Carrasco loses no-hitter in the ninth, Indians top Rays
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Carlos Carrasco came within one strike of throwing the Cleveland Indians’ first no-hitter since 1981 on Wednesday night, giving up an RBI single to Joey Butler over leaping second baseman Jason Kipnis’ glove in an 8-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
For the third straight night, the Indians took a perfect game into the sixth inning against the Rays. This time, Carrasco retired the first 19 batters before walking Butler with one out in the seventh.
Washington’s Max Scherzer lost his perfect game with one strike to go on June 20 but finished with a no-hitter, the second in the major leagues this season.
Carrasco walked Astrubal Cabrera leading off the ninth, then hit pinch-hitter Brandon Guyer with a pitch. Grady Sizemore, also pinch hitting, grounded into a force play and Kevin Kiermaier struck out to bring Butler to the plate with a crowd of 11,394 at Tropicana Field on its feet.
Butler lined an 0-2 pitch over Kipnis, who jumped high in the air to make an attempt at the ball and fell flat to the ground as the line drive landed cleanly in the outfield. Carrasco smiled, clapped into his glove several times and pointed at the second baseman in appreciation of his effort.
ASTROS 6, ROYALS 5
HOUSTON — Jose Altuve had three hits and scored the tiebreaking run in the seventh inning to help Houston complete a three-game sweep of Kansas City.
The game was tied at 5 in the seventh when Kelvin Herrera (1-2) plunked Altuve on the forearm. Altuve stole second and reached third on a lineout. He put Houston on top when he beat the tag at the plate on a fielder’s choice by Chris Carter.
The play was reviewed and upheld.
The Astros trailed early before taking a 5-3 lead after a four-run fifth inning. A two-run triple by Jarrod Dyson off Josh Fields tied it in the seventh before Altuve scored the go-ahead run.
Luke Gregerson (3-1) pitched a perfect ninth for the win.
DODGERS 4, DIAMONDBACKS 3
PHOENIX — Kike Hernandez had three hits, including a triple and a double, and Brett Anderson pitched seven strong innings for his third straight victory as Los Angeles defeated Arizona.
The NL West-leading Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks for the ninth time in the past 10 meetings and recorded their first winning road trip of the season with a 6-4 mark in the 10-game swing to Chicago, Miami and Arizona.
Anderson (5-4) stranded six runners and allowed one run and seven hits, striking out seven and walking two. The Diamondbacks’ run came on Aaron Hill’s home run in the sixth.
Hernandez ripped a leadoff triple to start the game and scored on Howie Kendrick’s sacrifice fly.
Robbie Ray (2-4) took the loss after allowing four runs and seven hits with six strikeouts and two walks in six innings.
CUBS 2, METS 0, 11 INNINGS
NEW YORK — Starlin Castro legged out a run-scoring infield single in the 11th inning, and the Chicago Cubs blanked punchless New York for its second consecutive shutout at Citi Field.
Jon Lester returned to form with seven sharp innings, and the Cubs overcame a major baserunning blunder to score twice in the 11th. Miguel Montero added an RBI single and Chicago won its eighth straight against the Mets, including the first six of seven meetings this season.
The staggering Mets botched a suicide squeeze in the eighth and a double-play ball in the 11th during their latest flop at the plate.
After neither team was able to score for 10 innings, the Cubs broke through against Carlos Torres (2-4).
Jason Motte (6-1) fanned two in a hitless inning and Justin Grimm threw a called third strike past Kevin Plawecki with runners at the corners for his first major league save.
BRAVES 4, NATIONALS 1
ATLANTA — A.J. Pierzynski and Juan Uribe hit back-to-back homers in a four-run fourth inning and Atlanta beat Washington to end a streak of nine straight losses in the season series.
Rookie Matt Wisler allowed one hit in 5 1-3 scoreless innings to make up for a loss to the Nationals in his last start. Wisler had a run-scoring single in the big fourth inning, his first career hit.
Wisler (2-1) overcame five walks in his rematch against Nationals’ right-hander Doug Fister (3-4), who allowed four runs in six innings.
BLUE JAYS 11, RED SOX 2
TORONTO — Justin Smoak homered from both sides of the plate, Mark Buehrle won his fourth straight decision and Toronto ended Boston’s winning streak at three.
Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and Josh Donaldson all connected and Jose Reyes had four hits as the Blue Jays scored more runs than they had in their previous four games combined, giving a Canada Day crowd of 45,392 plenty to cheer about.
Buehrle (9-4) allowed one run and four hits in seven innings. He hasn’t lost since May 23 against Seattle.
Encarnacion hit a three-run homer off Rick Porcello in the first and Smoak added a two-run drive into the second deck in right.
Bautista snapped an 0 for 25 slump with a two-run shot in the second, the 16th home run allowed by Porcello this season.
Porcello (4-9) allowed seven runs and seven hits in two innings, his shortest start of the season. He’s 0-7 with a 8.18 ERA in eight starts since beating Seattle on May 16.
MARLINS 6, GIANTS 5
MIAMI — Justin Bour hit a three-run homer with no outs in the ninth inning, and Miami overcame three errors and a flurry of double-play grounders to rally past San Francisco.
The Marlins squandered a 3-1 lead and tied a franchise record by hitting into five double plays. But they came back in the ninth against Santiago Casilla (4-2), who blew a save for the fourth time in 24 chances.
The Marlins trailed 5-3 to start the ninth when Christian Yelich led off with a single. Adeiny Hechavarria singled, and Bour pulled a 1-0 pitch over the fence in right field for his eighth homer and first career walk-off homer.
Steve Cishek (2-5) pitched a scoreless ninth for Miami, which won despite being out-hit 14-8.
