By KOLLIN MILLER
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jacob deGrom pitched seven sharp innings and Pete Alonso put the New York Mets ahead with a two-run single in a 4-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night.
Alonso got three hits and snapped a 1-all tie with two outs in the seventh when he rolled a bases-loaded grounder up the middle. Juan Lagares, who also had three hits, added an RBI triple in the eighth.
The bottom three batters in New York’s lineup went 5 for 11 and combined to score all four runs.
Last year’s NL Cy Young Award winner, deGrom (8-7) gave up one run and three hits while striking out five. Since the All-Star break, he has permitted just five earned runs in 45 innings for a 1.00 ERA.
Royals starter Jakob Junis (8-11) allowed a one-out single to Lagares in the seventh and hit No. 9 batter Aaron Altherr with a pitch. Kansas City manager Ned Yost brought in Jake Newberry, who walked Amed Rosario to load the bases.
Yost again went to his bullpen, this time to submarine left-hander Tim Hill. He struck out pinch-hitter J.D. Davis on three pitches, but couldn’t finish off Alonso. The rookie slugger narrowly missed a grand slam down the right field line when a crew chief review determined the ball sliced just foul, upholding the initial call on the field.
With the runners going on a full-count pitch, Alonso then fisted a grounder up the middle to drive in Lagares and Altherr for a 3-1 lead. Second baseman Whit Merrifield made a sliding stop in shallow center and fired home to try to get Altherr, but Hill cut off the throw.
In the bottom half, deGrom got out of trouble with the help of a double-play ball. Lagares’ triple in the eighth drove in Luis Guillorme.
Justin Wilson threw a scoreless inning and Seth Lugo worked a perfect ninth for his third save.
Junis dealt with traffic on the basepaths all night, but managed to work around seven hits, all singles, a walk and two hit batters to allow just three runs in 6 1/3 innings. His defense turned two double plays behind him to help him out of jams in the second and fifth, but the Royals’ bullpen couldn’t finish off the seventh inning for him.
Hunter Dozier had two of Kansas City’s three hits, his second straight multihit game.
∫ STATS AND STREAKS: Mets catcher Wilson Ramos singled twice to extend his hitting streak to 12 games, tied with Cincinnati’s Jose Iglesias for the longest active streak in the majors. During the streak, Ramos is batting .477 with three home runs and 11 RBIs. … It was the 16th consecutive start in which deGrom allowed three runs or fewer, dating to May 22. He has a 1.92 ERA in that span, but the Mets are just 7-9 in those games.
∫ TRAINER’S ROOM: Royals: LHP Danny Duffy (left hamstring strain) will throw a four-inning simulated game Tuesday and, if all goes well, could be activated from the injured list next weekend.
Mets: Placed reliever Robert Gsellman on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to Wednesday, with tightness in his right triceps. RHP Walker Lockett was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse. Lockett has started four games for the Mets this season, going 1-1 with a 7.79 ERA. … Davis was out of the starting lineup after leaving Friday night’s game with calf tightness.
Padres 5, Phillies 3
PHILADELPHIA — Dinelson Lamet pitched six solid innings, Ty France hit a tiebreaking single and the San Diego Padres cooled off the Philadelphia Phillies with a 5-3 victory Saturday night.
Lamet (2-2) allowed three runs and six hits with six strikeouts and a walk. The 27-year-old right-hander was making his eighth start since missing last season due to Tommy John surgery.
Eric Hosmer had three hits for the Padres, and Josh Naylor tied the game with a two-run double in the fourth.
J.T. Realmuto homered for the Phillies, who lost for the first time since former manager Charlie Manuel returned as hitting coach on Tuesday. Philadelphia dropped one game out of the second NL wild-card spot.
The Phillies had outscored opponents 30-12 while winning their previous four games, and they had batted .337 with 35 hits, seven homers and 25 RBIs in the three games since Manuel joined the staff.
But they managed just six hits against Lamet and three Padres relievers.
Kirby Yates pitched a scoreless ninth for his 34th save in 37 chances.
The Padres went in front with a pair of runs in the fifth off reliever Nick Pivetta (4-5).
