Athletics 7, Mariners 6

Bob Melvin might have a little better understanding of the anxiety other teams feel when his Oakland Athletics come roaring back in the late innings.

Seattle nearly did it to the A's. These AL West rivals are among the best at staying in games until the very end despite a big deficit.

Jed Lowrie drove in four runs to back Sean Manaea, and the A's held off a late Seattle rally to beat the Mariners on Monday night in a matchup of playoff contenders.

"We've done that a few times before," Melvin said of his club's comebacks. "The other end of it doesn't feel so great. ... They have a deep lineup and obviously with their record in close games there's no quit in them as well."

Manaea (11-8) pitched into the eighth and bounced back from a season-low 2 2/3 innings against the Dodgers his last time out.

Second-place Oakland moved 2 1/2 games ahead of the Mariners, who had momentum coming off a four-game sweep at first-place and defending World Series champion Houston. Seattle had won six of eight. The idle Astros had their lead trimmed to two games over the A's.

"It's really fun right now. Coming out with a strong effort and you see the crowd getting into it, I was really taking my time and appreciating everything," Manaea said. "You can definitely feel it, feel it everywhere. Every game means something and that's how we're playing."

Jean Segura and Nelson Cruz hit consecutive RBI singles with two outs in the eighth, and the Mariners — who like the A's have a knack for late-inning rallies — nearly pulled off a comeback. Seattle loaded the bases with none out in the ninth on three walks by Jeurys Familia before Blake Treinen relieved and allowed a run on a wild pitch and Mitch Haniger's two-run single before closing it out for his 31st save. Cruz struck out swinging to end it with runners on first and second.

Matt Chapman hit a two-run double in the sixth, his third double of the game. That matched the Oakland record that he last accomplished on June 12 against Houston.

Manaea gave up two runs and five hits in 7 2/3 innings as the A's won for the fourth time in five games and moved a season-high 23 games above .500 (71-48). The left-hander faced the minimum through three despite allowing a baserunner in each of the initial two innings — getting a caught stealing in the first and double play in the second.

The Mariners challenged Chapman's double in the third while Chapman was checked by athletic trainer Nick Paparesta following a headfirst slide that tore his batting glove. The call stood after review, and Lowrie doubled down the left-field line moments later.

Lowrie hit RBI singles in the first and sixth innings. Only an announced crowd of 10,400 fans were on hand to see his productive night.

Seattle lefty Marco Gonzales (12-8) allowed four runs and eight hits over five innings, struck out four and walked three. Gonzales lost his third straight start after winning five in a row from June 29-July 29.

Seattle's Robinson Cano is scheduled to return Tuesday from his 80-game suspension for violating baseball's drug agreement.

The All-Star second baseman was suspended May 15 after he tested positive for Furosemide, a diuretic that can be used to mask performance-enhancing drugs. He tuned up with Class A Everett and Triple-A Tacoma.

Manager Scott Servais plans to use Cano — who is ineligible for the postseason if Seattle makes the playoffs — around the infield. Servais will have a sit-down with Cano once the infielder arrives in Oakland to stress not trying to do too much.

"We need to be smart in breaking him in," Servais said. "He wants to get going, he wants to contribute right away. He's missed playing, he's missed his teammates and being around this whole thing. I know he wants to come in and do a lot. But again small little things."

Braves 9, Marlins 1, first game

Braves 6, Marlins 1, second game

Perfect games? Unassisted triple plays? They're not even as rare as what Ronald Acuna Jr. pulled off Monday night.

His legend growing with each game, the 20-year-old rookie hit leadoff homers in both games of a doubleheader to lead first-place Atlanta to a sweep of Miami.

Acuna appeared to be only the fourth player in baseball history to accomplish the feat, and certainly the youngest.

Two others, Rickey Henderson and Harry Hooper, are in the Hall of Fame.

By comparison, there have been 23 perfect games and 15 unassisted triple plays.

"It's pretty special," said Braves star Freddie Freeman, who also homered in Game 2. "He's some kind of hot right now. What he's doing at the plate, you just don't see it very often."

Acuna hit an opposite-field drive into the Braves' bullpen in the opener, powering Atlanta to a 9-1 victory. Haitian-American Touki Toussaint pitched six strong innings to claim the win in his major league debut.

