Skenes recipient of Pirates’ ambush of Brewers, 14-5
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PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Paul Skenes won his second straight start after going winless for nine in a row as the Pittsburgh Pirates scored 10 runs in the fourth inning to rout the Milwaukee Brewers 14-5 Sunday and head into the All-Star break with a three-game sweep.
What was slated to be a high-profile matchup lost some of its luster when Milwaukee scratched hard-throwing Jacob Misiorowski on Saturday because of arm fatigue. While Skenes and Misiorowski are All-Stars, both will skip pitching in Tuesday’s showcase.
Skenes (8-8) allowed two runs and three hits over 5 1/3 innings with one walk and seven strikeouts -- including four among his final five batters. He had been 0-6 in nine starts before beating Atlanta on Tuesday, and the Pirates lost all nine of those games.
Robert Gasser (2-4) gave up seven runs and eight hits in three-plus innings.
Pittsburgh (50-47) took a 4-2 lead into the fourth and scored seven runs before making an out.
Marcell Ozuna homered, Henry Davis had an RBI single and Jared Koenig hit Bryan Reynolds with a pitch with the bases loaded, forced in a run by walking Esmerlyn Valdez and allowed Ryan O’Hearn’s run-scoring single that boosted the advantage to 9-2.
Nick Gonzales greeted Grant Anderson with a two-run double, Triolo hit a two-run single and, after a video review reversed the call at first on what appeared to be an inning-ending double-play grounder by Davis, Jake Mangum hit an RBI triple.
Skenes tossed three perfect innings before giving up back-to-back doubles starting the fourth to Christian Yelich and Chourio. Gary Sánchez hit into a run-scoring forceout.
Brice Turang hit a two-run homer in a three-run eighth.
CUBS 8, REDS 4
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Alex Bregman had a season-high four RBIs, including a three-run homer in a four-run seventh inning, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 8-4 Sunday.
Chicago took two of three from the Reds and entered the All-Star break at 54-42, in position for an NL wild card and five games back of NL Central-leading Milwaukee.
Cincinnati (43-52) lost its fourth straight series and is last in the division.
Bregman was a triple shy of the cycle after hitting a two-run homer Saturday. He had a go-ahead RBI double in the first, singled in the fifth and hit his ninth home run of the season, a drive off Pierce Johnson.
Bregman is hitting .241 with 41 RBIs after signing a $175 million, five-year contract.
Matthew Boyd (5-1) improved to 5-0 in eight starts since losing his opening outing, allowing four runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings.
Jacob Webb got two outs for his fifth save.
With the score 4-4, Dansby Swanson doubled off Chase Petty (1-2) starting the seventh and scored on Pete Crow-Armstrong’s one-out single off Sam Moll, his first hit of the series.
Michael Busch’s RBI double in the first built a 2-0 lead.
Cincinnati went ahead 4-2 in the third when Spencer Steer hit an RBI grounder, JJ Bleday singled in a run and Eugenio Suárez hit his 200th homer, a two-run drive.
Reds starter Andrew Abbott gave up four runs, four hits and three walks in four innings.
WHITE SOX 9, A'S 1
CHICAGO (AP) -- Sam Antonacci and Braden Montgomery homered in a six-run first inning and the White Sox extended the Athletics’ losing streak to nine with a 9-1 victory on Sunday that left Chicago atop the AL Central entering the All-Stark break.
Montgomery, who debuted on June 9, drove in four runs in a big league game for the first time. He entered with eight RBIs in his first 28 games.
Chicago (50-45) swept the three-game series by outscoring the A’s 24-2 after getting swept in three games against Boston. The White Sox lead the division over Cleveland (51-46) by less than a percentage point.
The A’s, on their longest skid since dropping nine straight from May 27 to June 4 last year, have lost 13 of 14 and 17 of 20, falling to 41-55.
All-Star Shea Langeliers hit his 21st homer in the first off Noah Schultz (3-6), giving the A’s their first lead since July 1.
Schultz won for the first time in seven starts, allowing one run and four hits in five innings. The left-hander had given up 16 runs in 18 2/3 innings in his four previous outings.
YANKEES 5, NATIONALS 3
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Ben Rice hit a two-run triple in the top of the eighth inning to give the New York Yankees their third straight come-from-behind victory over the Washington Nationals, 5-3 on Sunday.
New York, which has won four in a row overall for the first time since June 13-17, completed a three-game sweep in which it overcame one deficit in the ninth inning and two in the eighth.
The Yankees tied the White Sox with their eighth win when trailing in the eighth inning or later for the most such victories in the American League.
