MLB roundup: Pete Alonso’s HR in 10th helps Mets end 8-game skid

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Pete Alonso hit a walk-off three-run homer with nobody out in the 10th inning as the New York Mets ended a season-worst eight-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the visiting Texas Rangers on Sunday afternoon.

The Mets (77-73) avoided their first nine-game skid since an 11-game slide in 2004 when Alonso came through following an intentional walk to Juan Soto by rookie Luis Curvelo (1-1).

Alonso won it when he hit a 1-1 sinker over the right field fence. He flipped his helmet in the air and ripped off his jersey as his teammates awaited him at the plate. It was Alonso’s fifth career walk-off homer and first since May 17, 2023, against Tampa Bay’s Pete Fairbanks.

Alonso’s clutch homer allowed the Mets to remain in the NL’s third wild-card spot. New York leads the San Francisco Giants by 1 1/2 games.

Texas (79-71) saw its six-game winning streak stopped. The Rangers trail the Houston Astros by two games for the third wild-card spot in the American League.

Mariners 11, Angels 2

Cal Raleigh hit his major league-leading 54th home run of the season, tying Mickey Mantle’s record for a switch hitter set in 1961, as host Seattle took sole possession of first place in the American League West with a victory against Los Angeles.

Jorge Polanco tied a franchise record with three doubles and Julio Rodriguez added two more with two runs and two RBIs as the Mariners won their ninth game in a row. Starter George Kirby (9-7) gave up two runs on three hits over 6 1/3 innings. The right-hander didn’t walk a batter and tied his career high with 14 strikeouts.

Christian Moore and Oswald Peraza hit solo homers for the Angels. Kyle Hendricks (7-10), who gave up Raleigh’s two-run homer on a first-pitch sinker, allowed nine runs on 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings, with two walks and six strikeouts.

Royals 10, Phillies 3

Salvador Perez homered and drove in five runs as Kansas City salvaged the finale of its three-game series with host Philadelphia, though the Phillies clinched a playoff spot despite the loss.

After homering twice in Saturday’s defeat, Perez lifted his team to victory in this one with plenty of help from Noah Cameron (8-7). The rookie left-hander allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings, walking one and striking out seven.

Kyle Schwarber hit his 52nd home run for Philadelphia, which squandered a chance to clinch the National League East but clinched a playoff spot when the San Francisco Giants lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers later in the day.

Nationals 4, Pirates 3

Daylen Lile’s eighth-inning double drove in the go-ahead run and host Washington rallied past Pittsburgh to take the rubber game of the series.

James Wood walked leading off the eighth against Isaac Mattson (3-3). With one out, Lile doubled to left center and when Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz couldn’t cut the ball off, Wood came all the way around to score the go-ahead run. The Nationals have won three of their past four series and split the other one. Jackson Rutledge (4-2) pitched one inning for the win.

Pittsburgh’s Jared Triolo walked with two outs in the ninth and Spencer Horwitz singled, but Clayton Beeter struck out Bryan Reynolds for his first major league save. Cruz had two hits for the Pirates, who have lost eight of nine.

Dodgers 10, Giants 2

Michael Conforto contributed a two-run, pinch-hit single to a four-run fifth inning, Tyler Glasnow pitched effectively into the seventh and Los Angeles secured a second consecutive road in San Franscisco.

Teoscar Hernandez collected four hits while Conforto, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman all finished with three for the Dodgers, who needed the win to remain 2 1/2 games up in the National League West over the San Diego Padres.

San Francisco’s loss narrowed the gap between the Giants and the Diamondbacks for fourth place in the NL wild-card race. Giants starter Robbie Ray (11-7) was charged with five of the six runs in his four-plus innings.

Braves 8, Astros 3

Ozzie Albies drove in three runs to help Atlanta defeat visiting Houston and end its four-game losing streak.

The win allowed Atlanta to salvage a game in the three-game series. Houston finished its road trip with a 4-5 record. Albies was 2-for-5 with three RBIs. He drove in two runs on a single in the fifth inning, when Atlanta rallied for three runs to break a 2-2 tie and take the lead for good. He added an RBI double.

The winning pitcher was Hunter Stratton (1-1), who followed Wentz with two innings and allowed only a 446-foot homer to Cam Smith. Houston starter Framber Valdez (12-10) lost his third straight start and for the sixth time in his last seven decisions. He pitched four innings and allowed five runs on six hits.

Blue Jays 11, Orioles 2

Shane Bieber pitched six effective innings, George Springer had a homer and two doubles, and Toronto defeated visiting Baltimore to complete a three-game sweep.

Bieber (3-1) allowed one run, four hits and one walk with five strikeouts for the American League East-leading Blue Jays. Alejandro Kirk had three hits and Addison Barger collected three RBIs as Toronto took the season series 7-6. Coby Mayo and Colton Cowser hit solo home runs for the Orioles.

Mayo homered for the second consecutive at-bat when he slugged an 0-1 fastball from Bieber to center with one out in the second inning. He also homered in the ninth on Saturday. Baltimore starter Albert Suarez allowed one run and two hits in three innings.

