MLB roundup: Twins’ Luis Arraez captures AL batting crown

ReutersOctober 6, 2022

Luis Arraez walked twice and doubled in his final at-bat while wrapping up his first American League batting title as the visiting Minnesota Twins cruised to a 10-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday on the final day of the regular season.

Arraez finished with a .316 batting average, five points ahead of Aaron Judge. The New York Yankees slugger got the day off after hitting his 62nd home run a night earlier.

Gary Sanchez hit a three-run home run for Minnesota and Jermaine Palacios added a two-run shot to highlight a six-run first inning. Sanchez finished with two hits and four RBIs, Gio Urshela had two hits and a run and Gilberto Celestino had two RBIs for Minnesota.

Louie Varland (1-2) picked up his first major league win, allowing four hits over five scoreless innings. Cole Sands gave up an unearned run and four hits over the final four innings to pick up his first career save.

Rangers 4, Yankees 2

Glenn Otto pitched six strong innings against the team that drafted him five years ago and Texas ended a disappointing season with a victory over New York in Arlington, Texas.

Otto (7-10), whom the Yankees drafted in 2017 and then traded in July 2021 in the Joey Gallo deal, allowed two runs on four hits. The Rangers split the four-game series with the Yankees and went 17-31 under interim manager Tony Beasley.

Charlie Culberson and Jonah Heim hit solo homers off New York’s Domingo German (2-5) early. Texas went ahead in the fifth on Bubba Thompson’s tiebreaking RBI double and Marcus Semien’s run-scoring single.

Mets 9, Nationals 2

Mark Canha and James McCann hit three-run homers, Trevor Williams pitched six innings of relief and New York finished off a victory over visiting Washington.

Francisco Lindor added a three-run double for the Mets, who swept three games from the Nationals after being swept on the road last weekend by the Atlanta Braves. New York’s Jeff McNeil, who entered the day leading the National League with a .326 batting average, sat out the game and edged the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman by one point.

Alex Call homered and doubled for the Nationals, who lost five straight to close out the season and finished with the worst record in baseball three years after winning the World Series.

Dodgers 6, Rockies 1

Freddie Freeman hit a home run among his three hits, Trea Turner homered and host Los Angeles defeated Colorado. Cody Bellinger also went deep, while Clayton Kershaw passed Cy Young on the all-time strikeout list and is now 24th with 2,807.

After losing three-consecutive games to Colorado, the Dodgers reached 111 wins, second most in NL history behind the 1906 Chicago Cubs (116).

Ezequiel Tovar homered for Colorado, which had two hits and struck out 17 times. The Rockies finished in last place in the NL West with their fourth straight losing season.

Orioles 5, Blue Jays 4 (Game 1)

Terrin Vavra’s first career home run was a three-run blast in the eighth inning as Baltimore rallied from a four-run deficit to beat visiting Toronto in the first game of a doubleheader.

The Blue Jays used five pitchers across the first five innings without allowing a run. Toronto’s highlight came with Gabriel Moreno’s first career home run. The rookie catcher’s three-run shot came in the top of the sixth inning in his 24th game.

The Orioles scored twice in the sixth on Austin Hays’ double with two outs.

Blue Jays 5, Orioles 1 (Game 2)

Otto Lopez hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the seventh inning as Toronto earned a split of the doubleheader at Baltimore.

Moreno opened the seventh with a base hit and reached third on Bradley Zimmer’s fielder’s choice because of pitcher Cionel Perez’s errant throw. The error allowed Zimmer to reach, as well, and Zimmer stole second before coming around to score along with Moreno when Lopez ripped the go-ahead single to center with one out.

Yusei Kikuchi (6-7) was the winning pitcher with 1 2/3 shutout innings of relief. Yennier Cano (1-1) took the loss.

Mariners 5, Tigers 4

Ty France grounded a tiebreaking, bases-loaded single down the right field line with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Seattle a victory against visiting Detroit.

Julio Rodriguez, Mitch Haniger and Luis Torrens homered for the Mariners, won their final three games and took the second AL wild card.

Erik Swanson (3-2) got the victory and Gregory Soto (2-11) took the loss. Riley Greene and Jeimer Candelario each collected two hits and an RBI for the Tigers.

Astros 3, Phillies 2

Framber Valdez struck out 10 batters in five innings to lift host Houston to a victory over Philadelphia in a matchup of playoff-bound teams.

Valdez (17-6) allowed just two hits en route to recording his 27th quality start of the season. He exited after 88 pitches for the Astros. Houston’s Christian Vazquez belted a solo homer and Chas McCormick had an RBI double to highlight his three-hit performance.