It was more of the same from Acuna in the nightcap. He sent a towering shot into the seats in left-center, sparking the Braves to a 6-1 win behind another strong outing on the mound from Mike Foltynewicz.

Over the course of about nine hours, Acuna went 5-for-8 with two homers, five RBIs, five runs, two walks and a stolen base.

"I just found out," he said through a translator when asked if he knew about his unique double. "I give thanks to God for the opportunity to make history in my own sense."

The Elias Sports Bureau said Baltimore's Brady Anderson was the last to hit a pair of leadoff homers in one day against the Chicago White Sox on Aug. 21, 1999.

Before that, it was accomplished by Oakland's Henderson against the Cleveland Indians on July 5, 1993. Hooper did it more than a century ago, playing for the Boston Red during a pair of games at the Washington Senators on May 20, 1913.

"Freddie and I were just kind of standing there smiling at each other like, 'Again?'" Braves manager Brian Snitker said. "It's been fun to watch."

The Braves stretched their lead in the NL East to a full game over idle Philadelphia.

It was a totally forgettable day and night for the hapless Marlins, who struggled in all phases of the game. Poor hitting. Shaky pitching. Shoddy baserunning. Sloppy defense.

Acuna has flourished since moving into the leadoff role for the Braves. He has 17 homers this season — four of them leading off games.

Foltynewicz (10-7) matched his career high for wins and even chipped in with an RBI single — only his third hit of the season. He went eight innings, allowing five hits and the lone Miami run.

Merandy Gonzalez (2-1) took the loss after being called up from Double-A Jacksonville for his first big league start.

Freeman connected on his 19th homer of season. He's piled up big numbers against the Marlins, hitting .434 with seven homers and 15 RBIs in 13 meetings.

Looking cool as can be on a sweltering summer afternoon in Atlanta, Toussaint took full advantage of his temporary promotion to serve as the team's 26th player in the opening game. He surrendered just two hits and limited the damage from his only serious jam to a single run.

Toussaint (1-0) was born in Florida but moved to Haiti just a few months later, living there for about eight years. He returned to Florida after his parents split up and gave baseball a try.

He hopes word of his success gets back to Haiti, an impoverished Caribbean nation that has no passion for baseball and has never sent a native-born player to the majors.

"To be able to play on this stage, to be able to represent my country, it's definitely humbling," Toussaint said. "Hopefully kids see that, go ahead and take a shot at it."

Acuna staked his fellow rookie to a quick lead with the homer off Pablo Lopez (2-3). Acuna added a two-run double in the sixth, highlighting a five-run outburst that turned the game into a blowout.

Giants 5, Dodgers 2

Pinch-hitter Nick Hundley delivered a two-run single in the ninth inning to give San Francisco its first lead, and the Giants handed Los Angeles' bullpen its fourth consecutive loss.

This time, the Dodgers wasted a masterful start by Clayton Kershaw, who held the Giants to one run on eight singles in a marquee matchup with San Francisco ace Madison Bumgarner.

Hundley's two-out single put the Giants ahead 3-2. Gorkys Hernandez singled in another run, and San Francisco scored one more on an error by Max Muncy.

All the runs came against Scott Alexander (2-1), the latest Dodgers reliever to struggle in the absence of closer Kenley Jansen.

Ray Black (2-1) pitched a scoreless eighth, and Will Smith earned his ninth save.

Kershaw struck out nine and did not walk a batter, lowering his ERA against the Giants to 1.58 in 43 career starts. He also drove in the game's first run with a bloop double.

Justin Turner homered off Bumgarner, who permitted two runs in six innings. It was the 11th time Kershaw and Bumgarner have faced each other, the most of any two active pitchers.

Cardinals 7, Nationals 6

Paul DeJong handed Washington its second straight walk-off loss, capping a back-and-forth finish with a game-ending solo homer in the ninth inning for St. Louis.

DeJong took Koda Glover (0-1) deep on a 3-1 pitch. A night earlier, Ryan Madson allowed a game-ending grand slam in the ninth to the Chicago Cubs' David Bote to end a 4-3 defeat.

Matt Carpenter kicked off a wild ending with a three-run, go-ahead homer during a four-run eighth inning for the Cardinals. It was his 17th homer during a 31-game on-base streak. Carpenter has homered in seven of his past 10 games.

Washington tied it at 6 in the top of the ninth on RBI singles by Daniel Murphy and Matt Wieters off closer Bud Norris. Dakota Hudson (3-0) stranded two runners.

