Raleigh matches Mantle, M’s beat Angels, take sole possession of AL West lead with 9th win in row | MLB

SEATTLE (AP) — Cal Raleigh tied Mickey Mantle’s season record for most home runs by a switch hitter with his 54th, and the Seattle Mariners extended their winning streak to nine by routing the Los Angeles Angels 11-2 Sunday to take sole possession of the AL West lead for the first time since June.

George Kirby matched his career high with 14 strikeouts as the Mariners completed a four-game sweep and won for the 20th time in their last 23 home games.

Jorge Polanco had three doubles and has doubles in seven straight games, tying the Mariners record.

Seattle (82-68) moved one game ahead of Houston (81-69) at the top of the division, winning nine in a row for the first time since a 14-game streak from July 2-17, 2022, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Mariners had not been alone in first place since before play on June 3.

Kirby (9-7) allowed two runs and three hits in 6 1/3 innings, walking none and leaving after 101 pitches. He also struck out 14 Angels on June 8 in Los Angeles.

Batting left-handed in the first inning, Raleigh had a first-pitch homer to left-center off Kyle Hendricks for a 2-0 lead. Mantle hit his 54 homers for the 1961 New York Yankees. Raleigh’s homer was his record-setting 43rd homer this season as a catcher, one more than Atlanta’s Javy López in 2003.

Hendricks (7-10) gave up nine runs and 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings.

Mariners third baseman Yoán Moncada left in the middle of the fifth inning because of a sore left ankle.

Christian Moore and Oswald Peraza hit solo homers for the Angels. Denzer Guzmán got his first two big league hits.

NATIONALS 4, PIRATES 3

WASHINGTON (AP) — James Wood scored the go-ahead run from first base when center fielder Oneil Cruz misplayed Dayton Lile’s eighth-inning double, and Washington overcame a three-run, first-inning deficit to beat Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh (65-85) finished a 1-5 trip that assured the Pirates their seventh straight losing season and 29th in 33 years. The Pirates had runners at the corners in the ninth before rookie Clayton Beeter, pitching on a third straight day for the first time in his major league career, struck out Bryan Reynolds for his first big league save.

Washington (62-87) took two of three from the Pirates and has won nine of its last 13 games.

BLUE JAYS 11, ORIOLES 2

TORONTO (AP) — George Springer homered and drove in two runs, Shane Bieber pitched six innings for his third win in five starts and American League-leading Toronto beat Baltimore to complete a three-game sweep.

Springer went 3 for 4 with three extra base hits and Alejandro Kirk had three hits and an RBI in Toronto’s tenth series sweep. The Blue Jays are an AL-best 50-25 at home. They started the day with a three-game AL East lead.

Bieber (3-1) allowed one run and four hits. He walked one and struck out five.

Baltimore’s Coby Mayo homered for the second straight game, a solo shot off Bieber in the second inning, but the Orioles didn’t score again until Colton Cowser’s homer off Louis Varland with two outs in the seventh.

Mayo’s homer was his ninth of the season and Cowser’s was his 14th.

TIGERS 2, MARLINS 0

MIAMI (AP) — José Urquidy got four outs in his return from Tommy John surgery, combining with three other pitchers to lead Detroit over Miami as the Tigers tied Pittsburgh for the major league lead with their 17th shutout this season.

Detroit took advantage of three errors by Miami on a single ball in the second inning, scoring both runs and going on to stop a three-game losing streak.

Urquidy, a 30-year-old right-hander, had Tommy John surgery for the second time in June 2024 and signed a $1 million, one-year contract with the Tigers in March following five seasons with Houston.

He relieved Keider Montero (5-3) started the sixth and worked around Agustín Ramírez’s two-out single. Eric Wagaman singled leading off the seventh and Tommy Kahnle followed with one out. Urquidy threw 25 pitches, averaging 93 mph with his fastball.

BRAVES 8, ASTROS 3

ATLANTA (AP) — Ozzie Albies drove in three runs with two hits, including a go-ahead, two-run single in the fifth, Sandy León homered in his first start in more than two years and Atlanta beat Houston.

