March 28, 2024

A’s knock Royals off win streak

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals’ winning streak ended with a resounding thud.

Jon Lester pitched six strong innings and Josh Donaldson homered twice and drove in four runs as the Oakland Athletics beat Kansas City 11-3 Tuesday night, snapping the Royals’ eight-game winning streak.

“We’re not going to win every game from here on out. If somebody thinks we were, sorry,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “But we’ve got to keep these nights few and far between. These games quite frankly are easier to forget than the 3-2, 2-1. You just move on.”

Royals starter Jeremy Guthrie (8-10) allowed six runs and 11 hits in 4 2/3 innings. Guthrie was not nearly as sharp as he was on Aug. 1 when he held the A’s to three hits over six scoreless innings in a 1-0 victory. This lopsided loss may not be so easy for him to remove from his thoughts.

“Maybe it makes it a little easier,” Guthrie said. “I’m not absolutely certain. We play 162 of these and you take them for what it’s worth. They strung together a bunch of hits and they had a tough pitcher and won the game.”

Lester (13-7) has won all three of his start since the A’s acquired him July 31 in a deal that sent All-Star outfielder Yoenis Cespedes to Boston. Lester struck out nine and allowed three runs, six hits and two walks.

“I’d rather face Cespedes four times in a game than face Lester one game,” Yost said. “That’s just me. That’s not taking anything away from Cespedes. He can beat you with one swing of the bat.”

The Royals have won 11 of 13 with both losses to Lester, who is 9-3 with a 1.84 ERA in 13 career starts against Kansas City.

Donaldson homered in the seventh and eighth off left-hander Bruce Chen for his third multi-homer game of the season. He also added an RBI double in the first and a sacrifice fly in the fifth. Chen, who had not pitched since Aug. 2, was roughed up for five runs on nine hits in four innings.

Brandon Moss had four hits, matching his career high, as the A’s banged out a season-high 20 hits.

Salvador Perez and Lorenzo Cain doubled in the Royals’ three-run fifth.

Cubs 3, Brewers 0

CHICAGO (AP) — Rookie Kyle Hendricks pitched 7 1-3 innings of six-hit ball in his third consecutive win, and the Cubs cooled off Wily Peralta and the Brewers.

Hendricks (4-1) struck out five and walked one in his third consecutive win, continuing an impressive opening run for his major league career.

Anthony Rizzo hit his 26th homer for Chicago, which had lost three of four.

Trying for a major league-high 15th win, Peralta (14-7) allowed three runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings.

Marlins 3, Cardinals 0

MIAMI (AP) — Jarred Cosart pitched seven innings in a duel with Adam Wainwright to earn his first victory for the Marlins, who beat the Cardinalsy.

Cosart allowed three hits and one walk to win for the first time since July 7. The victory came in his second start for Miami after being acquired from Houston in a trade for prospects.

He’s 1-1 with Miami and 10-7 overall this year.

Wainwright (14-7), making his first start against the Marlins since 2010, missed a chance to became the first 15-game winner in the majors. He went seven innings and allowed three runs, with two coming on a home run off the foul pole by Donovan Solano.

Pirates 4, Tigers 2

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Edinson Volquez allowed two runs over six innings and the Pirates jumped on the Tigers early in a victory.

Volquez (10-7) struck out five and walked two against five hits to improve to 6-1 in his last seven decisions.

Travis Snider went 2 for 4 with an RBI for the Pirates. Gaby Sanchez and Ike Davis added RBI doubles and Jordy Mercer chipped in a run-scoring single.

Alex Avila hit his ninth homer of the season for Detroit.

Robbie Ray (1-2) gave up four runs in five-plus innings while making a spot start for the weary Tigers. Detroit has lost six of seven as it battles surging Kansas City for the lead in the AL Central.

Red Sox 3, Reds 2

CINCINNATI (AP) — Yoenis Cespedes hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning, lifting the Red Sox to a win over the Reds.

One pitch after ducking away from Jonathan Broxton’s high-and-inside fastball, Cespedes launched a no-doubt, 433-foot drive to center field with two outs and Brock Holt on second base to give Boston back-to-back victories for the first time since a five-game winning streak from July 13-20.

Cespedes hit his 19th homer of the season and second with Boston — one in each of the last two games.

Tommy Layne (1-0) got the final out of the seventh inning for the win. Broxton (4-1) was the loser.

Mat Latos retired 11 straight batters before Daniel Nava led off the seventh with a double. Xander Bogaerts snapped a 0-for-15 slump with an RBI single.

Dodgers 4, Braves 2

ATLANTA (AP) — Dan Haren pitched six solid innings and sparked the go-ahead rally with a single, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to another win over the skidding Atlanta Braves, 4-2 on Tuesday night.

Haren (10-9) allowed a fourth-inning homer to B.J. Upton that put the Braves up 2-1, but the light-hitting pitcher came through with a one-out single to right in the fifth. Carl Crawford followed with a double, and Haren scored the tying run on Yasiel Puig’s grounder to third.

Matt Kemp hit a little blooper to right that just got over the glove of second baseman Tommy La Stella, bringing home Crawford.

That was enough for the Dodgers.

Mike Minor (4-8) matched his longest outing of the past month after being skipped his previous turn in the rotation. The Atlanta lefty went 6 2/3 innings, allowing eight hits and all three Dodgers run.

Nationals 7, Mets 1

NEW YORK (AP) — Michael Taylor homered in his big league debut, setting off a silly sequence to retrieve the souvenir, and the Nationals backed Doug Fister with four long shots in a romp over the Mets.

Bryce Harper homered early, then Anthony Rendon, Ian Desmond and Taylor connected in the sixth inning as the NL East leaders won their ninth straight at Citi Field.

Promoted from Triple-A over the weekend, Taylor singled in his first at-bat and later hit a two-run drive the opposite way at one of the majors’ most spacious parks.

Fister (12-3) came back from a 25-minute rain delay and pitched seven shutout innings. He gave up seven hits, walked none and struck out three.

Rafael Montero (0-3) was tagged for three homers and five runs in five-plus innings.