Miami Marlins ace pitcher and heavy NL Cy Young Award favourite Sandy Alcantara shut down the best team in baseball single-handedly, pitching a complete game in his side's 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Alcantara needed 111 pitches to get all 27 outs, striking out 10 batters while giving up one run from six hits and two walks.
The one run he gave up was a solo home run to Mookie Betts in the third inning, continuing a hot series for Betts after hitting two home runs yesterday. It was Betts' 30th home run of the season – only six players have more.
Miami had to manufacture their runs the hard way, relying on small-ball. In the fourth inning, Jon Berti hit a single and then stole second base, allowing Brian Anderson to tie the game at 1-1 with an RBI base hit.
Two innings later, the Marlins took the lead when they capitalised on a fielding error as Edwin Encarnacion's single was bobbled by the left-fielder, letting Joey Wendle scamper home.
The Marlins showed incredible trust in their star in the ninth inning, as a pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases, but Joey Gallo could not be the hero for the Dodgers, grounding out to first base to end the game.
Alcantara has clearly been the best pitcher in the NL this season, and might have a case as the best starter in all of baseball.
He has tossed 19 more innings than any other player, and he is the only pitcher with more than 5.4 WAR (wins above replacement) – putting a gap on the field with 6.4. Of his 26 starts, 19 have been 'quality starts', meaning at least six innings pitched with no more than three earned runs.
Ohtani blanks the Blue Jays
The most unique player in baseball was the star of the show in the Los Angeles Angels' 2-0 win against the Toronto Blue Jays, with Shohei Ohtani striking out nine batters in seven shut-out innings.
Ohtani, who has hit the 11th-most home runs this season (27), has also struck out the seventh-most batters, with 176 in his 22 starts. Among starting pitchers, only Atlanta Braves rookie Spencer Strider (13.3) has a better strikeouts-per-nine-innings figure than Ohtani's 12.4.
He did not collect a hit in his four at-bats on Saturday, but was walked twice.
Yankees sputter in extra innings loss
The New York Yankees could only muster one hit in 11 innings against the Oakland Athletics, going down 3-2 in extras.
Athletics starting pitcher Adam Oller produced a career-best showing, giving up one hit and one walk in eight complete innings, while Yankees starter Domingo German also had his best stuff, carrying a perfect game into the sixth frame.
In extras, the Yankees scored their only two runs from a bases-loaded wild pitch, but that 2-0 lead was wiped out with one swing as pinch-hitter Stephen Vogt connected on a two-run home run. In the 11th, after the Yankees failed to score, the Athletics won with a walk-off error when New York second-baseman D.J. LeMahieu could not complete a double-play.
MLB: Margot's hit in 9th caps rally as Rays edge Angels
Manuel Margot singled to cap a two-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Tampa Bay Rays to a 5-4 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday.
Trailing by one entering the ninth, the Rays rallied against Angels closer Carlos Estevez.
Pinch-hitter Harold Ramirez and Yandy Diaz opened the inning with singles and runners were at the corners after Curtis Mead’s fly ball.
Isaac Paredes singled home the tying run and after Randy Arozarena struck out and Josh Lowe walked to load the bases, Margot flared a single to right to win it.
Tampa Bay already holds the top AL wild card and pulled within 1 ½ games of AL East-leading Baltimore after the Orioles’ 5-2 loss in Cleveland.
The late rally kept the Rays from losing consecutive games to the Angels, who stopped a six-game skid with an 8-3 win on Wednesday.
Tampa Bay starter Zach Eflin failed in his bid to become the AL’s first 16-game winner, allowing two runs and six hits in five innings.
Cole sharp as Yankees cool Blue Jays
Gerrit Cole boosted his Cy Young Award resume with eight stellar innings and the New York Yankees snapped the Toronto Blue Jays’ five-game winning streak, 5-3.
Cole retired the first 16 batters and allowed a run and two hits in his longest start since pitching a two-hit shutout against Minnesota on April 16.
He struck out nine without a walk and lowered his AL-best ERA to 2.75.
Jake Bauers gave Cole all the offense he needed with a three-run homer in the first inning.
Toronto is one-half game ahead of Texas and Seattle for the second of three AL wild-card spots.
Acuna, Olson power Braves
Matt Olson hit his major league-leading 53rd home run and Ozzie Albies homered for one of his four hits as the Atlanta Braves rolled to a 10-3 win over the Washington Nationals.
Atlanta totalled 18 hits with every member of the lineup reaching base at least once.
The Braves need only two wins in their final nine games to reach 100 wins for the second straight season.
Olson’s solo homer in the eighth inning gave him 132 RBIs, matching Gary Sheffield in 2003 for the most by a Braves player since the club moved to Atlanta in 1966.
Ronald Acuna Jr. tripled and scored in the third inning for his 140th run, making him the first player to reach that total since Alex Rodriguez had 143 in 2007.
MLB: Acuna hits two home runs, closes in on 40-60 season as Braves snap skid
Ronald Acuna Jr. hit a pair of home runs to reach 39 and stole his 67th base as the Atlanta Braves ended a four-game losing streak with a 9-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday.
Acuna is one home run shy of becoming the first player with 40 homers and 60 steals in a season, much less 40 home runs and 70 stolen bases.
