Alex Bregman belted a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning and Pete Crow-Armstrong scored on an error in the 11th, fueling the host Chicago Cubs to a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday.
Crow-Armstrong singled to lead off the ninth and Bregman deposited a 1-2 knuckle curve from Louis Varland just inside the left field foul pole to forge a 2-2 tie. Bregman’s 12th homer of the season prevented Dylan Cease from picking up the win after he scattered two hits and struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings. The blown save was the first of the season for Varland.
Crow-Armstrong’s single to center nearly won it in the 11th, but Carson Kelly was thrown out at the plate. Seiya Suzuki was intentionally walked and Crow-Armstrong bolted to third base on a stolen base attempt, with catcher Brandon Valenzuela’s throw sailing wide of third baseman Josh Smith. That allowed Crow-Armstrong to scamper home with the winning run.
Trent Thornton (5-4) did not allow a hit in one scoreless inning to earn the victory as the Cubs won their fourth straight. Brendon Little (0-3) was saddled with the loss after yielding one run on one hit in one-third of an inning. Toronto’s Alejandro Kirk recorded a career high-tying four hits. He singled in the first, third and fifth innings before his RBI single to left field scored Andres Gimenez in the seventh to give Toronto a 2-0 lead.
Angels 4, Orioles 1
Zach Neto’s three-run homer boosted Los Angeles past host Baltimore and prevented a three-game series sweep.
Wade Meckler scored two runs and joined Vaughn Grissom, Jose Siri and Neto with two hits apiece for the Angels, who won for just the second time in their last nine games. Starter Ryan Johnson was within one out of being eligible for the victory, but he was lifted after 4 2/3 innings with a runner on base. Left-hander Mitch Farris (1-3) was dubbed the winning pitcher with a one shutout inning of relief.
Yohel Pozo homered for the Orioles. Starting pitcher Brandon Young (8-3) went 4 1/3 innings and yielded three runs on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts. It marked the right-hander’s first defeat in his last eight starts.
Reds 6, Athletics 5
Cincinnati hit four solo home runs and scored two runs on bases-loaded walks to complete a sweep of the visiting Athletics.
Elly De La Cruz, Sal Stewart, JJ Bleday and Tyler Stephenson all went yard as the Reds completed their third sweep of the season and the first since mid-April against Minnesota. Reds starter Andrew Abbott (6-7) gave up seven hits and three runs in 6 2/3 innings for his longest outing of the season.
A’s starter Mason Barnett (1-2) gave up five hits and five runs with seven strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. Brian Serven hit a two-run home run in the ninth while Tyler Soderstrom had two RBIs.
Mets 13, Guardians 6
Luis Torrens hit a two-run homer in the second inning and Francisco Lindor had a three-run shot in the seventh, powering New York to a sweep of host Cleveland.
Lindor’s blast off Craig Yoho scored Torrens and Jared Young, pushing the Mets’ lead out to 9-5. Lindor spent his first six seasons with Cleveland before being traded to the Mets ahead of the 2021 season. Mets starter Nolan McLean (8-7) struck out eight over five innings, giving up five runs on eight hits with three walks.
Foster Griffin (12-4) never looked comfortable in his Guardians debut, three days after being acquired from the Washington Nationals. The 2026 All-Star gave up five runs on seven hits in four innings, striking out six with two walks. Nathaniel Lowe had a three-run homer for Cleveland.
Brewers 5, Pirates 2
Dustin May impressed in his debut for host Milwaukee, which used home runs from Jackson Chourio and Gary Sanchez to beat Pittsburgh and win the final three contests in the four-game series.
May (6-7), a trade-deadline acquisition from the St. Louis Cardinals earlier this week, threw six innings and allowed just two runs on three hits and three walks while striking out five. Four Brewers pitchers combined to limit the Pirates to six hits.
Pittsburgh starter Braxton Ashcraft (11-5) tossed five innings, giving up four runs on four hits and a walk. He struck out five. Teammate Brandon Lowe led off the fourth inning with his 24th home run.
Phillies 7, Nationals 3
Cristopher Sanchez struck out six over five innings and recorded his major-league-leading 15th win as Philadelphia notched a home victory over Washington.
Bryson Stott had two of the Phillies’ eight doubles, seven of which came in the first three innings alone. J.T. Realmuto and Bryce Harper each had two hits and scored twice for the Phillies, who compiled 16 hits with seven players driving in a run. They have won five of six.
The Nationals managed two runs and six hits against Sanchez (15-4), who needed 98 pitches to battle through five innings. Andrew Pinckney’s first career hit was an opposite-field home run against the All-Star left-hander.
Tigers 11, Mariners 0
Dillon Dingler and Kevin McGonigle hit two-run homers and Framber Valdez pitched seven scoreless innings as Detroit crushed host Seattle to take two of three games in the series between American League wild-card contenders.
Valdez (7-7) allowed five hits, walked two and struck out five. Dingler went 7-for-14 in the series with three homers — one in each game — and six RBIs.
Mariners starter Bryce Miller (4-6) hadn’t allowed an earned run in four previous starts against the Tigers, going 3-0. The right-hander yielded four runs on five hits over five innings. Seattle manager Dan Wilson served a one-game suspension after reliever Gabe Speier hit Gleyber Torres with a pitch in the eighth inning Wednesday night, causing the benches to clear. Speier received a three-game ban but was appealing the decision, according to the MLB Players Association.
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