With men on first and second against Andrew Alvarez (2-3), Rice hit a drive on the fourth straight curveball from Alvarez that center fielder Dylan Crews was unable to catch while slamming into the wall.
Both runners scored, making it 4-3 and putting Ryan Yarbrough (2-0) in line for the win. Paul Blackburn returned the final six Washington batters for his first save.
José Caballero hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth to give New York a two-run lead.
The Yankees are 6-34 when trailing after seven innings, with half of the wins coming in this series.
MARINERS 8, RAYS 2
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- Randy Arozarena hit a three-run homer after Seattle lost starting pitcher Emerson Hancock to a hand injury in the second inning, and the Mariners beat the Tampa Bay Rays 8-2 on Sunday to snap a five-game losing streak.
Hancock took a 107.2 mph one-hopper off his pitching hand on his first pitch to Yandy Diaz but recovered to throw him out at first. The right-hander stayed in the game and retired Jonathan Aranda on a flyout on his second pitch before striking out Junior Caminero.
Hancock then left after issuing a two-out walk to Victor Mesa Jr. in the second on his 19th pitch. José A. Ferrer (2-1) needed one pitch to end the inning before striking out two in a scoreless third. Four relievers followed, with Andrés Muñoz pitching the ninth to close it out.
Seattle took a 3-0 lead against Ian Seymour (6-2) in the second on Victor Robles’ bases-loaded sacrifice fly and J.P. Crawford’s two-out, two-run double.
Weston Wilson hit a solo homer -- his first as a Mariner and second of the season -- with one out in the fourth. Seymour left with two outs and two on and Arozarena greeted Cole Sulser with his 11th homer to cap the four-run inning for a 7-0 lead.
Tampa Bay (57-37) has the best record in the AL heading to the All-Star Game.
Evan Longoria had his No. 3 jersey retired in a pregame ceremony, one day after being inducted into the Rays’ Hall of Fame.
PHILLIES 5, TIGERS 0
DETROIT (AP) -- J.T. Realmuto hit a three-run double in the sixth inning and Zack Wheeler struck out 10 in six scoreless innings, helping the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Detroit Tigers 5-0 on Sunday to win their three-game series before the All-Star break.
Wheeler (10-1) allowed just two hits in his first start since he was critical of Major League Baseball’s decision to exclude him from the Midsummer Classic following his previous outing.
Tarik Skubal (5-5) gave up two runs on four hits and a walk while striking out five in five-plus innings.
During the game, the Phillies announced Cristopher Sánchez will start for the National League on Tuesday night in the All-Star Game in his home ballpark.
ORIOLES 8, ROYALS 2
BALTIMORE (AP) -- Leody Taveras homered and drove in three runs, Samuel Basallo added a solo shot and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Kansas City Royals 8-2 Sunday for a three-game sweep.
The game was interrupted in the seventh inning when several players from both teams converged around the plate after Kansas City’s Lucas Erceg hit Blaze Alexander on the left hand with a pitch. The off-target pitch came immediately after Erceg yielded Basallo’s homer to make it 8-2.
Alexander shouted at Erceg, and Orioles manager Craig Albernaz quickly stepped in to restrain Alexander. Players from both dugouts and bullpens approached, but no punches were thrown, no one was shoved and no one was ejected. But Albernaz revealed after the game that Alexander has a nondisplaced fracture of his left hand.
Alexander had two hits and scored twice for the Orioles, who enter the All-Star break with their first four-game winning streak of the season.
Taveras hit a two-run homer in the second inning, a drive estimated at 448 feet. He also singled in the tiebreaking run during a five-run sixth that put Baltimore up 7-2.
Grant Wolfram (2-2), the second of five Baltimore relievers, got the win.
TWINS 4, ANGELS 2
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Trevor Larnach homered and drove in two runs, Ryan Jeffers added a two-run double and the Minnesota Twins beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-2 Sunday and head into the All-Star break with eight wins in their last nine games.
Larnach’s single in the third inning scored Luke Keaschall, tying the game at 1. Jeffers followed with a double that knocked in Ryan Kreidler and Larnach, extending the lead to 3-1.
Larnach added a 405-foot solo homer to right in the eighth inning, his seventh of the season, as the Twins won their fifth straight series.
Minnesota starter Taj Bradley (9-3) worked seven innings, allowing six hits and two earned runs with six strikeouts and a pair of walks. Andrew Morris struck out two over the last two innings and earned his third save.
Josh Lowe and Denzer Guzman hit solo home runs for the Angels. Lowe’s eighth of the season came in the second inning and Guzman added his fourth in the seventh inning.
José Soriano (8-6) allowed five hits, three earned runs and two walks in five innings.