Atlanta Braves pitcher Grant Holmes high-fives teammates in the dugout after being relieved in the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Chicago.
Matt Marton/AP Photo/Matt Marton
CHICAGO (AP) — Grant Holmes took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, Austin Riley doubled and singled to drive in Atlanta’s runs, and the Braves topped the Chicago White Sox 2-0 on Thursday to end a three-game slide.
Holmes didn’t allow a hit until Andrew Benintendi lined a single to left with no outs in the seventh in the matchup between division leaders. The right-hander was relieved by Didier Fuentes after the hit, which followed a leadoff walk to Miguel Vargas.
The 30-year-old Holmes (8-5) walked three and struck out three in a six-plus inning, 94-pitch outing. Fuentes closed out the seventh by striking out the side and stranding two runners. Dylan Lee followed with a perfect eighth and Raisel Iglesias tossed a 1-2-3 ninth for his 26th save to complete a one-hitter.
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Atlanta’s Mauricio Dubón had three hits and scored a run.
White Sox starter Anthony Kay (9-6) yielded two runs on five hits in six-plus innings, walking one and striking out six. Chicago has dropped three of four.
Holmes retired 18 of the first 20 White Sox batters. Colson Montgomery walked with two outs in the second and Drew Romo walked with one out in the fifth for Chicago’s first two baserunners.
The Braves jumped ahead 1-0 in the third on Riley’s RBI double, lined into the left-field corner.
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Atlanta upped it to 2-0 in the seventh. Michael Harris II led off with a double to chase Kay. He scored on Riley’s single off Huascar Brazoban.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Gavin Williams struck out 11 over 5 2/3 innings, José Ramírez had an RBI single in the three-run first and Cleveland beat San Francisco for its first home series victory in seven weeks.
The Guardians hadn’t won a series at Progressive Field since June 26-28 against Seattle. They are 11-20 overall since the All-Star break.
Williams (12-7) fell one strikeout short of his career high, but moved into a tie for the AL lead in the category with Toronto’s Dylan Cease at 201. Cade Smith worked a scoreless ninth for his 32nd save in 37 opportunities as Cleveland won two of three in the interleague set.
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Ramírez’s single was the 1,751st hit of his career, tying Charlie Jamieson for fifth place in franchise history. Former Giants catcher Patrick Bailey and Nathaniel Lowe also drove in runs in the inning against Landen Roupp (7-13), who lost his fifth straight start.
Willy Adames hit a two-run homer in the fourth — the 200th of his career — to pull San Francisco within 3-2. It also was Adames’ 20th of the year, making him the sixth shortstop in MLB history to have six straight 20-homer seasons.
Steven Kwan and Brayan Rocchio added RBI singles in the sixth and eighth, respectively, for the Guardians.
ST. PETERSBURG (AP) — Kazuma Okamoto, Nathan Lukes and Daz Cameron homered, George Springer drove in two runs and Shane Bieber pitched seven strong innings and Toronto beat Tampa Bay.
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Lukes snapped a 1-1 tie with a homer to lead off the fifth. Cameron followed with a solo shot two batters later. Lukes also made a leaping catch in right field in the seventh inning.
Bieber (5-2) retired the first nine Rays batters before Chandler Simpson beat out an infield chopper and scored the Rays’ only run on Junior Caminero’s single. Bieber allowed four hits, walked none and struck out seven.
Okamoto, who also doubled, opened the scoring by leading off the second inning with his 26th home run of the season. He leads AL rookies in RBIs (74) and extra-base hits (44), and ranks second in homers.
Three of the Jays’ six hits off Ian Seymour (9-4) were solo homers.
Toronto shortstop Andrés Giménez, who stole two bases in the second inning, left following his fourth-inning groundout with right hamstring tightness. First base umpire John Libka also ejected Blue Jays assistant hitting coach Lou Iannotti in the seventh inning.
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CINCINNATI (AP) — Cincinnati’s Dane Myers dropped a fly ball with two outs in the ninth, opening the flood gates in a six-run inning to give St. Louis a win.
The Reds held a 5-4 lead going into the ninth before things fell apart in the final inning. Masyn Winn and Jose Fermin scored on Myers’ error, giving St. Louis a 6-5 lead. Alec Burleson’s single drove in another run and a bases-loaded walk scored another to make it 8-5. Fermin came up for the second time in the inning and singled home two more runs to make it 10-5.
But it was far from over.
Cincinnati’s Eugenio Suarez singled home Matt McLain and Sal Stewart drove in two more runs to make it 10-8. St. Louis reliever Riley O’Brien walked Tyler Stephenson with the bases loaded and two outs, scoring Elly De La Cruz to make it a one-run game before Matt McLain lined out to end the wild back-and-forth contest.
McLain hit his second career grand slam to cap a five-run sixth inning and put Cincinnati up 5-4.
Jordan Walker hit a three-run home run and drove in another run on a ground out to give the Cardinals an early 4-0 lead. Walker’s 26th home run was his second home run in two games. He temporarily tied Stewart for the major league lead with 94 RBI before Stewart’s single in the bottom of the ninth plated two, giving him 96 on the season.
