MLB

Athletics snap Red Sox streak, Mets cruise past Yankees

By Sports Desk July 04, 2021

The Oakland Athletics scored three runs in the bottom of the 12th inning to beat the Red Sox 7-6, snapping Boston's eight-game winning streak. 

Tony Kemp's sacrifice fly provided the winning margin after a Seth Brown single and Jed Lowrie double negated the two runs the Red Sox had scored to take the lead in the third extra frame. 

Brown finished a home run shy of the cycle, driving in a run with all three of his hits. 

Kike Hernandez hit his 10th home run of the season and drove home two runs for Boston. 

 

Walker, Mets roll past Yankees

Taijuan Walker did not allow a hit until Aaron Judge's home run with one out in the sixth inning as the New York Mets opened their rain-delayed Subway Series against the Yankees with an 8-3 win. 

Austin Slater's two-run homer in the eighth inning gave the San Francisco Giants a 6-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks to maintain a half-game edge in the National League (NL) West. 

The Los Angeles Dodgers' bullpen turned in five scoreless innings as the defending World Series champions weathered a rain delay to defeat the Washington Nationals 5-3 for their eighth win in a row. 

Joey Votto and Tyler Naquin homered as the Cincinnati Reds sent the Chicago Cubs to an eighth straight defeat with a 3-2 triumph that moved the Reds up into second place in the division for the first time since April 22.

The division-leading Milwaukee Brewers won their 11th in a row with an 11-2 rout of the Pittsburgh Pirates as Omar Narvaez had five hits and Avisail Garcia drove in five runs. 

 

Rays, Indians drop fifth in a row

The Tampa Bay Rays lost a chance to recover some ground on the Red Sox when they surrendered five runs in the sixth inning of a 6-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays for their fifth consecutive defeat. 

The Cleveland Indians also have lost five in a row and are on the verge of a four-game sweep by the Houston Astros after a 3-2 defeat Saturday. 

 

No-look Story

Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story did not need to see Harrison Bader to get him out, completing a pick-off of the St Louis Cardinals outfielder with a no-look tag. 

 

Saturday's results

Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 San Diego Padres
New York Mets 8-3 New York Yankees
Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3 Washington Nationals
Milwaukee Brewers 11-2 Pittsburgh Pirates
Toronto Blue Jays 6-3 Tampa Bay Rays
Detroit Tigers 11-5 Chicago White Sox
Cincinnati Reds 3-2 Chicago Cubs
Houston Astros 3-2 Cleveland Indians
Miami Marlins 3-2 Atlanta Braves
Kansas City Royals 6-3 Minnesota Twins
Colorado Rockies 3-2 St Louis Cardinals
Oakland Athletics 7-6 Boston Red Sox
Los Angeles Angels 4-1 Baltimore Orioles
San Francisco Giants 6-5 Arizona Diamondbacks
Texas Rangers 7-3 Seattle Mariners

 

Mets at Yankees

New York will have plenty of baseball to watch on Independence Day as the Yankees host the Mets in a doubleheader highlighted by a Gerrit Cole-Marcus Stroman pitching matchup in the first game. 

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  • MLB: Alonso's go-ahead, 3-run homer in 9th sends Mets to NLDS MLB: Alonso's go-ahead, 3-run homer in 9th sends Mets to NLDS

    Pete Alonso delivered a clutch, three-run homer off closer Devin Williams in the ninth inning and the New York Mets rallied for a wild 4-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday night to win their NL Wild Card Series.

    The Mets' comeback victory in the decisive Game 3 gave them their first playoff series win since claiming the NL pennant in 2015. They advance to a Division Series beginning Saturday at rival Philadelphia against the NL East champion Phillies.

    The Brewers, making their sixth playoff appearance in the last seven years, still haven't won a postseason series since reaching Game 7 of the NL Championship Series in 2018.

    Milwaukee appeared to have the victory in hand after Jake Bauers and Sal Frelick broke a scoreless tie by opening the seventh inning with back-to-back homers off José Buttó. Tobias Myers and three relievers had combined on a two-hit shutout through the first eight innings.

    Twelve straight Mets had been retired when they opened the ninth against Williams, a two-time NL reliever of the year who had earned the save Wednesday in Milwaukee’s Game 2 victory.

    But Francisco Lindor opened the ninth by walking on a 3-2 pitch. After Mark Vientos struck out, Brandon Nimmo singled to put runners at the corners.

    That brought up Alonso, who has 226 career homers in six seasons but hadn’t gone deep since Sept. 19.

    After getting ahead 3-1 in the count, Alonso sent a 3-1 changeup over the wall in right field to give the Mets the lead.

    Edwin Díaz pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to earn the win and David Peterson, making his first relief appearance of the season, worked the ninth for his first major league save.

  • Tigers, Royals, Padres finish sweeps and Brewers even series Tigers, Royals, Padres finish sweeps and Brewers even series

    Andy Ibáñez hit a tiebreaking three-run double in Detroit's four-run eighth inning, and the Tigers finished a sweep of the Houston Astros with a 5-2 victory in Game 2 of their AL Wild Card Series on Wednesday.

    Parker Meadows homered as Detroit ended Houston's run of seven consecutive appearances in the AL Championship Series. It was a sweet moment for Tigers manager A.J. Hinch, who led Houston to a championship in 2017 and was fired in the aftermath of the Astros' sign-stealing scandal.

    Next up for the wild-card Tigers is a trip to Cleveland to take on the AL Central champions in a best-of-five AL Division Series. Game 1 is on Saturday.

    Kerry Carpenter sparked Detroit's eighth-inning rally with a one-out single off Ryan Pressly, who converted his first 14 postseason save opportunities. Carpenter advanced to third on a single by Matt Vierling and scored on a wild pitch, tying it at 2.

