PITTSBURGH — With reliever Ryan Vogelsong making a spot start Monday in a game rescheduled from the day before, Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle knew that he was going need a few innings from his bullpen.
PITTSBURGH — With reliever Ryan Vogelsong making a spot start Monday in a game rescheduled from the day before, Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle knew that he was going need a few innings from his bullpen.
Things took an unexpected turn, however, when Colorado Rockies starter Jordan Lyles hit Vogelsong in the head with a pitch in the bottom of the second inning of a game Pittsburgh went on to win 6-3.
After loading the bases, Lyles was ahead in the count 2-0 when his 92 mph fastball struck Vogelsong in the left cheek. The Pirates right-hander was taken from the field on a cart and was later admitted to a hospital to have an injury to his left eye evaluated.
Wilfredo Boscan (1-0) replaced Vogelsong on the mound, pitching four innings of relief. He was making just his second big league appearance, and doing so after watching his teammate leave the field was a challenge for the young Venezuelan.
“That’s a serious situation,” Boscan said through an interpreter. “At that moment, mentally, I started speaking to myself and getting myself ready. I started working even harder in the bullpen, so when I came out, I could dominate.”
Boscan allowed two runs on two hits and struck out two batters. He also contributed with his bat, hitting an RBI single in his first career plate appearance in the bottom of the third.
Mark Melancon pitched the final two outs of the ninth to collect his 15th save of the season.
Colorado’s Carlos Gonzalez snapped a 0-for-17 streak at the plate. He finished the afternoon 2 for 4 with a pair of singles and scored on a D.J. LeMahieu sacrifice fly in the ninth.
DODGERS 1, REDS 0
LOS ANGELES – Clayton Kershaw tossed a two-hitter for his third shutout of the season, pitching the Los Angeles Dodgers past Cincinnati 1-0 Monday night for their eighth straight win over the Reds.
Kershaw (7-1) struck out seven, ending his franchise-record streak of six starts in a row with at least 10 strikeouts. He gave the bullpen some much-needed rest after the Dodgers used a combined 13 relievers in consecutive extra-inning games at San Diego last weekend.
The left-hander retired his final 17 batters after issuing just his fifth walk of the season to Joey Votto leading off the fourth. Kershaw threw 102 pitches.
The Dodgers won back-to-back games for the first time since taking three in a row May 12-14. They needed just 2 hours, 11 minutes, to beat the Reds after outlasting San Diego in 5:47 on Sunday.
Brandon Finnegan (1-3) allowed five hits in his first career complete game for Cincinnati. The left-hander, who struck out two and walked four, hasn’t won since April 16.
GIANTS 1, PADRES 0
SAN FRANCISCO – Brandon Belt scored from first base when pinch-hitter Hunter Pence’s bloop double to short right field fell between two San Diego players with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to give San Francisco the win.
Johnny Cueto (7-1) allowed two hits in his third complete-game win over the Padres this season. The right-hander struck out six and didn’t walk a batter while becoming the first Giants pitcher since Jason Schmidt in 2004 to win seven times in his first 10 starts.
Cueto appeared headed for a no-decision before Pence’s game-ending hit.
Belt led off the ninth with a single against Brad Hand (1-1). Brandon Crawford and Gregor Blanco both struck out swinging before Pence lofted a shallow fly on a 1-1 pitch. The ball dropped between right fielder Matt Kemp and second baseman Alexi Amarista as they chased in vain
METS 7, NATIONALS 1
WASHINGTON – David Wright, Yoenis Cespedes and Neil Walker homered on the day Mets slugger Lucas Duda went on the disabled list, leading New York past Washington.
Pitching on the eve of his 43rd birthday, Bartolo Colon (4-3) allowed one run and five hits in seven efficient innings. Baseball’s oldest player struck out two and walked two.
With Duda out at least four to six weeks with a stress fracture in his lower back, Mets manager Terry Collins acknowledged it will take a committee approach to replace his power. Point taken, as Wright hit a three-run shot off Nationals starter Gio Gonzalez (3-2) during a five-run third inning, and Cespedes and Walker went back-to-back in the fifth.
Asdrubal Cabrera also drove in a run with the Mets’ fifth consecutive hit in the third, and fill-in first baseman Eric Campbell produced another with a sacrifice fly.
MARLINS 7, RAYS 6
MIAMI – Ichiro Suzuki had four hits, including a single in Miami’s two-run eighth inning, and the Marlins rallied past Tampa Bay.
The 42-year-old Suzuki has 10 hits in the past three games to raise his average to .417 and increase his career hit total to 2,960.
Struggling Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton put the ball in play in all three at-bats and reached on a single and walk. Marcell Ozuna had three hits for Miami, including his ninth homer.
The Marlins trailed 6-5 in the eighth, but their first two hitters singled off Erasmo Ramirez (6-2). Pinch hitter Cole Gillespie’s sacrifice fly tied the game, and Suzuki singled to put runners on the corners with one out. Martin Prado then hit a one-hopper that deflected off the glove of reliever Alex Colome. He had to settle for an out at first as the go-ahead run scored.
