PIRATES HIT THREE HOMERS TO HOLD OFF PADRES IN 3-2 WIN

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Ji

Man Choi, Bryan Reynolds and Carlos Santana hit home runs for the Pittsburgh Pirates, who held off the San Diego Padres 3-2 yesterday to win two of three games.

David Bednar loaded the bases with one out in the ninth inning and then walked pinch-hitter Juan Soto before getting rookie Taylor Kohlwey to foul out and then striking out Trent Grisham for his 20th save of the season.

The Padres, who have baseball’s third-highest payroll but are mired in fourth place in the NL West, went 1-5 this season against Pittsburgh, which is in last place in the NL Central.

BREWERS 3,

REDS 0

MILWAUKEE (AP) —

Freddy Peralta pitched six strong innings and matched a career high with 13 strikeouts, and Tyrone Taylor hit a two-run homer to lead Milwaukee.

The Brewers (57-46) took two of three games in the series and extended their lead in the NL Central to 1 1/2 games over the Reds (56-48). This marked the final matchup of the season between the teams, with Milwaukee winning the season series 10-3.

After Abraham Toro singled with one out in the seventh off Cincinnati starter Ben Lively (4-6), Taylor followed with a 417foot blast to left field to break a scoreless tie.

NATIONALS 5,

ROCKIES 4

WASHINGTON (AP) — CJ Abrams’ two-run single capped a four-run ninth inning and Washington rallied to beat Colorado.

Lane Thomas and Jeimer Candelario opened the ninth with walks against Daniel Bard (4-2). Joey Meneses, whose three-run homer was the difference in Tuesday night’s win, singled to load the bases. One out later, Bard hit Dominic Smith with a pitch to walk in a run and make it 4-2.

Stone Garrett was out on a slow roller before Candelario scored Washington’s third run.

Luis Garcia was intentionally walked and Ildemaro Vargas drew a four-pitch walk to tie the score. Matt Koch came on to face Abrams, who grounded a single between first and second to score pinch runner Michael Chavis for the winning run. MARINERS 8, TWINS 7 MINNEAPOLIS (AP)

— Dylan Moore hit two home runs, including a three-run shot in the fifth inning, and Seattle held on to beat Minnesota. Julio Rodríguez added a home run and two doubles as the Mariners won for the fifth time in their past seven games.

The AL Central-leading Twins dropped their second in a row following a fourgame winning streak. Moore’s three-run homer off reliever Jordan Balazovic in the fifth inning gave Seattle a 7-3 lead.

GUARDIANS 8, ROYALS 3 CLEVELAND (AP) — José Ramírez hit a two-run homer in the first inning and a solo shot in the fourth, leading Cleveland past Kansas City. Ramírez, who had his 22nd career multi-homer game, was 3 for 4 with a check-swing infield hit in the sixth and a walk in the second followed by a stolen base, and he scored three runs.

David Fry hit a tworun homer in the fourth and Steven Kwan had two RBIs. Cleveland moved to 51-51 and trails Minnesota by two games in the AL Central.

CARDINALS 11,

Arizona

7 PHOENIX (AP) — Nolan Gorman hit two of St. Louis’ five home runs in a win over Arizona. Gorman connected leading off the second against All-Star starter Zac Gallen, then hit a two-run blast to dead center in the eighth off Scott McGough. Lars Nootbaar, Paul Goldschmidt and Andrew Knizner also homered to give the Cardinals the series victory over the slumping Diamondbacks. They have lost six of seven and are 3-9 since the All-Star break.

BLUE JAYS 8, DODGERS 1

LOS ANGELES (AP)

— Whit Merrifield hit a three-run homer, Danny Jansen also went deep and Toronto took two of three from NL West-leading Los Angeles. Merrifield sent an 0-2 pitch from Tony Gonsolin (5-4) over the wall in left with two outs in the fifth inning, scoring Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who both singled. Merrifield was 2 for 4 with four RBIs, two runs scored and a strikeout.