ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Rookie Taj Bradley allowed one run over a career-high six innings, Randy Arozarena and Isaac Paredes homered, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles 7-2 on Wednesday to split a two-game series between the top two teams in the AL East.
Bradley (5-3) gave up three hits and struck out eight, The 22-year old has struck out 71 over 49 innings.
Bradley didn’t have a walk after issuing 10 in 13 innings in his previous three starts.
Arozarena and Paredes started a four-run second with consecutive homers against Tyler Wells (6-3), who also made two errors during the inning.
Arozarena had an RBI single in a two-run seventh as Tampa Bay improved to 32-8 at home and stopped a season-long three-game skid overall. He went 3 for 3 with a walk and is hitting .364 with 16 homers and 40 RBI in 42 games against Baltimore.
YANKEES 4, MARINERS 2: Jhonny Brito pitched a career-high 5 2/3 scoreless innings in a successful return to the major leagues and New York beat visiting Seattle.
Fill-ins Jake Bauers and Billy McKinney homered off Luis Castillo (4-6) as the Yankees won a series for the first time since placing Aaron Judge on the injured list. New York is 6-8 with Judge out of the lineup and had not won a series since taking 2 of 3 from the Dodgers in Los Angeles 2 1/2 weeks ago.
Rookie Anthony Volpe added his 10th homer in the seventh after nearly missing a homer in the third.
RANGERS 6, WHITE SOX 3: Jonah Heim hit a three-run homer a night after he was involved in a controversial play at the plate and Texas won at Chicago.
Ezequiel Duran also connected as Texas won for the fourth time in five games. Martín Pérez (7-3) pitched seven effective innings in his first victory in a month, and Will Smith got two outs for his 14th save.
The AL West leaders bounced back nicely after a frustrating 7-6 loss Tuesday night. Chicago scored the winning run in its three-run eighth when Heim was called for illegally blocking the plate in a replay review that overturned umpire D.J. Reyburn’s out call.
A day later, Rangers Manager Bruce Bochy called the ruling “really, really confusing for the catchers.”
“It is something that probably is going to have to get discussed more, and get a little more clarity to it,” Bochy said.
TIGERS 9, ROYALS 4: Zack Short homered and drove in two runs, Javier Báez got his 1,000th career hit and host Detroit beat Kansas City.
GUARDIANS 7, ATHLETICS 6: Rookie Bo Naylor scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning on a throwing error, Gavin Williams pitched 5 2/3 innings in his major league debut and Cleveland beat visiting Oakland.
Naylor singled for his first hit in the majors — snapping an 0-for-19 drought — and came home on Steven Kwan’s one-out double. Myles Straw was the first to score on Kwan’s hit, which turned into a two-run play when right fielder Ramón Laureano wildly flung the ball back to the infield.
Williams, the Guardians’ consensus top prospect and 2021 first-round pick, allowed four runs on four hits — all in the third — striking out four. The right-hander maxed out at 98 mph, topping 96 mph on 18 of his 84 pitches.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
REDS 5, ROCKIES 3: Jake Fraley hit a tie-breaking, two-run homer in the eighth inning, and Cincinnati extended its majors-best winning streak to 11 games, rallying past visiting Colorado.
Rookie sensation Elly De La Cruz hit a one-out bloop to left that fell for a double against Daniel Bard (3-1), and Fraley hit the next pitch over the wall in right, sending the Reds to their majors-best 12th comeback win of the season and the Rockies to their season-worst eighth straight loss. Cincinnati trailed 3-0 after four innings.
The NL Central-leading Reds (40-35) have swept three straight three-game series and won five consecutive series overall. Their winning streak is the club’s longest since winning 12 straight in 1957.
CUBS 8, PIRATES 3: Kyle Hendricks pitched effectively into the seventh inning, Nico Hoerner homered, tripled and drove in three runs and visiting Chicago beat Pittsburgh to complete a three-game sweep.
Hendricks (3-2) won his third consecutive start for the Cubs, who have won 8 of 9 to give them some serious momentum heading into a weekend series against rival St. Louis in London, England, starting on Saturday.
DIAMONDBACKS 5, BREWERS 1: Zac Gallen pitched seven strong innings for his ninth win and visiting Arizona beat Milwaukee.
Gallen (9-2) limited the Brewers to one run and three hits. He walked one and struck out four. He is tied with several players for the NL lead in wins and remains among the leaders in strikeouts and ERA. He surrendered a solo home run to Raimel Tapia in the fifth inning but otherwise kept the Brewers in check.
NATIONALS 3, CARDINALS 0: Trevor Williams outpitched Miles Mikolas in steady rain, CJ Abrams went 3 for 3 with a homer and Washington beat visiting St. Louis to end a five-game skid.
INTERLEAGUE
BLUE JAYS 6, MARLINS 3: Matt Chapman homered and doubled, Kevin Gausman pitched six-plus innings of three-run ball and Toronto won at Miami.
Cavan Biggio stepped in for late scratch Bo Bichette and doubled and singled for the Blue Jays. Bichette, who leads the American League in hits with 101 and played in Toronto’s first 75 games, sat out because of left thumb discomfort.
Luis Arraez went 2 for 5 for the Marlins and is hitting a major league-leading .398.
ASTROS 10, METS 8: Alex Bregman had three hits and Yainer Diaz and Chas McCormick both hit two-run homers to help Houston outlast visiting New York.
Houston fell behind 4-2 early after a subpar start by Cristian Javier. McCormick’s home run came in a four-run third inning that put the Astros on top. The Mets tied it in the top of the fourth, but the Astros went ahead for good by scoring three runs in the bottom of the inning, highlighted by Diaz’s home run.
NOTES
NATIONALS: The Nationals placed center fielder Victor Robles on the 10-day injured list with back spasms for the second time this season, a day after Washington starter MacKenzie Gore questioned Robles’ effort on a flyball that fell for a single.
Washington selected the contract of outfielder Derek Hill from Triple-A Rochester to replace Robles on the roster. Robles was sidelined by back spasms from early May until last Friday. He had started five straight games since his return.
ANGELS: Infielder Gio Urshela is likely to miss the rest of the season with a broken pelvis.
Manager Phil Nevin provided the update on Urshela, who was enjoying a solid debut season for Los Angeles before he fell awkwardly at first base while trying to beat out his grounder June 15 at Texas.
Urshela fractured his left pelvis in the fall. He has seen two specialists to determine he won’t need surgery, but the rest and recovery time necessary to heal are likely to prevent him from playing again in 2023, Nevin said.
Urshela is batting .299 with two homers and 24 RBI for the Angels, who acquired the former Yankees infielder from Minnesota last November and signed him to an $8.4 million, one-year contract. He has filled all four infield positions for Los Angeles, playing primarily at third base and first base.
His absence is a blow to the playoff hopes of the Angels, who are trying to end their eight-year playoff drought.
Los Angeles also is currently playing without oft-injured third baseman Anthony Rendon and promising rookie shortstop Zach Neto due to injuries.
The 31-year-old Urshela will be an unrestricted free agent this winter.
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