NEW YORK —Brandon Nimmo saved Jacob deGrom and the New York Mets with a breathtaking catch at the center-field fence, and Edwin Díaz entered to Timmy Trumpet’s live horns at Citi Field before closing out the Los Angeles Dodgers for a scintillating 2-1 victory Wednesday night.
Starling Marte hit a two-run homer off All-Star lefty Tyler Anderson (13-3) as the Mets evened the three-game showdown between the top two teams in the National League.
Mookie Betts connected off deGrom (4-1) for his 32nd home run, but it wasn’t enough for the Dodgers in a tight pitching duel with a playoff feel in the 2-hour, 19-minute game.
Making his sixth start of the season after returning from injury, deGrom hit 102 mph on the radar gun and struck out nine in seven innings. He allowed three hits and walked one.
The two-time Cy Young Award winner was nursing a 2-1 lead when ex-Met Justin Turner sent a drive to deep center in the seventh.
Knowing it might tie the game, deGrom turned around and went into a worried crouch on the mound. Nimmo, however, raced back and plucked the ball off the top of the wall with a sensational leaping grab.
BRAVES 3, ROCKIES 2: Kyle Wright pitched seven scoreless innings to earn his major league-leading 17th victory, Austin Riley and Ronald Acuna Jr. homered, and Atlanta won at home.
BREWERS 6, PIRATES 1: Keston Hiura and Luis Urias each hit an RBI single during a four-run seventh inning, and Milwaukee won at home.
Willy Adames had a run-scoring double as Milwaukee won for the fourth time in five games.
Ben Gamel homered for last-place Pittsburgh, which had won 2 of 3. Kevin Newman had two of the Pirates’ five hits.
PADRES 5, GIANTS 4: Joe Musgrove had a season-high 11 strikeouts, Manny Machado drove in three runs and San Diego won at San Francisco, completing a three-game sweep.
Luis Campusano and Jake Cronenworth added RBI for San Diego, which has won 5 of 6 and five straight against San Francisco.
Musgrove (9-6) allowed three runs on three hits and two walks in 6 2/3 innings. The right-hander earned his first win since June 16, snapping a six-game losing streak.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
ASTROS 5, RANGERS 3: Jose Altuve drove in two runs and scored two more for AL-best Houston in a win over Texas and its All-Star starter Martin Perez.
The reigning AL champion Astros will enter September at 84-47, matching their best record through 131 games.
Altuve drew a leadoff walk to start the game and scored on Trey Mancini’s single. After Texas went ahead 2-1 on Corey Seager’s 29th homer, the Astros regained the lead for good on Altuve’s two-run double that ricocheted off the base of the right-center field wall in the second inning.
Seager extended his career high for homers with his drive into the Rangers’ bullpen in right-center after Marcus Semien walked and stole his 20th base. That gave Semien his first career 20-20 season, with all of the second baseman’s 20 homers coming since May 28. Texas committed a half-billion dollars last winter to sign the two middle infielders.
ORIOLES 4, GUARDIANS 0: Gunnar Henderson homered in his major league debut, losing his batting helmet after connecting on a drive that traveled an estimated 429 feet, and Baltimore won at Cleveland.
Henderson, called up from Triple-A Norfolk earlier in the day, homered to lead off the fourth inning against Triston McKenzie. The game’s No. 1 prospect according to Baseball America drove a 2-2 pitch to right-center field for his first big league hit. He singled in the ninth and went 2 for 4.
Baltimore is hoping for a boost from the 21-year-old Henderson as it chases an AL wild-card spot.
Ramon Urias hit a two-run homer in the eighth and had three RBI, and Jordan Lyles (10-9) held the Guardians to four hits in 6 2/3 scoreless innings.
MARINERS 5, TIGERS 3: Abraham Toro hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh inning and visiting Seattle got its fifth win in six games.
Toro, recalled from Triple-A Tacoma on Tuesday, had two hits. Eugenio Suarez also hit a two-run homer for the Mariners.
