And That Happened: Monday’s Scores and Highlights - MLB

Here are the scores. Here are the highlights:

Red Sox 9, Rays 4: The Red Sox batted around in the third inning, scoring seven runs. Three came in on a J.D. Martinez homer off of Jalen Beeks. Andrew Benintendi and Sam Travis would tack on solo homers off of Beeks as well. Xander Bogaerts doubled twice and walked twice. Eduardo Rodríguez turned in seven scoreless innings on two hits and four walks with six strikeouts. The Rays gave up even after scoring three runs in the bottom of the eighth, trotting out Michael Brousseau to pitch the top of the ninth. He allowed back-to-back doubles to Bogaerts and Martinez but managed to get through the inning without too much damage. It’s not often you see a team put in a position player to pitch down only five runs.

Cardinals 6, Pirates 5 (10 innings): Paul Goldschmidt, who owned a .639 OPS dating back to July 7, smacked a go-ahead grand slam in the top of the 10th off of Clay Holmes to break a 2-2 tie. The Pirates battled back for three runs in the bottom of the 10th, but it just barely wasn’t enough. Josh Bell brought home a run with a double and Jung Ho Kang hit a two-run homer.

Indians 7, Blue Jays 3: The Indians continue to win, now having emerged victorious in 13 of 16 games this month. Mike Clevenger turned in a solid effort, holding the Jays to three runs across seven innings with seven strikeouts. Center fielder Oscar Mercado tripled and homered. Jason Kipnis reached base four times.

Astros 11, Athletics 1: Gerrit Cole dominated, punching out 11 A’s batters while holding them to a run on two hits and a walk. His ERA is down to 3.03. Only Charlie Morton, Mike Minor, José Berríos, and Justin Verlander have better ERAs. Yuli Gurriel had a three-hit, three-RBI night including a homer. Yordan Alvarez homered again, bringing his OPS to 1.130.Aledmys Díaz also knocked in three runs. The Astros have won six games in a row.

Twins 8, Yankees 6: The Twins clubbed five homers, getting one each from Jorge Polanco, Nelson Cruz, and Max Kepler along with two from Mitch Garver. The Yankees got homers from Gio Urshela, Luke Voit, and DJ LeMahieu. Both starters lasted just four innings.

White Sox 9, Marlins 1: Another L for the Fish, who have dropped four in a row now. The White Sox were all over Trevor Richards, who coughed up seven runs in five innings. José Abreu and Yoán Moncada did most of the damage. Abreu hit an RBI double in the first and a two-run homer in the third. Moncada had an RBI single and a three-run homer. Iván Nova went all nine innings, limiting the Marlins to a lone run on four hits with no walks and five strikeouts. It’s the 26th complete game pitched this season. Lucas Giolito has two of them and now Nova has one.

Diamondbacks 6, Orioles 3: Robbie Ray relented a couple of solo homers in the fifth inning but was otherwise quite solid for the D-Backs. He went six frames in total, allowing three runs while fanning 10. Adam Jones picked up three hits. The D-Backs are 51-50 but GM Mike Hazen sounded realistic about his team’s chances. Per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, Hazen said, “The belief that a .500 team is going to win the World Series, get through the wild-card format that we have and win the World Series is – I don’t think, objectively, that’s a position we should be staking ourselves to.” The D-Backs play the Marlins for four games after this series with the Orioles. Things could get interesting leading up to the trade deadline.

Giants 5, Cubs 4: The Giants rallied for three runs in the bottom of the eighth to overtake the Cubs. They banged out three doubles and a single against Pedro Strop, leading them to their 15th victory in 18 July games. They now have the same record as the D-Backs, sitting two games out of the second NL Wild Card slot. Once thought to be ready to ship off Madison Bumgarner and Will Smith, the Giants may now fancy themselves Wild Card contenders.

Reds 6, Brewers 5: Hope looked lost for the Reds after Tyler Saladino hit a go-ahead grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning (his second grand slam in as many days), but Eugenio Suárez had other ideas. He hit his second homer of the night, a go-ahead two-run homer in the top of the ninth. Sonny Gray continues to pitch well, tossing six innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts. He boasts a 3.29 ERA. Not bad for a guy who put up a 4.90 ERA for the Yankees last year.

Mariners 7, Rangers 3: Austin Nola hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the second, giving the Mariners a lead they would never relinquish. Marco Gonzales won his 11th game of the year, holding the Rangers to two runs on seven hits with no walks and four strikeouts across seven innings. Not much to write home about for the Rangers, who are now on an eight-game losing streak. Rougned Odor had three hits, including a homer.

Rockies @ Nationals: Postponed

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BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles signed outfielder Aaron Hicks less than 24 hours after Cedric Mullins went down with a strained right groin.

Mullins went on the 10-day injured list, but the Orioles are hoping Hicks can help defensively in the spacious outfield at Camden Yards. Hicks was released last week by the New York Yankees with more than 2 1/2 seasons left on his contract.

“We had noticed that he was a free agent even before the injury,” Orioles general manager Mike Elias said. “When the injury occurred and it became pretty clear this was going to be an IL, it seemed like a good fit even more so at that time.”

The Orioles are responsible for paying Hicks just $483,871, a prorated share of the $720,000 minimum salary. The Yankees owe him the rest of his $10.5 million salary this year, plus $9.5 million in each of the next two seasons and a $1 million buyout of a 2026 team option.

The 33-year-old Hicks hit just .188 in 28 games for the Yankees this year.

“We have stuff that we look at from a scouting and evaluation perspective,” Elias said. “It’s very different from just looking at the back of a baseball card, and we hope that we get a bounceback from anyone we bring here.”

Hicks batted .216 last season.

“Hopefully that’s a good thing for him,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of the Baltimore deal. “A lot of time here and a lot of good things happened for him here. I know the last couple of years have been a struggle. But hopefully it’s a good opportunity for him and certainly wish him well. Not too well being in our division and a team we’re chasing, but hopefully it’s a really good fit for him.”

Mullins left a loss to Cleveland after he pulled up while running out an infield grounder. Outfielder Colton Cowser – the fifth pick in the draft two years ago – is hitting .331 at Triple-A Norfolk, but he went on the IL in the past couple weeks.

“Certainly he was building a case towards promotion consideration prior to his injury and prior to Cedric’s injury,” Elias said. “We’ll just see where we’re at.”

Hicks was active for the game but not in the starting lineup. Austin Hays, normally Baltimore’s left field, was in Mullins’ usual spot in center.

When the wall in left at Camden Yards was pushed significantly back before last season, it made left field a bigger challenge defensively.

“In this park … you really need two center fielders,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Aaron’s got a lot of center-field experience. Played left field here before also. Brings the defensive aspect and then the switch-hitting.”