Jonathan Villar’s two-out, two-run home run in the top of the 16th inning gave Baltimore the lead, and center fielder Stevie Wilkerson pitched a perfect bottom half of the inning to become the first position player in major league history to record a save as the Orioles beat the Los Angeles Angels 10-8 Thursday night in Anaheim, Calif.
The Orioles used 10 pitchers in the game, which lasted 6 hours, 19 minutes. Wilkerson, who played the first 15 innings of the game in center field, threw pitches ranging between 53 and 56 mph to get Brian Goodwin, Kole Calhoun and Albert Pujols in order to seal the win.
The Angels also used 10 pitchers in the game, including Griffin Canning, who was scheduled to start Friday’s game but entered in the 15th inning and gave up five runs in two innings and took the loss.
Twins 10, White Sox 3
Nelson Cruz continued his power display with the first three-homer game of his career to lead Minnesota to a victory over host Chicago.
The 39-year-old Cruz had five RBIs while Max Kepler and Miguel Sano also homered for the Twins. Cruz has six blasts over the past four games and eight in the last nine. Minnesota has 17 homers over the past four games to extend its major league-leading homer total to 199. The Twins also set a major league record by hitting five or more homers for the ninth time this season.
Cruz hit each of his three homers off White Sox All-Star right-hander Lucas Giolito (11-5), who served up four blasts for the first time in his career. Twins All-Star right-hander Jose Berrios (9-5) gave up three runs (two earned) and six hits in seven innings.
Red Sox 19, Yankees 3
Xander Bogaerts crushed a three-run home run as part of a seven-run first inning, and Boston never looked back, routing visiting New York in the opener of a four-game series.
Bogaerts later added a solo shot and had four hits, and Rafael Devers and Sandy Leon also hit homers as the Red Sox set a single-game franchise record for scoring against the Yankees. Boston slugged 10 doubles among its 23 hits on its way to beating New York for just the second time in eight meetings this season.
The storied rivals continued a trend of battering each other when they play. They’ve combined to score 85 runs in their past four meetings, with Boston reaching eight runs in each of those contests — the first time it has accomplished that feat in four straight against New York since 1912.
Mariners 10, Tigers 2
Tim Beckham hit a grand slam as Seattle won consecutive games for the first time in a month by defeating visiting Detroit.
Kyle Seager also homered for the Mariners, who last won two in a row June 25-26 at Milwaukee. Left-hander Wade LeBlanc (6-3) pitched six innings for the win, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits with one walk and four strikeouts. Right-hander Erik Swanson served as the opener for Seattle, throwing two scoreless innings with three strikeouts and a walk before handing off to LeBlanc.
John Hicks homered for the Tigers, who lost their third in a row and are 2-11 since the All-Star break. Tigers right-hander Drew VerHagen (1-1), making his first start of the season, went four innings and allowed seven runs (six earned) on six hits. He walked four, struck out four and hit a batter.
Indians 5, Royals 4 (14 innings)
Jose Ramirez hit a leadoff home run in the 14th inning as Cleveland defeated host Kansas City, but not before nearly blowing it in the bottom half of the 14th.
It was the longest game of the season for both teams.
Nick Goody (2-0) picked up the win with two scoreless innings of relief before A.J. Cole got his first save since 2015. Brian Flynn (2-2) took the loss for KC, which scored once in the bottom of the 14th after the Indians scored two in the top half, but could not get the tying run across.
Rangers 11, Athletics 3
Danny Santana highlighted a 10-run explosion in the fifth and sixth innings with a grand slam, powering Texas past host Oakland in the opener of a four-game series.
Santana finished with three hits and a career-best six RBIs, while Asdrubal Cabrera also collected three hits, as the Rangers won for just the second time in their last 11 games.
The six RBIs were one more than Santana’s previous career best, which had occurred for Minnesota against Houston in June of 2014. The three-hit game was his 10th of the season, the home run his 14th.
Cardinals 6, Pirates 3
Paul Goldschmidt hit a home run for the fourth straight game, one of three for long balls for St. Louis, which completed a four-game series sweep at Pittsburgh.
Kolten Wong and Dexter Fowler also homered for St. Louis, which has won 11 of its past 13 games. Starling Marte had an RBI double and scored a run for Pittsburgh, which has lost five consecutive and is 2-11 since the All-Star break.
St. Louis starter Miles Mikolas (7-10) pitched six innings, allowing three runs and five hits, with one walk and five strikeouts. Pittsburgh starter Joe Musgrove (7-9) went five innings, giving up six runs (five earned), and seven hits, including all three homers, with two strikeouts and one walk.
Rockies 8, Nationals 7
Ian Desmond belted a homer to lead off the ninth, and fellow former National Daniel Murphy plated the go-ahead run later in the inning as Colorado rallied for a victory at Washington.
Ryan McMahon and Garrett Hampson each hit a two-run homer for Colorado, which recorded just its second win in 11 contests and spoiled Max Scherzer’s return by salvaging the finale of the four-game series.
Anthony Rendon connected for a three-run homer and Matt Adams added a solo shot for Washington. Scherzer, who had been sidelined due to an inflamed bursa sac in his back/shoulder, struggled in his first start since July 6, giving up three runs in a season-low-tying five innings.
Mets 4, Padres 0
Jacob deGrom tossed seven scoreless innings for the second straight start, striking out nine while leading host New York past San Diego.
The Mets, who scored all of their runs in the first inning, won two of the three games in the series. The Padres are 3-9 since the All-Star break.
The Mets still might have absorbed a loss in the ninth inning, when closer Edwin Diaz was struck on the foot by a line drive off the bat of the only batter he faced, Manny Machado. Diaz walked off the field under his own power, and Luis Avilan got the last three outs.
—Field Level Media
