DETROIT (AP) — Miguel Vargas homered twice, Tristan Peters and Munetaka Murakami went deep once each, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 9-5 on Friday night
Vargas went 4 for 5 and had his third multihomer game as the White Sox extended their lead atop the AL Central to 3 1/2 games. Peters and Braden Montgomery had three hits each.
Montgomery gave the White Sox the lead with an RBI single in the first, but Detroit pulled ahead 3-1 on Ben Malgeri’s two-run homer in the second and Eduardo Valencia’s RBI double in the third.
Peters’ seventh home run of the season tied the game at 3-all in the fourth. Murakami gave the White Sox the lead for good three batters later with a solo shot, and Montgomery tripled to drive in two more and cap off a five-run inning.
Vargas hit his first home run in the sixth and added his second in the eighth.
Sean Newcomb opened with 1 1/3 hitless frames, and José Urquidy (1-1) threw 3 2/3 innings of relief for the win. Urquidy allowed three runs on five hits and struck out three.
The Tigers were led by Malgeri with his first career multihomer game, and Gleyber Torres and Valencia with two hits each.
Jackson Jobe (1-1) allowed six runs on nine hits across 3 2/3 innings. He fanned four and walked one.
CUBS 3, CARDINALS 0
CHICAGO (AP) — Clay Holmes and three Cubs relievers combined on a three-hitter, and Seiya Suzuki hit a three-run homer to send Chicago to a win over St. Louis.
Making his second start and first at Wrigley Field since being acquired from the New York Mets at the trade deadline, Holmes (5-5) retired his first 16 batters before José Fermin singled in the sixth.
Holmes, who missed three months with a broken right fibula before the trade, struck out three, walked one and allowed one hit in 6 2/3 innings, exiting to a standing ovation. Ryan Rolison, Ryan Zeferjahn and Jacob Webb followed, with Webb pitching the ninth for his ninth save.
For the first five innings, Matthew Liberatore (5-10) was just as good as Holmes. He set down his first 13 batters before Nico Hoerner singled in the fifth.
Liberatore ran into trouble in the sixth, allowing the first two batters to reach before retiring Pete Crow-Armstrong on a foul popup and yielding to George Soriano.
Suzuki hit Soriano’s fourth pitch, a 2-1 changeup, an estimated 390 feet to left for his 21st homer. He also doubled in the eighth, the only player with multiple hits.
REDS 1, MARLINS 0
CINCINNATI (AP) — Chase Burns gave up four hits and struck out eight in seven innings, Eugenio Suárez hit an RBI double in the sixth, and Cincinnati beat Miami.
Burns (14-2) did not give up a walk and allowed just one runner to reach second base. He has now thrown 131 innings this season, far exceeding the 43 1/3 innings he pitched last season and the 66 innings he tossed in the minor leagues. He last pitched 100 innings in a season while at Wake Forest.
Emilio Pagán, who was experiencing hand soreness but cleared to pitch Friday, retired the Marlins in order in the ninth for his 15th save.
Marlins right-hander Sandy Alcantara (13-7) allowed one run on three hits with four walks in seven innings. By holding the Reds scoreless over the first five innings, he extended his scoreless innings streak to a career-long 25 2/3 dating to July 28.
It’s his second scoreless streak of 20 or more innings this season. The streak surpassed his previous best of 25 straight innings in 2022.
PIRATES 8, RED SOX 4
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Brandon Lowe hit a three-run home run and rookie Rafael Flores Jr. homered for the third time in two days to lead Pittsburgh to a victory over Boston.
Lowe’s homer came in the fifth inning off Jovani Moran and landed in the right-field stands, extending the Pirates’ lead to 7-2 as they won back-to-back games for the first time since July 26-27. Flores hit a solo shot off Jake Bennett (7-6) in the second to open the scoring after connecting twice Thursday in a 13-1 victory at Miami.
Rookie Esmerlyn Valdez hit a two-run double in the third and scored on a single by Flores to make it 4-0. Lowe had three hits and Bryan Reynolds added two.
The Red Sox lost for the sixth time in seven games after winning 28 of 36. They had runners on first and second with two outs in the ninth, but Mason Montgomery escaped the jam for his third save.
Rookie Bubba Chandler (6-8) won his third straight start, allowing two runs and four hits in five innings with five strikeouts and two walks. Bennett gave up four runs over four innings while losing for the fourth time in four starts.
Nick Sogard drove in two runs for the Red Sox.
BLUE JAYS 3, YANKEES 1
TORONTO (AP) — Alejandro Kirk homered and hit a tiebreaking double, Shane Bieber pitched six innings to win for the fourth time in six starts and Toronto beat New York.
Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. left after colliding with Yankees rookie shortstop George Lombard Jr. on a chaotic play at third base in the sixth inning.
Kirk went 2 for 3 with a walk. He broke a 1-1 tie with a two-out double off Gerrit Cole in the sixth, then added some insurance with a two-out homer, his fifth, off Bradley Hanner in the eighth.
