around the horn Tuesday’s other MLB games

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Rays 2, Twins 1

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.

Jake Odorizzi took a no-hitter into the seventh inning in front of a tiny home crowd, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Minnesota Twins. Lucas Duda homered and drove in both runs for the Rays, who improved to .500 on the season and got within two games of Minnesota for the second AL wild card. Joe Mauer got the Twins’ first hit — and extended his hitting streak to 14 games — with a grounder that caromed off second base with one out in the seventh. Odorizzi (8-7) was lifted for reliever Dan Jennings after striking out the next batter, Jorge Polanco. The only other batter to reach base against Odorizzi was Eddie Rosario, who walked leading off the fifth. The game was played before a crowd of 6,509, the smallest-ever announced attendance for a Rays home game. Nearly 400 fewer fans attended last Wednesday’s relocated game between the Astros and Rangers at Tropicana Field.

Tigers 13, Royals 2

DETROIT

JaCoby Jones and John Hicks hit two home runs and the Detroit Tigers had six homers in all in a victory over the Kansas City Royals. Tigers starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez threw only five pitches and was knocked out of the game in the first inning after getting hit by Whit Merrifield’s single in the right leg. Sanchez, who was charged with one earned run when Merrifield later scored, left the game with a calf injury. Reliever Myles Jaye (1-0) replaced Sanchez and pitched 21/3 innings. He allowed one hit, two walks and a wild pitch, leaving in the third inning with the Tigers holding a 7-1 lead. Jason Vargas (14-10) took the loss, allowing seven earned runs and six hits, a walk and a hit batter in two innings of work.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Nationals 2, Marlins 1

MIAMI

Stephen Strasburg pitched six innings to help the Washington Nationals to a victory over the Miami Marlins. Daniel Murphy hit his 22nd home run and Pedro Severino also drove in a run for the Nationals, who have won seven straight against the Marlins. Sean Doolittle pitched the ninth for his 18th save in 19 chances. Doolittle allowed a lead-off bloop single to Marcell Ozuna, who eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Derek Dietrich, but got Brian Anderson to line out to end the game. Strasburg (12-4) allowed a single in each of his six innings, but was able to keep the Marlins from getting into scoring position. He struck out eight and did not walk a batter lowering his ERA to 2.78. Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts and did not add to his home run total of 53, but did take a home run away from Murphy when he leaped above the right-center field wall to make a catch in the third.

Phillies 9, Mets 1

NEW YORK

Ben Lively homered and drove in four runs off Mets ace Jacob deGrom, and also pitched seven strong innings to lead the Philadelphia Phillies over New York. A day after falling behind the Mets 10-0 by the fourth inning, it was the Phillies’ turn to answer back. DeGrom (14-9) struck out the side in the first, but wound up allowing a career-worst nine runs — six of them earned — and 10 hits in 32/3 innings.

Lively (3-5) hit a two-run single in the second that made it 3-1. The rookie, who homered in his last start against Miami, hit a two-run drive in a six-run fourth. Lively is 6 for 21 (.286) with two home runs and eight RBIs in his first major league season. The 25-year-old righty allowed one run and four hits. Odubel Herrera extended his hitting streak to 19 games and Nick Williams drove in three runs for Philadelphia. Highly touted Phillies prospect J.P. Crawford got a hit in his first big league game.

Reds 9, Brewers 3

CINCINNATI

Robert Stephenson escaped threats while pitching into the seventh on Tuesday night, and Scooter Gennett homered during Cincinnati’s five-run rally in the bottom of the inning, sending the Reds to a victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. The last-place Reds have taken the first two games in the series from Milwaukee, which is trying to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2011. The Brewers remained 3 1/2 games behind the Cubs in the NL Central. They also trail Arizona and Colorado in the wild card race. Stephenson (4-4) used his slider to escape a bases-loaded, none-out threat in the fourth inning, fanning the next three. The Reds turned three double plays behind the rookie to scuttle rallies. Zach Davies (16-8) took only his second loss on the road this season, allowing two runs — one of them unearned — in 52/3 innings. Davies is 8-2 in 15 road starts. The Reds put it away with five runs off the bullpen in the seventh.

Associated Press