The Baltimore Orioles extended their lead to two games over the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East with a 5-3 victory in Sunday's finale of an important four-game series between the division rivals.
Ryan O'Hearn snapped a 3-3 tie with a solo homer in the sixth inning to back another strong performance by the Baltimore bullpen as the Orioles took three of four from the still-sputtering Rays.
Tampa Bay entered July with a 6 1/2-game lead atop the division but has gone 4-14 thus far for the month. The Orioles, on the other hand, have won 12 of 15 since July 5.
Baltimore sealed its latest win with a combined 4 2/3 scoreless innings from three relievers. Mike Baumann (7-0) did not allow a hit in 2 2/3 innings and All-Star Felix Bautista struck out three in the ninth to record his 28th save.
Gunnar Henderson had a two-run homer in the second inning for the Orioles and finished 2 for 4 along with O'Hearn.
Yandy Diaz went 2 for 5 for Tampa Bay and tied the contest in the fifth inning with a two-run homer off Orioles starter Tyler Wells.
Rangers overcome early deficit to avoid sweep by Dodgers
The Texas Rangers rallied from an early four-run deficit to hand the Los Angeles Dodgers an 8-4 loss in the finale of a three-game interleague series between division leaders.
After Max Muncy's first-inning grand slam put Texas in a 4-0 hole, the Rangers blasted rookie Emmett Sheahan for eight runs over 3 2/3 innings to bounce back from two lopsided losses at the hands of the National League West leaders.
Jonah Heim cut the deficit in half with a two-run double in the bottom of the first before Marcus Semien, Nathaniel Lowe and Josh Jung each delivered RBI singles off Sheahan in the second to put Texas up 5-4.
Leody Tavares added a two-run double in the third to stretch the lead, while Martin Perez overcame a shaky start to last six innings and improve to 8-3 on the season.
The Dodgers scored 27 runs in winning the series' first two games and kept the offence going when Muncy blasted his 24th homer of the season to stake Los Angeles to a quick 4-0 lead.
Perez settled down thereafter and held the Dodgers to just three hits and a walk over the next five innings.
The win put the AL West-leading Rangers at 59-41, tying the franchise's best record after 100 games in a season set three times previously, most recently in 2012.
Albies' late home run lifts Braves over Brewers
In another clash of division leaders, Ozzie Albies' clutch three-run homer in the eighth inning staked the Atlanta Braves to a 4-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.
Down 2-1 entering the eighth, the Braves put two on against a usually dominant Milwaukee bullpen before Albies homered on the first pitch he saw from Elvis Peguero. The All-Star second baseman's 23rd homer of the season snapped a streak of 28 2/3 scoreless innings by Brewers relievers.
After Ben Heller worked a scoreless bottom of the eighth, Raisel Iglesias struck out all three batters he faced in the ninth as the NL East-leading Braves took two of three games from the NL Central-best Brewers.
Travis d'Arnaud added a solo homer and finished 2 for 4 for Atlanta, though star third baseman Austin Riley went 0 for 4 and had a streak of five consecutive games with a home run end.
Brice Turang had a solo home run for Milwaukee, which had its lead in the NL Central cut to a half-game over second-place Cincinnati after the Reds defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks, 7-3, on Sunday. The Brewers will host a three-game series against Cincinnati starting Monday.
Former Brave Julio Teheran allowed one run and just three hits over six innings for Milwaukee, while Atlanta starter Bryce Elder yielded two runs on four hits over six innings.
Mariners reportedly acquire Arozarena from Rays
Randy Arozarena is on the move,
The Seattle Mariners are reportedly acquiring Arozarena in a deal with the Tampa Bay Rays.
As part of the trade, which was reported late Thursday by multiple sources, the Mariners are sending the Rays outfielder Aidan Smith, right-hander Brody Hopkins and a player to be named later.
Arozarena was named to his first All-Star team last year, but is struggling a bit this season.
He is batting a career-low .213, but does have 15 home runs, 19 doubles and 16 stolen bases in 99 games.
His .717 OPS, however, is higher than any of Seattle's everyday players.
The Mariners are in need of a jolt with their offence suddenly struggling.
After leading the AL West by 10 games on June 18, Seattle has lost 20 of 29 and now trails the Houston Astros by one game for the division lead.
The offence has been the biggest culprit for the recent slide, as the Mariners have plated exactly one run in each of their last three games and have scored two or fewer in seven of their last eight.
Seattle is also in need of another outfielder with star centre fielder Julio Rodríguez sidelined until August with a high-ankle sprain sustained Sunday.
Cease tosses second no-hitter in Padres franchise history with gem against Nationals
Two years ago, Dylan Cease came within one out of throwing a no-hitter.
Against the Washington Nationals on Thursday, he finished the job, recording all 27 outs without allowing a hit.
Cease threw the second no-hitter in San Diego Padres franchise history, baffling the Nationals during a 3-0 win.
Cease improved to 10-8 and struck out nine in his nine sterling innings of work to win his third straight start.
