CINCINNATI — Christian Encarnacion-Strand homered in the ninth inning, and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Toronto Blue Jays 1-0 on Friday night in the opener of an interleague series between playoff contenders.

Encarnacion-Strand drove a 2-2 pitch from Jordan Hicks (2-8) deep to left for his fourth homer. It was Cincinnati’s fourth hit of the game.

Fighting for positioning in the NL playoff standings, the Reds (64-59) won for the third time in four games.

Toronto wasted a terrific performance by José Berríos, who struck out eight in 5 2/3 innings. The right-hander allowed one hit – Matt McLain’s one-out single in the sixth – and walked four.

The Blue Jays (67-56), who are in the mix for an AL wild card, dropped their second straight game.

ROYALS 4, CUBS 3: Bobby Witt Jr. hit a go-ahead home run and Cole Ragans pitched six effective innings to help Kansas City end a three-game skid with a win in Chicago.

Ragans (4-4) struck out nine while allowing eight hits and all three Chicago runs. He struck out three straight batters to end his final inning.

The Cubs started the day 2 1/2 games behind Milwaukee in the NL Central standings and missed a chance to creep closer after striking out 13 times. Carlos Hernández, the last of four Royals relievers, pitched the ninth for his second save in five chances.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

TIGERS, GUARDIANS SPLIT:  Will Brennan hit a tiebreaking two-run double in Cleveland’s four-run eighth inning, and the Guardians beat Detroit at home for a doubleheader split.

In the opener, Miguel Cabrera drove in a run to tie Mel Ott for 11th place on the career RBIs list, and Akil Baddoo homered on the second pitch of Detroit’s 4-2 win.

MARINERS 2, ASTROS 0: Julio Rodríguez and Mike Ford homered, Bryce Miller threw 6 1/3 shutout innings and Seattle extended its winning streak to four games with win in Houston.

The Mariners took a half-game lead over Toronto in the race for the third, and final, AL wild-card spot. Seattle trails Houston by 2 1/2 games for the second wild-card spot.

Rodríguez continued to swing a hot bat, finishing with four hits, including a solo home run to left field in the third. He had five hits and drove in five RBIs on Thursday and went 12 for 21 in the four-game series against the Royals.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

BRAVES 4, GIANTS 0: Spencer Strider struck out 10 and allowed one hit in seven innings, three relievers finished and Atlanta won at home for its third straight shutout.

It marked the first time since the final three games of 2015 against St. Louis that the Braves blanked an opponent in three straight games. Atlanta has five shutouts in its last eight games.

Matt Olson, Eddie Rosario, Austin Riley and Michael Harris II each drove in a run as the major league-leading Braves improved to 79-42. Harris, last season’s NL Rookie of the Year, went 4 for 5 with a double and a triple, raising his average eight points to .291.

NATIONALS 8, PHILLIES 7: CJ Abrams hit a three-run homer to cap a six-run fourth inning, and Washington won at home to spoil Michael Lorenzen’s first start since throwing a no-hitter nine days earlier.

Jake Alu also drove in two runs for Washington, which has won 11 of 15 overall and 15 of 18 at home since July 8.

Kyle Schwarber homered twice for the Phillies, who entered the day two games ahead of San Francisco for the NL’s top wild-card spot. Philadelphia has lost four of its last five.

NOTES

GIANTS: Manager Gabe Kapler received a one-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for returning to the dugout area following his fourth-inning ejection during Tuesday’s home win over Tampa Bay.

Kapler will serve his suspension Friday night when the Giants, 10 1/2 games back in the NL West but 1 1/2 games up in the wild card, begin a three-game series against the major league-leading Atlanta Braves.

ANGELS: Nolan Schanuel is being called up by Los Angeles, 40 days after he was the 11th overall pick in this year’s amateur draft.

The 21-year-old infielder is batting .370 in 21 minor league games across three levels. It’s the fastest big league promotion for a draft pick since Chris Sale in 2010 with the Chicago White Sox.

Schanuel was an All-American selection and the 2023 Conference USA Player of the Year at Florida Atlantic University. He was second in the nation in batting average (.447), and finished with 19 homers and 64 RBI.

PHILLIES: Pitcher Ranger Suárez will not make his scheduled start Sunday against the Washington Nationals because of hamstring soreness.

CUBS: Pitcher Marcus Stroman is dealing with persistent pain because of a right rib cartilage fracture.

Stroman said he isn’t sure when he’ll be able to take the mound again.

“I can’t be too active; it’s not like I can do too much right now,” he said during Friday’s 4-3 loss to Kansas City. “I guess the best thing is to kind of let it heal itself.

“I can barely turn right now. Breathing’s tough at some points and I can’t sit for long periods of time. I’m just taking it day by day.”

Stroman was placed on the 15-day IL on Aug. 2 with right hip inflammation.

SCHEDULE: Major League Baseball has rescheduled three Sunday games in California because of the forecast for Hurricane Hilary.

The changes were announced by MLB as Hurricane Hilary churned off Mexico’s Pacific coast Friday as a powerful Category 4 storm.

Each of the games – Arizona at San Diego, Tampa Bay at the Los Angeles Angels and Miami at the Los Angeles Dodgers – will now be played Saturday as part of split-doubleheaders.

Copy the Story Link