MLB roundup: A's pull closer to Astros with walk-off win

Matt Olson homered off left-hander Tony Sipp leading off the bottom of the 10th inning Friday night, completing a comeback that delivered the Oakland Athletics a 4-3 win over the Houston Astros in the opener of a three-game series between the top two teams in the American League West in Oakland, Calif. Nick Martini lashed a game-tying RBI double in the ninth to force extra innings for the A's (73-49), who moved within one game of the first-place Astros (74-48). Olson belted Sipp's sixth pitch well over the fence in right field for his 23rd home run of the season and Oakland's eighth walk-off win of the year. A's closer Blake Treinen (6-2), who worked the top of the 10th in a tie game, was credited with the win after a three-strikeout effort. Sipp (2-1) took the loss. Cardinals 5, Brewers 2 Rookie Jack Flaherty continued his mastery over Milwaukee as host St. Louis claimed victory in the opener of a key three-game series between the two National League Central rivals. The win was the ninth in the past 10 games for the Cardinals and allowed them to move to within a half-game of the Brewers in the NL wild-card race. Flaherty (7-6) dominated the Brewers for the third time this season, scattering three hits in six innings while striking out seven and walking three. Flaherty has now struck out 29 Brewers batters in 18 innings over his three appearances against them this season. Cubs 1, Pirates 0 Kyle Schwarber hit a solo home run and Cole Hamels pitched seven scoreless innings Friday as visiting Chicago beat Pittsburgh for its third win in a row. It marked the second straight night the Cubs beat the Pirates 1-0 on a home run, Ian Happ providing the pop on Thursday. Relievers Brandon Kintzler, Jorge De La Rosa, Steve Cishek and Jesse Chavez combined with Hamels on the seven-hit shutout, with Chavez picking up his second save. The Cubs had a six-hit shutout Thursday. Yankees 7, Blue Jays 5 (7 innings) Giancarlo Stanton hit a long home run in the bottom of the seventh inning as host New York overcame an early four-run deficit to defeat Toronto in a rain-shortened game. Stanton capped the comeback from the early hole when he drove a 1-2 fastball from Luis Santos 431 feet into a standing-room section in right-center field above New York's bullpen. A few minutes after Stanton's 31st homer, the game was delayed by rain. After the 85-minute delay, the game ended. Nationals 8, Marlins 2 Max Scherzer took the major league lead with 16 wins as Washington defeated visiting Miami. Marlins manager Don Mattingly was ejected in the fourth inning after he argued a called third strike on Miami batter Derek Dietrich. Miami has lost 15 of 17 games, including six straight. Ryan Zimmerman and Matt Wieters homered for the Nationals, who pushed past .500 at 62-61. Scherzer helped his cause by scoring two runs and stroking a double, setting a career high with 16 hits this season. Indians 2, Orioles 1 Jose Ramirez hit a two-run homer, and Carlos Carrasco threw seven shutout innings as Cleveland defeated visiting Baltimore. The Indians have won six straight games. Baltimore, on the other hand, has lost seven of its last eight and dropped to 50 games under .500. For the Indians, Carrasco (15-6) won for the seventh time in his last eight decisions. Ramirez's homer was his 37th of the year, tying him with Boston's J.D. Martinez for the league lead. Red Sox 7, Rays 3 Mitch Moreland delivered the tiebreaking RBI single in the fifth inning for Boston, which rallied past visiting Tampa Bay. The scorching Red Sox have won 16 of 19 since their last set of back-to-back losses July 24-26. At 87-36, Boston is on pace to win 115 games, one shy of the all-time record. Brian Johnson (4-3) recovered from his rough first inning to earn the win by allowing the three runs on five hits and two walks while striking out two over 5 2/3 innings. Johnson retired 15 of the final 17 batters he faced. Dodgers 11, Mariners 1 Manny Machado hit two of Los Angeles' five home runs to back a strong start by rookie Walker Buehler in a rout at Seattle. Yasmani Grandal, Max Muncy and Matt Kemp also went deep for the Dodgers, who won their second in a row after a five-game losing streak. Buehler (6-4) allowed one run on three hits in six innings. He walked two and tied his career high with eight strikeouts. Rockies 11, Braves 