Rookie Troy Melton allows 1 hit as Tigers beat White Sox to win series

CHICAGO (AP) – Rookie Troy Melton allowed one hit in five innings and three Detroit Tigers relievers maintained a shutout of the Chicago White Sox in a 1-0 win on Wednesday.

It was a series-clinching win for the Tigers, who advanced to 70-52 and extended a narrow lead over the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central.

The Tigers are just 11-14 since the All-Star Break, while the division-rival Guardians are 16-7 in that stretch.

Melton (3-1, 2.82 ERA) threw 56 pitches over five innings. The 24-year-old struck out six batters.

Luis Robert Jr. hit a leadoff double in the fifth inning, but Melton responded with three consecutive swinging strikeouts to end his day. Since giving up six earned runs to the Pittsburgh Pirates in his July 23 debut, Melton has been responsible for just one run in four appearances.

Tigers relievers Sawyer Gipson-Long, Kyle Finnegan and Will Vest combined to allow one hit over the final four innings. Vest picked up his 18th save of the season.

Wenceel Pérez hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the sixth inning off Martín Pérez (1-2, 3.09), who surrendered three hits and two walks over 3 1/3 innings.

Chicago starter Shane Smith held Detroit to two hits in five innings and threw five strikeouts.

NATIONALS 8, ROYALS 7

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Daylen Lile’s two-out, ninth-inning single boosted Washington over Kansas City.

After the Royals tied the game in the eighth, Luis García Jr. doubled, then scored on Lile’s single to right for the lead.

Jose A. Ferrer (4-3) recorded four outs for the win. Carlos Estévez (4-5) took the loss after allowing one run on two hits and a walk in the ninth.

The Nationals took a five-run lead in the first, highlighted by Nathaniel Lowe’s grand slam.

Royals starter Seth Lugo surrendered seven runs on six hits over four innings. The five runs in the first was his most since an eight-run fourth inning against the Dodgers on Aug. 7, 2023.

Nationals starter Jake Irvin allowed six runs on seven hits and four walks in four innings.

BREWERS 12, PIRATES 5

MILWAUKEE (AP) – William Contreras drove in four runs, Christian Yelich drove in three and Milwaukee beat Pittsburgh to extend its winning streak to 12 games.

Milwaukee scored double-digit runs for the second straight game and the fourth time this month. The Brewers belted out 12 hits but only two – back-to-back fourth-inning doubles by Sal Frelick and Isaac Collins – were for extra bases.

Frelick and Joey Ortiz each drove in two runs and Collins had one RBI.

Bryan Reynolds got the Pirates on the board in the fifth inning off Shelby Miller with his 12th homer of the season, a three-run shot. He also had a two-run homer in the sixth off Nick Mears.

Brandon Woodruff gave up four hits and a pair of walks over four scoreless innings. Jared Koenig (5-1) recorded the win with a scoreless seventh.

Pirates starter Mitch Keller (5-11) lasted only four innings. He was tagged for eight runs on six hits and two walks with five strikeouts.

ROCKIES 6, CARDINALS 5

ST. LOUIS (AP) – Pinch-hitter Hunter Goodman hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning, rallying Colorado to a victory over St. Louis.

With one out, Goodman connected on a 3-2 sinker from JoJo Romero (4-4) and sent it 432 feet over the center field fence to score Kyle Karros, who led off with a walk. Goodman, who leads the Rockies with 24 homers, also hit a 436-foot blast in Colorado’s 3-0 win on Tuesday.

Mickey Moniak also homered for Colorado, and Karros had two hits and scored twice. Braxton Fulford drove in two runs.

Alec Burleson and Lars Nootbaar each homered for St. Louis. Pedro Pagés had two hits and drove in two runs.

Jimmy Herget (1-2) struck out two in a scoreless eighth and Victor Vodnik pitched the ninth for his fourth save.

DIAMONDBACKS 6, RANGERS 4

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – James McCann and Ketel Marte homered with two outs in a four-run ninth inning for Arizona to beat Texas in a game that began with the Diamondbacks facing former teammate Merrill Kelly.

Phil Maton (2-4), like Kelly a trade deadline acquisition two weeks ago, struck out the first three batters he faced after taking over with two outs in the eighth. McCann then homered, Blaze Alexander was hit by a pitch and Geraldo Perdomo walked on four pitches before Marte’s 23rd homer.

