ARLINGTON, Texas — Michael Helman hit a two-run home run during a four-run fifth inning minutes after making a leaping backhand catch over the fence in left center that prevented a two-run homer as the Texas Rangers beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-4 on Tuesday night.
Wyatt Langford’s RBI triple and Kyle Higashioka’s run-scoring single off Aaron Ashby (3-2) capped the Rangers’ rally after Milwaukee scored three times in the top of the fifth.
Hoby Milner (3-4) pitched a scoreless inning of relief after allowing six runs in two-thirds of an inning in his two previous outings. Shawn Armstrong earned his eighth save in 11 opportunities despite giving up a pinch-hit home run to Jake Bauers.
Texas has won 13 of its last 17 games to cut a 7 1/2-game deficit behind first-place Houston in the AL West to 2 1/2 games.
Helman, a rookie claimed off waivers from Pittsburgh on May 19, was the star of the Rangers’ 5-0 win in Monday night’s series opener. The Texas A&M product hit his first major league grand slam and had five RBIs.
In a matchup of rookie starters, neither Texas’ Jack Leiter nor Milwaukee’s Chad Patrick, called up from Triple-A Nashville, made it through five innings.
PHILADELPHIA — Kyle Schwarber hit his 50th home run of the season and Ranger Suárez struck out a career-high 12 over six shutout innings to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 9-3 win over the New York Mets on Tuesday night.
The Phillies have won the first two games of the four-game series and lead the NL East by nine games over the Mets.
Suárez (12-6) turned in another terrific outing.
The left-hander tossed one-hit ball as he lowered his ERA to 2.77 and showed again why the Phillies believe he can be a No. 1 starter in the postseason with ace Zack Wheeler sidelined due to complications from a blood clot.
Schwarber’s three-run shot off reliever Justin Hagenman in the seventh gave the Phillies a 7-1 lead and made him the first National League player to reach 50 homers this season. Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh leads the majors with 53.
The fan favorite designated hitter came out of the dugout for a curtain call for a crowd roaring “MVP! MVP!” as “50 Schwarbombs” flashed on the big screen.
Suárez struck out Juan Soto and Pete Alonso in the first inning and threw 60 strikes out of his 99 total pitches. Suárez has allowed just one earned run and struck out 29 in his last 24 innings over four starts.
CLEVELAND — Joey Cantillo allowed four hits in a career-best eight-plus innings, José Ramírez homered, doubled and scored twice, and Cleveland beat Kansas City for its fifth straight victory.
Cantillo (5-3) struck out five and didn’t issue a walk. Cade Smith pitched a scoreless ninth for his 12th save for the Guardians, who entered play 2 1/2 games behind Seattle for the final wild-card spot.
Ramírez, who had three hits, hit a solo homer off Royals starter Noah Cameron (7-6) with two outs in the first. David Fry hit the second of back-to-back to doubles to drive in Ramírez in the fourth.
Cameron, a 26-year-old rookie, gave up two runs on six hits with eight strikeouts in seven innings.
The Guardians, who have won six of seven, beat the Royals 10-2 in the series opener Monday.
ATLANTA — Rookie Cade Horton threw 6 1/3 strong innings, Pete Crow-Armstrong drove in two runs and Chicago pulled away from Atlanta late for a win.
Horton (10-4), a leading candidate for National League Rookie of the Year, allowed one run on four hits with no walks. His 2.70 ERA leads all rookies and 10 wins lead National League rookies. He pitched into the seventh inning for the third time this season.
Andrew Kittredge recorded the final two outs in the seventh, and Caleb Thielbar and Ben Brown each pitched a scoreless inning.
Crow-Armstrong went 1 for 2, walked, was hit by a pitch and had two steals. Ian Happ was 2 for 5 with a double and a run scored. Matt Shaw had a two-run single during a four-run eighth inning.
Crow-Armstrong had a sacrifice fly in the first inning that drove in Michael Busch and an RBI single in the third that scored Happ. Dansby Swanson walked with the bases loaded in the eighth before Shaw’s single.
Ronald Acuña Jr. scored the lone run for the Braves off an RBI single from Jurickson Profar.
Braves starter Spencer Strider (5-13) gave up two runs on six hits while striking out eight.
ORIOLES 3, PIRATES 2, 11 INNINGS
BALTIMORE — Samuel Basallo hit an RBI single in the 11th inning that was initially ruled a foul ball to give Baltimore a walk-off win over Pittsburgh.
Basallo’s popup to left grazed off the glove of left fielder Tommy Pham, landed on the chalk in the outfield grass, and was ruled foul. After a review, it was ruled a hit to drive in Gunnar Henderson for the Orioles’ third straight walk-off win.
Dietrich Enns (3-2) threw two innings with no hits and one strikeout in extra innings. Kyle Bradish struck out six, allowing four hits and one run in his third start since returning from Tommy John surgery on Aug. 26.
