>>Royals, Sparkman Shut Out White Sox
(Kansas City, MO) — Glenn Sparkman pitched a complete game, five-hit shutout as the Royals blanked the White Sox 11-0 in Kansas City. Sparkman had a career-high eight strikeouts as he improved to 3-and-5. Whit Merrifield and Hunter Dozier each belted two-run home runs and had three hits. KC won for the fourth time in five games since the All-Star break. Rookie Dylan Cease allowed six runs, two unearned, in six innings to take the loss. AJ Reed had two of the Pale Hose’ five hits. Chicago has lost five in a row.
>>Pirates Score Two In Ninth To Cut Down Cardinals
(St. Louis, MO) — The Pirates scored two runs in the ninth on balls that didn’t leave the infield as they beat the Cardinals 3-1 in St. Louis. Colin Moran drove in a run with an infield single and Kevin Newman plated the other with a fielder’s choice. Francisco Liriano got the win in relief and Felipe Vazquez nailed down his 21st save as the Bucs snapped a four-game skid. Jack Flaherty gave up one run in seven frames and also tied the game at one for St. Louis with a fifth-inning double. Carlos Martinez took the loss in the ninth. The Cards had won three straight.
>>Schwarber Homers As Cubs Walk Off Reds In 10th
(Chicago, IL) — Kyle Schwarber homered with one out in the 10th inning as the Cubs walked off the Reds 4-3 at Wrigley Field. Kris Bryant homered in the sixth to tie it and Robel Garcia hit a two-run shot in the second. Steve Cishek got the win for Chicago, which is 4-and-1 since the All-Star break. Raisel Iglesias took the loss for Cincinnati. Eugenio Suarez homered to ignite a three-run first for the Reds. Cincy is 2-and-5 in its last seven games.
>>Brewers Use Big Inning To Blast Braves
(Milwaukee, WI) — Christian Yelich’s grand slam capped a six-run seventh inning as the Brewers blasted the Braves 13-1 in Milwaukee. Lorenzo Cain and Keston Hiura also homered for Milwaukee, which had lost eight of its previous 10 games. Brandon Woodruff picked up his 11th win with six-and-two-thirds of one-run ball. Bryse Wilson took the loss after allowing four runs in four frames. Tyler Flowers drove in the lone Atlanta run with a fifth-inning homer. Huascar Ynoa allowed all six runs in the seventh for Atlanta, which had its five-game winning streak stopped.
NL Wildcard Race: Washington leads St. Louis by 3 games. Philadelphia leads St. Louis by 1 game.
>>Nats Blast Orioles
(Baltimore, MD) — Matt Adams and Juan Soto both hit solo homers and drove in two runs apiece as the Nationals cruised past the Orioles 8-1 in the opener of the Beltway Series in Baltimore. Anthony Rendon also plated a pair of runs for the Nats, who are 3-and-1 since the All-Star break. Austin Voth fired six innings of one-run ball for his first win of the season and second of his career. Hanser Alberto went deep for the O’s, who have lost three in-a-row. Asher Wojciechowski allowed three runs in five-and-a-third frames as he fell to 0-and-3.
>>Harper, Phillies Rally Past Dodgers
(Philadelphia, PA) — Bryce Harper clubbed a walk-off two-run double in the ninth inning as the Phillies rallied past the Dodgers 9-8 in Philadelphia. Scott Kingery brought the Phils’ within one with an RBI-single before Harper put them ahead for good. Harper also launched a three-run homer in the second that gave the Phils’ a five-run lead. Kingery went deep in the first and Brad Miller also homered. Hector Neris blew the save and Ranger Suarez earned the win. Matt Beaty’s three-run dinger in the top of the ninth gave L.A. a two-run lead after they erased a five-run deficit. Joc Pederson, Cody Bellinger, Max Muncy and A.J. Pollock all homered for the Dodgers in defeat. Kenley Jansen blew the save and took the loss for L.A.