Interleague

Padres 5, Astros 3

What a wild, spectacular week it was for budding superstar Fernando Tatis Jr. and the San Diego Padres.

From Tatis' grand slam on Monday night in Texas that reignited debates about “unwritten rules” to his jaw-dropping defensive play on a popup to left field on Sunday at Petco Park, the 21-year-old shortstop has the baseball world buzzing and the Padres on their longest winning streak in seven seasons.

Tatis Jr. made two spectacular plays and was on base for Manny Machado’s two-run home run in the eighth inning that gave the Padres a win against Houston for a three-game sweep. San Diego’s bullpen did its part with a lockdown eight innings.

With one out in the eighth, George Springer lifted a fly ball to shallow left. Tatis raced after it and, with his blond dreadlocks flying behind him, leaped to make the catch. His momentum carried him several more yards. Springer couldn’t believe it and reliever Craig Stammen (3-1) clapped twice for the shortstop.

“Oh man, it’s just great being able to make that play for my pitcher and the rest of the team, too," said Tatis, who grew up in “The Cradle of Shortstops,” San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. "What can I say, I just saw the ball and I just went after it and my body took care of it.”

At first, Tatis didn’t think he’d get to the ball. “I saw it had a little too much air, but the fact I never gave up on it and thank God for my speed and I got there,” he said.

Rookie manager Jayce Tingler was wide-ranging in his praise for the 6-foot-3 Tatis, whose father played in the major leagues for 11 seasons and raised his son in the game.

“The ground he covered on the Springer ball, he looks like an NFL No. 1 receiver going out on a high-corner fade and just going to make that play," the manager said.

“We’ve got a No. 1 NFL receiver. We’ve got a point guard in the NBA. We’ve got a world-class FIFA soccer player, maybe an anchor on a 4x4 Olympic team,” Tingler continued. “We’re just blessed that he was born in the Dominican and grew up playing baseball. He’s a freak. The other thing, too, is how driven this guy is to not only be a great player, I think driven to be a champion, but more importantly, he wants to bring a World Series to the city of San Diego."

Tatis led off the bottom of the inning and singled to right-center ahead of Machado’s eighth homer.

In the fifth, Tatis made a spinning stop of Jose Altuve’s grounder to start an inning-ending double play.

The Padres, who got to nemesis Zack Greinke in the fourth inning, have won seven straight, all against the two Texas teams. The Astros have lost three straight. They came in on an eight-game winning streak.

The Padres weren’t able to add on to their “Slam Diego” power display of the past week. On Saturday night, they became the first team in big league history to hit five grand slams in six games. They were also the first to hit a grand slam in four straight games, a streak started by Tatis on Monday night at Texas and continued by Machado with a walkoff grand slam Wednesday night at home against the Rangers.

The Padres never loaded the bases Sunday.

“We couldn’t keep them in the ballpark," Astros manager Dusty Baker said. "I don’t know what the number was but they outhomered us 10-2 or 9-3 and that makes it difficult when you can’t keep them in the ballpark.”

After rookie Adrian Morejon allowed three runs before getting the second out of the game, the Padres held Houston scoreless the rest of the way.

Stammen pitched 1 1/3 perfect innings for the win. Emilio Pagán, the Padres’ sixth pitcher, worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save in six chances.

Greinke kept the Padres off-balance until the fourth, when they broke through to tie the game at 3. Tatis hit a leadoff single for San Diego’s first hit and scored on Eric Hosmer’s double into the right-field corner. Wil Myers walked and rookie Jake Cronenworth singled to right to bring in Hosmer.

Greinke complained about the mound, and the game was delayed so the grounds crew could work on it. Due to coronavirus protocols, all the players had to leave the field, although Greinke returned after a few minutes and was showing the workers what to do. Greinke then sat down cross-legged on the grass behind the mound while the workers smoothed the dirt.

When play resumed, Jurickson Profar’s grounder scored Myers to tie it.

Greinke said the mound was giving him issues, as were the Padres batters, who "had a good approach and made it a lot harder on me than I would have liked it to be.”

The Astros jumped on Morejon for three runs in the span of the first four batters, getting a one-out RBI single by Carlos Correa and Kyle Tucker's two-run homer, his third.

