Pete Alonso and the New York Mets put quite the hurt on the Minnesota Twins to sweep their two-game series. Dominic Smith put the Mets in front with his pinch-hit, three-run homer in the seventh inning, and the rookie All-Star Alonso added a 474-foot moonshot halfway up the third deck in a 14-4 victory on Wednesday that stuck the Twins with their first three-game losing streak this season.
Amed Rosario went 4 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs for the Mets, who set a 2019 high for runs and matched a season best with their fourth consecutive victory. All of the wins have been on the road for the Mets, who at 21-32 still have the worst record away from home in the NL.
Rafael Devers hit a solo homer and drove in four runs, Eduardo Rodríguez pitched effectively into the seventh inning and the Boston Red Sox sent Toronto's Aaron Sanchez to his 13th straight loss, beating the Blue Jays 5-4. Devers also had a two-run double and RBI single, Brock Holt added a run-scoring hit – one of his three singles for the Red Sox, who had dropped three of four since a five-game winning streak.
Trey Mancini hit two home runs, and Baltimore pummeled four Washington relievers in a 9-2 victory Wednesday night that provided the Orioles with a split of the two-game interleague series. Washington was riding a 31-12 streak before losing for only the fourth time in 17 games. The loss kept them 6 1/2 games behind NL East-leading Atlanta Braves, who host the Nationals in a four-game series beginning tonight.
David Freese didn't want a long night to drag out even longer. Freese hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning, six Dodgers pitchers combined on a two-hitter spanning a 2 hour, 37 minute rain delay, and Los Angeles completed a 7-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies early this morning. Justin Turner also homered, and A.J. Pollock and Kiké Hernandez drove in runs for the NL-West leading Dodgers, who improved their MLB-best record to 64-34 while remaining 14 games in front of Arizona. Rain delayed the game in the top of the third, and the last out was recorded at 1:42 a.m. The teams are set to conclude the four-game series at 12:35 p.m. today.
The scheduled game between the Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays was postponed Wednesday night due to a forecast of thunderstorms and severe weather. The game will be made up today as part of a single-admission doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m.
In MLB news, former Boston Red Sox infielder Elijah "Pumpsie" Green, the first black player on the last major league team to field one, has died. He was 85. The Red Sox say Green, who lived in California most of his life, died Wednesday at in a hospital in San Leandro, near Oakland. The team observed a moment of silence before its game against the Toronto Blue Jays. A second baseman and shortstop, Green brought baseball's segregation era to an end of sorts when he entered a game against the White Sox as a pinch-runner for Vic Wertz on July 21, 1959 — more than a dozen years after Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Green played parts of four seasons with the Red Sox before finishing his career with one year on the Mets. In all, he batted .246 with 13 homers and 74 RBIs.
Speedy outfielder Terrance Gore was traded to the New York Yankees by the Kansas City Royals for $100,000 on Wednesday. The deal was announced before New York's scheduled game against the Tampa Bay Rays was postponed due to a forecast of severe inclement weather. Gore was not added to the Yankees' 40-man roster, and will report to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The 5-foot-7 Gore is one of the fastest players in the majors and could be called up when major league rosters expand in September. He gives the AL East leaders a potential pinch-runner deluxe in the late innings of critical games — perhaps even come playoff time in October.
Ernie Broglio, a 21-game winner in 1960 who is remembered most as the player traded by the St. Louis Cardinals for Hall of Famer Lou Brock, has died. He was 83. Broglio's daughter, Donna Broglio Cavallaro, confirmed her father's death on social media. Another daughter, Nancy Broglio Salerno, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Broglio had been battling cancer and died Tuesday night. Broglio tied for the major league lead in victories and finished third in NL Cy Young Award voting in 1960 with St. Louis. He pitched solidly for the Cardinals until being sent to the Chicago Cubs for Brock during the 1964 season. Brock broke out after the trade, hitting .348 with 33 stolen bases and helping St. Louis win that year's World Series. Broglio played high school ball in California with Elijah "Pumpsie" Green.
NBA
Kyrie Irving is no longer with the Celtics, but his brief flameout in Boston is still on the minds of fans in the city and even, apparently, players who have yet to play a minute for the team. On the day that the Celtics introduced Kemba Walker as their point guard of the future, Enes Kanter said he chose the No. 11 last worn in Boston by Irving in part because it was his number in Oklahoma City in 2016-17. But he also quoted a commercial in which Irving aspired to have the number retired in his honor. "I want to be the reason no one else wears it," Kanter said, cracking up himself and the media at the introductory news conference he shared with Walker. "I had to say it." Irving, who had spoken about his desire to finish his career in Boston — and have his number retired — opted out of his contract and signed with the Brooklyn Nets.
SOCCER
Jozy Altidore, Alejandro Pozuelo and Ashtone Morgan scored to help Toronto FC beat the New York Red Bulls 3-1 on Wednesday night. Altidore opened the scoring in the sixth minute, back-heeling Tsubasa Endoh's cross low off the goalpost. He has seven goals in 11 games this season. Pozuelo made it 2-0 from the penalty spot in the 26th minute after Kemar Lawrence brought down Richie Laryea. Tom Barlow scored for New York in the 63rd minute, and Morgan capped the scoring in the 72nd with his second goal in 123 regular-season games. Toronto (8-8-5) is 3-1-1 in its last five. New York dropped to 9-8-4.
GOLF
The British Open started today at the Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. It runs through Sunday. So far, Rory McIlroy went out of bounds on his first shot of the British Open, then left his ball unplayable in thick brush near the green and ended up with a quadruple-bogey 8. The 2014 champion holds the course record at Royal Portrush, shooting a 61 when he was 16 in the North of Ireland Amateur. McIlroy went out of bounds left in an internal area of the course off the tee. After hitting his provisional left again into the rough, his approach cleared a bunker but landed in a patch of thick grass and he was forced to drop. He chipped onto the green but missed a 6-foot putt. Heading into this year's tournament, the first in Northern Ireland since Royal Portrush hosted the event in 1951, McIlroy was considered to be a strong contender for a second British Open title.
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