Despite walking three batters, Cease faced only one over the minimum, with the Nationals caught stealing in the first inning and grounding into a double play in the fourth.
He threw 71 of his 114 pitches for strikes en route to joining Joe Musgrove as the only San Diego pitchers to throw a no-hitter. Musgrove's came against the Texas Rangers on April 9, 2021.
Baseball's latest no-no is the second of the season after the Houston Astros' Ronel Blanco threw one against the Toronto Blue Jays on April 1.
Cease's achievement also helps take away some of the sting from his near no-hitter from two years ago.
While pitching for the Chicago White Sox on September 3, 2022, he was one out away from no-hitting the Minnesota Twins, when current teammate Luis Arraez broke it up with a single to right-centre.
In this one, he got CJ Abrams to hit a flyout to right field for the final out.
Cease is in his first year with the Padres after beginning his career with the White Sox, and after a rocky June, has been pitching brilliantly lately.
In his last three outings, he has not allowed a run, while surrendering just two hits and seven walks over 22 innings while piling up 30 strikeouts.
His latest gem helped San Diego to its fifth consecutive win.
The Padres (55-50) didn’t need much offence against the Nationals (47-56) to back Cease, with Ha-Seong Kim plating all three runs on a first-inning single off Patrick Corbin.
Kershaw makes season debut in Dodgers' win over Giants
Clayton Kershaw permitted two runs over four innings in his first start of the season and the Los Angeles Dodgers went on to beat the San Francisco Giants 6-4.
The game was tied 4-4 until Nick Ahmed and Shohei Ohtani homered on consecutive pitches in the eighth inning to lead the NL West-leading Dodgers (62-42) to their sixth win in seven games since the All-Star break.
Ohtani's homer was his 31st of the season and his second in the last five games. He also doubled to give him four doubles since the All-Star break.
Kershaw allowed six hits and two walks with six strikeouts, while throwing 47 of his 72 pitches for strikes in his first start since Game 1 of last October's NL Division Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner had shoulder surgery four weeks later.
Ohtani signed with the Dodgers a month later and this was the first game the Japanese superstar and Kershaw played together.
Heliot Ramos led the Giants (49-55) with three hits and drove in a run while Jorge Soler singled twice.
Logan Webb yielded four runs and nine hits, and now has surrendered 15 runs and 25 hits with eight walks over 16 innings in his last three starts.
Mets beat Braves in 10 innings to stay hot
Jeff McNeil drove in the winning run with a 10th-inning hit on a ball Ramón Laureano misplayed in the New York Mets' 3-2 win over the Atlanta Braves.
McNeil's hit was just the third of the game for the Mets, and possibly could've been caught had Laureano not overrun it. The ball was hit hard down into the right-field corner and Laureano raced to track it down but ran too far and couldn't catch it as he reached his glove back across his body.
Jose Iglesias scored from second base, giving New York (54-48) its fourth straight win, and 10th victory in 13 games.
The Braves (54-47), meanwhile, lost their fifth straight game, as the Mets moved within one-half game of them for the NL's top wild-card spot.
McNeil and Francisco Lindor have been leading the charge for New York.
McNeil has driven in six runs in the last four games, and is hitting .417 with four home runs and nine RBIs in seven games since the All-Star break.
Lindor homered for the fifth time in four games, and is batting .359 with 14 RBIs during a 10-game hitting streak.
Atlanta squandered another stellar outing from Chris Sale.
The eight-time All-Star yielded two runs, two hits and a walk while striking out nine over 7 1/3 innings. It marked the eighth straight start in which he allowed two runs or fewer.
Padres’ Dylan Cease throws no-hitter against Nationals
San Diego Padres starter Dylan Cease threw MLB’s second complete-game no-hitter of the season, baffling the Washington Nationals during a 3-0 win on Thursday.
Cease improved to 10-8 and struck out nine in his nine sterling innings of work as the Padres won their fifth consecutive game.
The Houston Astros’ Ronel Blanco had the season’s first no-hitter on April 1 against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Despite walking three batters, Cease faced only one over the minimum, with the Nationals caught stealing in the first inning and grounding into a double play in the fourth.
Cease threw 71 of his 114 pitches for strikes as he won his third straight start.
Cease has not allowed a run in his last three outings, surrendering just two hits and seven walks over 22 innings while piling up 30 strikeouts.
Cease is in his first year with San Diego after beginning his career with the Chicago White Sox. After a rough June, Cease’s ERA sat at 4.24 on July 2, but his recent hot streak – punctuated by Thursday’s no-hitter – brought that number down to 3.50.
In 2022, while with the White Sox, Cease had a no-hitter broken up with two outs in the ninth by current teammate Luis Arraez, who was then with the Minnesota Twins.
The Padres didn’t need much offence Thursday to back Cease, with Ha-Seong Kim plating all three runs on a first-inning single off Patrick Corbin.
San Diego (55-50) are seven games back of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West but are in the thick of a crowded NL wild-card race.
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