Greinke allowed three runs and four hits in six innings, struck out four and walked two. He came in 13-3 with a 2.37 ERA against San Diego in 25 career starts.

Morejon was lifted with two outs in the second after throwing 36 pitches. He allowed three runs and three hits, struck out three and walked one in 1 2/3 innings.

Cubs 2, White Sox 1

Yu Darvish struck out 10 in his career-high fifth consecutive victory, and the Cubs stopped the seven-game win streak by the White Sox.

Kyle Schwarber hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning as the Cubs won for just the fourth time in their last 11 games. The NL Central leaders were outscored 17-5 in the first two games of the series.

José Abreu went deep for the White Sox in the second, matching a major league record with a home run in four consecutive at-bats. Abreu connected five times in the first two games against the Cubs, including three homers and four RBIs in Saturday night’s 7-4 win.

Darvish (5-1) allowed one run and six hits in seven innings. Jeremy Jeffress got four outs for his third save.

White Sox right-hander Dylan Cease (4-2) allowed two runs and four hits in six innings in his first game against his former team.

American League

Athletics 5, Angels 4

Mark Canha hit a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning, and Oakland improved to 5-0 in extra innings.

Matt Olson made the last out of the ninth, but Franklin Barreto came in to run for him at the start of the 10th. After Matt Chapman singled Barreto to third, the Angels brought the infield in before Canha hit a high fly to center off Ty Buttrey (1-1). Mike Trout made the catch but Barreto scored without a throw.

Shohei Ohtani hit a towering three-run homer for the Angels. Anthony Rendon singled twice to extend his hitting streak to 13 games. Tommy La Stella also had two hits.

The game was played despite poor air quality from several fires in Northern California that have raged on for most of the week. The A’s said the situation was being monitored throughout the day.

Liam Hendriks (2-0) retired three batters for the win.

Rays 5, Blue Jays 4

Josh Fleming pitched five innings of two-run ball for Tampa Bay, winning his major league debut.

Fleming (1-0) is the 11th different starter in 29 games this season for the injury-filled Rays pitching staff.

John Curtiss worked 1 2/3 perfect innings to get his first career save.

Toronto starter Trent Thornton left after a scoreless inning with right elbow inflammation.

The AL East-leading Rays took a 3-2 lead in the fifth on an RBI single from pinch hitter José Martínez, Austin Meadows’ sacrifice fly and a run-scoring single by Brandon Lowe off Ryan Borucki (1-1).

Teoscar Hernández and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. homered for Toronto.

Twins 5, Royals 4

Nelson Cruz hit his 10th homer for Minnesota, and closer Taylor Rogers dodged trouble in the ninth inning.

Cruz connected on Trevor Rosenthal’s 99-mph fastball for a solo shot that went an estimated 441 feet to center field in the ninth. The drive gave Minnesota a two-run lead and helped the Twins win their eighth series in nine tries this season.

Tyler Clippard (1-0) got the win with a perfect eighth. Rogers allowed an RBI single to Maikel Franco but retired Alex Gordon to complete his sixth save.

Kansas City left-hander Kris Bubic (0-4) allowed four runs and nine hits in 3 1/3 innings.

Mariners 4, Rangers 1

Kyle Lewis and Sam Haggerty homered, and Justin Dunn pitched one-hit ball over six innings, leading Seattle to the win.

The trio of rookies sent the Rangers to their eighth straight loss and helped the Mariners to their first series win and sweep of the season. Seattle has won five of six at home.

Dunn (2-1) earned his second career win, both coming against Texas. He struck out six and walked one.

Taylor Williams worked the ninth for his sixth save.

Rangers left-hander Mike Minor (0-5) permitted four runs and five hits in six innings.

Texas’ losing streak is the longest in the major leagues this year.

Tigers 7, Indians 4

Tarik Skubal and Daniel Norris combined to pitch six innings of one-run ball, leading Detroit to the victory.

Jorge Bonifacio hit a two-run homer and Niko Goodrum and Grayson Greiner connected for solo drives for the Tigers, who won for the second time in the three-game series after losing their previous 20 games to Cleveland.

César Hernández belted his 12th career leadoff homer for the Indians. Greg Allen hit a three-run drive in the ninth off closer Joe Jiménez before José Cisnero recorded the final two outs for his first save.