The Braves' superstar is batting .386 with 11 home runs, 26 RBIs, 23 runs and eight steals in his last 20 games.
Acuna’s first home run was his seventh leadoff blast this season and 33rd of his career. Of his 205 hits this season, 51 have come in the first inning.
His performance overshadowed Spencer Strider’s major league-leading 18th win.
The right-hander allowed three runs and four hits over seven innings with 11 strikeouts to raise his MLB-best total to 270.
Marcell Ozuna drove in three runs with three hits, including a two-run double in the fifth, as Atlanta avoided its first five-game skid since September 2017.
Bryce Harper hit a three-run home run for the Phillies, who hold the top wild-card spot in the NL.
Padres lose combined no-hitter in 9th, walk-off Rockies
Blake Snell threw seven no-hit innings, and the San Diego Padres lost a combined no-hitter in the 9th before Xander Bogaerts hit a walk-off two-run homer in a 2-0 win over the Colorado Rockies.
Snell struck out 10 with four walks over the first seven innings and threw 104 pitches but was replaced by Robert Suarez, who worked a perfect eighth.
Closer Josh Hader gave up a leadoff single to Brendan Rodgers in the ninth before getting three outs.
Bogaerts homered off Tyler Kinley with two outs in the ninth to give San Diego its season-high sixth straight win.
Hays hits 2 homers as Orioles defeat Astros
Austin Hays went deep twice and Ryan O’Hearn added a two-run shot to lift the Baltimore Orioles to their fourth straight win, 9-5 over the slumping Houston Astros.
Hays hit a three-run shot off starter Hunter Brown in the third inning to snap a 2-2 tie and put Baltimore ahead for good.
O’Hearn’s two-run homer in the first opened the scoring and rookie Heston Kjerstad connected for his second career home run in the seventh, one batter after Hays’ second of the game gave the Orioles an 8-5 lead.
Baltimore maintained a 2 ½-game lead over Tampa in the race for the AL East title, while Houston’s lead in the West was trimmed to one-half game over Texas and Seattle.
MLB: Cardinals' Wainwright earns 200th win
Adam Wainwright recorded his 200th career victory with seven brilliant innings as the St. Louis Cardinals edged the National League Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers, 1-0, on a historic Monday night at Busch Stadium.
Wainwright, pitching in his 18th and final season in a Cardinals' uniform, yielded just four hits and two walks to become the 38th pitcher in NL history to reach the milestone.
The 42-year-old had gone 0-10 over an 11-start stretch before picking up an elusive career win No. 199 last week, when he allowed two runs over five innings to beat the Baltimore Orioles.
Willson Contreras accounted for the game's lone run with a solo homer in the fourth off Freddy Peralta, who permitted just four hits and struck out six over six innings in a hard-luck loss.
The loss kept Milwaukee's magic number to win the NL Central at seven. The Brewers hold a six-game lead on the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds atop the division.
Orioles rally past Astros in clash of division leaders
Cedric Mullins hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the top of the ninth inning that lifted the Baltimore Orioles to an 8-7 win over the Houston Astros in Monday's opener of a three-game series between American League division leaders.
Astros closer Ryan Pressly entered in the ninth to protect a 7-5 lead and gave up consecutive one-out singles to Ryan O'Hearn and Austin Hays before Mullins launched a 2-1 pitch into the right-field seats to send Baltimore in front.
Cionel Perez and Yennier Cano kept Houston scoreless in the bottom of the ninth to extend the Orioles' lead over second-place Tampa Bay to 2 1/2 games in the AL East.
Houston, which is now lost five of seven, maintained a 1 1/2-game edge on Texas and Seattle for first place in the AL West. The Rangers were handed a 4-2 loss by the Boston Red Sox on Monday, while the Mariners posted a 5-0 win over the Oakland Athletics to tie Texas for the AL's third and final wild card berth.
O'Hearn's hit in the ninth capped a 5-for-5 night in which he drove in two runs. Mullins added an RBI double in the seventh that tied the game at 5-5, while Gunnar Henderson finished 3 for 5 with three runs scored and Adley Rutschman knocked in a pair of runs.
Houston had taken a 6-5 lead on Jose Abreu's solo homer in the seventh, and Martin Maldonado had a solo shot in the eighth to increase the margin.
Reds top Twins, move into tie for NL's final wild card
There's also now a tie for the NL's final wild card spot after Cincinnati rookie Connor Phillips pitched the Reds to an important 7-3 victory over the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins.
Phillips collected his first major league win by holding Minnesota to two runs and three hits while striking out seven in seven innings. The 22-year-old's performance helped the Reds move into a tie with the Chicago Cubs for the NL's third wild card berth, a half-game in front of Miami after the Marlins were dealt a 2-1 loss by the New York Mets.
Will Benson homered and drove in three runs to aid Phillips, while Joey Votto had two hits and two RBIs and Spencer Steer finished 3 for 4 with an RBI single.
Both Minnesota runs off Phillips came via solo homers, one from Royce Lewis in the fourth inning and the other from Alex Kirilloff in the seventh.
Twins starter Joe Ryan took the loss after surrendering four runs in five innings.
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