Justin Verlander struck out 10 in a triumphant return to Comerica (NYSE:CMA) Park and the Houston Astros held on for a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Monday night.
The longtime Tigers ace was making his first start at his former home park since he was traded last season. He gave up two runs on six hits while walking one in seven innings.
Verlander (15-9) faced his former club for the first time at Houston on July 15. He allowed four homers in a 6-3 loss just before the All-Star break.
Tyler White led Houston's offense with two hits, a run scored and an RBI. Marwin Gonzalez also drove in a run for the Astros.
Rockies 13, Diamondbacks 2
Trevor Story homered to cap a six-run fifth inning, David Dahl hit his first career grand slam as part of a seven-run seventh inning, and Colorado beat Arizona in Denver.
Charlie Blackmon, DJ LeMahieu and Tony Wolters each had three hits, and German Marquez turned in another strong outing to help the Rockies pad their lead in the National League West. Colorado is 1 1/2 games up on the second-place Los Angeles Dodgers and 3 1/2 games ahead of the third-place Diamondbacks.
Marquez (12-9) benefited from the offensive explosion. He allowed two runs -- one earned -- on six hits and a walk while striking out 11. Marquez is 3-0 with 1.69 ERA over his past six starts. He has not allowed more than two runs in an outing during that span.
Brewers 3, Cubs 2
Lorenzo Cain had four hits, Wade Miley pitched five innings, and the decisive run scored on a wild pitch as Milwaukee won at Chicago.
Miley (4-2) allowed two runs, four hits and three walks while striking out one as the Brewers won their fourth in a row to pull within one game of first-place Chicago in the National League Central. The Cubs have dropped three straight.
Cubs starter Jon Lester (15-6) allowed three runs, eight hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings before leaving with lower back tightness.
Braves 4, Giants 1
Ozzie Albies doubled, tripled, scored twice and drove in a run as visiting Atlanta continued a successful Western swing with a victory at San Francisco.
Atlanta's win, its third in a row and fourth in five games on a seven-game trip to Arizona and San Francisco, pushed the Braves five games ahead of the second-place Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East.
Braves starter Sean Newcomb threw six innings of one-run ball. AJ Minter threw a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth with two strikeouts for his 14th save.
Reds 10, Dodgers 6
Scooter Gennett had four hits, and Eugenio Suarez hit a home run as Cincinnati remained undefeated against visiting Los Angeles this season.
After sweeping a four-game series in Los Angeles in May, the Reds are 5-0 against the Dodgers this season with two games remaining in the season series. The Reds have outscored the Dodgers 30-15 in the five victories.
In his fourth start of the season, Reds starter Cody Reed gave up three runs on five hits over four innings with three walks and five strikeouts. Jared Hughes (4-3) went 1 2/3 hitless innings to pick up the victory.
Yankees 7, Twins 2
Gary Sanchez hit a long homer in the sixth inning, J.A. Happ pitched six strong innings, and New York scored six runs in the seventh inning of a victory over Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Sanchez hit his second home run since returning from the disabled list on Sept. 1 and his 16th of the season. He fell a triple shy of the cycle and posted his fourth game with at least three hits.
Happ (16-6) improved to 6-0 since joining the Yankees in a trade from Toronto on July 26. He allowed six hits, struck out three and walked none.
Rays 6, Indians 5
Ji-Man Choi hit a two-run, walk-off home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning as Tampa Bay extended its home win streak to a franchise-record 12 games with a dramatic victory over Cleveland.
Choi hit an 0-1 fastball by Brad Hand (2-5) into the right field bleachers for his eighth homer of the season. The blast drove in Tommy Pham, who had extended the inning just before him with a weak ground single into right.
Jake Bauers also hit a two-run homer for the Rays. Jaime Schultz (2-0) picked up the win in relief.
Cardinals 8, Pirates 7
Matt Adams hit a three-run homer as part of a four-run eighth inning to push St. Louis past visiting Pittsburgh, ending the Pirates' five-game winning streak.
With the Cardinals trailing 6-4, Matt Carpenter led off the eighth against Edgar Santana (2-3) with a walk. Jose Martinez singled before Adams sent his 21st homer to right to make it 7-4. Harrison Bader drove in another run later in the inning with a sacrifice fly.
Starling Marte, Colin Moran and Josh Harrison homered for the Pirates, who blew a 4-0 lead.
Royals 4, White Sox 3
Jeanmar Gomez's throwing error on a 10th-inning bunt brought home the game-ending run, and Kansas City rallied for a win over visiting Chicago.
Brian Goodwin opened the bottom of the 10th with a double to the right field corner. The next batter, Alcides Escobar, bunted to Gomez (0-2). The right-hander tried to get the out at third and instead threw the ball away, allowing Goodwin to score the winning run on a fielder's choice.
Jake Newberry (2-0), the last of three Kansas City pitchers, got the win after throwing a scoreless inning.
Rangers 5, Angels 2
Mike Minor gave up one run in six innings, and Joey Gallo drove in three runs to lead Texas to a victory over Los Angeles in Anaheim, Calif.
Minor (12-7) gave up six hits and two walks, the Angels' only run against him on Jose Fernandez's RBI single in the fourth inning. Texas' offense made the most of its seven hits.
Gallo had a two-run double in the second inning and an RBI single in the eighth. Texas also got a two-run home run from Ronald Guzman.
Nationals at Phillies, ppd.
The scheduled game between Washington and host Philadelphia was postponed due to unplayable conditions at Citizens Bank Park.
The teams will make up the contest as part of a traditional doubleheader Tuesday, beginning at 3:05 p.m. EDT.
Marlins at Mets, ppd.
The scheduled game between Miami and New York was postponed hours ahead of the scheduled first pitch due to the accumulation of heavy rain and more expected throughout the evening at Citi Field.
The game will be made up as part of a single-admission doubleheader on Wednesday, beginning at 4:10 p.m. EDT.
--Field Level Media