MLB roundup: Royals' Duffy earns ninth straight win
By The Sports Xchange
DETROIT -- Danny Duffy won his ninth straight decision with the aid of four solo home runs, including the first of Raul Mondesi's career, as the Kansas City Royals defeated the Detroit Tigers 6-1 on Tuesday at Comerica Park.
Duffy (10-1) limited the Tigers to one run on three hits while striking out five in 7 2/3 innings. He has the longest winning streak by a Royals pitcher since Jeremy Guthrie won 10 straight decisions in 2012-13.
The breakthrough homer for the 21-year-old Mondesi came in his 19th game and 60th official at-bat.
Alex Gordon, Eric Hosmer and Kendrys Morales also homered for Kansas City, which has won eight of 10. Gordon, who scored twice, stretched his hitting streak to seven games
Tigers starter Justin Verlander (12-7) allowed five runs -- three earned -- on four hits while striking out six in seven-plus innings.
Blue Jays 12, Yankees 6
NEW YORK -- Edwin Encarnacion and Russell Martin hit two-run homers in the eighth inning as Toronto rallied from a six-run deficit for a victory over New York.
The Blue Jays, held scoreless for the first 14 innings of the series, capitalized on a 42-minute rain delay that knocked both starting pitchers out early.
After getting the deficit to 6-4, Encarnacion followed a 12-pitch walk by Josh Donaldson by lining a 1-0 slider from Adam Warren (1-1) into the left field seats for his 34th home run and 99th RBI.
Troy Tulowitzki had four hits, including a two-run homer in the sixth and scored the tiebreaking run when Martin hit a 1-2 fastball pitch over the right field wall.
Red Sox 5, Orioles 3
BALTIMORE -- Mookie Betts homered twice Tuesday, including a tiebreaking two-run shot in the top of the eighth inning that gave Boston a victory over Baltimore.
Boston earned its fifth consecutive win and pulled into a tie with Baltimore for second place in the American League East. Both teams are a game back of Toronto.
Betts drove in all five Red Sox runs with a three-run homer and the two-run blast. He has hit eight homers against Baltimore this year, and he has three multi-homer efforts at Camden Yards.
Reds 6, Marlins 3
CINCINNATI -- Tucker Barnhart's grand slam highlighted a five-run first inning, and Anthony DeSclafani gave up two runs over six frames, lifting Cincinnati to a victory over Miami at Great American Ball Park.
DeSclafani (7-1) overcame an injury scare in the fourth inning when he limped off the field after being doubled off first base, but remained in the game.
He finished with two runs allowed on seven hits with no walks and six strikeouts in his second career start against the Marlins, the club he debuted with in 2014.
Indians 3, White Sox 1
CLEVELAND -- Jason Kipnis had three hits and Corey Kluber outpitched Jose Quintana as Cleveland beat Chicago at Progressive Field.
The Indians scored single runs in the first, third and seventh innings, and Kluber and two relievers made it stand up. Andrew Miller retired all six batters he faced in the seventh and eighth innings, and closer Cody Allen pitched the ninth to pick up his 23rd save.
Kluber (13-8) pitched six innings, allowing one run and seven hits, with seven strikeouts and two walks. In seven starts since his last loss July 3, Kluber is 5-0 with a 1.65 ERA.
Quintana (9-9) also pitched six innings, allowing two runs and seven hits, with three strikeouts and two walks.
Dodgers 15, Phillies 5
PHILADELPHIA -- Chase Utley hit a grand slam and solo homer in his return to Philadelphia as Los Angeles battered Philadelphia.
Howie Kendrick went 4-for-5 with a two-run homer for the Dodgers, and Yasmani Grandal went 3-for-4 with a two-run shot. Both drove in three runs.
Los Angeles piled up 14 hits in support of rookie right-hander Kenta Maeda, who went six innings to extend his personal winning streak to four. He is 12-7 this season.
Twins 4, Braves 2
ATLANTA -- Ervin Santana got a victory against his former team and in the process helped Minnesota snap a seven-game interleague losing streak against Atlanta.
Santana allowed four hits over seven scoreless innings, Joe Mauer homered as part of a three-hit game and the Twins defeated the Braves 4-2 on Tuesday night.
The Braves swept a two-game series at Minnesota three weeks ago.
Rays 15, Padres 1
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Tampa Bay's bats have never been hotter, with five home runs and a season-high 15 runs in an easy victory over slumping San Diego at Tropicana Field.
In their last three games -- all wins -- the Rays have 35 runs, the most in any three-game stretch in the franchise's history. Tuesday's five home runs -- including two by first baseman Brad Miller -- came one shy of that franchise record.
