Back in the ballpark where they celebrated a championship in November last year, the Kansas City Royals were beaten 2-1 by the New York Mets on Tuesday night in a World Series rematch at Citi Field.
Bartolo Colon’s early injury put the Mets in a major bind, but they won a battle of bullpens against the best relief corps in baseball.
“It was a fun atmosphere. I think we anticipated that coming in,” Kansas City first baseman Eric Hosmer said.
Photo: AFP
Yoenis Cespedes hit his 18th home run and Asdrubal Cabrera also connected off Ian Kennedy (5-6), dropping the Royals to 13-24 on the road. They have the top home record in the majors at 25-8.
The 43-year-old Colon was hit on his pitching hand by a line drive and left after one batter with a bruised right thumb. Yet a gritty Hansel Robles (1-3) and four other relievers bailed out the Mets by combining for 8-2/3 stellar innings in the opener of a two-game set.
Yasmani Grandal let his emotions loose rounding the bases after his go-ahead three-run homer in the eighth inning, which lifted the Los Angeles Dodgers to a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the Washington Nationals and extended their season-high winning streak to five games. They have won seven of eight and were to go for the series sweep against the Nation League East leaders yesterday.
The St Louis Cardinals won 4-3 to put themselves in position to sweep their first trip to Chicago since last year’s NL Division Series, although it is unlikely to be easy, with the MLB-leading Cubs sending reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta to the mound.
Angel Pagan hit a grand slam during a seven-run fourth inning as the San Francisco Giants thrashed Pittsburgh 15-4, while the Atlanta Braves extended their streak to six wins with a 3-2 victory in Miami. Ichiro Suzuki had two hits for the Marlins to give him 2,982 in his career.
In Boston, Chris Sale became the majors’ first 12-game winner, equaling his season high with nine strikeouts, as the White Sox beat the Red Sox 3-1.
Cleveland won their fifth straight game, beating the Rays 6-0. Corey Kluber (7-7) took a one-hitter into the ninth before Brad Miller and Evan Longoria singled with one out. Kluber retired the final two hitters for his third career shutout.
Kluber bounced back from allowing a career-high eight runs and nine hits in five innings against Kansas City in his last start. The right-hander, who won the AL Cy Young Award in 2014, struck out nine and walked two.
The Astros rallied for a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels and the Detroit Tigers rallied from two down to beat the Seattle Mariners 4-2, while Arizona won their fifth straight with a 4-2 win at Toronto.
San Diego overcame two home runs and five RBIs by Pedro Alvarez to beat the Orioles 10-7 in Baltimore, while Cincinnati ended the Texas Rangers’ seven-game winning streak with an 8-2 victory at Arlington.
The Colorado Rockies beat the Yankees 8-4, the Athletics were 5-3 winners over the Brewers and the Twins beat the Phillies 14-10.
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