Athletics 7, Reds 4

Nick Kurtz and Brent Rooker each homered and drove in a pair of runs to help the Athletics post a victory over Cincinnati in West Sacramento, Calif.

Jacob Wilson and Colby Thomas also homered for the A’s, who swept the Reds and won their fourth straight game. Luis Morales (4-1) threw five innings of three-run, four-hit ball. Michael Kelly threw a perfect ninth, securing the win while recording his first career save.

Nick Lodolo (8-8) allowed five runs on eight hits across 5 1/3 innings for the Reds, who fell 2 1/2 games behind the New York Mets for the National League’s final wild-card spot. Will Benson homered and drove in two for Cincinnati, which was swept after winning four of its previous five games.

Red Sox 6, Yankees 4

Boston scored five times on five hits to begin a six-run first inning and Garrett Crochet matched a season-high 12 strikeouts across six innings en route to a win over visiting New York.

Carlos Narvaez punctuated the big inning with a two-out solo homer to deep center field while Trevor Story, Nathaniel Lowe, Romy Gonzalez (double) and Masataka Yoshida all had multiple hits for Boston, which lost the first two games of the three-game series. Crochet (16-5) allowed just two baserunners through the first three innings and finished with six innings of three-run ball.

New York fell four games behind the first-place Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East but lead the Red Sox by 1 1/2 games for the top AL wild-card spot. Two of the five hits off Crochet were solo home runs by Amed Rosario and Aaron Judge, who hit his 48th of the season.

Tigers 2, Marlins 0

First-place Detroit capitalized on three errors — all on the same play — to defeat host Miami and trim its magic number to win the American League Central to seven games.

Detroit snapped a three-game losing streak and avoided a Marlins sweep. Tigers right-hander Keider Montero (5-3) earned the win as he allowed three hits, no walks and no runs in five innings.

Marlins right-hander Adam Mazur (0-4) took a tough-luck loss. He matched his career high by lasting six innings while giving up just one hit, two walks and two unearned runs. It was the first time in Mazur’s 13-start MLB career that he lasted at least five innings and allowed no earned runs.

Guardians 3, White Sox 2

Bo Naylor hit a go-ahead solo home run in the seventh inning and drove in all three runs as Cleveland completed a three-game sweep of visiting Chicago.

Naylor also had a two-run double for Cleveland, which has won four straight and nine of its last 10 games to remain in the American League wild-card chase.

The White Sox were held to five hits and lost for the 11th time in 13 meetings with the Guardians this season. Chase Meidroth extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a solo homer.

Diamondbacks 6, Twins 4

James McCann went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs, and Arizona held on to beat Minnesota in Minneapolis.

Alek Thomas went 2-for-3 with a double, two runs and an RBI for the Diamondbacks, who won the rubber match of the three-game series. Tim Tawa also drove in a run. Right-hander Nabil Crismatt (3-0) allowed two runs (none earned) in five innings.

Matt Wallner and Mickey Gasper each hit a solo home run for the Twins. Right-hander Bailey Ober (5-8) surrendered four runs on four hits in six innings.

Cubs 4, Rays 3

Nico Hoerner doubled in two runs with two outs in the seventh inning to lift host Chicago over Tampa Bay and keep the Cubs in the first wild-card spot in the National League.

Javier Assad (3-1) picked up the win in relief, and Andrew Kittredge pitched the ninth for his fifth save as the Cubs won for the fourth time in their past five games. Edwin Uceta (9-3) took the loss for the Rays, who fell for the fourth time in five games.

Uceta gave up a leadoff single to Willi Castro in the seventh, and Matt Shaw singled with one out. Michael Busch struck out for the second out, but Hoerner capped a three-RBI day with his double down the left field line to provide the winning margin.

Padres 9, Rockies 6

Jackson Merrill belted a three-run homer to help host San Diego overcome Mickey Moniak’s two-homer, five-RBI performance in a victory versus Colorado.

Fernando Tatis Jr. collected three hits and four of his teammates had two for the Padres, who bolted to a 7-0 advantage after three innings. Yu Darvish (4-5) allowed three runs on four hits in five-plus innings.

Moniak recorded four hits to lead the comeback bid of the Rockies. He homered off to lead off the fourth inning, had a three-run shot in the sixth and added an RBI single in the seventh to trim San Diego’s lead to 7-6. Losing pitcher German Marquez (3-14) permitted seven runs (six earned) on nine hits in 2 1/3 innings.

Cardinals 3, Brewers 2

Miles Mikolas allowed two runs in five innings and visiting St. Louis held on for a victory over Milwaukee to avoid a sweep in the three-game series.

Milwaukee, which clinched a playoff berth Saturday and owns the best overall record in the majors, saw its National League Central lead trimmed to 5 1/2 games over the Cubs after their win over Tampa Bay. St. Louis, which snapped a five-game losing streak, is four games back in the chase for the final NL wild-card spot.

Mikolas (8-10) allowed two runs on a pair of solo homers, scattering five hits with five strikeouts and no walks. The Cardinals tagged Jose Quintana (11-7) for three runs in the second. Quintan exited after the fourth inning with a calf strain and will undergo an MRI, Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy told reporters after the game.

–Field Level Media