Texas’s Ezequiel Duran, left, congratulates Corey Seager after Seager’s two-run home run off Tampa Bay reliever Jalen Beeks in the fourth inning Saturday in St. Petersburg, Florida. Steve Nesius/Associated Press
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Nathan Eovaldi became the majors second nine-game winner, Corey Seager had five hits and four RBI, and the Texas Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 8-4 on Saturday in a matchup of teams with the major leagues’ top records.
Eovaldi (9-2) allowed four runs and seven hits over 6 1/3 innings, improving to 8-0 in his last 10 starts as Texas (41-22) stopped a seven-game winning streak by the Rays (47-20).
Seager hit a two-run double in a three-run third off rookie Taj Bradley (4-3) and hit a two-run homer against Jalen Beeks in a three-run fourth. He has 29 RBI since returning from a left hamstring strain on May 17.
Francisco Mejía homered for the Rays, who dropped to 30-7 at home.
Tampa Bay’s Shane McClanahan (9-1). the majors other nine-game winner, will start Sunday’s rubber game of the three-game series.
ORIOLES 6, ROYALS 1: Cole Irvin earned his first victory with Baltimore, Gunnar Henderson and Adam Frazier homered and the host Orioles stretched Kansas City’s losing streak to five.
Baltimore has won three in a row for the first time since a May 19-21 sweep of Toronto. At 40-24, the Orioles are 16 games over .500, tied for a season high.
Kansas City (18-46) has lost eight of nine and has the second-worst record on the majors, ahead of only Oakland.
TWINS 9, BLUE JAYS 4: Carlos Correa hit his second career grand slam, Max Kepler and Trevor Larnach also homered and Minnesota scored seven runs in the eighth inning to win in Toronto.
Minnesota, which leads the AL Central with a 33-32 record, scored seven runs its previous five games.
Newly promoted Eduoard Julien reached base three times and Donovan Solano had three hits as the Twins won for the 12th time in 16 games at Rogers Centre. Minnesota has homered in 16 consecutive games in Canada.
ATHLETICS 2, BREWERS 1: Oakland stretched a winning streak to four for the first time since last season, winning in Milwaukee behind Aledmys Díaz’s RBI single in the 10th inning.
Even with the winning streak, the A’s (16-50) are on pace to finish 39-123, the most losses since the 1899 Cleveland Spiders went 20-134.
ASTROS 6, GUARDIANS 4: Jose Abreu homered and drove in three runs, rookie J.P. France stayed around until the seventh inning and Houston’s bullpen finally held off a Guardians rally, giving the Astros a win in Cleveland.
Abreu hit a two-run homer in the first inning off Triston McKenzie (0-1) and added an insurance run with an RBI single in the ninth as the Astros evened the series after losing in 14 innings on Friday,
NATIONAL LEAGUE
REDS 8, CARDINALS 4: Elly De La Cruz kept up his hot start with an RBI, stolen base and impressive headfirst slide at the plate, Andrew Abbott pitched shutout ball for the second straight start and Cincinnati won in St. Louis behind the two rookies.
Reds’ rookie Elly De La Cruz, left, slide safely into home plate past Cardinals catcher Andrew Knizner during Cincinnati’s 8-4 win Saturday in St. Louis. Jeff Roberson/Associated Press
The 21-year-old De La Cruz made his big league debut Tuesday and has a five-hitting hitting streak, batting .316 with a double, triple, home run, three RBI and two stolen bases.
CUBS 4, GIANTS 0: Kyle Hendricks didn’t allow a hit until Mitch Haniger doubled with two outs in the eighth inning, pitching Chicago to a win in San Francisco.
Hendricks (1-2) faced one batter over the minimum, walking Michael Conforto with one out in the second, and had retired 19 batters in a row before Haniger hit a fastball 378 feet off the left-field wall on the eighth pitch of the at-bat. That ended the longest no-hit bid in the major leagues this season.
Blake Sabol flied out on Hendricks’ next pitch.
Julian Merryweather retired three straight batters in the ninth, completing the one-hitter and giving the Cubs consecutive wins for the first time since May 29 and 30.
PADRES 3, ROCKIES 2: Fernando Tatís Jr. had a go-ahead, two-run single in the sixth inning that led San Diego to a win in Denver and extended Colorado’s losing streak to six.
Manny Machado had three hits and made a crucial catch in the eighth inning to help help ensure the Padres’ third straight win. Gary Sánchez had a first-inning RBI single and is hitting .282 with five homers and 12 RBI in 11 games since San Diego claimed him off waivers from the New York Mets.
METS 5, PIRATES 1: New York stopped a seven-game losing streak, its longest in four years, winning in Pittsburgh behind Mark Canha’s tiebreaking two-run double in the seventh inning and three RBI.
Kodai Senga (6-3) allowed an unearned run and two hits in seven inning with six strikeouts and four walks. David Robertson and Adam Ottavino finished a three-hitter.
New York (31-34), which started the season with a record $355 million payroll, had given up 51 runs during the skid.
BRAVES 6, NATIONALS 4: Ronald Acuña Jr. and Marcell Ozuna each a two-run homer in the second inning off MacKenzie Gore and Atlanta won its seventh consecutive game, beating visiting Washington.
After reeling off five straight comeback victories, the Braves avoided any suspense by taking an early lead to improve to a National League-best 40-24 as they seek a sixth straight division title.
DODGERS 9, PHILLIES 0: Rookie Bobby Miller won for the third time in four starts, J.D. Martinez hit a three-run homer and Los Angeles beat host Philadelphia after the ejection of Phillies Manager Rob Thomson in an apparent pitch clock flap.
David Peralta homered, doubled and drove in a run for the Dodgers, who won for just the second time in seven games. Mookie Betts added a pair of hits and two RBIs.
INTERLEAGUE
DIAMONDBACKS 5, TIGERS 0: Nick Ahmed hit a two-run homer in the second inning, Lourdes Gurriel followed with a three-run blast in the fifth and Arizona sent the Tigers to their eighth straight loss, in Detroit.
NL West-leading Arizona, which has won four straight games, is 14 games over .500 for the first time in nearly five years.
Detroit was shut out for the third time this month and eighth time this season.
MARLINS 5, WHITE SOX 1: Jean Segura capped Miami’s five-run ninth inning with a two-run double, and the Marlins won in Chicago.
Miami left 12 runners on base and went 1 for 16 with runners in scoring position. But it salvaged a frustrating afternoon with its late rally, winning for the seventh time in eight games.
Luis Arraez had two hits for the Marlins, raising his batting average to .402 in 60 games. Sandy Alcantara pitched seven innings of three-hit ball.
NOTES
GUARDIANS: Reliever James Karinchak has been optioned to the minor leagues following his latest ineffective outing.
The team made the move a day after the right-hander allowed one run and walked two in the eighth inning of the Guardians’ 10-9, 14-inning comeback win over the Houston Astros.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.