TORONTO (AP) — Bowden Francis struck out a career-high 12 in a dominant performance for the Toronto Blue Jays, carrying a no-hitter into the ninth inning of a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday.
Francis (7-3) walked three and hit a batter in his third consecutive win. He threw a career-high 117 pitches, 84 for strikes.
Francis was working on a no-hitter before Taylor Ward drove a 3-2 fastball deep to center for a leadoff homer in the ninth. It was Ward’s 17th homer of the season.
The crowd of 34,011 then saluted Francis with a standing ovation when he was replaced by right-hander Chad Green, who earned his 14th save in 14 chances.
The 28-year-old Francis was named American League Player of the Week last week after going 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA in two starts. In the first of those, he pitched seven innings in a road win over the Angels on Aug. 12.
Dave Stieb pitched the only no-hitter in Blue Jays history at Cleveland on Sept. 2, 1990.
ROCKIES 9, YANKEES 2
NEW YORK (AP) — Jake Cave had four hits and three RBIs and fell a triple shy of hitting for the cycle as Colorado beat New York.
Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, who leads the MLB with 49 homers, went 0 for 2 with a walk and had his consecutive game home run streak halted at four. Judge grounded into a force out in the first inning, flew out in the third, walked in the fifth and was hit by a pitch in the eighth, ending his bid — at least temporarily — to hit 50 homers for the third time in his nine-year career.
Cave doubled in the second inning and had an RBI single in a four-run third when the Rockies capitalized on two balks by rookie starter Will Warren (0-2) and a catcher’s interference by Austin Wells.
After singling in the fifth, Cave homered in the seventh to give the Rockies a 9-2 lead. It was the first career four-hit game for the 31-year-old Cave, who was traded by the Yankees to the Minnesota Twins in March 2018 for Luis Gil.
Nolan Jones also drove in three runs as the Rockies snapped a six-game road losing streak and avoided their 50th road loss.
ORIOLES 3, ASTROS 2
BALTIMORE (AP) — Jackson Holliday hit a three-run double in the sixth inning — Baltimore’s second big hit with the bases loaded in less than 24 hours — and they rallied past Houston.
Colton Cowser kept the decisive rally going by hustling to first for an infield single, and after Tayler Scott relieved Framber Valdez (13-6), Holliday came up as a pinch hitter and snapped a 0-for-20 slide by lining the first pitch to the gap in right-center field.
Jose Altuve and Jeremy Peña homered for Houston, but as good as Valdez was for most of his outing, the Astros gave up a lead for the second straight day.
The Orioles won 7-5 Friday night thanks to a five-run eighth inning highlighted by Anthony Santander’s grand slam.
Keegan Akin (3-0) won in relief in his first appearance since returning from the paternity list. Yannier Cano followed Akin with 1 1/3 scoreless innings, and Seranthony Domínguez pitched a perfect ninth for his fifth save since joining the Orioles late last month.
Valdez allowed three runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings.
CUBS 14, MARLINS 2
MIAMI (AP) — Seiya Suzuki homered twice and tripled, Shota Imanaga threw seven innings of two-run ball and Chicago beat Miami.
A day after hitting an inside-the-park home run, Pete Crow-Armstrong went deep with a 437-foot drive into the upper deck seats for the Cubs.
Miguel Amaya had three hits and a walk. The Cubs’ catcher is 8 for 12 over his last three games. Patrick Wisdom also homered for Chicago, which finished with 17 hits.
Imanaga (10-3) allowed four hits, walked two and struck out three. It was the rookie left-hander’s seventh start of seven completed innings.
The Cubs (65-65) are 14-7 since July 31 and reached .500 for the first time since they were 31-31 on June 5.
The Marlins have lost eight of nine and dropped to an NL-worst 46-83.
Chicago struck quickly against Miami starter Valente Bellozo (2-2)-with Suzuki’s solo blast in the first. He drove Bellozo’s fastball over the wall in center.
DIAMONDBACKS 4, RED SOX 1
BOSTON (AP) — Zac Gallen pitched six innings of two-hit ball, and Eugenio Suárez hit a two-run double off the Green Monster to help Arizona beat Boston for their fifth straight victory.
Gallen (10-6) struck out nine and walked four to reach double digits in wins for the third season in a row. He took a no-hitter into the fifth before Connor Wong dropped a single into right field, and left after 99 pitches when Arizona went up 4-0 in the top of the seventh.
The Diamondbacks have won 23 of their last 29 games to take hold of the top NL wild-card spot. They entered the day four games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.
Boston managed just three hits through eight innings but led off the ninth with back-to-back hits off Paul Sewald to make it 4-1 before the reliever retired the next three batters.
