MIAMI — Yordano Ventura escaped two threats while pitching six innings, and the Kansas City Royals extended their winning streak to nine games by beating the Miami Marlins 1-0 on Tuesday night.
Ventura (9-9), who reached 101 mph on the scoreboard radar gun, allowed six hits and one walk while striking out six. Royals starters have an ERA of 1.69 during the winning streak, Kansas City’s longest since June 2014.
Three relievers closed out the win and extended the bullpen’s streak of 32 consecutive shutout innings since Aug. 10. Kelvin Herrera pitched a perfect ninth for his eighth save.
The Marlins had won three straight but were shut out despite totaling seven hits. They went 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position.
Miami loaded the bases with two outs in the third, but Marcell Ozuna flied out to end the inning. Ventura pitched around a leadoff double by Ozuna in the sixth.
The Royals won with six hits. They scored the lone run in the sixth when Paulo Orlando led off with a single, stole second and came home on Lorenzo Cain’s single.
Andrew Cashner (4-10) had his best outing in five starts for the Marlins but fell to 0-3 since joining them on July 30. He allowed one run in six innings.
The Marlins played their 15th consecutive game decided by three runs or less, a club record. They are 7-8 during the stretch.
PIRATES 7, ASTROS 1 Ivan Nova took a shutout into the ninth inning and finished with a six-hitter while Gregory Polanco hit two home runs to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a victory over the Houston Astros. Nova (10-6) struck out six, walked one and threw 69 of his 98 pitches for strikes while improving to 3-0 in four starts since being acquired from the New York Yankees in an Aug. 1 trade. It was the fourth complete game of the right-hander’s seven-year career with the others coming in 2013. His bid for his third career shutout ended when Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve led off the ninth with consecutive doubles. After the Pirates scored four runs in the first inning, Polanco hit solo shots in the third and fifth off Joe Musgrove and Tony Sipp to extend the lead to 6-0 and raise his season total to a team-high 19 homers.
REDS 3, RANGERS 0 Dan Straily extended his surge since the All-Star break by pitching six innings and Joey Votto drove in a pair of runs to lead the Cincinnati Reds over the Texas Rangers. A day after losing to the Dodgers 18-9, the Reds won a close one against a Rangers team that has been shut out three times in its last nine games.Straily (10-6) hasn’t allowed more than two runs in any of his eight starts since the break, going 6-0. He gave up three singles and two walks. Raisel Iglesias gave up two hits in the seventh but escaped the threat with two strikeouts. Tony Cingrani gave two walks in the ninth before retiring Ryan Rua on a grounder to complete his 16th save in 21 chances. Votto singled home a run in the sixth off left-hander Derek Holland (5-6), who had been on the disabled list since June 22 with an inflamed pitching shoulder. WHITE SOX 9, PHILLIES 1 Jose Abreu homered for a third straight game, Carlos Rodon threw 62/3 scoreless innings and the Chicago White Sox beat the slumping Philadelphia Phillies. Abreu hit a two-run home run and Justin Morneau followed with a solo shot in the fifth off Jake Thompson (1-3), who gave up seven runs and eight hits in five innings. Rodon (4-8) allowed three hits and has a 1.46 ERA in his past four starts after missing most of July with a sprained left wrist suffered when he slipped on the dugout steps. Adam Eaton tripled, singled and scored twice and Tim Anderson tripled, reached base three times and drove in a run as Chicago built a 9-0 lead in its third straight win. Freddy Galvis homered off Chris Beck in the seventh to end a 17-inning scoreless streak for the Phillies, who have dropped five of seven.
ORIOLES 8, NATIONALS 1 Kevin Gausman scattered six hits over six shutout innings, Adam Jones went 4 for 5 and the Baltimore Orioles breezed past the Washington Nationals. Chris Davis hit his 30th home run for the Orioles, who won two straight over Washington to conclude a 3-5 homestand. Baltimore is 34-24 against the Nationals in a rivalry that began in 2006. The series shifts 38 miles south to Nationals Park on Wednesday for the first of two games. Gausman (5-10) walked two, struck out two and permitted only one runner past second base. He’s 5-1 at home and 0-9 on the road. The 25-year-old Gausman outpitched Nationals rookie Reynaldo Lopez, a 22-year-old making his fifth major league start. Lopez (2-2) yielded six runs, four earned, and seven hits in 2 2/3 rocky innings.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
BLUE JAYS 7, ANGELS 2 Russell Martin had three hits and two RBIs, R.A. Dickey pitched 6 2/3 innings for his first home win since July 10 and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Los Angeles Angels. Toronto’s win ensured it would maintain at least a share of first place in the AL East. The Blue Jays entered tied with Boston for the division lead. Martin had an RBI single in the first, drove in a run with a bases-loaded walk in the third, singled and scored in the fifth, and doubled over the head of center fielder Mike Trout in the seventh. Michael Saunders hit his 21st home run, a solo shot off A.J. Achter in the eighth, and Edwin Encarnacion and Darwin Barney each reached base three times as the Blue Jays won their fifth straight over the Angels. Toronto has outscored Los Angeles 51-16 in that span.
RED SOX 2, RAYS 1 Clay Buchholz pitched into the seventh inning, David Ortiz had a run-scoring single and the Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays to remain tied atop the AL East. Buchholz (5-9) allowed one run, five hits, two walks and struck out nine in 6 1/3 innings. In his last five starts at Tropicana Field, the right-hander has given up two earned runs over 33 1/3 innings. Boston is tied with Toronto, which beat the Los Angeles Angels 7-2. Chris Archer (7-17) gave up two runs, five hits and threw 109 pitches in five innings for the Rays. The last 20-game loser in the majors was Detroit’s Mike Maroth (21) in 2003. Craig Kimbrel got the final three outs for his 23rd save.
TIGERS 8, TWINS 3 Cameron Maybin drove in three runs, including a go-ahead two-run single in the sixth inning, to spark the Detroit Tigers over the Minnesota Twins. Anibal Sanchez (7-12) pitched seven innings to win a start on the road for the first time since the first week of the season, and
NATIONAL LEAGUE
METS 7, CARDINALS 4 Wilmer Flores and Justin Ruggiano homered as the New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals. Jose Reyes reached four base times and scored three runs. Asdrubal Cabrera had three hits, drove in a run and scored once. The offense helped Robert Gsellman (1-0) get the decision in his major league debut. Gsellman, pressed into action after starter Jonathon Niese left with an injury in the first inning, pitched 3 2/3 innings without allowing an earned run. Jeurys Familia earned his 42nd save, one shy of the Mets’ season record set by Familia last year and Armando Benitez in 2001. Cardinals lefty Jaime Garcia (10-9) gave up a season-high six runs at home, in just four innings. New York broke a 22 1/3 -inning streak in which Garcia hadn’t given up an earned run at home to the Mets.
BREWERS 6, ROCKIES 4 Hernan Perez hit a two-run triple in the seventh inning, lifting the Milwaukee Brewers to a comeback win over the Colorado Rockies. Milwaukee has won three consecutive games after dropping eight of nine. Perez hit an 0-2 pitch from Carlos Estevez into the rightfield corner. Jonathan Villar scored from second and Ryan Braun from first when Daniel Descalso’s cutoff throw to the plate was wide and got past catcher Nick Hundley to give Milwaukee a 5-4 lead. Brent Suter (1-1) pitched a scoreless seventh for his first career victory in his first relief appearance after making his major league debut in a spot start Friday night. Corey Knebel pitched the ninth for his first career save in his 75th game, getting Hundley to ground into a fielder’s choice with two runners on to end it. Boone Logan (2-3) took the loss.