SEATTLE -- Bartolo Colon came within seven outs of a perfect game, giving up a single to Robinson Cano with two outs in the seventh inning, and the New York Mets held off a late rally to beat the Seattle Mariners 3-2 on Wednesday.
Colon, 41, retired the first 20 batters he faced before Cano lined a 2-2 pitch into left field. Colon applauded the single that dropped in front of left field Eric Young Jr. Colon then had to hold on as Seattle rallied in the eighth and came within inches of tying the game on Brad Miller's RBI double that hit off the top of the wall.
Colon (9-8) improved to 13-1 all-time at Safeco Field, including his dominance of the Mariners when he was pitching for the Angels. Seattle had no answers for the rotund right-hander, who gave up 2 runs and 3 hits in 7 1/3 innings.
Corey Hart led off the eighth by walking on a 3-2 pitch, just the fourth three-ball count Colon reached. After a fly-out, Dustin Ackley singled to right, bringing the tying run to the plate.
Miller nearly tied it with one swing, doubling off the top of the wall in right-center, missing a home run by only a couple of feet. Hart scored and Ackley was held at third. That was it for Colon, who was replaced by Jeurys Familia.
Willie Bloomquist's pinch-hit infield groundout -- initially ruled a hit before review -- scored Ackley. Familia struck out Endy Chavez swinging on a breaking ball with Miller at third base.
Jenrry Mejia earned his 13th save by pitching the ninth, despite giving up two singles.
Colon threw a one-hitter for the Angels against the Yankees in 2000 and was cruising until the seventh. Ackley lined out to Juan Lagares in center to lead off the sixth, the hardest hit ball to that point. Miller followed with a slow grounder to first and Jesus Sucre weakly grounded out to third, and Colon was perfect through six.
He picked up the first two outs of the seventh, but Cano's single ended the bid for perfection. Cano was hitting .400 against Colon entering the game.
TIGERS 11, DIAMONDBACKS 5 Miguel Cabrera hit a three-run home run, Austin Jackson a three-run double and visiting Detroit wore out Arizona in a slugfest at Chase Field. Detroit roughed up Trevor Cahill (1-7), going up 7-0 after four innings behind Jackson's big hit and three RBI by Alex Avila. Arizona clawed its way back against Anibal Sanchez (7-4), scoring three runs off him in the fifth and two more over the next two innings. Joba Chamberlain needed one pitch to escape a jam created by Sanchez in the seventh inning and Cabrera put the Tigers up 11-5 in the eighth, hitting his 15th home run off the foul pole in left.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
ROYALS 2, WHITE SOX 1 Mike Moustakas scored the tie-breaking run in the top of the ninth inning when White Sox catcher Tyler Flowers could not handle a throw home and visiting Kansas City beat Chicago. Moustakas triggered the decisive rally with a leadoff single off Zach Putnam (3-2), the last of four White Sox pitchers. Alcides Escobar bunted Moustakas over before Aoki flared a single to center field. Adam Eaton's strong throw beat Moustakas to the plate, but Flowers lost control of the ball when the runner slid into him. Flowers was charged with an error on the play. Wade Davis (6-2) pitched a scoreless inning and Greg Holland retired the side in order in the ninth inning for his 26th save.
TWINS 3, INDIANS 1 Anthony Swarzak pitched five sharp innings in a fill-in start, Oswaldo Arcia homered and host Minnesota beat Cleveland. Danny Santana scored after two of his three hits for the Twins, and five relievers totaled six strikeouts over four scoreless innings. Glen Perkins finished up in the ninth for his 24th save in 27 tries. When Kyle Gibson developed a sore back the day before, Swarzak (2-0) was summoned from the bullpen to replace him in the rotation. He threw 75 pitches, well over the limit the Twins had in mind, but the right-hander allowed just 2 hits and 1 walk while striking out 3. Trevor Bauer (4-5) finished six innings for the 11th time in 14 starts this season for the Indians, but he lost for the first time in five July starts.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
BREWERS 5, REDS 1 Mark Reynolds homered twice and host Milwaukee swept the three-game series from Cincinnati. Kyle Lohse pitched 6 2/3 strong innings to hand the Reds their sixth consecutive loss since the All-Star break. Lohse (11-4) walked 2, struck out 3 and allowed 4 hits, the last to pinch-hitter Donald Lutz who doubled. Reliever Zach Duke retired Billy Hamilton on a chopper back to the mound to end the seventh. Reynolds connected on a 1-1 pitch from Reds starter Mike Leake (7-9) for his 15th home run of the season. Rickie Weeks was on with a double to start the sixth.
ROCKIES 6, NATIONALS 4 Jorge De La Rosa struck out a season-high 11 as he pitched efficiently into the eighth inning, and the wobbly Colorado bullpen held off Washington's late rally to help the host Rockies end a seven-game skid. De La Rosa (11-6) was one strikeout away from matching his career high set in 2009. The hard-throwing left-hander allowed two runs -- one earned -- before being lifted for a reliever with one out in the eighth. Stephen Strasburg (7-8) settled in after a shaky start, giving up 4 runs -- 3 of which were in the first -- and 9 hits over 5 1/3 innings.
Sports on 07/24/2014