5 Ian Desmond drove in five runs, and Kyle Freeland struck out nine batters in six innings as Colorado earned a win at Atlanta. Desmond had a three-run triple in the third inning and a two-run single in the eighth. Charlie Blackmon had a two-run triple in a four-run sixth inning and scored three runs. Blackmon, Desmond, DJ LeMahieu and Trevor Story each had three hits for Colorado. Ozzie Albies had three hits for the Braves, who lost consecutive games for the first time since a four-game losing streak July 24-28. The Braves fell to 11-6 in August and 14-6 over their last 20 games. Diamondbacks 9, Padres 4 Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run homer in the first and Steven Souza Jr. added a three-run double in the sixth as visiting Arizona defeated San Diego to maintain its 1 1/2-game lead on Colorado in the National League West. Right-handed reliever Yoshihisa Hirano (4-2) was credited with the win as Arizona starter Robbie Ray failed to complete five innings while holding the lead against the Padres for the second time this season. Left-handed rookie starter Joey Lucchesi (6-7) took the loss. Goldschmidt reached base in all five plate appearances, going 2-for-2 with a homer and three walks. Escobar reached four times, going 2-for-3 with his homer, two walks and three runs scored. Souza was 3-for-5. Jon Jay had two hits and scored twice. Reds 2, Giants 1 (11 innings) Phillip Ervin hit the third pitch of the bottom of the 11th inning for a walk-off home run, delivering Cincinnati a dramatic win over visiting San Francisco. Ervin's homer, his third of the season, came off the sixth Giants pitcher, right-hander Ray Black (2-2), and ended what began as a pitchers' duel between Cincinnati's Anthony DeSclafani and San Francisco's Casey Kelly, the son of Reds interim bench coach Pat Kelly. The win allowed the Reds to snap a four-game losing streak on the same day they placed star first baseman Joey Votto on the disabled list with a bruised right shin. Phillies 4, Mets 2 Right-hander Aaron Nola pitched seven strong innings as Philadelphia defeated visiting New York. Nola (14-3) allowed one run on three hits, with one walk and 11 strikeouts against a Mets team that had scored 46 runs over the previous three games, including a franchise-record 24 in a victory in the opener of a doubleheader Thursday against the Phillies. Nola improved to 9-0 at Citizens Bank Park this season and allowed four or fewer hits for the 15th time in 25 starts, tying Ken Howell (1989) for the second-most in team history, one behind Grover Cleveland Alexander (1915). Rangers 6, Angels 4 Texas scored five runs in the second inning and made it stand to beat visiting Los Angeles. Joey Gallo had a two-run double and Rougned Odor had a two-run single in the inning off starter Odrisamer Despaigne (2-1), who was making his Angels debut after being acquired from the Miami Marlins earlier in the week in exchange for cash considerations. Texas, which had six hits and a walk in the second inning, has won the first two games of the four-game series. The Rangers had 10 hits in all by seven different players, led by center fielder Carlos Tocci, who had three singles. White Sox 9, Royals 3 Jose Abreu and Nicky Delmonico each hit three-run home runs to highlight a seven-run seventh inning, and James Shields give up three runs on six hits over seven innings to pick up his fifth win of the season as Chicago rallied to defeat visiting Kansas City. Delmonico finished with two hits and five RBIs while Tim Anderson had three hits -- including a double and triple -- scored three runs and stole two bases for the White Sox, who won their third straight game. Shields (5-14) improved to 10-3 in his career against the Royals, including 3-1 this season. He walked two and struck out five. Twins 5, Tigers 4 Joe Mauer's three-run, pinch-hit homer highlighted a four-run seventh as Minnesota edged visiting Detroit. Mauer's second career pinch-hit homer made a winner out of Kyle Gibson (7-9), who gave up three runs on eight hits and struck out five in seven innings. Eddie Rosario and Tyler Austin also homered for the Twins, who have taken the first two games of the four-game series. Victor Martinez had three hits and drove in a run for Detroit. Matthew Boyd (7-11) was charged with four runs on four hits while striking out seven in 6 1/3 innings. --Field Level Media