Jeremiah Jackson gave the Orioles a 2-1 lead with a solo homer in the sixth, but Pham hit a solo homer in the top of the ninth to make it 2-all.
Jackson was 2 for 3 for his 10th multihit game since making his MLB debut on Aug. 1.
Jackson Holliday also had two hits, scoring the first Orioles run in the first inning.
Dauri Moreta (1-1) surrendered two hits and a walk in the 11th, and allowed the walk-off hit. Pirates starter Mike Burrows threw four innings with two hits, one run, and six strikeouts.
MIAMI — Josh Bell homered for the fourth time in three games, Mitchell Parker threw 7 2/3 innings of two-run ball and Washington beat Miami.
Rookie Daylen Lile also went deep while CJ Abrams and James Wood doubled and singled each for the Nationals.
Parker (8-15) retired 14 straight after allowing Joey Wiemer’s solo homer in the second. The left-hander allowed four hits, struck out two and walked two.
After losing five of their first six against the Marlins this season, the Nationals have won five straight against their NL East opponent.
Washington built a 7-1 lead before the Marlins rallied on Agustín Ramírez’s RBI single in the eighth and rookie Victor Mesa Jr.’s two-run double in the ninth that made it 7-4. After Jose A. Ferrer allowed Xavier Edwards’ RBI infield single that scored Mesa, he retired Ramírez on a groundout for his eighth save.
CHICAGO — Tristan Gray, Josh Lowe and Richie Palacios homered to help Tampa Bay beat Chicago.
Gray hit a tiebreaking solo drive off Tyler Alexander (5-14) in the seventh inning. It was Gray’s third homer in 17 games since he was acquired in a July 26 trade with the White Sox for cash.
Kevin Kelly (2-3) got one out for the win, and Pete Fairbanks handled the ninth for his 25th save in 30 opportunities.
Tampa Bay returned to .500 with its 11th win in 16 games. It had dropped three in a row since a seven-game win streak.
Kyle Teel homered for the last-place White Sox, who had won seven of eight.
Tampa Bay right-hander Adrian Houser struck out nine while pitching 5 1/3 innings of three-run ball against his former team. He came over in a July 31 trade with Chicago.
NEW YORK — Parker Meadows hit a go-ahead single to spark a nine-run seventh inning and Kerry Carpenter added a two-run triple as Detroit took advantage of wild relievers Fernando Cruz and Mark Leiter Jr. in a victory over New York.
Detroit sent 14 batters to the plate in the seventh and the first nine reached against Cruz (2-4) and Leiter, who combined to allow four walks, four hits and a hit batsman.
Meadows hit a tying two-run homer in the fifth off starter Will Warren and singled after Cruz opened the seventh by allowing a double to Riley Greene and issuing two walks. Meadows scored Detroit’s fourth run of the inning when Colt Keith was hit by a pitch.
Carpenter lined a triple to deep left field to make it 10-2. That came after Trey Sweeney scored on Leiter’s wild pitch to the backstop.
Sweeney hit an RBI single to give Detroit a 5-2 lead when shortstop Anthony Volpe could not complete an over-the-shoulder catch in shallow center field.
Greene added an RBI single in the eighth as the Tigers scored their most runs at Yankee Stadium since June 21, 2015.
BLUE JAYS 4, ASTROS 3, 10 INNINGS
TORONTO — Tyler Heineman drove in the winning run in the 10th inning and the Toronto Blue Jays rallied to beat Houston.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. reached on an infield single against Craig Kimbrel (0-1) to begin the 10th, advancing automatic runner Myles Straw to third base. Daulton Varsho struck out and Heineman followed with a fielder’s choice grounder to first base, where a diving Christian Walker couldn’t throw home in time to retire the speedy Straw.
Jeff Hoffman (9-6) pitched one inning for the win.
Toronto trailed 3-1 heading to the bottom of the ninth against Bryan Abreu, but the Blue Jays loaded the bases with two walks and a single before Isiah Kiner-Falefa lined a game-tying hit to left field.
Abreu sent it to extra innings by striking out George Springer and getting Straw to fly out.
Carlos Correa hit a two-run home run for Houston but the Astros lost for the fourth time in five games.
SAN FRANCISCO — Willy Adames hit a three-run homer in the first inning, Robbie Ray remained unbeaten pitching against his former team and San Francisco beat Arizona to gain ground in the NL wild card race.
Patrick Bailey also homered and Casey Schmitt added a sacrifice fly in the fourth as the teams played through intermittent rain and a steady mist hovering above the diamond.
San Francisco pulled within two games of the Mets for the final NL wild card spot after New York lost at Philadelphia, but the Mets own the tiebreaker.
After the Giants’ 11-5 win Monday featuring five home runs, Ryan Walker worked out of trouble in the ninth for his 15th save in 20 chances as San Francisco won for the eighth time in its last nine home games and 13th of 16 overall.