Jedd Gyorko sparked St. Louis' big eighth inning with a homer off Justin Miller. Jose Martinez had four hits for the Cardinals.

Washington's injury-depleted bullpen has blown saves in three of its past four games. Juan Soto and Bryce Harper homered for the Nationals, who have lost five of seven.

Indians 10, Reds 3

Jose Ramirez connected for his 35th homer and Yandy Diaz hit a tiebreaking double in Cleveland's seven-run sixth inning against Cincinnati.

Ramirez, Michael Brantley and Yan Gomes had three hits apiece as the Indians won for the fifth time in six games. Melky Cabrera and Jason Kipnis each drove in two runs.

The Indians increased their AL Central lead to 12 1/2 games over Minnesota after receiving an update from team president Chris Antonetti on the status of outfielder Leonys Martin, who is recovering from a life-threatening bacterial infection. Martin is in stable condition at the Cleveland Clinic.

Tucker Barnhart, Scooter Gennett and Curt Casali homered for the last-place Reds. Homer Bailey (1-10) was tagged for five runs and 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Mike Clevinger (8-7) walked six in five innings but got his first win since July 1.

Rangers 5, Diamondbacks 3

Bartolo Colon won his first start since setting the record for victories by a Latin American pitcher, going five innings to help Texas beat Arizona.

Robinson Chirinos hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the fourth to end Zack Greinke's streak of nine straight starts allowing two runs or fewer. Chirinos added an RBI single in the eighth.

Colon (7-10) retired 10 consecutive batters after allowing run-scoring doubles by A.J. Pollock and Steven Souza Jr. in the first. The 45-year-old Dominican right-hander got his 247th career win, two more than Dennis Martinez of Nicaragua.

Ronald Guzman also homered off Greinke (12-8), who allowed six hits and four runs in 6 1/3 innings.

Colon gave up four hits and three runs while setting a Texas record with his 22nd straight start with two or fewer walks. He has won both his starts in August after losing all five in July.

Jose Leclerc earned his second save.

Angels 6, Padres 3 (10)

Kole Calhoun hit a tiebreaking double in the 10th inning and Justin Upton added a two-run homer to cap a four-run rally that carried Los Angeles past San Diego.

Jose Briceno homered early for the Angels, who got 7 1/3 solid innings from starter Andrew Heaney. Upton robbed pinch-hitter Eric Hosmer of a go-ahead homer in the eighth, making a catch above the left-field wall to leave Hosmer with a tying sacrifice fly.

Calhoun drove in Eric Young Jr. with a ground-rule double to put Los Angeles ahead. Shohei Ohtani scored on David Fletcher's perfect squeeze bunt, and Upton made it 6-2 when he connected off Craig Stammen (5-2) for his 25th homer.

Blake Parker gave up a solo homer to Hosmer in the bottom half. Cam Bedrosian (4-2) got the win.

Royals 3, Blue Jays 1

Ryan O'Hearn homered and drove in a career-high three runs, Brad Keller threw seven strong innings and Kansas City beat Toronto to spoil Sean Reid-Foley's major league debut.

Reid-Foley (0-1) was removed after allowing three runs in five innings. He is only the second player in major league history to be born in Guam.

O'Hearn, a rookie who entered batting .130 with three RBIs, homered off Reid-Foley with Brett Phillips aboard in the second. O'Hearn also walked with the bases loaded in the fourth.

Whit Merrifield had three hits as the Royals got their second victory in 11 games.

Keller (5-5) yielded one run and four hits. Wily Peralta closed for his seventh save.

Devon Travis homered early for the Blue Jays.

Tigers 9, White Sox 5

Nicholas Castellanos had a career-high five hits, including a go-ahead homer in the seventh inning, and drove in five runs as Detroit beat Chicago.

Castellanos singled in the first, doubled and scored in the fourth, hit an RBI double in the fifth and hit a two-run homer off Jeanmar Gomez (0-1) in the seventh. It was the sixth five-RBI game of his career, including one against the White Sox on June 16.

Castellanos came up again in the eighth with the bases loaded and two outs, needing a triple for the cycle, but settled for a two-run single that put the Tigers ahead 9-5.

Louis Coleman (4-1) got the win with a scoreless inning of relief. The Tigers are 9-1 against the White Sox this season.