Interleague

Braves 6, Astros 2

Austin Riley hit a three-run homer off Lance McCullers Jr., Kyle Wright won his 15th game to tie for the NL lead, and the Atlanta Braves beat the Houston Astros 6-2 on Friday night in the teams' first meeting since last year's World Series.

The defending champion Braves have won 10 of 11 and are 51-20 since June 1, best in the majors over that span. AL-leading Houston had won six of eight and 10 of 15. The Astros are 41-21 since June 12.

“It’s just a matter of all of us putting it together, and we’re doing it right now," Riley said. “We're playing fun baseball right now."

Houston left fielder Yordan Alvarez left the game in two outs in the bottom of the fifth. He reported feeling ill and was taken to a hospital for evaluation. Alvarez is second in the AL in homers with 31 and leads the league in on-base percentage.

Astros manager Dusty Baker said the slugger was suffering from shortness of breath and was bothered by smoke from in-game fireworks.

“I’m glad we got him out when we did because I looked up and he was in the dugout and it was kind of a scary moment because it could be anything," Baker said. “But they said he’s doing fine at the moment."

Wright (15-5) was making his first start since Aug. 10 because of arm fatigue. He erased a one-out walk in the third on Jose Altuve’s double-play grounder and stranded Kyle Tucker, who tripled with two outs in the sixth, by retiring Trey Mancini on a comebacker. Wright allowed two runs and six hits with one walk and seven strikeouts in six innings.

“Like we say, if your starters are pitching the majority of the innings, you’re probably doing pretty good," Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “They’re really confident they’ll work their way out of it."

After taking three of four this week from the NL East-leading New York Mets, the Braves went up 3-0 in the third when Riley hit his 31st homer an estimated 409 feet to right-center. Riley's 67 extra-base hits lead the majors.

Houston, which was coming off a 21-5 victory at the Chicago White Sox, missed a chance at an inning-ending double play on Dansby Swanson’s single when second baseman Altuve couldn’t handle shortstop Jeremy Peña’s flip throw at second and the ball bounced away.

Riley is the only player in the majors with at least 30 homers and 30 doubles. Swanson, who went 3 for 5 with two RBIs, began the game ranked second in the majors with 104 hits since May 23. He is batting .323 in that span.

McCullers (1-1) allowed three runs and seven hits with three walks and six strikeouts in five innings. He was making his second start since missing last year’s ALCS and World Series and the first 119 games of this season with a right flexor tendon strain.

“McCullers was good," Baker said. “He was very good. They had two little cheap hits and then the one mistake was a big blast to Riley. This guy is one of the finer young players in the game, so it’s no harm when you give up one to him. He’s excellent."

The Astros scored twice in the fifth to trim the lead to 3-2. Tucker hit his 22nd homer, a 445-foot shot to right-center. Wright gave up singles to Mancini and Chas McCormick before Altuve drove in Mancini with a single to left.

Phil Maton gave up a leadoff double to Michael Harris II in the sixth and walked Ronald Acuña Jr. before Swanson doubled off the wall in right-center to score both runners and make it 5-2. Matt Olson followed with a sacrifice fly.

Astros pitcher Will Smith returned to his former ballpark and faced four batters in the seventh. Smith was dealt to Houston at the trade deadline for RHP Jake Odorizzi.

Though both teams are in playoff contention, there were several thousand empty seats at Truist Park. The Braves announced a crowd of 42,837 and their 30th sellout of the year.

American League

Royals 3, Rays 2 (10 innings)

Michael Massey hit a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning and Kansas City's four-game skid ended.

Scott Barlow (5-4) got the win in relief with help from catcher Salvador Perez, who threw out Tampa Bay's Roman Quinn on an attempted steal of third in the 10th. MJ Melendez ended the game with a diving catch of Francisco Mejia’s sinking liner in left field.

Jalen Beeks (2-3) took the loss for the Rays, who have won five of seven and are in position for an AL wild card.

Twins 2, Rangers 1

Luis Arraez and Jose Miranda hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning, and that was enough for Dylan Bundy as Minnesota beat Texas.

Bundy (7-5) gave up a run on two hits in 5 1/3 innings. Minnesota won its fourth straight and kept pace with Cleveland, which leads the Twins by one game in the AL Central.

Jorge López walked a pair of batters but closed out his third save with the Twins and 22nd overall.

Martín Pérez (9-4) surrendered two runs on five hits and three walks in six innings.

Mariners 10, Athletics 2

Eugenio Suarez homered twice and drove in five runs as Seattle cruised to its fourth straight win.

Marco Gonzales (8-12) allowed two runs over 5 1/3 innings and beat Oakland for the third time this season.

Seattle maintained a half-game lead over Toronto for the AL’s top wild card spot.

Suarez went deep twice off left-hander Cole Irvin (6-11), hitting a two-run homer in the fourth that put Seattle ahead 3-2 and then lining a three-run shot to center in the sixth to make it 6-2.

Guardians 5, White Sox 2

Triston McKenzie struck out a career-high 14 batters and Cleveland scored four runs in the seventh to rally past Chicago.

McKenzie (9-9) struck out eight of the last 10 hitters he faced and didn’t walk a batter in seven innings but left with his team trailing 2-1.