Bieber (4-2) allowed one run on four hits. He’s 4-1 with a 3.48 ERA in his past six outings.
Tyler Rogers got four outs and Mason Fluharty retired both batters he faced. Louis Varland finished for his 27th save in 28 chances.
Cole (6-6) allowed two runs, one earned, and five hits in six innings, snapping a streak of three straight winning starts. Cole walked two and struck out five.
DIAMONDBACKS 2, BRAVES 0
ATLANTA (AP) — Brandon Pfaadt allowed only two hits in seven innings in another strong start, Tim Tawa homered in the ninth and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Atlanta Braves 2-0 on Friday night.
Pfaadt (7-1) outdueled Braves ace Chris Sale, striking out seven without a walk. He threw 87 pitches. Since returning to the rotation from Triple-A Reno on June 30, Pfaadt is 7-0 with a 1.16 ERA. He has gone 32 2/3 innings without allowing an earned run.
Sale (12-8) gave up one run on five hits in six innings. He struck out nine and threw 108 pitches, which tied a season high.
Tawa’s solo shot in the inning was his seventh homer of the year. Geraldo Perdomo was 3 for 4 with a run and Corbin Carroll was 2 for 4 for the Diamondbacks.
Rookie left-hander Brandyn Garcia picked up his fourth save with a perfect ninth inning.
Arizona scored its only run off Sale thanks to a misplayed ball in the first inning. After a leadoff walk to Perdomo, Carroll hit a line drive to left where Mauricio Dubón started to come in, then reached up and couldn’t come up with the ball. It was ruled a double, and Perdomo came home on a groundout by Gabriel Moreno.
The Braves had not been shut out since June 27 and were 10-0 in Friday night home games this season.
METS 4, NATIONALS 1
NEW YORK (AP) — Francisco Lindor and Jared Young homered, powering New York to a win over Washington.
Lindor went deep in the sixth, three batters before Carson Benge delivered the tiebreaking RBI single for the last-place Mets, who have won seven of 10 since the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
Lindor’s fielding error in the third inning led to the Nationals’ run.
Young homered with one out in the seventh, and Bo Bichette added an RBI single.
Jonathan Pintaro (1-0) earned his first big league win with two innings of scoreless relief. Kodai Senga worked out of a two-out, two-on jam in the ninth, striking out Abimelec Ortiz to record his second save.
Senga, a former starter who went 0-8 with an 8.66 ERA in his first 13 outings this season, has both Mets saves since Devin Williams went on the injured list Monday.
Mets starter Robert Stock gave up an unearned run and struck out five over 4 1/3 innings.
PADRES 7, GUARDIANS 5
CLEVELAND (AP) — Luis Campusano and Xander Bogaerts each drove in three runs, Fernando Tatis Jr. homered for the fifth time in nine games and San Diego overcame an early three-run deficit to defeat Cleveland.
The Padres have won six straight and 16 of 20 since July 24 while the Guardians have dropped five of their last six and are 8-18 since the All-Star break.
Campusano had a pair of doubles, including one off the wall in right-center with the bases loaded in the fifth inning to drive in two runs and give the Padres a 5-3 lead.
Bogaerts hit a towering two-run homer to left-center in the fourth to get the Padres within a run. Tatis tied it on the first pitch of the fifth when he connected on an elevated sinker from Cleveland starter Gavin Williams (11-7) for a solo shot to left field.
Cleveland’s Nathaniel Lowe had three hits and drove in a pair of runs. The first baseman went opposite field to left for his 14th home run in the second and then had an RBI base hit in the third to extend Cleveland’s lead to 3-0. Brayan Rocchio also went deep with one out in the third when he lined an elevated sinker by Padres stater Michael King (8-8) over the wall in right.
King went six innings and allowed five runs. The right-hander had allowed only one run in seven previous outings against Cleveland, which included two starts.
ORIOLES 6, RAYS 5
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Dylan Beavers hit a two-run, pinch-hit single in the seventh to put Baltimore ahead to stay, Gunnar Henderson and Colton Cowser homered, and the Orioles beat Tampa Bay to snap its nine-game win streak.
Chris Bassit, activated off the 60-day IL before the game, allowed two runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings in his first appearance since June 3.
Josh Walker (1-0) earned the win with 2/3 innings in relief and Cam Sanders got the final out to end Tampa Bay’s three-run ninth-inning rally for his second save.
Garrett Cleavinger (4-4) took the loss as Tampa Bay used six relievers behind opener Steven Matz. The Rays, who returned home following a 9-0 road trip, maintain a 6 1/2-game lead over the New York Yankees in the AL East.
Beavers greeted reliever Kevin Kelly with a base hit to right field with the bases loaded to break a 2-2 tie. Henderson hit a two-run home run off Chris Roycroft in the eighth, which proved to be the difference after the Rays scored three times in the ninth.