Guardians hand Royals their season-high sixth straight loss

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Gavin Williams pitched seven sharp innings, and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Kansas City Royals 4-2 on Monday.

Lane Thomas and Josh Naylor each hit a two-run homer for AL Central-leading Cleveland, which won for the fourth time in five games.

Williams (3-7) allowed one run and one hit in an encouraging September performance after he went 1-4 with a 6.56 ERA in five starts last month. The right-hander retired his last 16 batters.

The Guardians began the day with a 3 1/2-game lead over Minnesota and Kansas City in the division.

The Royals finished with two hits in their season-high sixth consecutive loss.

Thomas’ ninth homer of the season lifted Cleveland to a 2-1 lead in the fifth. It was Thomas’ first homer since he was acquired in a July 29 trade with Washington.

BREWERS 9, CARDINALS 3

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Willy Adames tied the major league record with his 13th three-run homer of the season, going deep on his 29th birthday to lift NL Central-leading Milwaukee over St. Louis for their sixth win in seven games.

Adams homered for the fifth consecutive game, matching the Brewers record shared by Jeromy Burnitz (1997) and Eric Thames (2017). Adames’ 13 three-run homers equaled Ken Griffey Jr. in 1996 and his 99 RBIs set a career high, one more than his 2022 total.

Rookie Jackson Chourio hit a grand slam and Rhys Hoskins also homered for the Brewers (81-57), who began Labor Day with a nine-game division lead.

Adames put the Brewers ahead 3-0 in the first with his 29th home run of the season, a drive off Andre Pallante (6-7).

St. Louis, which entered five games back for the final NL wild card, dropped back to .500 at 69-69.

ORIOLES 13, WHITE SOX 3

BALTIMORE (AP) — Gunnar Henderson tied a franchise record for shortstops with his 34th home run, and Baltimore extended Chicago’s losing streak to 11 with a rout.

Chicago dropped to 31-108 and lost its 20th straight game in which Chris Flexen (2-14) started, breaking a major league mark for most consecutive losses in a pitcher’s starts that had been held by Milwaukee’s Chris Capuano.

Cedric Mullins homered with three RBIs, and Austin Slater and Henderson each drove in three runs for Baltimore, which overcame a 2-0 deficit and began a six-game homestand by improving to 5-0 against Chicago this season.

Baltimore’s leadoff batter reached in each of the first six innings for the first time since July 4, 1997, an 11-8 loss at Detroit in the second game of a doubleheader. The Orioles went 7 for 23 with runners in scoring position, had 18 hits and at 80-59 matched the Yankees for the most victories in the American League.

Coming off an 0-10 homestand, Chicago is on its third-longest skid this season after slides of 21 games from July 10 to Aug. 5 and 14 from May 22 to June 6. The White Sox would have to go 12-11 to avoid tying the post-1900 loss record set by the 1962 New York Mets, who went 40-120.

REDS 5, ASTROS 3

CINCINNATI (AP) — Santiago Espinal’s well-placed bloop single drove in two runs in the fifth inning, and Cincinnati beat Justin Verlander and Houston.

Ty France had four hits as Cincinnati stopped Houston’s five-game win streak. Amed Rosario had two hits and drove in a run.

Yainer Diaz had two hits and three RBIs for the Astros in the opener of a three-game interleague series. Verlander (3-5) was charged with five runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings.

Houston had a chance in the ninth, but came up empty. With Jason Heyward aboard after a leadoff single, Jose Altuve struck out looking against Emilio Pagán. Justin Wilson then earned his second save when he retired Yordan Alvarez on a liner to center.

Carson Spiers (5-5), the third of five Cincinnati pitchers, worked 2 1/3 innings for the win. He was charged with one run and three hits.

DODGERS 11, DIAMONDBACKS 6

PHOENIX (AP) — Freddie Freeman hit two homers and had five RBIs, Shohei Ohtani stole three bases and Los Angeles beat Arizona.

Teoscar Hernández went 5 for 5 to help Los Angeles take three of four games in a crucial series between NL West rivals. The Dodgers — who have won 17 of their last 23 — now have a six-game lead over the D-backs with 24 to play. Arizona and San Diego are jostling for second place.

Ohtani had two hits and two walks while showing off his speed. He stole second and third base on back-to-back pitches in the seventh inning, bringing his total for the season to a career-high 46. Freeman drove in Ohtani with a sacrifice fly, pushing the Dodgers’ lead to 4-1.

The Japanese superstar is on pace for 50 stolen bases and 50 homers this season. He currently has 44 homers.

Hernández doubled and tripled as part of his five-hit day. Will Smith had a two-run single in the seventh that made it 6-1. Mookie Betts added a two-run double in the eighth, extending the lead to 8-3.

PADRES 3, TIGERS 0

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Joe Musgrove pitched six strong innings and Fernando Tatis Jr. went 0 for 4 in his first game back since June 21 as San Diego beat Detroit.

