Cleveland beats slumping Baltimore for their seventh straight win

BALTIMORE (AP) — José Ramírez hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning, and the Cleveland Guardians slugged their way to a seventh consecutive victory, beating the slumping Baltimore Orioles 10-8 on Tuesday night.

Gunnar Henderson, James McCann, Colton Cowser and Anthony Santander hit home runs for Baltimore, but that wasn’t enough to prevent a fifth straight loss for the defending AL East champions. Pitching injuries have caught up to the Orioles, who haven’t had a skid this long since dropping six in a row from May 13-18, 2022, days before catcher Adley Rutschman made his big league debut.

Ramírez has gone deep in each of the first two games of this series, and with 237 homers he’s now in sole possession of third place on the franchise’s career list. His drive to center capped a five-run fourth that put the Guardians up 8-4 on a night when neither starting pitcher lasted past the fourth.

Pedro Avila (2-1) worked two hitless innings of relief for the win. The AL Central-leading Guardians used five pitchers in relief of Logan Allen, who was removed with nobody out in the fourth.

Emmanuel Clase worked the ninth for his 25th save in 28 chances.

TIGERS 4, PHILLIES 1

DETROIT (AP) — Tarik Skubal struck out seven batters in seven scoreless innings as Detroit beat Philadelphia.

Skubal (9-3) allowed three hits and a walk while hitting one batter.

Andy Ibáñez had two hits, including a two-run single in Detroit’s four-run fifth inning, as the Tigers ended a seven-game losing streak to the Phillies.

Bryce Harper homered off Tigers closer Jason Foley in the ninth.

The game was expected to be a pitcher’s duel between probable All-Stars — Skubal and Ranger Suárez.

Suárez (10-2) held Detroit scoreless for four innings but gave up four runs in the fifth.

RAYS 11, MARINERS 3

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Ben Rortvedt hit a two-run homer and finished with four RBIs, and Tampa Bay beat Seattle for their seventh win in nine games.

The Rays, at 40-40, returned to the .500 mark for the first time since June 7.

Seattle got homers from Ty France and Mitch Garver. The AL West-leading Mariners dropped to 2-6 on a nine-game trip.

In a span of six pitches from reliever Mike Baumann, the Rays scored four times in the sixth inning to take a, 6-2 lead. After Luis Castillo walked his last two batters, Taylor Walls tripled in a pair of runs on Baumann’s first pitch, and Rortvedt followed with a two-run drive.

Castillo (6-9) allowed four runs and five hits in 5 1/3 inning.

Garrett Cleavinger (5-1) struck out two in a perfect sixth and earned the win.

PIRATES 9, REDS 5

CINCINNATI (AP) — Bryan Reynolds extended the longest active hitting streak in the major leagues to 22 games with a two-run home run in the first inning and Pittsburgh beat Cincinnati.

Reynolds’ streak is the longest by a Pirate since 2003 when Kenny Lofton hit safely in 26 straight games. Jason Kendall and Aramis Ramirez had 23- and 22-game streaks respectively.

It was a rough start for the Reds’ Hunter Greene who was evaluated by training staff after throwing up on the mound in the first inning after issuing a six-pitch walk to leadoff batter Andrew McCutchen.

Reynolds followed with his home run on a 3-2 pitch to put the Pirates ahead 2-0.

Greene (5-3) worked through a three-run, 32-pitch first inning and managed to last four innings, allowing six earned runs on seven hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

The Pirates hit five straight singles to begin a three-run third inning, increasing their lead to 6-0.

BLUE JAYS 9, RED SOX 4

BOSTON (AP) — Vladimir Guerrero hit pair of two-run doubles, George Springer added a two-run homer and Toronto snapped a seven-game skid with a win over Boston.

The Blue Jays tagged Boston starter Brayan Bello for seven runs in the third inning, including Guerrero’s drive to the triangle in center that scored two runs before Springer homered into Boston’s bullpen.

Toronto had its highest scoring game since a 14-11 loss at Detroit on May 26. The Blue Jays hadn’t won since beating Cleveland 7-6 on June 15, the day before the Red Sox began a three-game sweep at Toronto that started the Jays’ longest losing streak since September 2019.

Rafael Devers and Tyler O’Neill homered for the Red Sox, who had won three straight and eight of nine. Jarren Duran, who had hit in 14 straight games before Tuesday, did not reach base. Duran was 0 for 4 and had one more chance in the ninth, but struck out swinging to end the game.

BREWERS 3, RANGERS 1

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Joey Ortiz hit a tiebreaking homer in the fifth inning to put Milwaukee ahead for good and Bryse Wilson threw six shutout innings in the Brewers’ 3-1 victory over Texas.

Wilson (5-3) entered the game to start the third after Hoby Milner — normally a reliever — worked the first two innings. Milner became the 13th different pitcher to start a game for the Brewers this season, matching the Miami Marlins for the most of any team.

The six-inning stint matched Wilson’s longest of the season. He struck out four and allowed three hits and no walks.

Ortiz led off the fifth by sending a 2-2 pitch from Andrew Heaney over the left-field wall for the rookie’s seventh homer and a 2-1 lead.

Texas scored in the first inning against Milner, who was making his first career start. The left-hander allowed back-to-back hits against left-handed batters, as Corey Seager doubled and came home on Josh Smith’s single.