ATLANTA (AP) — Chris Sale struck out 11 in a five-hit shutout, Drake Baldwin launched a leadoff homer against Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and the Atlanta Braves edged the Los Angeles Dodgers 1-0 on Thursday night to complete a three-game sweep.
Sale (13-9) did not walk a batter. The left-hander posted his fourth double-digit strikeout game this season and the 95th of his career, which ranks seventh all-time.
Fans in the sellout crowd of 39,650 cheered when Sale strolled out to the mound for the ninth inning even though relievers were ready in the Atlanta bullpen. Braves manager Walt Weiss stuck with his ace after Freddie Freeman singled leading off the ninth.
Teoscar Hernández popped out, pinch-runner Alek Thomas was out at second on Miguel Rojas’ fielder’s-choice grounder and Sale struck out Alex Call for his 17th complete game and first since 2019 with Boston.
Baldwin lined the first pitch from Yamamoto (12-8) into the right-field Chop House restaurant. It was Baldwin’s fourth leadoff shot this season and 22nd homer overall. Yamamoto allowed only four hits with eight strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings.
The NL East-leading Braves won the season series 5-1 against the Dodgers, who sit atop the NL West.
NATIONALS 7, ROCKIES 1
WASHINGTON (AP) — Daylen Lile homered and drove in two runs as part of a three-hit day, and Washington beat Colorado to split their four-game series.
Keibert Ruiz also went deep for Washington, which had dropped 12 of 15. The Nationals won a game started by a pitcher other than Cade Cavalli for the first time since Aug. 9.
Colorado fell to an NL-worst 52-82, clinching its eighth consecutive losing season. The Rockies were 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position and left 13 on base overall.
Lile led off the fifth inning with a drive to right off Gabriel Hughes (0-6) for his 18th home run this season. The left fielder was 8 for 15 with three homers and eight RBIs in the series.
Tom Cosgrove (1-2) pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings in relief for his first win since his major league debut on April 29, 2023, a span of 89 appearances.
CARDINALS 7, ORIOLES 5
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Blaze Jordan and Ramón Urías homered early to help St. Louis beat Baltimore, snapping a five-game losing streak.
Riley O’Brien pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn his National League-leading 34th save after allowing a combined seven runs and taking the loss in his previous two outings.
The teams traded runs in the eighth after Coby Mayo hit a three-run homer, his 18th of the season, off Caleb Ferguson in the seventh to cut the St. Louis lead to 6-4.
Urías hit his third homer off starter Trevor Rogers (9-9) in the fourth to give the Cardinals a 5-0 cushion.
Rogers allowed six runs and seven hits with seven strikeouts in five innings.
Jordan launched his third homer to center field in the second after Alec Burleson singled to extend his hitting streak to 13 games and Joshua Báez doubled, putting St. Louis ahead 3-0.
Jordan left in the top of the eighth after diving awkwardly into third base to tag out Gunnar Henderson when Samuel Basallo hit a grounder to pitcher George Soriano.
Luis Gastelum (4-3) tossed 1 1/3 perfect innings after Justin Bruihl allowed one run in 1 2/3 innings and Gordon Graceffo pitched three perfect innings as an opener for the Cardinals.
ROYALS 13, BLUE JAYS 2
TORONTO (AP) — Jac Caglianone had a homer among his career-best five hits and finished with a career-high six RBIs, Noah Cameron pitched six strong innings and Kansas City beat Toronto.
The Blue Jays are 3 1/2 games behind Cleveland in the race for the final American League wild-card spot.
The Royals took two of three in the series, have won 10 of their last 11 games and four consecutive series, including two straight on the road after starting the season 3-15-2 in road sets. Kansas City, which went in tied with the Giants for the worst road record in MLB, is 24-45 away from home this season.
Cameron (9-8) allowed six hit and two runs and struck out three.