Cardinals’ starter Michael McGreevy was solid through five innings, but struggled in the sixth, giving up an RBI single and leaving the game with the bases loaded. Ryan Stanek (2-3) relieved McGreevy, giving up an RBI single to JJ Bleday and the grand slam to McLain to take the loss.
Peter Strzelecki (1-1) pitched two scoreless innings to get the win for St. Louis.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Bobby Witt Jr. homered and scored three runs, and Kansas City beat the Athletics for its first four-game sweep of the season.
The Royals have won five straight games and earned their fourth series sweep of the season, but this was the first of four games.
The Athletics have lost 17 of their last 21.
Connor Thomas (1-1) pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief for his first major league win.
Gage Jump (5-8) allowed five runs on eight hits in four innings to take the loss.
Royals starter Randy Dobnak maneuvered through four scoreless innings, allowing 10 baserunners on six hits and four walks.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Garrett Mitchell and Gary Sánchez each hit two-run doubles during a six-run first inning, and MLB-best Milwaukee beat Seattle.
Mitchell also homered in the eighth, finishing 3 for 4 with three RBIs as Milwaukee took two of three from Seattle. The series included the Brewers’ 22-0 win on Tuesday night that matched the record for the biggest shutout in baseball’s modern era. Milwaukee has won seven straight home series.
George Kirby (8-10) had a nightmarish first inning, walking the leadoff batter and giving up six hits. Sánchez got the Brewers on the board and Joey Ortiz added an RBI single. Mitchell’s double made it 5-0 and David Hamilton drove in the last run with another double.
Kirby worked 3 1/3 innings, allowing six runs on nine hits.
Staked to the big lead, Brewers starter Robert Gasser lasted just 3 2/3 innings and was lifted mid-at-bat by manager Pat Murphy after falling behind in the count to Randy Arozarena. Gasser gave up four hits and four runs.
Brendan Donovan had a two-run double for Seattle, and Dominic Canzone’s RBI single got the Mariners within 6-4 in the fourth.
Chad Patrick (7-4) pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief. Trevor Megill retired the side in order in the ninth for his 23rd save in 25 opportunities.
BALTIMORE (AP) — Gerrit Cole pitched six sharp innings, Luis García Jr. and Spencer Jones homered and New York completed a three-game sweep in Baltimore.
Cole (7-6) allowed four hits and a walk with eight strikeouts. A fifth-inning homer by Dylan Beavers produced the lone Baltimore run. The Yankees pulled within four games of AL East-leading Tampa Bay.
Ryan Yarbrough relieved Cole and pitched three perfect innings for his third save.
The Orioles have dropped four in a row after briefly taking sole possession of the lead in the race for the final American League wild card. Kyle Bradish (7-12) allowed three earned runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings, and Baltimore also permitted a pair of unearned runs in the third.
With men on first and third and nobody out that inning, second baseman Jackson Holliday fielded a tough grounder and threw to second, but shortstop Gunnar Henderson dropped the ball for an error and everyone was safe.
With a run already in, Bradish induced a double play, but Ben Rice followed with an RBI single and then Heliot Ramos brought in a run with a double that made it 3-0.
Beavers’ drive to right made it 3-1, but García and Jones answered with solo shots to chase Bradish in the sixth. Jazz Chisholm Jr. tripled in a run in the eighth.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jacob deGrom struck out 10 and allowed one hit and one walk in six innings while reaching 2,000 career strikeouts in the second-fewest games and innings in major league history as Texas beat Washington.
Needing two strikeouts to reach the milestone, deGrom (9-8) fanned Washington’s first two batters — Daylen Lile and Abimelec Ortiz. The 10 strikeouts matched his season high.
Corey Seager hit an opposite-field homer in the third inning as four Texas pitchers combined for a one-hitter. Ezequiel Duran tripled in the eighth and scored on Nicky Lopez’s sacrifice fly.
Jacob Latz completed the Rangers’ 12th shutout of the year with his 25th save in 28 opportunities.
DeGrom, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, has 2,008 strikeouts in 1,666 1/3 innings over 272 starts since his big league debut in 2014. Hall of Famer Randy Johnson got his 2,000th strikeout in his 262nd appearance for the fewest games. Chris Sale holds the record for fewest innings at 1,626.
Texas, tied for the final AL wild card, went 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Washington’s only hit was a second-inning single by Brady House.
Andrew Alvarez (2-5) gave up Seager’s homer among four hits and three walks in five innings.
HOUSTON (AP) — Zach Neto was 5-for-6 with his 21st homer and a career-high seven RBIs and Los Angeles scored its most runs in three years to rout Houston.
The Angels had a season-high 18 hits and scored their most runs since a 25-1 victory over Colorado on June 24, 2023.
Angels starter Grayson Rodriguez (4-5) gave up just two unearned runs across seven innings while striking out six.
Peter Lambert (8-7) entered as Houston’s most consistent starter but had his worst outing of the season, giving up eight hits and nine runs in 3 2/3 innings.
Houston slipped to 64-64 and saw its two-game lead in the AL West drop to one as Texas beat Washington.