Kutter Crawford (8-11) gave up three hits in five innings for Boston, while also walking two and striking out three.
BREWERS 9, ATHLETICS 5
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Jake Bauers hit a home run and scored three times and Milwaukee beat Oakland.
Willy Adames, Rhys Hoskins and Garrett Mitchell had two hits apiece as the Brewers won their second straight in their final trip to the Coliseum. The A’s have announced intentions to play the next three seasons in Sacramento before a planned move to Las Vegas for the 2028 season.
Colin Rea (12-4) won his team-leading 12th game despite an uneven afternoon. Facing the A’s for the first time in his career, the right-hander retired 12 of the first 14 hitters he faced and had five strikeouts but was tagged for a pair of home runs while giving up four runs in 6 2/3 innings.
Rea’s 12 wins are double his total of last season. The 34-year-old, who had Tommy John surgery in 2016, had only 14 career wins in his first five seasons in the majors.
Brent Rooker hit his 30th home run and had three RBIs for the A’s. JJ Bleday also went deep for Oakland.
GIANTS 4, MARINERS 3
SEATTLE (AP) — Mike Yastrzemski homered among his three hits, and San Francisco survived a wild outing by starter Blake Snell to beat Seattle.
Snell walked five batters in the second inning, two with the bases loaded, and issued a season-worst six walks overall. He was pulled after three innings in which he gave up two runs on no hits and threw 74 pitches, 42 for strikes.
Spencer Bivens (3-1) worked three efficient innings of scoreless relief, and the fifth Giants pitcher, Ryan Walker, handled the ninth for his third save.
The Mariners finished with nine walks and four hits. Seattle (65-65) fell back to .500 a day after beating San Francisco 6-5 in 10 innings in Dan Wilson’s debut as manager. Scott Servais was fired after the Mariners lost eight of their previous nine.
The Giants (66-65) have been hovering around .500 for most of August.
George Kirby (9-10) labored through 4 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on nine hits. He departed after Yastrzemski hit a two-out double and Thairo Estrada followed with an RBI single to put the Giants ahead 3-2.
REDS 10, PIRATES 2
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Elly De La Cruz had three hits and drove in a pair of runs as Cincinnati breezed past sloppy Pittsburgh.
Jonathan India and TJ Friedl added two hits apiece for the Reds, who beat the Pirates for just the third time in nine meetings this season.
De La Cruz hit an RBI single in the fifth and a run-scoring double in the sixth. The 6-foot-5 shortstop also boosted his stolen base total to a major league-leading 61 by swiping second base after a one-out walk in the first inning. De La Cruz eventually scored on a single by Stephenson as part of a four-run outburst against Jake Woodford (0-6).
Rookie Julian Aguiar (1-0) allowed two runs in six innings to pick up his first career victory. The 23-year-old right-hander, Cincinnati’s minor league Pitcher of the Year in 2023, struck out four against two walks.
Casey Kelly, recalled from Triple-A Louisville on Saturday, pitched three innings for his first career save. It was the first major league appearance for the 34-year-old right-hander since 2018.
TWINS 6, CARDINALS 0
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Pablo López pitched seven innings, Trevor Larnach hit two homers and Minnesota beat St. Louis.
López (12-8) gave up four hits, struck out nine and walked one while extending his scoreless streak to 13 innings. He has pitched at least six innings in six of his last seven starts, posting a 2.25 ERA with 40 strikeouts in 44 innings over that span.
St. Louis right-hander Sonny Gray (11-9) struck out seven in six innings, but allowed five runs and seven hits. It was his first appearance at Target Field since he spent the 2023 season with the Twins.
Gray had been scuffling over the past two months, posting a 5.68 ERA in nine starts since June 29. But early on, he looked like the pitcher who finished second in voting for the AL Cy Young Award last year.
In the first inning, Gray struck out the side on 10 pitches, and he cruised through an easy second. But the trouble started with one out in the third, when No. 9 hitter Austin Martin slapped an opposite-field double.
GUARDIANS 13, RANGERS 5
CLEVELAND (AP) — Jhonkensy Noel hit a three-run homer and José Ramírez and Josh Naylor had back-to-back solo shots as American League Central-leading Cleveland routed Texas.
Noel homered for the 11th time in 40 games since making his major league debut on June 26, going deep off Rangers starter Jon Gray (5-5) in the third inning. The 6-foot-3, 250-pounder also tied his career high with three hits and scored three times.
The Guardians plated 11 consecutive runs after falling behind 1-0 in the first and won for just the seventh time in their last 20 games. Cleveland entered the evening one game ahead of Kansas City and two in front of Minnesota in the division.
