Gavin Williams overcomes frightful first, nearly pitches Guardians' first no-hitter in 44 years

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NEW YORK (AP) — Gavin Williams came within two outs of Cleveland's first no-hitter in 44 years before Juan Soto homered with one out in the ninth inning, and the Cleveland Guardians completed a three-game sweep of the reeling New York Mets with a 4-1 win Wednesday.
Williams (7-4) walked three and struck out six, including Francisco Lindor to lead off the ninth. But Soto homered just beyond the leaping grasp of center fielder Angel Martinez two pitches later.
The Guardians have not thrown a no-hitter since Len Barker twirled a perfect game on May 15, 1981. Their no-hitter drought is the longest in the majors.
CUBS 6, REDS 1
CHICAGO (AP) — Seiya Suzuki homered, Cade Horton threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings and Chicago prevented a sweep from Cincinnati.
The sixth-inning solo shot was Suzuki's 27th home run of the season, moving him into a tie with teammate Pete Crow-Armstrong for seventh in the majors and fourth in the National League. The outfielder finished 2-for-2 on the day with a pair of RBIs and a walk, also scoring Nico Hoerner on a third-inning sacrifice fly.
Horton (6-2, 3.18 ERA) earned the win after giving up only two hits and striking out six. The 23-year-old Horton has not allowed a run in his last 23 1/3 innings, dating back to July 9 against Minnesota.
GIANTS 4, PIRATES 2
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Dominic Smith hit a go-ahead double in the ninth inning, and San Francisco rallied for a win over Pittsburgh.
Jung Hoo Lee hit a one-out double down the right-field line off Dennis Santana (3-4). Smith, pinch hitting for Christian Koss, brought Lee in with another double to right to make it 3-2 and Patrick Bailey extended the lead with an RBI single.
Giants reliever Ryan Walker (4-4) struck out the side in the eighth, including Oneil Cruz with two on and two outs. Randy Rodríguez pitched a perfect ninth for his third save.
ORIOLES 5, PHILLIES 1
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Coby Mayo hit a three-run homer, Jeremiah Jackson doubled in a run for his first extra-base hit and RBI in the majors as Baltimore beat Philadelphia.
After the Phillies scored 18 runs in winning the first two games of the series, Baltimore left-hander Trevor Rogers (5-2) put a stop to it, allowing one run on eight hits with six strikeouts over six innings.
Dietrich Enns pitched two scoreless innings and fellow lefty reliever Keegan Akin closed it out in the ninth for Baltimore.
TWINS 9, TIGERS 4
DETROIT (AP) — Luke Keaschall drove in three runs for the second straight game as Minnesota beat Detroit.
Keaschell is hitting .393 in his nine-game major league career, which was interrupted in April by a broken arm. He returned on Tuesday and has four hits and six RBIs in his first two games back.
Thomas Hatch (1-0) picked up the win with 4 1/3 scoreless innings of relief. He was claimed off waivers on Monday from the Kansas City Royals.
YANKEES 3, RANGERS 2
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Paul Goldschmidt put the Yankees ahead with a pinch-hit solo homer in the seventh inning and New York ended its five-game losing streak with a victory over Texas.
Goldschmidt went deep off lefty reliever Robert Garcia (1-7), who has now given up homers in his last three appearances.
The Yankees (61-54) avoided being swept in Texas for the first time since 2010, and kept the Rangers from moving past them for the American League's third and final wild-card spot.
Mark Leiter Jr. (5-6) got the win after coming on with a runner on in the sixth and getting a flyout before a double-play grounder to end the inning. That came after his cousin, Rangers rookie starter Jack Leiter, struck out three and walked four in 3 1/3 innings while allowing two runs (one earned).
David Bednar struck out five while throwing 42 pitches over the final 1 2/3 innings for his 18th save.
BLUE JAYS 20, ROCKIES 1
DENVER (AP) — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had four hits, including a home run, and Davis Schneider went deep twice as Toronto capped their Coors Field onslaught with a victory over Colorado.
The first-place Blue Jays finished with five homers and 24 hits to set a major league record with 63 hits in a three-game series. They established a franchise mark with 45 runs in the three-game set.
Bo Bichette and Ernie Clement also homered for the AL East leaders, who outscored the Rockies 45-6 in the series and are 26-11 since June 25. Toronto hit 13 home runs in the series.
Ty France had four doubles and Clement added four hits. Bichette and Schneider had four RBIs apiece.
Guerrero extended his on-base streak to 23 games, the longest current streak in the American League.
CARDINALS 5, DODGERS 3
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani homered for his 1,000th career hit and struck out a season-high eight in four innings on the mound, but St. Louis rallied late to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Jordan Walker had three hits for the Cardinals, including an RBI single that tied the score with two outs in the eighth. St. Louis took a 4-3 lead on the same play when rookie third baseman Alex Freeland made a costly throwing error.
Lars Nootbaar added a run-scoring double off reliever Brock Stewart in the ninth.
RAYS 5, ANGELS 4
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Junior Caminero hit his 29th and 30th homers, Christopher Morel had a go-ahead shot and six Tampa Bay pitchers combined to strike out 16 in the Rays' victory over the Los Angeles Angels.
Caminero hit a career-long 447-foot shot with a man on in the first, and had a solo homer in the third. Morel was 0 for 6 with six strikeouts in the series before hitting his solo homer in the seventh.
Nick Fortes also homered, his first hit in five games with the Rays since being acquired from Miami.
Starter Shane Baz struck out nine in four innings to help Tampa Bay win for the fourth time in 14 games. Garrett Cleavinger (1-4) was the winner, and Pete Fairbanks got his 19th save.
Ryan Zeferjahn (6-4) took the loss.
MARLINS 6, ASTROS 4
MIAMI (AP) — Xavier Edwards went 4 for 5 with a double, Graham Pauley and Heriberto Hernández each hit a solo homer and Miami beat Houston to snap a seven-game losing streak against the Astros.
Janson Junk (6-2) allowed three runs on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts in five innings. The Marlins are 8-2 in Junk's 10 starts since joining the rotation June 20.
Lake Bachar pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save.
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