Carter Jensen hit a 421-foot homer off Spencer Arrighetti to lead off the game, and Vinnie Pasquantino hit a two-run homer that capped Kansas City’s six-run sixth and made it 10-0.
Caglianone’s two-run shot with two out in the ninth capped the scoring.
Bobby Witt Jr. and Kyle Isbel each had a run-scoring double.
ASTROS 5, YANKEES 1
NEW YORK (AP) — Christian Walker had three hits, including a two-run homer off Gerrit Cole in the sixth inning, and Jeremy Peña added a solo shot to power Houston to a victory over the New York Yankees.
Astros starter Hayden Wesneski (4-1) allowed one run and three hits in five-plus innings against the team that drafted him in 2019 and traded him to the Chicago Cubs in 2022 for reliever Scott Effross.
Houston (67-67) took two of three at Yankee Stadium and leads the AL West by one game over Texas.
Walker broke an 0-for-11 skid with a single in the second and homered on Cole’s 1-0 curveball for a 3-0 lead in the fifth. He doubled off Justin Topa in the eighth and scored when the Yankees committed two errors on one play.
Yainer Diaz’s grounder caromed off George Lombard Jr.’s glove for the rookie shortstop’s seventh error in 20 career games. The ball ricocheted to third baseman José Caballero and he was charged with a throwing error for his wild toss to first as Walker scored Houston’s fifth run.
Lombard became the first Yankees shortstop since Roger Peckinpaugh in 1915 to commit an error in six straight games.
BREWERS 8, METS 2
NEW YORK (AP) — Jackson Chourio went 4 for 5 with two homers, four RBIs and four runs to help Jacob Misiorowski and Milwaukee beat the New York Mets.
Misiorowski (14-5) overcame some command issues and reduced velocity — at least by his standards — to allow two hits and strike out six over six innings.
Both hits he gave up came in the fifth, when Jacob Young had an RBI double and Christopher Morel laced a run-scoring single.
Nine of Misiorowski’s 95 pitches were clocked at 100 mph, with none reaching 101 mph. He walked two batters for the second consecutive outing after issuing four walks in seven starts from July 2 through Aug. 15.
The 6-foot-7 right-hander appeared to have issues with his landing foot on the slippery Citi Field mound. Brewers manager Pat Murphy had a discussion with third base umpire and crew chief Vic Carapazza in the third, when Misiorowski fell behind 2-0 on Francisco Alvarez following a walk to Morel. The grounds crew spent a few minutes working on the mound before the bottom of the fourth.
Andrew Vaughn, Gary Sánchez, William Contreras and Cooper Pratt each had an RBI for the Brewers (83-51), who are three games ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the best record in the big leagues.
GIANTS 6, DIAMONDBACKS 1
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Drew Gilbert homered and drove in the go-ahead run, Landen Roupp pitched five solid innings and San Francisco beat Arizona to snap a four-game home losing streak against the Diamondbacks.
Arizona is 1 1/2 games behind San Diego for the final National League wild card.
Roupp (8-13) allowed one run and four hits. Trent Harris, Carson Seymour and Ryan Walker combined for four scoreless innings of relief.
Christian Koss was hit by a pitch leading off the fifth and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Nate Furman before Taylor Clarke replaced Arizona starter Jose Cabrera. Three pitches later, Gilbert’s sacrifice fly gave San Francisco a 2-1 lead.
After Jose Fernandez singled to load the bases with one out in the fourth, Roupp got Ildemaro Vargas to fly out and then struck out Ryan Waldschmidt to end the threat.
Gilbert hit a 3-2 pitch 421 feet into the bleacher in right-center field in the first.
Gabriel Moreno hit a leadoff homer in the fourth to make it 1-all.
Bryce Eldridge doubled in a run, Jonah Cox and Turner Hill followed with back-to-back RBI singles and Shay Whitcomb’s sacrifice bunt scored Cox to make it 6-1 in the eighth.
Cabrera (0-3) gave up two runs and three hits with four strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.