Hosmer led off with his third single and scored on France’s one-out single to right field. Luis Urias followed and made it 5-3 with another opposite-field RBI single to right.
San Diego tied the game with three runs in the fourth off Phillies starter Zach Eflin.
Pitching against the club that selected him in the first round of the 2012 draft, Eflin was sailing along with two outs in the fourth and Lamet at the plate. But the pitcher singled up the middle and Manuel Margot followed with an RBI single before Naylor’s two-run double made it 3-all. Both RBI hits came with two strikes.
Eflin returned to the rotation for the first time since July 27 after being sent to the bullpen due to ineffectiveness. He replaced Jake Arrieta, who will have season-ending surgery to remove bone spurs in his pitching elbow later this month.
Cubs 2, Pirates 0
PITTSBURGH — Kris Bryant homered in the seventh inning, and Chicago got out of three bases-loaded jams to snap a four-game skid and beat Pittsburgh.
After committing an error at third base each of the previous two innings, Bryant drove the first pitch of the seventh from Steven Brault (3-2) into the left-field bleachers to put Chicago ahead 1-0. It was Bryant’s 25th homer this season and third in five games.
Jon Lester (10-8) gave up four hits and five walks in six innings, getting out of two bases-loaded jams unscathed.
Rowan Wick retired each of the three batters he faced for his first major league save.
Reds 6, Cardinals 1
CINCINNATI — Aristides Aquino hit a three-run homer, Nick Senzel added a leadoff shot and Cincinnati dropped St. Louis back into a tie with Chicago for first place in the NL Central.
Aquino’s blast off Miles Mikolas (7-13) gave the Reds a 5-1 lead in the fifth. It was the rookie’s 11th homer in his 17th career game.
Anthony DeSclafani (8-7) worked five innings, allowing Matt Carpenter’s second-inning homer.
Rays 1, Tigers 0, 13 Innings
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Mike Brosseau’s pinch-hit RBI single in the 13th inning drove in Eric Sogard and gave Tampa Bay the win over Detroit.
Sogard doubled off Matt Hall (0-1) with two outs and Tommy Pham was intentionally walked. Brosseau singled to right-center field for the Rays’ first run since Wednesday, ending a streak of 29 scoreless innings.
Rays pitchers struck out a franchise-record 24 batters, including 13 in 20 hitless at bats against relievers. Poche (3-4) got the win after striking out two of the three Tigers he faced in the 13th.
Athletics 8, Astros 4
OAKLAND, Calif. — Matt Chapman doubled among his three hits and Mark Canha had two hits and three RBIs to back Chris Bassitt’s six solid innings, and Oakland beat Houston.
Matt Olson and Josh Phegley each had two hits for Oakland. The A’s have won four straight games and 11 of their last 16.
Bassitt (9-5) gave up three runs and eight hits with two walks. In seven starts since the All-Star break he’s 4-1 with a 2.36 ERA.
Yordan Alvarez homered twice for Houston, which has lost five straight and six of seven after winning eight in a row and 18 of 21.
The A’s scored five runs against rookie starter Rogelio Armenteros (1-1) in the third.
Red Sox 4, Orioles 0
BOSTON — Eduardo Rodriguez pitched 7 1/3 stellar innings, red-hot Rafael Devers belted a two-run homer and Boston beat Baltimore for its fourth straight victory.
Trey Mancini had a double — his eighth straight game in Fenway Park with an extra-base hit — for the Orioles, who have dropped six straight.
Rodriguez (14-5) allowed four hits, struck out four, walked two and hit a batter in setting his career high for wins in a season.
Asher Wojciechowski (2-6) gave up two runs in 4 1/3 innings.
Mariners 4, Blue Jays 3
TORONTO — Kyle Seager hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning, Austin Nola also went deep, and Seattle beat Toronto.
Seager’s two-out drive off the right field foul screen came on the first pitch from left-hander Tim Mayza (1-2).
Seattle won for the third time in five games after losing eight of the previous nine.
Anthony Bass (2-4) worked one inning for the win and Matt Magill pitched around a two-out double in the ninth to earn his first career save.
