SAN Diego ace Blake Snell exited after seven hitless innings on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila), and the Padres beat the visiting Colorado Rockies 2-0 when Xander Bogaerts hit a two-run, walk-off homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
Padres pitchers took a combined no-hitter into the ninth and wound up with a two-hit shutout for the team’s sixth straight win.
Snell, a strong candidate for the National League Cy Young Award, issued four walks while striking out 10. He left after 104 pitches, having lowered his major-league-leading numbers in ERA (2.33) and opponents’ batting average (.181). Snell has a 1.26 ERA in his past 22 starts.
Robert Suarez followed Snell with a perfect eighth before Brendan Rodgers lined a single past Bogaerts at short off Josh Hader (1-3). The San Diego closer gave up another hit to Nolan Jones before getting Elias Diaz to ground to Bogaerts for an inning-ending double play. Bogaerts then snuck a fly ball just inside the left field foul pole off Tyler Kinley (0-3) to win it.
In other games, it was the Braves 9, Phillies 3; Orioles 9 Astros 5; Cubs 14, Pirates 1; Rangers 6, Red Sox 4; Mariners 7, A’s 2; Marlins 4, Mets 3; Nationals 4, White Sox 3; Dodgers 3, Tigers 2; Rays 6, Angels 2;Blue Jays 7, Yankees 1; Royals 7, Guardians 6; Brewers 7, Cardinals 3; and Diamondbacks 8, Giants 4.
Braves 9, Phillies 3
Spencer Strider struck out 11 batters and Ronald Acuna Jr. hit two home runs to help Atlanta end its four-game losing streak with a win over visiting Philadelphia.
Atlanta avoided what would have been its first five-game losing streak since September 2017. Strider (18-5) pitched seven innings and allowed three runs– all coming on Bryce Harper’s 19th home run in the sixth– on four hits and no walks. He improved his career record against Philadelphia to 8-0 with a 1.90 ERA.
Acuna, on “Ronald Acuna Bat Flip Bobblehead Night,” went 3-for-5 with his 38th and 39th homers, his fourth multi-homer game of the season. Acuna’s first homer came on the first pitch of the first inning from Cristopher Sanchez (2-5). Acuna also stole his 67th base.
Orioles 9, Astros 5
Austin Hays posted his first multi-homer game this season and the fifth of his career to lead Baltimore past host Houston, dropping the Astros to one game below .500 at home this season.
The Orioles maintained their 2 1/2-game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East and reduced their magic number to clinch their first division title since 2014 to eight. The Astros now lead Texas and Seattle by only a half-game. — Field Level Media