Zac Gallen (11-14) allowed five runs and five hits with three walks and three strikeouts, leaving him one strikeout shy of becoming third Arizona pitcher to reach 1,000.
He saw former Diamondbacks great Ray (11-6) on the other side for the first time.
Ray struck out the side in order in the third, all swinging, including a nine-pitch battle with Ketel Marte to end the inning. Ray is 3-0 in as many starts against the D-backs, all of those wins this year.
SAN DIEGO — Tyler Stephenson hit a two-run homer to left field with two outs in the ninth — five innings after being robbed of one by Fernando Tatis Jr. in right — and Cincinnati beat San Diego.
Stephenson homered into the lower balcony of the brick warehouse in the left-field corner of Petco Park on a 2-1 pitch from All-Star closer Robert Suarez (4-6) to give the Reds a 4-2 lead.
In the fourth, Tatis made a perfectly timed leap to get his glove well above the right-field wall to rob Stephenson of a two-run shot. Tatis nearly doubled off Gavin Lux, who almost went all the way to second base before having to retreat to first. It was Tatis’ fourth home run robbery in 27 home games since July 8.
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Kyle Hendricks threw seven shutout innings, Chris Taylor and Yoán Moncada hit three-run homers, and Los Angeles scored all of its runs with two outs in a victory over Minnesota.
Hendricks (7-9) gave up four hits, struck out six and walked one in his best start of the season, throwing 58 of 80 pitches for strikes. Right-hander Zabby Matthews (4-5) took the loss, giving up five runs and seven hits in 4 ⅔ innings.
The Angels had 17 hits and went 8 for 17 with runners in scoring position. Leadoff man Mike Trout and Moncada each scored three runs. Luis Rengifo delivered two clutch hits, a two-out, two-run single in the first inning and a two-out RBI single in the fifth, as the Angels built a 5-0 lead.
The Angels blew open the game with four runs in the sixth and three in the seventh. Taylor followed Taylor Ward’s RBI single with a three-run homer to centre in the sixth and Moncada followed singles by Sebastian Rivero and Bryce Teodosio with a three-run shot, his 12th of the season, to right.
SEATTLE — Randy Arozarena hit a go-ahead, three-run home run in the third inning as part of a four-RBI night as Seattle beat St. Louis to maintain a 1 1/2-game lead for the final AL wild card.
Arozarena hit his 27th homer, four more than his previous career high. He turned on a fastball down the middle from Matthew Liberatore (7-12), a no-doubt drive that prompted Arozarena to stunt a pose in the direction of the Mariners’ dugout.
Then in the fifth inning, Arozarena added to Seattle’s lead with a sacrifice fly in an inning that included Josh Naylor’s 19th homer, a solo drive.
Seattle kept pace with Texas, which won 5-4 at Milwaukee to remain 1 1/2 games back of Seattle.
George Kirby allowed three runs and seven hits over four sluggish innings. Five pitchers combined with two-hit relief, with Caleb Ferguson (4-4) striking out two in a perfect fifth and Andrés Muñoz working around José Fermín’s two-out single for his 34th save in 41 chances.
LOS ANGELES — Teoscar Hernández hit two home runs and Emmet Sheehan pitched seven splendid innings to lead Los Angeles past Colorado.
Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts also went deep for the Dodgers, who increased their lead in the NL West to two games over San Diego. The second-place Padres lost 4-2 at home to Cincinnati.
Sheehan retired his first 15 batters before Kyle Karros, son of former Dodgers first baseman Eric Karros, singled to left field leading off the sixth. In 2023, Sheehan threw six no-hit innings in his major league debut.
The right-hander struck out nine Rockies and allowed just one earned run, when Tyler Freeman hit an RBI single in the sixth.
WEST SACRAMENTO — Connelly Early struck out 11 to tie the Red Sox record for a major league debut, and Boston beat the Athletics to close on the New York Yankees for the top AL wild card.
Early (1-0) matched Don Aase’s 11 strikeouts against Milwaukee on July 26, 1977. That was the career high for Aase, who pitched 447 more games in a 13-season career.
Boston (81-65) took a four-run lead before making an out, winning its third straight and moving within one percentage point of the Yankees (80-64).
A 23-year-old left-hander selected in the fifth round of the 2023 amateur draft, Early (1-0) allowed five hits and walked one, throwing 61 of 90 pitches for strikes. He was the third Red Sox pitcher to debut in a start this season after Hunter Dobbins and Payton Tolle.
Romy González extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a leadoff homer. Alex Bregman and Trevor Story each singled and Rob Refsnyder hit a 463-foot homer off Jeffrey Springs (10-11), the longest this season for the Red Sox.
González had an RBI double in the second, then left before the bottom half because of left before the bottom half because of left knee soreness. Masataka Yoshida had an RBI groundout in the eighth.
After falling behind by five runs, Springs (10-11) retired 11 batters in a row. He allowed eight hits over five innings with six strikeouts.