AROUND THE HORN | Thursday’s MLB games

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Twins 5, White Sox 4

MINNEAPOLIS

Max Kepler was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, and Minnesota rallied to beat the Chicago White Sox for their fourth straight win. Pinch-hitter Ehire Adrianza opened the ninth with an infield single off closer Juan Minaya (2-2). After a one-out walk, Eddie Rosario hit a tying single. Joe Mauer then walked to load the bases and Jorge Polanco lined back to Minaya.

Astros 5, Rangers 1

ST. PETERSBURG, FLA.

Jose Altuve homered, the Houston bullpen pitched 41/3 scoreless innings and the Astros beat Texas in the last game before they return to their flood-ravaged home city. Josh Reddick added an RBI single for the AL West-leading Astros. Chris Devenski (7-3) worked 21/3 innings in relief of Collin McHugh to get the win. Ken Giles pitched the final two innings for his 27th save in 30 opportunities.

Blue Jays 11, Orioles 8

BALTIMORE

The Baltimore Orioles’ seven-game winning streak ended under a barrage of home runs by Kendrys Morales, who went deep three times and had a career-high seven RBIs to provide the Toronto Blue Jays with a victory. It was his second career three-homer game. The first was Sept. 20, 2015, at Detroit. Adam Jones and Chris Davis homered for the Orioles, who fell 2 1/2 games back in the race for the final AL wild card.

Yankees 6, Red Sox 2

NEW YORK

CC Sabathia shut down the Boston Red Sox for the fourth time this season and the New York Yankees got homers from Gary Sanchez and Greg Bird on the way to a victory. Bird drove in three runs and Sanchez had two RBIs as the second-place Yankees shaved Boston’s lead in the AL East to 41/2 games.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Reds 7, Mets 2

CINCINNATI

Scooter Gennett drove in three runs with a homer and a double off Jacob deGrom, and the Reds ended New York’s domination in Cincinnati with a victory. Joey Votto added a solo shot in the seventh. Robert Stephenson (3-4) won his third straight start by allowing two runs and five hits in six innings.

Diamondbacks 8, Dodgers 1

PHOENIX

Zack Greinke earned his major league-best 16th victory with six strong innings and Arizona beat Los Angeles to complete the first series sweep of the Dodgers this season. Chris Iannetta and A.J. Pollock homered for the Diamondbacks, who matched their season-best seventh straight victory. Greinke (16-6) allowed a run and four hits, striking out six and walking two, to improve to 13-1 in 16 home starts this season.

Phillies 3, Marlins 2

MIAMI

Ben Lively hastened Giancarlo Stanton’s slide into a slump, and the Philadelphia Phillies sent the Miami Marlins below .500. Phillies rookie Rhys Hopkins, singled in the fifth inning to extend his hitting streak to 13 games. Hector Neris struck out J.T. Realmuto with the bases loaded to end the game for his 17th save.

Brewers 6, Nationals 3

MILWAUKEE

Zach Davies won his 16th game to tie Arizona’s Zack Greinke for the most victories in the majors, Jonathan Villar homered and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Washington Nationals. Davies (16-7) scattered six hits, walked two, struck out four and lowered his ERA to 1.77 over the last nine starts, five of them victories for himself and the team. Villar hit a two-run homer off Gio Gonzalez (13-6) in the fifth. It was his 11th of the season, second two-run in as many days and came after Davies walked.

Cubs 6, Braves 2

CHICAGO

Kyle Hendricks turned in his fourth straight quality start and the Chicago Cubs ran their winning streak to four with a victory over the Atlanta Braves. Hendricks (6-4) allowed one earned run on five hits while striking out five and walking three in 62/3 innings as the reigning World Series champs maintained their 31/2-game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central. Kris Bryant hit his 25th home run of the season and Jon Jay had four hits to lead the Cubs offense.

Associated Press