juan Soto hit his 38th homer, a ninth-inning drive off Tony Santillan, who got his fifth save when Starling Marte hit a double-play grounder with two on.
GUARDIANS 2, RAYS 1: At Tampa, Florida, José Ramírez passed Jim Thome to move into sole possession of second place on Cleveland’s career RBIs list in a game with wild-card implications.
Ramírez hit a tying triple in the a two-run sixth off Garrett Cleavinger (1-5) for his 938th RBI and trails only Earl Averill’s 1,084.
Former TinCap Gabriel Arias had an RBI single later in the inning against Kevin Kelly that scored David Fry, who slid home headfirst just ahead of right fielder Josh Lowe’s throw,.
Cleavinger entered to start the sixth with a 20-inning scoreless streak, the active major league high. The run was the first he allowed since July 5.
Cleveland (72-70) won the last three games of the four-game series and moved ahead of the Rays (71-72) but trail Texas (74-70) and Kansas City (73-70). Seattle (75-68) leads for the third and final wild card.
WHITE SOX 6, TIGERS 4: At Detroit, Lenyn Sosa homered and drove in three runs as Chicago won for the seventh time in eight games.
Sosa walked and scored in the first inning, hit a solo homer in the third and hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the eighth.
Tigers pitchers walked nine batters as they lost for the ninth time in 12 games. They are a half-game behind Toronto for the best record in the American League.
Former North Side star Zach McKinstry drove in a run for Detroit.
YANKEES 4, BLUE JAYS 3: At New York, Aaron Judge saved a run with a diving catch and scored the go-ahead run on Cody Bellinger’s double as the Yankees closed within two games of AL East-leading Toronto.
Making his second appearance in right field since July 25 because of an injured flexor tendon in his right elbow, Judge took a few steps and sprawled to catch George Springer’s 106.4 mph liner to strand Nathan Lukes at second and protect a one-run lead.
DODGERS 5, ORIOLES 2: At Baltimore, Shohei Ohtani hit two home runs and Mookie Betts added a solo shot to back an effective pitching performance by Clayton Kershaw as Los Angeles ended a five-game losing steak.
Kershaw (10-2) won his sixth straight decision Sunday to help the NL West leaders salvage the finale of a three-game series against the last-place Orioles.