The 413-foot shot was Marte’s fourth hit of the game, and came after his solo homer in the ninth inning Tuesday night for a 3-2 win.

Perdomo hit a solo homer in the fifth of the series finale, two innings after scoring on one of Marte’s three singles off Kelly, who exited after six innings with a 3-2 lead.

John Curtiss (2-0), the third Arizona reliever, allowed Josh Jung’s RBI double in the eighth. Andrew Saalfrank worked a perfect ninth for his first career save.

PADRES 11, GIANTS 1

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Nick Pivetta allowed one run in 6 2/3 innings and Ramón Laureano had three of the Padres’ 14 hits as San Diego completed a three-game sweep of San Francisco with a rout.

The Padres extended their winning streak to five games and moved a half-game ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West. The Dodgers were playing at the Los Angeles Angels Wednesday night.

The Giants have lost five straight games – all at home – in which they were outscored 32-5.

Pivetta (12-4) gave up four hits, struck out five and walked one. He retired 11 straight batters from the third inning to the seventh.

REDS 8, PHILLIES 0

CINCINNATI (AP) – Miguel Andujar hit a grand slam and Hunter Greene pitched six sharp innings to help Cincinnati beat Philadelphia.

Noelvi Marte had two hits and two RBIs for Cincinnati in the rubber game of the three-game series. Elly De La Cruz had two hits and scored two runs.

Greene (5-3) allowed three hits, struck out six and walked none in his big league start since June 3. The ace right-hander had been sidelined by a groin injury.

Philadelphia had won four in a row before dropping its last two games in Cincinnati. The NL East leaders finished with three hits.

Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sánchez (11-4) was charged with four runs, three earned, and seven hits in six innings.

MARLINS 13, GUARDIANS 4

CLEVELAND (AP) – Jakob Marsee hit two home runs, doubled and drove in seven runs, Graham Pauley and Xavier Edwards also homered and Miami beat Cleveland to snap a four-game skid.

Marsee went 4 of 5 with a a double and each of his RBIs came with two outs. The rookie hit a a three-run shot in the first inning and a two-run homer off Guardians reliever Kolby Allard (2-2) that made it 6-4 in the fifth.

Eury Pérez (5-3) allowed four runs on three hits with no walks and eight strikeouts in five innings.

Edwards led off the game with a home run and Agustín Ramírez capped the scoring with a two-run single in the seventh.

Edwards extended his hitting streak to eight games and is batting .447 in that span.

CUBS 4, BLUE JAYS 1

TORONTO (AP) – Rookie right-hander Cade Horton struck out a career-high eight in 5 2/3 sharp innings to win his fourth straight start, Michael Busch and Matt Shaw homered and Chicago beat Toronto.

Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya was carted off the field after injuring his left ankle landing on first base in the eighth inning.

Horton (7-3) didn’t allow a hit until Andrés Giménez lined a single to center with one out in the sixth.

Nathan Lukes followed with a popup and Bo Bichette chased Horton with a 10-pitch walk.

Andrew Kittredge came on to face Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who hit an RBI double. Addison Barger flied out to the warning track to end the inning.

Guerrero’s hit snapped the 23-year-old Horton’s scoreless streak at 28 1/3 innings. Horton hadn’t allowed a run since July 9 at Minnesota.

Daniel Palencia pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 16th save in 18 chances.

ASTROS 4, RED SOX 1

HOUSTON (AP) – Hunter Brown allowed only a run in 6 2/3 innings for his 10th victory, Jeremy Peña and Yainer Diaz homered and Houston beat Boston.

Brown (10-5) allowed six hits and three walks and held Boston to 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position. The Astros entered the day tied with Seattle for first place in the American League West.

Peña started a two-run first with his his fifth leadoff homer of the season on Walker Buehler’s fifth pitch. Diaz added a two-out RBI single and, with the Astros up 2-1 with two out in the sixth, he sent an 0-1 sweeper from Buehler (7-7) 415 to left-center for his 17th homer.

Boston had the tying run at third base with two outs in the sixth. With Romy Gonzalez at the plate, Red Sox manager Alex Cora stood outside the dugout demanding Brown be called for a balk. A meeting between the four umpires ensued, but no balk was called. Cora was ejected for the fifth time in 2025 during a pitching change an inning later.

Bennett Sousa took over for Brown in the seventh, pitching 1 1/3 innings. Bryan Abreu worked the ninth for his first save.