Cleveland starter Carlos Carrasco (2-3) allowed four runs in a season-low 3 1/3 innings.

Norris (2-1) pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings for the win.

National League

Dodgers 11, Rockies 3

Kiké Hernández hit a three-run drive and Mookie Betts went deep twice in the Dodgers’ seven-homer attack, powering Los Angeles past Colorado for a three-game sweep.

The Dodgers are the only team in the majors yet to lose a series, unbeaten in 11. They have won 11 of 12 games overall and own the best record in baseball at 22-8 at the halfway point of this abbreviated season.

Cody Bellinger, Corey Seager, Will Smith and Max Muncy also homered for Los Angeles. Victor Gonzalez (1-0) earned his first major league victory.

Trevor Story, Ryan McMahon and Sam Hilliard went deep for Colorado in its season-high seventh consecutive loss. Antonio Senzatela (3-1) allowed six runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Cardinals 6, Reds 2

Yadier Molina had four hits and top prospect Dylan Carlson hit his first career homer, helping the Cardinals to the victory.

Harrison Bader also connected for St. Louis, which won three of four in the series. Molina, Carlson and Bader each finished with two RBIs.

The Cardinals scored the last six runs after Eugenio Suárez hit a two-run homer in the first inning for the Reds.

Bader went deep for a two-run shot in the second after he also homered during Saturday’s 3-0 win. Molina put St. Louis ahead to stay with an RBI single against Tyler Mahle (0-1) in the third.

Génesis Cabrera (2-1) pitched two scoreless innings for the win.

Giants 6, Diamondbacks 1

Mike Yastrzemski celebrated his 30th birthday with a go-ahead home run, and the Giants earned their sixth consecutive victory.

Trevor Cahill and four relievers held the Diamondbacks to five hits, and the Giants completed their first three-game series sweep of the season. Caleb Baragar (3-1) got the final two outs of the sixth for the win.

Yastrzemski drove a 3-2 pitch from Luke Weaver (1-4) into the Giants’ bullpen in center field leading off the sixth for a 2-1 lead. Alex Dickerson added a three-run homer off Hector Rondon in the seventh.

The Diamondbacks have lost five in a row.

Pirates 5, Brewers 4

Gregory Polanco hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning, helping Pittsburgh complete a three-game series sweep.

Polanco connected off David Phelps (2-3) for his fourth homer and finished 2 for 3 with a walk. It was Polanco’s second two-hit game in as many days, lifting his batting average from .085 to .151.

The Pirates nearly doubled their season win total in one weekend. They entered the series with a 4-17 record, worst in the major leagues.

Chris Stratton (1-0) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win, and Richard Rodriguez worked a perfect ninth for his first save.

Justin Smoak had two hits and three RBIs for Milwaukee, including a two-run homer that gave the Brewers a 4-2 lead in the sixth.

Nationals 9, Marlins 3

Aníbal Sánchez pitched seven effective innings for Washington, and Trea Turner drove in three runs.

Sánchez (1-3) allowed one run and five hits in his longest outing of the season. The veteran right-hander went 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in his first three starts this month.

Turner went 3 for 3 and scored two runs. Rookie Luis Garcia also had three hits and scored three times for the Nationals, who have alternated wins and losses over their last 10 games.

Corey Dickerson homered for Miami for the second straight day. Humberto Mejía (0-2) allowed four runs, two earned, and seven hits in 3 2/3 innings.

Phillies 5, Braves 4

Rhys Hoskins, Didi Gregorius and Alec Bohm homered, Philadelphia’s bullpen turned in a rare sparkling performance and the Phillies snapped a five-game skid with a win over Atlanta

It wasn’t easy for the Phillies, who watched closer Brandon Workman survive the ninth when Dansby Swanson, the potential tying run, was tagged out at the plate by catcher Andrew Knapp to end the game. The Braves challenged the call, but it was upheld.

Freddie Freeman’ had an RBI double and Marcell Ozuna added an RBI single for Atlanta. Josh Tomlin gave up six hits and four runs in three innings. Touki Toussaint, Atlanta’s next pitcher, allowed one run and two hits in 1 1/3 innings.

The Braves had won two straight and five of six and were 10-3 at Truist Park this season, the best record in the NL.

Zach Eflin (1-1) allowed three runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings. He improved to 4-3 with a 3.82