    Pressly departed after Colt Keith reached on a two-out walk, and closer Josh Hader walked Spencer Torkelson to load the bases.

    Hinch then sent Ibáñez up to hit for Zach McKinstry, and Ibáñez lined a 1-2 sinker into the corner in left for a 5-2 lead.

    Hader, who signed a $95 million, five-year contract with Houston in January, allowed three hits and walked two in 1 1/3 innings.

    Detroit used seven different pitchers a day after ace Tarik Skubal won the series opener. Sean Guenther pitched 1 2/3 innings for the win in Game 2, and Will Vest handled the ninth for the save.

    Just making it to the playoffs seemed improbable before Detroit went 31-13 down the stretch in the regular season.

     

    Padres finish off Braves

    Kyle Higashioka ignited a five-run second inning with a solo home run and the San Diego Padres held on for a 5-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves to complete a sweep of their NL Wild Card Series.

    Manny Machado added a two-run double with the bases loaded, and Jackson Merrill followed with a two-run triple as the sellout crowd of 47,705 - the largest in Petco Park history - roared.

    The Padres head up Interstate 5 to face Shohei Ohtani and the NL West rival and top-seeded Los Angeles Dodgers in a National League Division Series starting Saturday night. San Diego eliminated the 111-win Dodgers in a 2022 NLDS.

    Jorge Soler hit a solo homer in the fifth and Michael Harris II had a two-run shot in the eighth, but Robert Suarez pitched a perfect ninth to seal the one-run victory.

    Both starting pitchers exited early.

    Atlanta left-hander Max Fried was done after two innings after he was hit on his left hip by a comebacker from Fernando Tatis Jr. two batters into the game. He stayed in and got out of a bases-loaded jam. He then allowed five runs on six straight hits with two outs in the second. 

    Padres right-hander Joe Musgrove departed in the fourth with right elbow tightness. He had two stints on the injured list this season with right elbow inflammation.

     

    Royals complete sweep of punchless Orioles

    Bobby Witt Jr. beat out an infield single to drive in the go-ahead run and send the Kansas City Royals into an AL Division Series with a 2-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles for a two-game sweep of their Wild Card Series.

    With two outs and runners at the corners in the sixth inning, Witt hit a grounder to the edge of the dirt behind second base, where Jordan Westburg made a diving stop and threw to first. Witt was already there after zooming 90 feet in 4.14 seconds, allowing Kyle Isbel to score from third.

    It was the second consecutive game in which the AL batting champion provided the decisive hit. Witt's RBI single Tuesday in Game 1 plated the only run in a 1-0 victory.

    Kansas City, which endured two seven-game losing streaks over the final month of the season, advances to face the AL East champion New York Yankees. Game 1 is Saturday in the Bronx.

    Baltimore got its only run of the series on Cedric Mullins’ fifth-inning home run off starter Seth Lugo.

    Five Kansas City relievers allowed one hit over 5 2/3 scoreless innings, with Lucas Erceg working a perfect ninth for his second save of the series.

    The Orioles went 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position in the series and struck out 22 times.

    They have lost 10 straight postseason games for the longest active streak in baseball. Only three teams in MLB history have lost more postseason games in a row than the 2014-2024 Orioles.

     

    Brewers rally to force Game 3

    Jackson Chourio tied it in the eighth with his second homer of the night and Garrett Mitchell delivered a two-run shot later in the inning to give the Milwaukee Brewers a 5-3 victory over the New York Mets that evened their NL Wild Card Series.

    The teams will play a decisive Game 3 on Thursday night. The Brewers will attempt to become the first team to rally to win a best-of-three Wild Card Series after losing the opener since MLB went to this expanded playoff format in 2022.

    Milwaukee trailed 3-2 when Chourio led off the eighth by homering off Phil Maton, making his fourth appearance on the mound in five days. The 20-year-old rookie also opened the bottom of the first with a drive to right, becoming the youngest player to hit a leadoff homer in the postseason.

    After Blake Perkins singled and William Contreras hit into a double play, Willy Adames kept the eighth inning alive with a single. Mitchell then sent a first-pitch curveball just over the wall in right-center to send the American Family Field crowd into a frenzy.

    Joe Ross pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the win and Devin Williams retired the side in order in the ninth to earn the save.

     

  • Sturm Graz 0-1 Club Brugge: Tzolis strike seals visitors' first win Sturm Graz 0-1 Club Brugge: Tzolis strike seals visitors' first win

    Christos Tzolis scored the only goal as Club Brugge edged out Sturm Graz 1-0 for their first win in this season's Champions League.

    The Greece international delivered the decisive blow in the 23rd minute at 28 Black Arena on Wednesday.

    Both sides were seeking their first point in the competition, having recorded defeats on matchday one against Borussia Dortmund and Brest respectively.

    Brugge broke through midway through the first half, as Tzolis controlled before firing in off the post from the edge of the penalty area.

    The visitors went close to doubling their lead after the break, but Sturm Graz goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen came to the hosts' rescue with a series of fine saves.

    Urged on by the home fans, Christian Ilzer's side went in search of an equaliser, but it did not arrive as Brugge held out for the points.

    Data Debrief: Third time unlucky for Sturm Graz

    Sturm Graz have now suffered four successive Champions League defeats for the third time in their history.

    Meanwhile, the Austrian side have now lost their last four European matches against Belgian opposition without scoring.

    By contrast, Brugge maintained their perfect record of three straight wins against Austrian opponents, while they have now kept four clean sheets in five Champions League away games - as many as in their previous 22.

    Tzolis' strike came from one of three shots on target, becoming the first Brugge player to register that amount in a single Champions League game since Hans Vanaken did so against Paris Saint-Germain in September 2021.

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