Matt Olson had two hits, including a homer, as the Braves avoided a three-game sweep and ended Houston’s streak of six consecutive wins at Truist Park. León added a two-run shot off former Braves closer Craig Kimbrel in the seventh after driving in a run with a fielder’s choice grounder in the second.

Cam Smith homered for Houston, which began the day tied with Seattle for first place in the AL West.

ROYALS 10, PHILLIES 3

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Salvador Perez hit a three-run homer and drove in five runs, helping Kansas City overcome Kyle Schwarber’s NL-high 52nd homer and delay Philadelphia from clinching the NL East with a win.

Philadelphia, which entered with a six-game winning streak, leads the NL East by 12 games over the second-place New York Mets.

Perez hit his third homer in two games, a three-run drive off Aaron Nola (4-9) in a four-run sixth that built a 6-2 lead. He added a two-run single in the seventh as the Royals ended a six-game losing streak.

Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto homered in the first off Noah Cameron (8-7), who allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings.

CUBS 4, RAYS 3

CHICAGO (AP) — Nico Hoerner had three RBIs, including a go-ahead, two-run double in the seventh inning that sparked the Cubs over the fading Tampa Bay.

Ian Happ homered and Michael Busch doubled for the Cubs, who have won four of five and lead for the top NL wild card.

Tampa Bay has lost seven of nine, dropping to 73-76.

Junior Caminero, the Rays’ 22-year-old emerging star, hit his 44th homer.

Javier Assad (3-1) scattered two hits in 2 1/3 scoreless innings for Chicago and Andrew Kittredge struck out Junior Caminero with a runner on first for his fifth save in six chances.

Ian Happ cut Chicago’s deficit to 3-2 in the sixth with his 22nd homer.

ATHLETICS 7, REDS 4

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Rookie Nick Kurtz hit one of the Athletics’ four home runs, a go-ahead, two-run drive in the fifth inning that led the Athletics over Cincinnati for a three-game sweep that dropped the Reds 2 1/2 games back for the last NL wild card.

Jacob Wilson, Colby Thomas and Brent Rooker also homered for the Athletics (70-80), who overcame a 3-0, fourth-inning deficit and surpassed their 2024 wins total with 12 games remaining.

Noelvi Marte homered in the first off rookie Luis Morales and Will Benson added a two-run drive in the second.

Wilson and Thomas homered in the fourth and Kurtz put the A’s ahead 4-3 with two outs in the fifth with an opposite-field drive to left, his 32nd home run this season. Kurtz and the Yankees’ Aaron Judge are tied for the big league lead of 16 opposite-field homers.

METS 5, RANGERS 2

NEW YORK (AP) — Pete Alonso hit a three-run homer off Luis Curvelo, and New York stopped an eight-game losing streak with a win over the Texas.

Their lead for the last NL wild card berth down to a half-game, the Mets backed rookie rookie Nolan McLean with a 2-0 lead only for Joc Pederson to tie the score with a two-run single in the seventh off Reed Garrett.

Alonso hit an opposite-field homer to right off Curvelo (1-1), then saluted the Mets’ dugout and tossed his helmet before reaching first base. As he rounded third, Alonso began untucking his shirt before he sprinted across the plate and was doused with popcorn by jubilant teammates. He ended the Mets’ longest losing streak since 2018, raising his season totals to 34 homers and 117 RBIs.

DOGERS 10, GIANTS 2

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Teoscar Hernández had his second four-hit game this season, and Los Angeles beat San Francisco to drop the Giants 1 1/2 games behind the New York Mets for the last NL wild card.

Tyler Glasnow (3-3) allowed one run, three hits and four walks over 6 1/3 innings as the NL West-leading Dodgers maintained a 2 1/2-game lead over second place San Diego. He has allowed 10 hits in his last four starts.

Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Michael Conforto had three hits each for the Dodgers, who finished with 18, and Conforto had three RBIs. The Dodgers are 6-3 against the Giants this year.

Tommy Edman had a go-ahead RBI grounder in the third. Freddie Freeman had an RBI double in a four-run fifth that included Michael Conforto’s two-run single. Another run scored when Joel Peguero stepped off the rubber three times while Miguel Rojas was at the plate, causing a disengagement violation.