Seattle starter Marco Gonzales (10-12) allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings. Paul Sewald worked around two walks in the ninth to get his 17th save.
Jeimer Candelario drove in two runs for Detroit. Starting pitcher Tyler Alexander allowed two runs in 4 2/3 innings, and Alex Lange (4-4) took the loss.
INTERLEAGUE
NATIONALS 5, ATHLETICS 1: Anibal Sanchez earned his first victory in nearly two years, Luke Voit hit a two-run home run and Washington beat visiting Oakland.
CUBS 7, BLUE JAYS 5: Franmil Reyes homered, Nico Hoerner drove in a pair of runs and Chicago won at Toronto to avoid a three-game sweep.
Ian Happ and Zach McKinstry each had two hits as the Cubs snapped a five-game losing streak north of the border. Chicago went 15-15 in August, its first non-losing month this season.
Alejandro Kirk hit a three-run homer and Cavan Biggio connected for a two-run shot for the Blue Jays, who are in position for an AL wild card but had their first losing month, going 13-14 in August.
RAYS 2, MARLINS 1: Manuel Margot singled in the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th inning and prevented a run by tracking down a fly ball to deep center in the bottom half to lead Tampa Bay at Miami.
Tommy Nance (0-2) intentionally walked Yandy Diaz with two outs before Margot’s line-drive single to right field drove in automatic runner Yu Chang from second.
Jason Adam (2-2) pitched a scoreless ninth and Jalen Beeks got the last three outs for his second save. Margot, who had just switched from right to center field, tracked down Charles Leblanc’s drive to the warning track and made a leaping catch. Beeks then struck out Peyton Burdick and retired Joey Wendle on a groundout.
Diaz reached base five times, logging three hits and two walks. Harold Ramirez had three hits for the Rays, who lead the AL wild-card race.
NOTES
MEXICO CITY: The San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants will play in the first regular-season Major League Baseball games in Mexico City next year, three seasons after the first scheduled matchup there was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
San Francisco and San Diego will play a two-game series at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu Beisbol on April 29 and 30, the commissioner’s office and players’ association said. The Padres will be the home team in both games.
WHITE SOX: Manager Tony La Russa is out indefinitely because of an unspecified health issue.
La Russa, 77, missed Tuesday night’s 9-7 loss to Kansas City on the recommendation of his doctors. The team said he is scheduled to undergo additional testing in Arizona with his personal physicians “over the coming days.”
Bench coach Miguel Cairo will continue to serve as acting manager while La Russa is out.
“It’s unbelievably tough,” outfielder Andrew Vaughn said. “We really don’t have much information on what’s going on.”
La Russa’s absence on Tuesday was announced about one hour before the first pitch. The Hall of Famer showed no signs of health issues during his pregame session with reporters and while talking to GM Rick Hahn and former Oakland Athletics pitching great Dave Stewart before the game.
METS: Brett Baty has a torn ligament in his right thumb that requires surgery that will likely sideline him for the rest of the regular season.
Baty was placed on the 10-day injured list in a move announced about 45 minutes before New York’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He had been subbing at third for Luis Guillorme, sidelined with a groin strain, and Eduardo Escobar, who returned Saturday from an oblique injury.
RAYS: The Rays placed ace left-hander Shane McClanahan on the 15-day injured list because of a left shoulder impingement.
McClanahan cut his pregame warmup short Tuesday because of the injury. He later said “something just didn’t feel right.”
McClanahan underwent imaging on his shoulder, which revealed a “best case scenario,” Rays Manager Kevin Cash said.
Cash said McClanahan will get an injection in the shoulder when the team returns to Tampa, and he is optimistic that the injury will not lead to an extended absence.
In his second season, McClanahan (11-5) has been one of the top pitchers in the majors. He started the All-Star game and is second in the AL in wins and ERA at 2.20.
The Rays also placed second baseman Brandon Lowe on the 10-day IL with a right triceps contusion. Lowe hasn’t played since being hit by a pitch against the Red Sox on Aug 26.
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