YANKEES 3, ANGELS 1
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Nathan Eovaldi pitched scoreless, five-hit ball into the sixth inning, Garrett Jones homered and New York snapped its three-game skid with a victory over Los Angeles.
Chase Headley and Didi Gregorius had run-scoring singles for the Yankees, who had lost seven of 10 before salvaging the finale of their seven-game road trip.
Mike Trout homered for the Angels, whose four-game winning streak ended while their front office was in upheaval.
The Angels announced general manager Jerry Dipoto’s resignation during the game, replacing him with former GM Bill Stoneman. Dipoto apparently quit due to conflicts with manager Mike Scioscia, who has denied any problems.
Los Angeles (41-38) failed to move five games above .500 for the first time this season.
PIRATES 9, TIGERS 3
DETROIT — Neil Walker homered twice, including a two-run shot in a five-run third, and Pittsburgh beat Detroit.
Walker also drove in the winning run in Tuesday night’s 14-inning win — a game that ended early Wednesday morning.
The Pirates finished with 21 hits, their most since May 13, 2004 in Colorado.
A.J. Burnett (7-3) got the easy win, giving up two runs on seven hits in seven innings. He struck out four and didn’t walk a batter.
Alfredo Simon (7-5) took the loss, allowing six runs on a career-high 15 hits in 5 2-3 innings. The 15 hits were the most allowed by a Tigers starter since Scott Sanders allowed 16 on April 14, 1998.
ORIOLES 4, RANGERS 2
BALTIMORE — J.J. Hardy hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the seventh inning to back an effective pitching performance by Wei-Yin Chen and carry Baltimore past Texas.
Jimmy Paredes homered and had two RBIs for the Orioles, who yielded eight home runs in losing the first two games of the series.
The Rangers went deep twice more — solo shots by Shin-Soo Choo and Ryan Rua — but that was the extent of their offensive output.
Chen (4-4) allowed two runs, four hits and a walk over eight innings to win his third straight decision. The Taiwanese left-hander is 5-0 with a 1.80 ERA lifetime against the Rangers.
Zach Britton struck out the side in the ninth for his 23rd save.
Nick Martinez (5-5) gave up four runs, three earned, and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. He has lost three straight starts.
BREWERS 9, PHILLIES 5
PHILADELPHIA — Adam Lind homered, Scooter Gennett doubled twice, tripled and drove in three runs and hot-hitting Milwaukee won its season-best fourth straight game.
Ryan Braun and Aramis Ramirez each doubled and had two RBIs for Milwaukee. Gerardo Parra and Kyle Lohse had three hits apiece for the Brewers, who had a season-high 17 hits.
Maikel Franco had a three doubles and two RBIs for Philadelphia, which lost its sixth in the last seven to fall to 27-53. The Phillies have the worst record in baseball.
Lohse (5-9) allowed four runs on nine hits in 6 1/3 innings with four strikeouts and two walks.
Aaron Harang (4-11) lost his eighth straight game in his worst outing of the season. Harang gave up eight runs on a career-high 14 hits in five innings.
REDS 4, TWINS 1
CINCINNATI — Johnny Cueto made his best start yet since returning from a sore elbow, allowing four hits in eight innings, and Cincinnati beat Minnesota to take the interleague series.
The game started 12 hours after the Twins’ 8-5 win on Tuesday night following a long weather delay. Minnesota played several rested backups in the quick turnaround, with Torii Hunter among those out of the lineup.
Cincinnati took two of three in the series.
Cueto (5-5) pitched into the eighth inning for the first time in six starts since he returned from an inflamed right elbow. He struck out eight, walked one and gave up an RBI groundout to Eddie Rosario.
Aroldis Chapman retired the side in the ninth for his 16th save in 17 chances.
MARINERS 7, PADRES 0
SAN DIEGO — Taijuan Walker pitched one-hit ball for six innings, Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz homered and Seattle beat punchless San Diego.
Cano had four hits and drove in three runs. Cruz connected for his 20th homer on his 35th birthday.
Walker (7-6) combined with four relievers on a three-hitter for Seattle’s second straight shutout of San Diego. The Padres have been blanked 13 times this year.
Walker struck out seven and walked none.
James Shields (7-3) failed for the fifth time to get his eighth victory. He’s lost three straight starts.
ATHLETICS 4, ROCKIES 1
OAKLAND, Calif. — Billy Butler hit his first triple in nearly three years and also singled, Jesse Hahn pitched six solid innings and Oakland beat Colorado.
Hahn (6-6) improved to 4-1 over his last six starts after giving up one run on four hits. He walked two and struck out six.
Tyler Clippard retired the final four hitters for his 14th save.
Butler, Josh Reddick, Mark Canha and Eric Sogard drove in runs as the A’s won the series. Billy Burns added two hits and scored twice.
Chad Bettis (4-3) allowed three runs on seven hits and four walks in 5 2-3 innings.
White Sox 7, Cardinals 1
ST. LOUIS – Melky Cabrera homered to back a strong outing from Jose Quintana, and the Chicago White Sox pulled away late to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-1 Wednesday night in a game interrupted by three rain delays.
The Cardinals lead the majors with a 51-26 record and had a six-game winning streak entering the two-game series but were held to a single run in each of the two losses to Chicago. They were 0 for 16 with runners in scoring position, including seven hitless at-bats Wednesday.
Quintana (4-7) allowed a run in six innings with eight strikeouts to win for the first time in four starts. The lefty worked at least six innings for the 10th straight time, none of the starts lasting longer than seven innings.
Cabrera homered in the sixth to give the White Sox the lead. Tyler Flowers’ two-run homer highlighted a five-run ninth for the White Sox, who had dropped 12 of 16 entering the series.