The Rays chased Padres starter Edwin Jackson after only four innings, then tagged reliever Carlos Villanueva for another seven runs, all on home runs. Nick Franklin and Miller had two-run home runs in the fifth, Corey Dickerson added a solo shot in the sixth and Evan Longoria hit his team-best 27th, a two-run shot, in the seventh.
Cardinals 8, Astros 5
HOUSTON -- Tommy Pham and Jedd Gyorko slugged home runs and St. Louis turned a four-run sixth inning into an interleague victory over Houston at Minute Maid Park.
Pham went 2-for-4 with a double and a two-run home run while Gyorko produced three RBIs for the Cardinals, who extended their winning streak to three games. The offensive output provided support for left-hander Jaime Garcia (10-8), who labored into the sixth inning but lasted long enough to benefit from the rally.
Garcia allowed three home runs, solo shots to Alex Bregman in the first inning, Marwin Gonzalez leading off the third, and Jason Castro to open the sixth. He was yanked after Castro socked his eight homer 453 feet into the upper deck in right field, but the Cardinals had opened an 8-4 lead before Castro took Garcia deep.
Cubs 4, Brewers 1 (Game 2)
CHICAGO -- Jason Hammel allowed two hits over seven innings while Kris Bryant reached base three times, including a game-winning RBI single, as Chicago beat Milwaukee to complete a doubleheader sweep.
The Brewers lost two starters as they dropped 23 games behind the Cubs in the National League Central. Starting pitcher Chase Anderson and left fielder Ryan Braun both departed the second game with left leg injuries.
Hammel (13-5), who has not lost since July 1, carefully protected a 1-0 lead until the Cubs exploded for three runs in the sixth.
Cubs 4, Brewers 0 (Game 1)
CHICAGO -- Trevor Cahill tossed five shutout innings and earned a win in his first major-league start since April 2015 as Chicago posted a victory over Milwaukee in the opener of a doubleheader.
Cahill (2-3) came off the disabled list on Tuesday for the spot start and allowed just two hits while striking out three and walking a pair.
Aroldis Chapman entered with one out in the ninth inning with a pair of runners on and retired the next two batters for his fifth save with the Cubs and 25th this season.
Rangers 5, Athletics 4
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Rougned Odor was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the 10th inning as Texas rallied for a win over Oakland in 10 innings.
Texas trailed 4-2 going into the bottom of the 10th after the A's scored two in the top of the inning.
But John Axford (4-4) couldn't close the deal. He struck out Nomar Mazara before walking three-straight batters to bring up Carlos Beltran. Beltran tied the game with a two-run single to center as he matched his career high with four hits.
Mets 7, Diamondbacks 5
PHOENIX -- Noah Syndergaard threw 5 2/3 innings and added his third homer of the season to help lead New York past Arizona.
Kelly Johnson also homered, T.J. Rivera had four hits, and Jose Reyes tripled, singled and drove in a run for the Mets, who won for the third time in four games.
Yasmany Tomas homered for the Diamondbacks, who lost for just the third time in their past nine games.
Syndergaard (10-7) allowed four runs -- two earned -- on seven hits with two walks with eight strikeouts. He snapped a personal three-game losing streak.
Angels 7, Mariners 6
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Cliff Pennington hit a triple in the bottom of the eighth inning to drive Jett Bandy home with the winning run, giving Los Angeles a victory over Seattle in front of 37.546 at Angel Stadium.
Bandy, Jefry Marte and Albert Pujols each hit home runs for the Angels, who broke an 11-game losing streak, the longest in manager Mike Scioscia's 17-year tenure.
Pujols' homer was his 22nd of the season and the 582nd of his career, putting him within one of Mark McGwire, who holds 10th place all-time. The Angels' designated hitter now has 92 RBIs this year.
Pirates 4, Giants 3
SAN FRANCISCO -- Jung Ho Kang broke an eighth-inning tie with a two-out, two-strike solo home run, lifting Pittsburgh to a second straight victory over San Francisco.
The loss knocked the Giants out of first place in the National League West for the first time since May 10. The Los Angeles Dodgers, a 15-5 winner at Philadelphia, took over the top spot by a half-game.
Rookie Jameson Taillon kept the Pirates in the game with six effective innings and the Pittsburgh bullpen pitched shutout ball after that, allowing the National League wild-card hopeful to win for the fifth time in their last six games.
Rockies 6, Nationals 2
DENVER -- DJ LeMahieu continued his offensive surge. Nolan Arenado exacted a small measure of revenge. And David Dahl delivered a key pinch hit as Colorado beat Washington.
LeMahieu tripled home the go-ahead run in the fifth against Yusmeiro Petit (3-3) and finished a double shy of the cycle. He went 3-for-3 with a walk, giving him eight consecutive hits. He went 3-for-3 to raise his average to .342.
He trails Washington's Daniel Murphy by six points in the National League batting race. Murphy went 2-for-4.