Naylor and Steven Kwan drove in two runs apiece, while Naylor and Brayan Rocchio each scored twice as the Guardians matched their season high in runs. Rocchio walked in the third and came around on two passed balls by Texas catcher Carson Kelly.
The only player in Cleveland history with more homers than Noel in his first 40 games is Russell Branyan, who had 12 from 1998-2000.
Ben Lively (11-8) worked 6 2/3 innings and gave up three runs, two earned.
PHILLIES 11, ROYALS 2
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — J.T. Realmuto hit a pair of three-run homers and Ranger Suárez pitched five effective innings in his return from the injured list to lead Philadelphia past Kansas City.
Realmuto, who had a career-high seven RBIs, had his first multi-homer game since Sep. 14, 2022.
After a pair of Royals’ defensive misadventures put runners at the corners to open the sixth, Realmuto hammered Brady Singer’s 100th pitch above left-field bullpen for a 5-1 lead.
Realmuto hit a 424-foot shot into the fountains in left-center during a five-run eighth inning and added an RBI grounder in the ninth.
Activated from the 15-day injured list to make his first start since July 22, Suárez allowed a run on four hits and a walk with six strikeouts for his first win since June 8.
After allowing a first-inning double, Suárez faced the minimum until Michael Massey’s one-out double in the fifth. Freddy Fermin followed with an RBI hit to right before Suárez struck out two to end the threat.
TIGERS 13, WHITE SOX 4
CHICAGO (AP) — Tarik Skubal earned his major league-leading 15th win, and Detroit handed Chicago their 99th loss with a victory.
Matt Vierling, Colt Keith and Zach McKinstry homered for Detroit, which won for the third time in four games. Keith and Jake Rogers each had three RBIs, and Vierling scored three times.
Skubal (15-4) struck out eight in five innings. He was charged with three runs and eight hits.
Corey Julks had three hits for the White Sox, who moved closer to setting a franchise record for most losses in a season. Chicago dropped a club-worst 106 games in 1970.
The major league record for most losses in a season belongs to the Cleveland Spiders, who went 20-134 in 1899. The 1962 New York Mets hold the modern record of 120 losses.
BRAVES 4, NATIONALS 2
ATLANTA (AP) — Travis d’Arnaud had a tiebreaking RBI single in the sixth inning in his first game in a week, and Atlanta beat Washington for their sixth win in seven games.
Orlando Arcia and Ramón Laureano hit solo home runs, and Whit Merrifield had two hits, two walks and scored a run for the Braves.
Four Atlanta relievers combined for 3 1/3 scoreless innings and Pierce Johnson pitched a perfect ninth for his second save. He was in for Rasiel Iglesias, who was unavailable after working three games in four days.
Nationals rookie José Tena was 3 for 4 with a two-run homer, the first of his career. CJ Abrams and Andrés Chaparro added two hits each for Washington.
Braves starter Charlie Morton went 5 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and eight hits with two walks. He struck out six.
METS 7, PADRES 1
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Francisco Lindor hit a two-out grand slam in the fourth inning, two batters after Manny Machado committed an error, and added a leadoff shot in the seventh to carry New York to a win against San Diego.
Harrison Bader also connected for the Mets, who have won two of the first three games in this four-game series between NL playoff contenders.
Lefty David Peterson (8-1) pitched 7 1/3 strong innings as the Mets rebounded nicely from Friday night’s 7-0 loss, when they had only two hits, including one during Joe Musgrove’s seven brilliant innings.
Lindor tied Pete Alonso for the team lead with 27 homers. It was his 19th career multi-homer game and the seventh slam in his 10-year career.
Lindor’s five RBIs were more than enough support for Peterson (8-1), who had only one bumpy inning against the Padres, who came into the night holding the NL’s second wild-card spot. The Mets are trailing Atlanta for the final spot.
RAYS 9, DODGERS 8, 10 INNINGS
LOS ANGELES (AP) — José Caballero hit a tiebreaking two-run homer off Joe Kelly in the 10th inning after Tampa Bay blew a 4-0 lead in the first and they rallied past Los Angeles.
Jonny DeLuca began the 10th as the designated runner at second, took third on Josh Lowe’s groundout and scored on Caballero’s shot to left-center off Kelly (1-1).
Dodgers reliever Evan Phillips allowed the tying homer to Junior Caminero leading off the ninth before striking out the next three batters.
Shohei Ohtani hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the fifth a night after the Japanese superstar became the fastest player in major league history to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases.
Ohtani led off the bottom of the 10th against Garrett Cleavinger and sent a towering fly to right that was caught. Designated runner Miguel Rojas advanced to third and scored on Mookie Betts’ sacrifice fly to center, leaving the Dodgers trailing 9-8. But Freddie Freeman grounded to second to end the game.
The Associated Press