Brandon Marsh hit an RBI double and Rhys Hoskins added a sacrifice fly for the Phillies.

Marlins 12, Braves 9

Nick Fortes and Peyton Burdick both hit home runs as Miami rolled to a win over visiting Atlanta, giving Don Mattingly a victory in his final game as the team’s manager.

Fortes hit a two-run homer to cap a five-run sixth inning that put the Marlins ahead for good. Burdick, who went 3-for-4 with four RBIs, added a two-run shot in the seventh inning.

The Braves also got a pair of home runs. Marcell Ozuna, who went 3-for-5, hit a three-run shot in the sixth inning. Matt Olson, who also doubled, added a two-run homer in the seventh inning.

Guardians 9, Royals 2

Jose Ramirez had four hits and two RBIs as Cleveland closed its regular season and a six-game series with a win over Kansas City. The Guardians ended their campaign by winning 24 of their final 30 games.

Cleveland starter Aaron Civale (5-6) allowed two runs over six innings. The Guardians received RBI hits from Josh Naylor, Oscar Gonzalez, Will Brennan, Luke Maile and Myles Straw.

The Royals received home runs from Kyle Isbel and Vinny Pasquantino. Starter Jonathan Heasley (4-10) allowed six runs in five innings.

Pirates 5, Cardinals 3

Pittsburgh scored four runs in the fourth inning to overcome an early three-run deficit to down visiting St. Louis. Rodolfo Castro, Diego Castillo and Kevin Newman each had an RBI hit for the Pirates.

Pittsburgh starter Johan Oviedo gave up three runs (two earned) and five hits in four innings. Manny Banuelos (2-1) threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings for the win, and Yohan Ramirez tossed a scoreless ninth for his first save.

Tommy Edman and Nolan Arenado each hit an RBI single for the NL Central champion Cardinals. Matthew Liberatore (2-2) yielded five runs on six hits in five innings.

A’s 3, Angels 2

Stephen Vogt homered in his last major league at-bat, rookie Ken Waldichuk outdueled Shohei Ohtani, and Oakland topped visiting Los Angeles Angels for a three-game sweep.

Vogt, 37, previously announced that he was retiring after the season. Waldichuk (2-2) shut out the Angels for seven innings, allowing just three hits.

Ohtani (15-9) saw his season-ending ERA drop to 2.33 in defeat, charged with one run on just one hit in five innings.

Diamondbacks 4, Brewers 2

Josh Rojas and Corbin Carroll hit back-to-back homers in the ninth inning to give Arizona a comeback victory at Milwaukee.

Trevor Gott (3-4) relieved to open the ninth and Christian Walker singled. Rojas then sent a 2-2 pitch 411 feet to center for his ninth homer. Carroll followed with his fourth homer to right.

Sean Poppen (2-2) got one out for the victory, despite giving up Rowdy Tellez’s 35th homer in the eighth inning that gave the Brewers a 2-1 lead. Kevin Ginkel finished for his first save.

Giants 8, Padres 1

David Villar hit two home runs, including a tiebreaking two-run shot in a four-run fourth inning, as visiting San Francisco topped San Diego.

Giants opener John Brebbia gave up the Padres’ only run in the first on back-to-back doubles by Manny Machado and Jake Cronenworth. The Giants then took control as they scored five runs on six hits and three walks in three-plus innings off Craig Stammen (1-2).

Yunior Marte (1-1) was credited with the win as seven San Francisco pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts.

Cubs 15, Reds 2

David Bote and Zach McKinstry each hit three-run homers, and Chicago scored six times in the sixth en route to a season-ending blowout win in Cincinnati.

Franmil Reyes (three RBIs) clubbed a two-run homer in the eighth for one of his three hits, and Bote finished with two hits and five RBIs for the Cubs, who won 12 of their final 15 games. Adbert Alzolay (2-1) threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief to earn the win.

Jake Fraley had two hits for the Reds, who, despite taking two of three from the Cubs in this series, absorbed 100 losses for the second time in franchise history. Cincinnati’s 1982 club went 61-101.

Red Sox 6, Rays 3

J.D. Martinez homered twice and drove in four runs to lead Boston to a win against visiting Tampa Bay.

Eduard Bazardo (1-0) pitched a scoreless fifth for Boston to earn his first major league win in his 14th relief appearance over the past two seasons.

Ji-Man Choi had three hits, including a two-run homer, and Vidal Brujan also homered for Tampa Bay. Josh Fleming (2-5) allowed four runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings for the Rays, who finished the regular season on a five-game losing streak.

–Field Level Media