INTERLEAGUE

Ramirez homers twice, drives in 5 as Indians roll

INDIANS 19, REDS 4

CLEVELAND -- Jose Ramirez homered twice and drove in five runs as the Cleveland Indians took out some frustrations following a brutal loss with a 19-4 thumping of the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday night.

Ramirez hit a two-run home run in the first inning off Tyler Mahle (7-7) and connected for a three-run shot in Cleveland's nine-run third. With the Indians up 17-0, the All-Star was replaced in the fifth inning by Manager Terry Francona before he could inflict further damage.

Francisco Lindor added a three-run home run and Jason Kipnis homered as the Indians salvaged the interleague series finale by pounding their neighbors from southern Ohio and ending a four-game slide.

It was a much-needed rebound by the AL Central leaders, who squandered a 4-0 lead in the ninth on Tuesday night, when Francona's miscommunication with pitching coach Carl Willis on a choice of relievers brought out Dan Otero ("OT") instead of Oliver Perez ("OP"). The mistake helped the Reds rally for seven runs and stun the Indians.

Carlos Carrasco (10-5) reached 1,000 career strikeouts and, given the humongous lead, coasted through five innings Wednesday for his second consecutive victory since coming off the disabled list. Adam Plutko worked four innings for his first career save.

Jesse Winker and Scooter Gennett homered for the Reds.

Ramirez's second home run capped Cleveland's nine-run outburst in the third, giving the Indians a big lead that even their suspect bullpen couldn't squander.

BRAVES 9, BLUE JAYS 5 Ozzie Albies snapped the Braves' power drought with two home runs, and host Atlanta beat Toronto to move back into a tie for the NL East lead.

WHITE SOX 4, CARDINALS 0 Carlos Rodon pitched three-hit, shutout ball into the eighth inning to outduel Luke Weaver and lead Chicago to a victory over visiting St. Louis.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

PIRATES 2, NATIONALS 0 Starling Marte hit a two-run home run and Trevor Williams combined with four relievers on a five-hitter as host Pittsburgh beat Washington.

GIANTS 5, CUBS 4 (13) Buster Posey singled off the right-field wall in the 13th inning for his fifth career game-ending hit, sending San Francisco past visiting Chicago.

MARLINS 5, BREWERS 4 (12) Although slugger Jesus Aguilar was added to the NL All-Star team and validated his selection with three hits and three RBI, Milwaukee went 3 for 16 with runners in scoring position and lost to host Miami.

METS 3, PHILLIES 0 (10) Pinch-hitter Brandon Nimmo launched a three-run home run in the bottom of the 10th and New York got another dominant outing from All-Star Jacob deGrom in a victory over visiting Philadelphia.

ROCKIES 19, DIAMONDBACKS 2 Carlos Gonzalez hit two home runs and starter German Marquez also went deep for one of the Rockies' five home runs as host Colorado routed Arizona.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

RAYS 4, TIGERS 2 C.J. Cron's three-run home run in the seventh inning carried Tampa Bay to its fifth consecutive victory, this one over visiting Detroit.

TWINS 8, ROYALS 5 Brian Dozier hit a two-run home run, going deep for the second consecutive game to give host Minnesota a boost on its way to a victory over Kansas City.

YANKEES 9, ORIOLES 0 Greg Bird hit his first career grand slam to back a dominating pitching performance by Sonny Gray, and visiting New York beat Baltimore for a split of a four-game series.

RED SOX 4, RANGERS 2 Chris Sale struck out 12 in seven innings of shutout ball in his final start before the All-Star Game and Mookie Betts had two more hits to lead host Boston to a victory over Texas.

ATHLETICS 8, ASTROS 3 Chad Pinder hit a three-run home run and Khris Davis added three RBI as visiting Oakland jumped on Lance McCullers Jr. early and cruised to a victory over Houston.

Sports on 07/12/2018

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