DETROIT — Justin Verlander lost a bid for his third no-hitter when Chris Iannetta lined a leadoff double in the ninth inning that landed on the left-field line, and the Detroit Tigers beat the Los Angeles Angels 5-0 Wednesday night.
DETROIT — Justin Verlander lost a bid for his third no-hitter when Chris Iannetta lined a leadoff double in the ninth inning that landed on the left-field line, and the Detroit Tigers beat the Los Angeles Angels 5-0 Wednesday night.
Trying to become the sixth major leaguer to throw three no-hitters, Verlander settled instead for a one-hit shutout.
He was an inch away from so much more.
Iannetta’s shot, just barely fair, kicked up chalk and rolled into the left-field corner. Verlander attempted to will it foul with body English, then arched his back in disappointment after the ball hit right on the line.
Verlander (2-6) retired the next three batters to finish his seventh career shutout and first since May 18, 2012, against Pittsburgh. The right-hander struck out nine and walked two in his first win since July 29.
He faced only 28 hitters — one more than the minimum — after inducing double plays following both walks.
ASTROS 6, YANKEES 2
NEW YORK — Evan Gattis hit two home runs, Collin McHugh excelled once again and the Houston Astros exceeded last season’s win total, beating the New York Yankees.
The AL West leaders improved to 71-57, a year after going 70-92. With 34 games left on the schedule, the Astros already have achieved their best season since 2010.
The Yankees have lost five of seven, a slide that’s cost them first place in the AL East.
McHugh (14-7) kept up a recent run of ace pitching, both for himself and the team with the top ERA in the league. Houston has won seven of nine, not permitting more than two runs in any game.
McHugh shut out the Yankees until Didi Gregorius hit a two-run homer in the seventh. He outpitched Michael Pineda (9-8) for the second time this year, and has allowed just seven runs in his last five starts.
ROCKIES 6, BRAVES 3
ATLANTA — Brandon Barnes had three hits, including a two-run homer, and the Colorado Rockies extended Atlanta right-hander Shelby Miller’s winless streak to 18 starts with a victory over the Braves.
Miller (5-11) looked like he might break the streak, leading 3-0 in the seventh, but he gave up four runs in the bottom of the inning before leaving with two outs.
Jose Reyes capped the rally with a two-out triple to right-center that scored Barnes and Charlie Blackmon. Daniel Descalso and Blackmon had the other RBIs in the inning for Colorado.
Simon Castro (1-0) picked up the win in relief for the Rockies, who won two out of three for their first series win at Turner Field since 2005.
Barnes tacked on a two-run homer in the eighth off Edwin Jackson.
INDIANS 6, BREWERS 2
CLEVELAND — Jason Kipnis homered and drove in three runs, and the Cleveland Indians used six pitchers in a win over the Milwaukee Brewers.
Kipnis, who leads the American League with a .325 batting average, gave Cleveland the lead with a two-run double with the bases loaded in the second inning. He added a solo homer in the eighth.
Rookie right-hander Cody Anderson, starting in place of the injured Carlos Carrasco, allowed two runs in 4 1-3 innings. Carrasco, who leads the Indians in wins, was placed on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday with a sore right shoulder.
Jeff Manship (1-0) worked 1 1-3 innings for his first win since April 26, 2014, when he was pitching for Philadelphia against Arizona.
Jimmy Nelson (10-10) allowed five runs and walked eight in 3 1-3 innings in losing for the first time since July 10.
MARINERS 8, ATHLETICS 2
SEATTLE — Felix Hernandez made just two mistakes in eight strong innings, Nelson Cruz hit his AL-leading 39th homer and drove in three runs and the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics.
Seattle closed out its brief homestand with Hernandez rebounding after getting knocked around in his last start against the Chicago White Sox.
Hernandez (15-8) allowed a homer to Billy Burns on the first pitch of the game and a solo homer to Brett Lawrie on the first pitch of the seventh inning. Oakland’s only other hit off Hernandez was a soft single from Billy Butler in the fifth.
Hernandez struck out seven, walked one and became the second AL pitcher to reach 15 wins.
Cruz’s homer came in the eighth, but it was an early offensive outburst that backed Hernandez. Seattle sent 10 batters to the plate in the first and scored four times that inning off Chris Bassitt (1-6).
PIRATES 7, MARLINS 2
MIAMI — Andrew McCutchen homered and drove in four runs to help the Pittsburgh Pirates to a victory over the Miami Marlins.
Jeff Locke (7-8) pitched seven innings, allowing two runs and five hits for the Pirates, who have won four of five.
Pittsburgh (76-49) remains four games behind first-place St. Louis (80-45) in the NL Central race.
Miami’s Chris Narveson (1-1) struggled in his first start since April 15, 2012, while with Milwaukee. He allowed seven runs and eight hits in 3 2-3 innings.
