LOS ANGELES — Kenley Jansen escaped a bases-loaded jam in a bizarre ninth inning Saturday that saw both managers on the field trying to figure out what happened, and the Los Angeles Dodgers held off the New York Yankees, 2-1.
With many in the sellout crowd of 53,803 at Dodger Stadium on their feet, Jansen struck out Mike Tauchman and pinch-hitter Gary Sanchez to end a matchup between the teams with the best records in baseball.
But it was the play right before that to load the bases that left most everyone in the ballpark wondering what was going on.
There were runners at first and second with one out when Gio Urshela hit a grounder to third baseman Justin Turner, who looked to start a game-ending double play. Second baseman Max Muncy caught Turner’s flip but then got wiped out by Brett Gardner’s hard slide for an apparent forceout. Gleyber Torres, who started the play on second base, rounded third and then headed home with Muncy on the ground, trying to score the tying run. Instead, Torres was stopped by the umpires because time had been called.
The strange sequence set off a two-minute replay review. Gardner was called safe at second, beating the throw with a hard but legal slide. Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts didn’t appear to think Gardner was safe, while Yankees Manager Aaron Boone also came out, seemingly to seek clarification on why Torres wasn’t allowed to score.
“Ninth innings are stressful enough as they are,” Muncy said, “and you add that in there and it was kind of like, ‘whew.’ ”
AMERICAN LEAGUE
ORIOLES 7, RAYS 1: Pedro Severino hit his first career grand slam, Hanser Alberto and Jonathan Villar homered on successive pitches and Baltimore won at home.
John Means (9-9) allowed one run and five hits over seven innings to end a streak of four straight losing starts.
ASTROS 5, ANGELS 2: Alex Bregman hit his career-high 32nd homer and Wade Miley earned his seventh straight win as Houston won at home.
The AL-West leading Astros tied the New York Yankees for the best record in the AL at 84-47. The Angels lost their fourth straight.
RANGERS 4, WHITE SOX 0: Willie Calhoun and Danny Santana homered, rookie Kolby Allard pitched into the seventh inning and Texas won at Chicago.
Allard (2-0) allowed six hits, struck out eight and walked none in his fourth start since being acquired in a trade with Atlanta last month.
INDIANS 4, ROYALS 2: Franmil Reyes hit a three-run homer to help Cleveland win at home.
Reyes’ 30th homer of the season highlighted a four-run third inning against Glenn Sparkman (3-9). Reyes has three homers since being acquired July 31 from San Diego.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
NATIONALS 7, CUBS 2: Trea Turner reached base four times and scored twice, Yan Gomes and Howie Kendrick each drove in two runs and Washington won at Chicago.
Washington has won four straight and 6 of 7 to extend its lead over Chicago for the top NL wild-card spot to three games. The Nationals have totaled 97 runs in their last nine games.
PIRATES 14, REDS 0: Josh Bell topped 100 RBI for the first time in the majors, hitting a three-run homer as Pittsburgh won at home.
After Colin Moran gave Pittsburgh a 7-0 lead with a pinch-hit grand slam in the sixth inning, Bell lined a fastball from Kevin Gausman into the left-field bleachers in the seventh to reach 102 RBI.
PHILLIES 9, MARLINS 3: Corey Dickerson had four hits and five RBI as Philadelphia won at Miami.
Zach Eflin pitched six solid innings for his first win since June 24. Eflin (8-11) allowed two runs, six hits and struck out two.
CARDINALS 6, ROCKIES 0: Harrison Bader homered, Dakota Hudson allowed two hits over six innings and St. Louis won at home.
Hudson (13-6) extended his consecutive scoreless innings streak to a career-high 182/3 as the Cardinals won their third straight and sixth in their last seven games. Daniel Murphy’s leadoff double in the second snapped Hudson’s streak of 82/3 innings not allowing a hit.
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