M’s now 13-2 after topping Royals in 10; Cards sweep Dodgers
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Seattle became the first major league team to homer in each of its first 15 games when Dee Gordon connected in the sixth inning, then beat the Kansas City Royals 7-6 Thursday behind Daniel Vogelbach’s home run in the 10th inning.
Seattle improved the best record in the major leagues to 13-2, completing a four-game sweep and extending its winning streak to six. The Mariners became just the third team since 1987 to open with at least 13 wins in the first 15 games after Milwaukee (14-1 in 1987) and Boston (13-2 last year).
Kansas City has lost 10 straight games, has the poorest record in the big leagues at 2-10 and is off to its worst 12-game start since 2006. The Royals failed to preserve leads of 4-0 in the sixth and 6-4 with two outs in the ninth.
Kansas City’s Whit Merrifield had his hitting streak end at 31 games. Merrifield went 0 for 6. He had not gone hitless since Sept. 9.
Royals center fielder Billy Hamilton was carted off with a knee injury after failing to grab Mitch Haniger’s tying, two-run triple in the ninth. Royals manager Ned Yost said he did not have an update on Hamilton’s condition.
The 2002 Cleveland Indians had homered in each of their first 14 games. Seattle’s 36 home runs are tied with the 2000 St. Louis Cardinals for the most in a club’s first 15 games. The Mariners have scored five or more runs in all but one game.
Vogelbach hit a 427-foot drive off Glenn Sparkman (0-1) for his sixth home run this season.
Brandon Brennan (1-0) struck out three in the ninth, working around his own throwing error on a grounder to get his first big league win. Brennan has not allowed a run in his first 9 2/3 innings in the major leagues, holding batters to a .156 average (5 for 32).
Connor Sadzeck pitched a perfect 10th for his first professional save.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Matt Wieters drove in a three runs and stole a base for just the third time in six years, leading St. Louis over Los Angeles for a four-game sweep of the NL champions.
Making his first start this season, the 32-year-old Wieters hit a sacrifice fly in the second inning and a two-run double in the fifth that put the Cardinals ahead 8-7. With runners at the corners in the fifth, Wieters stole second as Matt Carpenter struck out, his first steal since April 27, 2017, and just the ninth of his major league career.
St. Louis’ bullpen combined for 5 1/3 scoreless innings in the series finale and allowed one run in the four games.
Harrison Bader was hit by pitches with the bases loaded in both the second and fifth innings. He was the first player to force in runs twice in a game while getting hit since Toronto’s Reed Johnson on April 16, 2005, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
José Martinez matched a career high with four hits, including an RBI double off Yimi García in a two-run sixth. St. Louis set a season high for runs and swept the Dodgers in a four-game series for the first time since July 15-18, 2010.
David Freese and Walker Buehler hit solo home runs in the second inning for Los Angeles, and Kiké Hernández homered to cap a four-run third.
Giovanny Gallegos (1-0) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings in his first appearance of the season for the Cardinals to win in relief of Michael Wacha, who allowed seven runs and eight hits in 3 2/3 innings. It was the first Major League win for Gallegos in 23 appearances.
Pedro Báez (0-1) gave up four runs — three earned — and four hits in one inning.
BALTIMORE (AP) — Oakland’s Khris Davis hit a pair of home runs for the second straight game, and Baltimore’s Chris Davis extended his record hitless streak to 53 at-bats in the Athletics’ victory.
Josh Phegley, Kendrys Morales and Marcus Semien also homered for the A’s, who won three straight after losing the series opener. Khris Davis leads the majors with nine homers this season.
Chris Davis was 0 for 3 with a walk. In the fourth season of a $161 million, seven-year contract, he is 0 for 32 this season and hasn’t gotten a hit since Sept. 14, setting the mark for most consecutive hitless at-bats by a non-pitcher.
Aaron Brooks (2-1) started against Baltimore for the first time in his career and allowed three runs, three hits and three walks in six innings. Blake Treinen pitched a perfect ninth with a pair of strikeouts for his fourth save.
Dylan Bundy (0-1) gave up six runs and seven hits in five-plus innings with eight strikeouts. and he tied a career-high by allowing four homers. The Orioles have given up at least one home run in all 13 games this year.
CINCINNATI (AP) — Yasiel Puig returned from a two-game suspension and doubled home a pair of runs, and Cincinnati completed a reinvigorating three-game sweep of Miami.
The Reds entered the series with eight straight losses and the worst record in the NL. They came away with their first three-game sweep of the Marlins at Great American Ball Park since 2010.
Puig had most of the 11,192 fans chanting his name after he ran into the outfield wall unsuccessfully trying to grab a foul in the first inning, and again in the fifth when his double off Pablo Lopez (1-2) put the Reds up 4-0. He also got his first stolen base.
Puig missed the first two games of the series as punishment for his role in an on-field confrontation with the Pirates at PNC Park on Sunday.
Eugenio Suarez had three hits, including a solo homer, as the Reds got the better of a matchup two of the NL’s worst offenses. The Marlins have scored the fewest runs in the league (34). The Reds came in with the worst batting average (.194) despite a 14-0 win in the second game of the series.
Robert Stephenson (1-0) got the victory in relief of starter Sonny Gray, who finally got a run but still couldn’t get a win because of an injury.
INDIANS 4, TIGERS 0
DETROIT (AP) — Shane Bieber allowed three hits in seven innings, Leonys Martin homered in his return to Detroit and Cleveland shut out the Tigers.
Bieber (1-0) struck out six with one walk, improving to 8-0 on the road in his young career. Cleveland has won six of seven after taking two of three in this series.
Martin, traded from the Tigers to Cleveland last year, hit a solo homer in the third. He and Carlos Santana had three hits apiece for the Indians.
Spencer Turnbull (0-2) allowed three runs in four innings.
Turnbull struck out the game’s first two hitters before Jake Bauers singled, stole second and scored on Santana’s single. Martin made it 2-0 with his homer, then added an RBI single in the fourth.
