MLB roundup: Twins, Royce Lewis slam Guardians

Royce Lewis hit another grand slam and drove in six runs as the visiting Minnesota Twins extended their American League Central lead to six games with a 20-6 pounding of the Cleveland Guardians on Monday night.

It was the third grand slam in an eight-game span for Lewis and also the fourth in his 56-game major league career. Lewis is the first rookie in major league history to hit three grand slams in an eight-game span and only the fourth player to do so overall.

Jorge Polanco, Carlos Correa, Joey Gallo, Kyle Farmer and Matt Wallner also homered for Minnesota in the opener of a three-game series.

Pablo Lopez (10-7) picked up the win for Minnesota, allowing one run over six innings. Lucas Giolito (7-12), making his first start for the Guardians after being claimed on waivers from the Los Angeles Angels last week, tied his career high with nine runs allowed over three innings.

Pirates 4, Brewers 2

Jack Suwinski and Ke’Bryan Hayes homered to help Pittsburgh down visiting Milwaukee.

Andrew McCutchen added an RBI double for the Pirates, who have won six of seven games. However, McCutchen later exited due to left Achilles tendon tightness. Pittsburgh starter Luis Ortiz (4-4) pitched six innings, allowing two runs. David Bednar tossed a perfect ninth for his 32nd save.

Victor Caratini and Brice Turang each had a sacrifice fly for the Brewers, who lost their second in a row. Corbin Burnes (9-8) gave up four runs in six innings to remain winless since July 20.

Phillies 9, Padres 7

Behind a three-run double by Alec Bohm in the first inning and home runs by Edmundo Sosa and Trea Turner in the second, visiting Philadelphia jumped ahead early and defeated San Diego.

Kyle Schwarber hit his 40th homer for the Phillies, who are 9-4 over the past 13 games. Taijuan Walker (15-5) gave up four runs in five innings, and Jose Alvarado escaped a jam in the ninth for his seventh save.

Ha-Seong Kim drove in three of the Padres’ runs with a pair of singles. Rich Hill (7-14) allowed six runs in 1 1/3 innings.

Royals 12, White Sox 1

Cole Ragans continued his dominance and Edward Olivares homered twice as Kansas City blasted visiting Chicago.

One day after being named American League Pitcher of the Month for August, Ragans (6-4) only allowed Yoan Moncada’s one-out single in the fifth inning while striking out seven over six shutout innings. The Royals put the game out of reach with a seven-run fifth inning.

Jesse Scholtens (1-7) allowed five runs on nine hits in 3 2/3 inning to take the loss. An eighth-inning throwing error produced the Cubs’ lone run.

Diamondbacks 4, Rockies 2

Merrill Kelly tied a career high with 12 strikeouts in seven-plus innings before leaving with a hamstring cramp, Jace Peterson had a two-run double and Arizona beat Colorado in Phoenix.

Kelly (11-6) gave up one run before abruptly leaving after throwing one pitch to Elehuris Montero leading off the eighth. Kelly said after the game the issue was the cramp he has been dealing with for more than a month.

Arizona’s Paul Sewald gave up a run in the ninth but still secured his 30th save. Rockies starter Peter Lambert (3-6) gave up four runs on six hits in six innings.

Cubs 5, Giants 0

Justin Steele struck out a career-high 12 over eight innings, Seiya Suzuki homered and had three RBIs and Chicago beat visiting San Francisco.

Steele (16-3) yielded only two-out singles to Casey Schmitt in the second inning and Paul DeJong in the eighth. The left-hander also walked a pair while running his scoreless innings stretch to 17 innings, spanning his past three starts.

Logan Webb (9-12) allowed three runs and five hits in 6 2/3 innings. The Giants, in the mix for an NL wild-card spot, have been shut out for two straight games and outscored 22-4 during their current four-game losing streak.

Astros 13, Rangers 6

Yainer Diaz smashed a key three-run homer and Mauricio Dubon and Jose Altuve twice hit back-to-back blasts to help Houston notch a victory at Arlington, Texas.

Diaz’s blast was part of a six-run outburst in the seventh that gave the Astros an 11-5 lead. Corey Seager hit two homers and Mitch Garver hit one for Texas, which lost for the 13th time in 17 games.

The Astros moved into a virtual tie for first place in the American League West with the Seattle Mariners. The Rangers are one game out.

Blue Jays 6, Athletics 5 (10 innings)

Santiago Espinal and Spencer Horwitz belted RBI doubles during a three-run 10th inning and visiting Toronto picked up a key win in the American League wild-card race, beating Oakland.

Coupled with the loss by Texas against Houston, the Blue Jays moved within a half-game of the Rangers in their duel for the final AL wild card.

Lawrence Butler hit two home runs and Ryan Noda and Jordan Diaz also went deep for the A’s, who saw their three-game winning streak end.

Reds 6, Mariners 3

Spencer Steer clubbed a three-run homer and Cincinnati scored five runs with two outs to post a win over visiting Seattle.

The Reds, in a tight race for the third and final National League wild card, defeated Seattle for just the fourth time in 19 all-time meetings and just the second time in 10 games in Cincinnati.

Reds reliever Lucas Sims (5-3) entered in the seventh with two outs. Sims hit a batter before striking out Julio Rodriguez with the bases loaded to escape the jam. Ian Gibaut replaced Buck Farmer in the ninth with runners on the corners and two outs. He allowed an RBI single to J.P. Crawford before striking out Rodriguez for his second save.

Red Sox 7, Rays 3

Triston Casas’ go-ahead, three-run homer lifted Boston to its first road victory in 14 games against Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Casas went 2-for-4 with two runs and notched a career-high four RBIs for the Red Sox, whose most recent win on Florida’s Gulf Coast came on April 22, 2022. Masataka Yoshida was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer to back Boston starter Brayan Bello (11-8), who tossed six innings and yielded three runs on five hits.

For the Rays, Josh Lowe was 2-for-4 with a double and a stolen base and Brandon Lowe drove in two runs. Chris Devenski (3-4) took the loss.

Orioles 6, Angels 3

Gunnar Henderson broke open a tight game with a three-run homer in the seventh inning as Baltimore opened a three-game series against Los Angeles with a victory in Anaheim, Calif.

Henderson, Ryan Mountcastle and Jordan Westburg each had two hits for Baltimore. Grayson Rodriguez (5-3) tossed six innings of two-run ball, and Yennier Cano pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his sixth save.

Randal Grichuk and Brandon Drury homered for Los Angeles, which took its fourth loss in a row. The big news from the Angels came pregame when Shohei Ohtani was scratched due to right oblique tightness after an awkward swing in batting practice.

—Field Level Media