David Phelps (3-2) pitched a perfect eighth. A.J. Ramos pitched around a one-out single in the ninth for his 14th save.
CARDINALS 4, CUBS 3
ST. LOUIS – Randal Grichuck hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the ninth to lift St. Louis past Chicago.
Matt Adams tied the score with a two-run homer off in the seventh for St. Louis’ major league-leading ninth pinch-hit homer of the season. It also ended a streak of 13 innings of one-run pitching by Chicago starter John Lackey against his former team.
Grichuk drove a 2-2 pitch off of Adam Warren (3-1) for the win.
Trevor Rosenthal (2-1) pitched a scoreless ninth.
The Cubs’ Ben Zobrist had three singles and a walk, extending his streak to 29 starts with reaching safely. He is hitting .387 during that span.
ANGELS 2, RANGERS 0
ARLINGTON, Texas – Albert Pujols hit a two-run home run, the 569th of his career, and Nick Tropeano threw 6 2/3 strong innings to help Los Angeles beat Texas.
The Angels have won eight of their last 11 games.
Pujols’ homer in the third inning tied him for 12th in career homers with Rafael Palmeiro.
Tropeano (3-2) allowed four hits and one walk while striking out six. He has held opponents to two runs or fewer in seven of nine starts and lowered his ERA to 2.86.
Texas’ Derek Holland (3-4) pitched 6 2/3 innings, matching his longest outing of the season, and allowed two runs on seven hits.
Joe Smith earned his sixth save of the season.
TIGERS 5, PHILLIES 4
DETROIT – Miguel Cabrera hit two of Detroit’s four solo homers, then scored the tiebreaking run on Victor Martinez’s seventh-inning single to lift the Detroit past Philadelphia.
J.D. Martinez and Nick Castellanos also homered for Detroit, which has won seven of eight.
Maikel Franco and Tommy Joseph hit solo shots for the Phillies, who fell to 14-4 in one-run games this season.
Cabrera, who is 6 for 6 over his last two games, doubled with one out in the seventh. After moving to third on a wild pitch, he scored on Victor Martinez’s hit off Colton Murray (0-1).
Justin Wilson (1-1) got the win in relief for Detroit, and Francisco Rodriguez struck out two in a perfect ninth for his 13th save in 14 chances.
1st Game
WHITE SOX 7, INDIANS 6
2nd Game
INDIANS 5, WHITE SOX 1
CHICAGO – Rajai Davis’ two-run homer in the fifth inning of the second game put Cleveland ahead to stay, Jose Ramirez hit his second long ball of the day and Juan Uribe also went deep and the Indians earned a split of their doubleheader with the Chicago White Sox.
Davis’ shot to left field off Erik Johnson (0-2) on a 3-0 fastball snapped a 1-all tie. That was enough offense for Cody Anderson (1-3), who struck out a career-best nine over seven innings as the Indians snapped a three-game skid.
In the opener, Brett Lawrie broke a fifth-inning tie with a three-run homer, Todd Frazier hit his 14th of the season and the White Sox held on for a 7-6 victory.
Ramirez homered on the last pitch he saw in the opener and the first of the second game for Cleveland, which finished the day with six homers.
Austin Jackson added three hits and two RBIs, Mat Latos (6-1) allowed three runs over six innings in the first game, and David Robertson pitched a hitless ninth for his 12th save.
Marlon Byrd’s two-run homer in the fifth off Latos tied it at 3 a half-inning before Lawrie sent Mike Clevinger’s fastball into the left-field seats.
Clevinger (0-1) gave up seven hits over five innings in his second big league start.
Mike Napoli had a solo homer and an RBI groundout.
ROYALS 10, TWINS 4
MINNEAPOLIS – Salvador Perez had a career-high five hits, including a double, a triple and an RBI, to lead Kansas City past Minnesota.
Paulo Orlando added three hits and two RBIs in the rain-delayed game for the Royals, who put All-Star outfielder Alex Gordon on the disabled list earlier in the day with a fractured right wrist.
Ricky Nolasco (1-3) gave up six runs on eight hits and struck out three in 2 2/3 innings for the Twins (11-33), who have the worst record in the majors.
Peter Moylan (1-0) picked up the win in relief of Ian Kennedy, who gave up two runs on five hits in 3 1/3 innings of a start that had to be cut short thanks to the 41-minute rain delay in the third inning.
ATHLETICS 5, MARINERS 0
SEATTLE – Rich Hill pitched eight innings to win his fourth straight start, Stephen Vogt hit a leadoff homer in the seventh inning to snap a scoreless tie and Oakland ended a four-game skid.
Taijuan Walker (2-4) held the A’s to two hits through six innings, but then Vogt opened the seventh by driving a 3-1 pitch deep over the right field wall for his fourth homer.
Hill (7-3) allowed six hits over the first three innings, then retired 14 consecutive batters before Chris Taylor’s bloop single to shallow center with one out in the eighth. Hill allowed eight hits, struck out six and walked none, throwing 81 of 107 pitches for strikes.
The A’s broke it open with four unearned runs in the eighth, aided by two throwing errors from shortstop Taylor, called up Sunday to replace injured Ketel Marte.