PADRES 9, ROCKIES 6

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Jackson Merrill hit a three-run home run and San Diego withstood a career-high, five-RBIs performance by Mickey Moniak to beat the lowly Colorado and take three of four.

San Diego came in trailing the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers by 2 1/2 games in the NL West. The Padres hold the second of three National League wild cards. The Rockies have the worst record in the majors at 41-109.

Moniak went 4 for 4 with two homers and an RBI single, and stole two bases. He starred at La Costa Canyon High in Carlsbad before being taken by Philadelphia with the No. 1 pick overall in the 2016 amateur draft.

With the Rockies trailing 7-0, Moniak hit a leadoff shot off Yu Darvish (4-5) in the fourth. After Darvish put two runners on opening the sixth, reliever Jeremiah Estrada came on and Moniak greeted him with a three-run shot, his 21st.

DIAMONDBACKS 6, TWINS 4

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — James McCann homered and drove in four runs and Arizona beat Minnesota.

Alek Thomas had two hits, stole a base and scored two runs for the Diamondbacks. They began the day 2 1/2 games back in the chase for the NL’s third wild-card spot.

Nabil Crismatt (3-0) gave up just two unearned runs while walking none and striking out four over five innings to pick up the victory. Kyle Backhus retired Matt Wallner on a fly out with the bases loaded for the final out and his second save of the season.

Wallner and Mickey Gasper hit solo homers for Minnesota. Bailey Ober (5-8) gave up four earned runs on four hits with no walks and nine strikeouts over six innings.

CARDINALS 3, BREWERS 2

MILWAUKEE (AP) — José Fermín and Nathan Church hit RBI singles as St. Louis scored all their runs in the second inning of a victory over the Milwaukee.

The victory kept the Cardinals from going winless during a six-game road trip.

Milwaukee lost a day after becoming the first major league team to clinch a playoff berth.

Riley O’Brien allowed a two-out walk to Andruw Monasterio in the ninth before striking out Sal Frelick to earn his fourth save in seven opportunities. It was a measure of redemption for O’Brien, who allowed three runs without retiring a batter in a 9-8, 10-inning loss to Milwaukee on Saturday.

GUARDIANS 3, WHITE SOX 2

CLEVELAND (AP) — Bo Naylor drove in all three Guardians runs, including a go-ahead home run in the seventh inning, and Cleveland beat Chicago for a series sweep.

The Guardians have won four straight and nine of 10. They are 2 1/2 games behind Houston for the AL’s final wild card spot.

WIth the game tied at 2-2, Naylor drove an elevated sinker from Brandon Eisert (3-6) over the wall in right-center for his 12th homer this season.

Naylor also had two-run double in center in the fourth inning to put the Guardians up 2-1.

BLUE JAYS 11, ORIOLES 2

TORONTO (AP) — George Springer homered and drove in two runs, Shane Bieber pitched six innings for his third win in five starts and the American League-leading Toronto beat Baltimore to complete a three-game sweep.

Springer went 3 for 4 with three extra base hits and Alejandro Kirk had three hits and an RBI in Toronto’s tenth series sweep. The Blue Jays are an AL-best 50-25 at home. They started the day with a three-game AL East lead.

Bieber (3-1) allowed one run and four hits. He walked one and struck out five.

Baltimore’s Coby Mayo homered for the second straight game, a solo shot off Bieber in the second inning, but the Orioles didn’t score again until Colton Cowser’s homer off Louis Varland with two outs in the seventh.

RED SOX 6, YANKEES 4

BOSTON (AP) — Carlos Narváez’s solo homer capped a six-run first inning against Will Warren, Garrett Crochet matched his season high with 12 strikeouts and Boston held off New York to avoid a three-game sweep.

Boston stopped a three-game losing streak and moved within 1 1/2 games behind New York for the AL’s top wild card. The second-place Yankees dropped four games behind AL East-leading Toronto.

Romy Gonzalez hit an RBI double, and Alex Bregman and Nathaniel Lowe each had a run-scoring single in the big inning when the initial five Boston batters had hits.

Aaron Judge hit his 48th homer for the Yankees, who had won 14 of their previous 19 games. Amed Rosario had a two-run homer and José Caballero added a solo shot.

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