Baltimore’s Anthony Santander is greeted by DJ Stewart after hitting a first-inning home run Wednesday night against the Angels. Terrance Williams/Associated Press
BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles snapped their 19-game losing streak Wednesday night, rallying to beat Los Angeles 10-6 after a shaky start by Shohei Ohtani left the Angels’ bullpen with too much to do.
The Angels were up 6-2 in the fourth inning and 6-4 when Ohtani left the game after the top of the sixth. But Baltimore scored a run in the seventh and five in the eighth. Ramón UrÃas and Kelvin Gutierrez drew bases-loaded walks to put the Orioles up 7-6, and pinch-hitter Austin Hays added a two-run double.
The Orioles were two losses shy of the American League record for the longest skid – which they set themselves in 1988 when they started 0-21.
Ohtani allowed three homers on the mound and struck out three times at the plate, but the Orioles still seemed headed to a 20th straight loss after Brandon Marsh hit his first career homer, a three-run shot in the fourth that made it 6-2.
It was 6-5 when Jake Petricka (0-1) allowed a single, a double and an intentional walk to start the bottom of the eighth. He then walked UrÃas, his final batter, on four pitches to tie the game.
James Hoyt came on and struck out Jahmai Jones, but then he walked Gutierrez on a full count. Hays then doubled to left with the bases loaded, and Cedric Mullins added a sacrifice fly.
RAYS 7, PHILLIES 4: Francisco Mejia hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the ninth inning, Brandon Lowe connected for his 30th of the season and AL-East leading Tampa Bay won at Philadelphia.
Rookie Wander Franco had two hits to extend his on-base streak to 26 straight games for the Rays, who have won eight of nine and upped their league-best record to 79-48. Tampa Bay moved 4 1/2 games ahead of the Yankees in the division.
Bryce Harper and Rhys Hoskins homered for the Phillies, who have lost six of eight to fall five games behind the Atlanta Braves in the NL East. Philadelphia is 4-10 since winning eight in a row earlier this month.
BLUE JAYS 3, WHITE SOX 1: Alejandro Kirk broke a tie with an RBI single in the eighth inning and Toronto won at home.
After Blue Jays starter Robbie Ray matched his career high by striking out 14 over seven innings, Tim Mayza (4-1) worked a perfect eighth and Jordan Romano finished for his 13th save in 14 chances.
INDIANS 7, RANGERS 2: Franmil Reyes drove a 451-foot home run into the left-field bleachers – one of four solo homers hit by Cleveland against visiting Texas.
Reyes’ blast off Wes Benjamin in the seventh landed about two-thirds of the way up the bleachers and was his 23rd of the season, capping a big night for Cleveland’s offense.
Yu Chang homered for the second straight game and drove in two runs. Óscar Mercado and Austin Hedges also homered off left-hander Jake Latz, who gave up three home runs in his major league debut.
ASTROS 6, ROYALS 5: Alex Bregman had two hits and an RBI in his first action in more than two months, and he scored the winning run in the 10th inning on a groundout by Jake Meyers to lift Houston to a win at home.
Kyle Tucker singled with no outs in the 10th to send automatic runner Bregman to third. Meyers then hit a comebacker that struck pitcher Joel Payamps (0-3) and pulled him toward first base. Payamps tossed the ball to first for the meaningless out as Bregman slid home.
Whit Merrifield hit a grand slam with two outs in the seventh to put the Royals up 5-3.
Meyers singled in the bottom of the inning and scored on a two-out single by Aledmys DÃaz. Pinch-hitter Michael Brantley’s RBI single with two outs in the eighth inning tied it at 5.
Salvador Perez extended his career high with his 34th homer in the fourth inning for the Royals.
MartÃn Maldonado and Yordan Alvarez hit solo homers for the Astros.
CARDINALS 3, TIGERS 2: Paul Goldschmidt homered twice and scored the game-ending run on Lars Nootbaar’s single in the 10th inning as St. Louis won at home.
Goldschmidt was intentionally walked to open the 10th and executed a one-out double steal with automatic runner Tommy Edman. Nolan Arenado was intentionally walked. After a fielder’s choice for the second out, Nootbaar lined a single to right field off Michael Fulmer (5-6) and St. Louis improved to 11-5 in extra innings.
The Cardinals led 2-1 entering the ninth. Miguel Cabrera hit a two-out pinch double to right field off St. Louis closer Alex Reyes. Harold Castro, the third Tigers pinch hitter of the inning, drove in Cabrera with a soft single to center, giving Reyes his third blown save in 31 chances.
Cardinals starter Jon Lester allowed one run on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts in five innings.
T.J. McFarland (3-0) pitched a scoreless 10th and has not allowed a run in 18 2/3 innings over 12 August appearances.
Tarik Skubal gave up Goldschmidt’s homers in the first and third innings but held the Cardinals to one additional hit and had 10 strikeouts in five innings.
CUBS, ROCKIES SPLIT: Ryan McMahon lofted a two-run homer in the 10th inning, Brendan Rodgers followed with a two-run double that gave him five RBI for the game, and Colorado rallied for a doubleheader split in Chicago.
The Cubs won the opener 5-2, thanks to Patrick Wisdom’s tiebreaking three-run homer in the fifth inning.
GIANTS 3, METS 2: Jake McGee induced a game-ending popup from Pete Alonso with the bases loaded, and San Francisco turned five double plays in a win at New York.
Brandon Crawford hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the seventh inning after New York Manager Luis Rojas gave starter Taijuan Walker an aggressive hook, and the Giants improved to 4-1 against the Mets over the past 10 days.
MARLINS 4, NATIONALS 3: Jorge Alfaro singled with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning as Miami snapped an eight-game losing streak.
Right fielder Jesus Sanchez threw out automatic runner Carter Kieboom at home plate as he attempted to score from second on Austin Riley’s single in the top of the 10th.
DIAMONDBACKS 5, PIRATES 2: Carson Kelly and Pavin Smith hit solo home runs as Arizona rallied for a win at Pittsburgh.
NOTES
METS: Jacob deGrom played catch at Citi Field on Wednesday after an MRI showed improvement with the right forearm tightness that has sidelined him since July 7, while Noah Syndergaard will begin a minor league rehab assignment with High-A Brooklyn on Thursday.
It was the first time deGrom played catch since being shut down from throwing entirely four weeks ago.
DeGrom was transferred to the 60-day injured list last weekend and isn’t eligible to return until Sept. 13. Zack Scott, the team’s acting general manager, said Tuesday that deGrom was unlikely to be ready by that date even if he did resume throwing this week. He added that the Mets plan to get deGrom back in game action even if they fall further out of postseason contention to better evaluate his health going forward.
DeGrom is 7-2 with a 1.08 ERA in 15 starts this year and was on track for a third Cy Young before his season was derailed by injuries.
Syndergaard had Tommy John surgery March 26, 2020, and is still recovering. He was shut down from a minor league rehab assignment in May with elbow discomfort but had resumed throwing live batting practice.
INDIANS: Cleveland placed right-handed pitcher Triston McKenzie on the 10-day injured list because of shoulder fatigue.
McKenzie, a 24-year-old rookie, dominated in winning his last two starts, allowing one run and three hits with 19 strikeouts in 15 innings.
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