Martin Prado homered for the Marlins.
McCutchen hit an RBI double in the first inning and helped spark a six-run second with a three-run home run, his 20th.
McCutchen is 6 for 13 with three doubles, a home run, and six RBIs in the first three games of the series
METS 9, PHILLIES 4
PHILADELPHIA — Bartolo Colon tossed five-hit ball and struck out eight in seven sharp innings, Michael Cuddyer hit a long homer and the NL East-leading New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies.
Colon (11-11) bounced back from a rough outing in Colorado, helping the Mets improve to 18-6 since July 31. They took a 6 1-2 game lead over second-place Washington, which lost 6-5 to San Diego.
Cuddyer had an RBI double in the first inning off Jerad Eickhoff (1-1) and hit a two-run shot into the second deck in left field off Hector Neris in the eighth.
The Mets have dominated the Phillies, winning eight straight, 11 of 12 this season and 23 of the last 28 meetings. They will go for a four-game sweep Thursday night with plenty of visiting fans chanting “Let’s Go Mets!” in Philadelphia’s cozy ballpark.
TWINS 5, RAYS 3
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Eduardo Escobar homered twice and Joe Mauer had a tiebreaking RBI single as Minnesota beat the Tampa Bay Rays for the Twins’ sixth consecutive win.
Minnesota has its longest winning streak away from home since a six-game stretch Aug. 14-26, 2007. The Twins are 6-3 entering the final game of a 10-game trip Thursday night.
Escobar hit solo shots in the sixth and eighth innings, with the second one making 5-3. Mauer had a bases-loaded single and Trevor Plouffe hit a sacrifice fly as the Twins took a 4-2 lead in the seventh.
Brian Duensing (4-0) replaced Twins starter Tyler Duffey with the bases loaded and one out in the sixth, and retired Daniel Nava and pinch-hitter Brandon Guyer to preserve a 2-2 tie. Kevin Jepsen pitched the ninth for his eighth save.
Rays starter Chris Archer (11-10) took the loss.
RED SOX 3, WHITE SOX 0
CHICAGO — Rick Porcello pitched seven sparkling innings in his return from a triceps injury, leading the Boston Red Sox to a victory over the Chicago White Sox.
Porcello and Chris Sale had nearly identical lines, but Travis Shaw hit a two-run homer off Nate Jones (1-1) with two outs in the eighth. Robbie Ross Jr. then got three outs for the Red Sox before Junichi Tazawa finished the six-hitter for his third save in nine chances.
Porcello (6-11) allowed five hits, struck out five and walked none in one of his best starts in a disappointing debut season with Boston. The right-hander was acquired in a December trade with Detroit, and then agreed to an $82.5 million, four-year contract in April.
DODGERS 7, REDS 4
CINCINNATI — Scott Van Slyke, A.J. Ellis and Yasiel Puig all homered during a five-run fourth inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers held on for a victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
Kike Hernandez added three hits and Adrian Gonzalez chipped in a ninth-inning RBI double for the NL West-leading Dodgers, have won two straight games after a season-high, five-game losing streak.
The Reds, who have lost 11 of their last 12 games and slipped to 1-8 on their 10-game homestand, reached left-hander Brett Anderson for three unearned runs. Anderson (8-8) gave up five hits with one walk, four strikeouts and a wild pitch.
Luis Avilan struck out Jay Bruce with the tying runs on base in the eighth and Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for his 25th save.
PADRES 6, NATIONALS 5
WASHINGTON — Justin Upton homered twice and had three RBIs, Matt Kemp added a two-run double and the San Diego Padres held on to beat the Washington Nationals.
Tyson Ross (9-9) allowed four runs in 6 1-3 innings for the Padres, who evened the three-game series and will try for their fifth straight series victory in Thursday’s finale.
Denard Span doubled twice for Washington in his second game back from the disabled list following back spasms, but Gio Gonzalez (9-7) failed to pitch more than five innings for a sixth time in seven starts.
Ryan Zimmerman drove in two runs on productive outs for the Nationals, who trailed 5-0 midway through the fourth before closing to within a run after a three-run seventh.
Craig Kimbrel pitched the ninth for his 36th save.
ORIOLES 8, ROYALS 5
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chris Davis, Manny Machado and Jonathan Schoop each hit a two-run homer off Johnny Cueto, and the Baltimore Orioles totaled five long balls in all to power their way to a victory over the Kansas City Royals that snapped a six-game skid.
Wei-Yin Chen (8-6) allowed three runs for the Orioles while scattering nine hits over six innings. The losing pitcher against the Royals in Game 3 of last year’s AL Championship Series, he has now gone seven straight starts without a defeat.
Cueto (9-9) labored through five innings for Kansas City, allowing 10 hits and a walk. It was his second consecutive shoddy start after yielding a career-high 13 hits in a loss at Boston.