AL-leading Orioles beat Astros 5-4 and extend streak to 76 series without being swept

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BALTIMORE (AP) — Adley Rutschman and Ryan Mountcastle homered, Félix Bautista worked through another shaky ninth inning and the Baltimore Orioles extended their streak to 76 series without being swept, edging the Houston Astros 5-4 on Thursday.

It was 5-3 when Bautista came on to pitch the ninth. Jose Altuve’s one-out double and Alex Bregman’s walk allowed the go-ahead run to come up, but catcher James McCann caught Yordan Alvarez’s foul pop, holding onto the ball as he lost his balance and fell.

Tucker then drew a walk to load the bases, and Yainer Diaz followed with a line drive to the left side. Third baseman Ramón Urías made a dive for it and couldn’t catch it, but he did prevent it from going all the way through and only one run came home.

Bautista then retired Jon Singleton on a popup for his 31st save in 37 chances.

Dean Kremer (11-4) allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings for AL East-leading Baltimore. Hunter Brown (8-8) allowed five runs and eight hits in six innings.

Houston got homers from Diaz and Altuve, who also singled and doubled twice.

Baltimore took a three-game lead in the AL East over Tampa Bay when the Rays lost to St. Louis later Thursday. Houston fell to 2 1/2 games behind first-place Texas in the AL West.

CARDINALS 5, RAYS 2

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Matthew Liberatore didn’t allow a run in a career-best eight innings, Andrew Knizner and Tommy Edman homered as St. Louis took two of three games in its series with Tampa Bay.

Liberatore (2-4), making his second start since being called up from Triple-A Memphis, gave up two hits and had a career-high seven strikeouts. He retired his final 14 batters.

The Rays scored twice on two hits, including Wander Franco’s RBI triple, against JoJo Romero in the ninth.

Tampa Bay starter Zack Littell (2-3) allowed three runs and seven hits over six innings.

DODGERS 2, ROCKIES 1

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Max Muncy drew a bases-loaded, two-out walk to force in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, Clayton Kershaw returned from the injured list and Los Angeles edged Colorado.

It was Daniel Bard’s 36th walk in 40 innings for the Rockies.

The NL West-leading Dodgers won their fifth in a row against the division’s worst team and extended their lead to 6 1/2 games over the San Francisco Giants.

Kershaw gave up one run and three hits in five innings, struck out four and didn’t walk anyone in his first outing since July 27. The 35-year-old left-hander missed 35 games with left shoulder soreness.

Ryan Yarbrough (5-5) got the victory with three innings of relief. Brusdar Graterol pitched the ninth to earn his fifth save. Tommy Doyle (0-1) took the loss.

Elehuris Montero homered for Colorado.

PIRATES 7, BRAVES 5

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Ke’Bryan Hayes drove in three runs for the third straight game, Liover Peguero knocked in two and Pittsburgh rallied past Atlanta.

Pittsburgh salvaged a split of a four-game series with the NL East leaders by overcoming an early four-run deficit behind Hayes and a strong effort out of the bullpen by Thomas Hatch (1-0), who worked four scoreless innings in earning his first win in nearly three years. Colin Holderman earned the second save of his career.

Matt Olson hit his 40th home run of the season for Atlanta to move into a tie with Shohei Ohtani for the major-league lead. Orlando Arcia also homered for the Braves and Austin Riley added three hits. Bryce Elder (8-4) gave up five runs and six hits with two walks and five strikeouts in five innings.

PHILLIES 6, NATIONALS 2

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Trea Turner, Nick Castellanos and J.T. Realmuto hit two-run homers, leading Philadelphia past Washington.

The Phillies took three of the four games in the series from the Nationals, including Michael Lorenzen’s no-hitter on Wednesday night. Philadelphia moved 1 1/2 games ahead of idle San Francisco for the top spot in the NL wild-card race.

The only sour note in Thursday’s victory for the Phillies was slugger Bryce Harper leaving the game in the top of the fifth inning with what the club called mid-back spasms. He was undergoing evaluation, the team said.

Matt Strahm (8-3) picked up the victory for the Phillies.

CJ Abrams, Joey Meneses, Keibert Ruiz and Ildemaro Vargas each had two hits for Washington (50-65). Vargas knocked in both Washington runs with two doubles.

TIGERS 3, TWINS 0

DETROIT (AP) — Riley Greene homered in the sixth inning and Detroit won a pitchers’ duel to take three of four games against Minnesota.

The Twins, who managed two singles, had won five straight after taking Monday’s opener.

Reese Olson (2-5) pitched six scoreless innings, allowing the two hits and three walks while striking out eight. Chasen Shreve pitched the seventh, and converted starter Beau Brieske pitched the last two innings for his second save.

Kenta Maeda (3-7) took the loss despite only allowing Greene’s homer in his six innings. He gave up three hits and a walk with four strikeouts.

Zack McKinstry hit a two-run double for Detroit.

GUARDIANS 4, BLUE JAYS 3

CLEVELAND (AP) — Noah Syndergaard won for the first time since April 30 and rookies Brayan Rocchio and José Tena sparked Cleveland’s win over Toronto.

Syndergaard (2-5) allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings and was removed with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth. Nick Sandlin retired Nathan Lukes on a ground ball to end the inning. Emmanuel Clase pitched the ninth for his 31st save in 39 chances.

Rocchio had RBI doubles in the second and fifth. Tena had an RBI single in the second for his first major league hit and a double in the fifth as the teams split the four-game series.

Alek Manoah (3-9) allowed four runs and four hits in four innings, striking out six and walking three. Whit Merrifield, Brandon Belt and Santiago Espinal had RBIs for Toronto.

RED SOX 2, ROYALS 0

BOSTON (AP) — James Paxton worked 5 1/3 scoreless innings and five pitchers combined for the seven-hit shutout in Boston’s win over Kansas City.

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John Schreiber, Josh Winckowski and Chris Martin followed Paxton, and Kenley Jansen retired the side in order in the ninth inning for his 25th save as Boston moved five games over .500 at 60-55 and took three of four games from the Royals.

Alex Verdugo hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning to give Boston a 1-0 lead and Adam Duvall added an RBI double in the fifth. Paxton (7-3) scattered six hits with six strikeouts and no walks.

Austin Cox and Taylor Hearn worked the first three innings for Kanas City. Alec Marsh (0-6) went the final five innings, allowing two runs while striking out three.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb