MLB: Yankees split doubleheader with Mets as Braves stun Marlins late
After a rough start to the Subway Series, the New York Yankees split a doubleheader with the New York Mets on Sunday.
The New York Yankees salvaged the final game of their abbreviated Subway Series against the New York Mets, holding on to split the doubleheader with a 4-2 victory after dropping the opening game 10-5 on Sunday.
Languishing in fourth place in the American League (AL) East, the Yankees appeared in serious danger of being swept after closer Aroldis Chapman imploded again in the first MLB game.
Holding a 5-4 lead entering the decisive seventh inning, Chapman served up a game-tying home run to Pete Alonso to open the frame, then put the next two Mets batters on base before manager Aaron Boone pulled the plug, hoping to avoid a repeat of the stunning meltdown his All-Star reliever had earlier in the week against the Los Angeles Angels.
His move did not help, as Jose Peraza, Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor produced run-scoring hits to blow the game open against Lucas Luetge.
The Yankees' bullpen came through in the nightcap, though, as Chad Green came on to hold what was then a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning and did not allow the Mets to reach base the rest of the way.
Green finished the game in style with an "immaculate inning" – three strikeouts on the minimum nine pitches – in the seventh.
According to Stats Perform, Green is the first pitcher in the modern era to pitch at least three perfect innings, strike out at least six batters and have an immaculate inning all in the same game.
Fried caps Braves' shock comeback against Marlins
Down 7-3 to the Miami Marlins in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Atlanta Braves scored four times to tie the game, then got a walk-off single from pitcher Max Fried in the 10th to prevail 8-7.
Austin Meadows had three doubles, Wander Franco hit his second MLB home run, and the Tampa Bay Rays' pitching staff shut down the dangerous Toronto Blue Jays line-up in a 5-1 victory, the team's first road win since June 14 after 10 straight defeats.
The Pittsburgh Pirates scored two runs for the fifth consecutive game but came out on top this time, winning 2-0 in a brilliant pitching effort by Tyler Anderson to snap the Milwaukee Brewers' 11-game winning streak.
Slumping Cubs drop ninth in a row
The Chicago Cubs fell 3-2 to the Cincinnati Reds for the second consecutive day, giving them nine losses in a row and dropping them back to .500 at 42-42 for the first time since they were 21-21 on 19 May.
A 10th-inning fielding error by Cleveland pitcher Emmanuel Clase allowed the eventual winning run to score as the Indians dropped their sixth in a row, 4-3 to the Houston Astros.
Another Ohtani bomb
Shohei Ohtani did it again, extending his MLB lead with his 31st home run of the season, a 459-foot blast that gave the Angels a 3-0 lead on the way to a 6-5 walk-off win against the Baltimore Orioles.
Sunday's results
Dodgers at Marlins
The most appealing pitching matchup of the day will take place in Miami, where newly minted All-Star Trevor Rogers (7-5, 2.14 ERA) and the Marlins host a prominent All-Star snub in Walker Buehler (8-1, 2.35 ERA) and the Dodgers.