Rookie Steven Kwan tripled into the right-field corner with two outs in the seventh against Reynaldo López (5-3) to score Luke Maile, who had doubled. Amed Rosario’s single gave Cleveland the lead.

Emmanuel Clase worked the ninth for his 28th save in 30 chances.

Angels 1, Tigers 0

Patrick Sandoval pitched a four-hitter for his first career shutout, and Los Angeles beat Detroit on Jared Walsh’s second-inning homer.

Sandoval (4-8) threw 97 pitches, struck out nine, walked none and didn’t allow a runner past first base as the Angels ended a three-game skid.

Matt Manning (0-1) took a tough-luck loss, working seven innings and allowing three hits and a walk as the Tigers dropped their 10th of 12 games.

Mike Trout returned to the Angels’ lineup after missing 28 games with rib cage inflammation. He went 1-for-4 with a single.

National League

Nationals 6, Padres 3

Victor Robles scored the go-ahead run on Josh Hader's wild three-base throwing error and rookie Alex Call followed with his first career home run, a two-run shot, as Washington stunned San Diego.

It was the second straight rough outing for Hader (2-5), the major league leader in saves who has struggled since being obtained from Milwaukee on Aug. 1. Hader was booed as he walked off the field after being pulled by manager Bob Melvin.

Hader started the ninth in a 3-3 game and issued a leadoff walk to Robles, drawing boos for a second straight night. Hader fielded Lane Thomas' tapper between the mound and the third base line and threw wildly past first baseman Josh Bell. The ball caromed off the low wall and into right field, where Juan Soto lunged wildly for it but missed. That allowed Robles to come all the way around and score the go-ahead run.

Call then drove a two-run shot into the left field seats. He made his big league debut on July 11.

Erasmo Ramirez (4-1) pitched a perfect eighth for the win and Kyle Finnegan worked the ninth for his seventh save.

The Padres chased Washington starter Paolo Espino with consecutive one-out walks in the fifth and Manny Machado greeted reliever Victor Arano with a two-run double to the gap in right-center to tie the game at 3. Machado took third on a wild pitch but was stranded when Brandon Drury and Jake Cronenworth struck out.

The Nationals had taken a 3-1 lead on rookie C.J. Abrams' two-run single with two outs in the fourth off Blake Snell and Keibert Ruiz's RBI single with two outs in the fifth.

San Diego took a 1-0 lead in the second when Trent Grisham singled in Drury.

Snell was pitching not quite 24 hours after he was involved in a minor traffic collision. Snell was sitting in his car on the side of Interstate 5 during a traffic stop when it was hit by another car. Manager Bob Melvin said Snell was cleared by the medical staff earlier Friday.

Snell allowed three runs and seven hits in five innings, struck out seven and walked two.

Espino gave up three runs and three hits, struck out four and walked four.

Dodgers 2, Marlins 1

Will Smith’s fielder’s choice-grounder scored Mookie Betts with the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, and Los Angeles beat Miami for its major league-leading 34th come-from-behind victory.

Betts scored on the bizarre play in which Marlins catcher Jacob Stallings abandoned the plate. Third baseman Jon Berti fielded Smith’s grounder and wanted to throw home, but Stallings had moved toward first base, leaving no one at the plate.

Chris Martin (4-0) got the victory with one inning of relief. Evan Phillips pitched the ninth to earn his second save.

Former Dodger Dylan Floro (0-2) gave up one run and one hit in one inning of relief.

Cubs 8, Brewers 7

Rookie Christopher Morel and Patrick Wisdom each hit a two-run homer and Chicago topped Milwaukee for its fourth straight win.

Andrew McCutchen, Hunter Renfroe and Rowdy Tellez homered for the Brewers.

Reliever Michael Rucker (2-1) pitched a scoreless inning for the win and Brandon Hughes tossed a scoreless ninth for his second save.

Hoby Milner (3-2) surrendered Morel’s 12th homer and took the loss in relief of Aaron Ashby.

Rockies 7, Giants 4

Rookie Elehuris Montero homered twice and drove in five runs to back the solid pitching of José Ureña, and Colorado snapped a five-game skid.

Connor Joe also homered for Colorado, which sent San Francisco to its third straight loss.

Ureña (2-4) went 6 2/3 innings and allowed three hits.

Alex Wood (8-10) allowed seven hits and seven runs in 4 2/3 innings.

Cardinals 5, Diamondbacks 1

Miles Mikolas threw eight dominant innings, Paul Goldschmidt connected for his 30th homer of the season and St. Louis beat Arizona.

Goldschmidt has 30 homers or more for the seventh time, four with the Diamondbacks and three with the Cardinals.

Mikolas (10-9) gave up one hit through seven shutout innings before the D-backs scratched across a run in the eighth.

The Cardinals pushed their NL Central lead to four games over Milwaukee.

Rookie Tommy Henry (2-2) gave up one run on six hits through 5 1/3 innings.

Pirates 5, Reds 4

Michael Chavis hit a bases-loaded single in the ninth to cap Pittsburgh's rally past Cincinnati.

Kevin Newman tied it in the ninth with a one-out RBI double against Joel Kuhnel (2-2). Chavis lined his single to short left against Ross Detwiler.

Wil Crowe (5-7) got the last four outs for the Pirates, who have won back-to-back games following a six-game losing streak.