Luis Arraez had two RBI singles for the Padres, who edged ahead of Arizona and into the NL’s top wild card spot.

Tatis was activated from the 60-day injured list after being sidelined with a stress reaction in his right thighbone. The star right fielder received loud ovations during the pregame lineup announcements and when he ran out to his defensive position to start the game, gesturing to the fans along the way.

He grounded out twice, fouled out and struck out.

Tatis won both the NL Gold Glove Award and Platinum Glove Award in 2023, his first season playing right field.

TWINS 5, RAYS 4

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Trevor Larnach and Brooks Lee homered to help the Minnesota Twins beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 on Monday night.

The Twins earned a second straight victory for the first time since they won three in a row from Aug. 15-17. They remained 3 1/2 games behind AL Central-leading Cleveland and moved a game ahead of Kansas City for the AL’s second wild-card spot.

Five Minnesota relievers combined for 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball. Jorge Alcala (4-3) got four outs for the win, and Jhoan Duran handled the ninth for his 21st save in 23 chances.

Playing in front of a Labor Day crowd of 11,636, Tampa Bay lost for the fourth time in five games.

Dylan Carlson drove in two runs for the Rays, and Jonny DeLuca hit his fifth homer of the season. Zack Littell (5-9) allowed four runs and seven hits in four innings.

ATHLETICS 5, MARINERS 4

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Shea Langeliers led off the ninth inning with his second home run of the game, lifting Oakland over Seattle.

Langeliers connected on a 3-2 sweeper from Austin Voth (2-5) and kept the ball just fair inside the left-field foul pole to cheers from fans among the 12,167 in the Labor Day crowd at the Coliseum.

Tyler Fergeson (3-2) struck out the side in order in the ninth for the victory.

Oakland (60-78) matched its wins total of 2022 — 10 more than last year’s total.

Langeliers hit a three-run homer in the fourth for Oakland, returning home from a six-game trip in which it lost three of the last four. He has a career-high 25 home runs.

METS 4, RED SOX 1

NEW YORK (AP) — Luis Severino pitched seven crisp innings, Francisco Lindor sparked New York’s lineup again and the surging Mets inched closer to playoff position by beating Boston.

Brandon Nimmo hit an RBI double and saved a run with a terrific catch in center field for the Mets, who have won five straight and 12 of 17 to move within a half-game of idle Atlanta for the final National League wild card.

Greeted with “MVP! MVP!” chants throughout New York’s first home game following a 7-3 trip, Lindor singled twice and was plunked by a pitch. His second base hit scored Luis Torrens to make it 4-1 in the fourth.

Lindor has reached base in a career-high 31 consecutive games and is riding a 13-game hitting streak, his longest of the season. He is batting .305 with 22 homers and 60 RBIs since moving into the leadoff spot on May 18.

At 74-64, the Mets are 10 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2022 season. They were 11 games under .500 on June 2.

PIRATES 5, CUBS 3

CHICAGO (AP) — Bryan Reynolds and Andrew McCutchen homered during Pittsburgh’s four-run eighth inning, and they cooled off Chicago with a victory.

Chicago returned home after closing out an 8-1 trip with six consecutive victories. It was hoping to add to its push for the third NL wild card against Pittsburgh, but it blew a 3-0 lead in the opener of a three-game series.

The Pirates began the eighth with three straight hits against Jorge López (2-3). Pinch-hitter Isiah Kiner-Falefa reached on a bloop single and Nick Gonzales had an infield hit before Reynolds connected for his 22nd homer, tying it at 3 with a drive to the bleachers in left-center.

After Oneil Cruz struck out swinging, McCutchen launched his 18th homer to left-center. McCutchen also extended his hitting streak to 14 games.

Jalen Beeks (7-4) got two outs for Pittsburgh, and Dennis Santana pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his third save.

YANKEES 8, RANGERS 4

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Giancarlo Stanton reached 25 homers for the 10th time in his big league career, Gerrit Cole struck out nine over six innings before his right calf cramped and New York beat Texas Rangers.

Gleyber Torres had three hits for the AL-leading Yankees, including a two-run double in the third inning that put them ahead to stay. Anthony Rizzo had a two-run double in their five-run sixth inning after Aaron Judge doubled for his MLB-best 124th RBI.

Before his last warmup pitch ahead of the seventh, Cole (6-3) lifted his right leg and tried to stretch. The Yankees ace and reigning AL Cy Young Award winner bent twice, threw the warmup, then hopped and signaled to the bench. Manager Aaron Boone and director of sports medicine Michael Shuck went to mound.

Cole, who turns 34 on Sunday, began this season on the 60-day injured list because of nerve irritation and edema in his throwing elbow during spring training. The right-hander didn’t make his season debut until June 19.

Stanton homered to straightaway center leading off the eighth. He is the only active MLB player with 10 seasons of at least 25 homers.

The Yankees (80-58) remained a half-game ahead of Baltimore in the AL East. They had lost four of their previous five games.

The Associated Press