MLB roundup: Royals' Lopez loses perfect game in 9th

Kansas City right-hander Jorge Lopez pitched eight perfect innings before allowing a baserunner Saturday night, and the Royals defeated the Minnesota Twins 4-1 at Target Field in Minneapolis. Lopez, in only his seventh career start, flirted with history, retiring the first 24 Twins he faced. Max Kepler led off the ninth and induced a walk on a 3-1 count to break up the perfect game bid. Robbie Grossman, the next batter, broke up Lopez's no-hit bid, lacing a single to center. That ended Lopez's night. The former top-100 prospect left the game having thrown 110 pitches while striking out four. There have only been 23 perfect games recorded in major league history -- the last one by Seattle's Felix Hernandez on Aug. 15, 2012, against Tampa Bay. Rockies 4, Dodgers 2 Charlie Blackmon and Chris Iannetta homered, Kyle Freeland pitched six effective innings and Colorado beat Los Angeles in Denver. DJ LeMahieu had two hits, and Wade Davis pitched the ninth for his 39th save for the Rockies, who stayed in first place with the win. Colorado (78-63) increased its National League West lead over the Dodgers (77-65) to 1 1/2 games. Chris Taylor homered and Max Muncy had an RBI double in the ninth, when the Dodgers made it interesting against Davis. Cody Bellinger hit a two-out triple ahead of Muncy's double, but Davis struck out Yasmani Grandal on a full-count pitch to end the game. Braves 5, Diamondbacks 4 (10 innings) Ender Inciarte hit an RBI triple to cap a two-run 10th inning, and Atlanta took advantage of a season-high four Arizona errors in a road win. Ronald Acuna Jr. had two hits and two intentional walks, and Inciarte and Freddie Freeman had two hits apiece for the National League East-leading Braves (78-64), who took a 3 1/2-game lead over Philadelphia. The teams play seven times in the final 11 days of the regular season. Arizona (76-66) was out-hit 11-5 and fell 2 1/2 games behind Colorado in the NL West. The teams begin a four-game series in Colorado on Monday and play again in Arizona the following week. Mets 10, Phillies 5 Tomas Nido laced a three-run double in the second inning, and Todd Frazier hit a three-run homer in the third inning as host New York routed Philadelphia. The Mets' 12th win in their last 20 games was overshadowed by a pair of injuries. Starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard exited after taking a comebacker off his left rib cage in the seventh inning, two innings after left fielder Dominic Smith left due to a left groin strain. Syndergaard began walking off the mound after getting hit before a team trainer and Mets manager Mickey Callaway arrived there to check on him. He handed the ball to Callaway before disappearing into the Mets' dugout. Brewers 4, Giants 3 Left-hander Gio Gonzalez pitched effectively for 5 2/3 innings in his Milwaukee debut, leading the team to victory over visiting San Francisco. Travis Shaw and Christian Yelich homered for the Brewers (81-62), who pushed one game farther ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals (78-64) in their duel for the first wild card in the National League. Milwaukee is now 2 1/2 games up. Gonzalez (8-11), acquired Aug. 31 from the Washington Nationals, limited the Giants to one unearned run and three hits in his 5 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out seven. Tigers 4, Cardinals 3 Victor Reyes scored on a wild pitch with one out in the ninth, giving Detroit its second consecutive walk-off victory over visiting St. Louis. Marcell Ozuna tied the game with two outs in the ninth on his third homer in two nights, but Bud Norris (3-5) gave it back in the bottom of the inning. Reyes reached on a two-base error by first baseman Matt Carpenter. Jeimer Candelario walked, and Jim Adduci sacrificed to move up both runners. Nicholas Castellanos was intentionally walked to load the bases, and Norris bounced the first pitch he threw to Victor Martinez. Nationals 10, Cubs 3 (Game 1) Max Scherzer went the distance, scored a run and drove in another as Washington routed visiting Chicago in the first game of a doubleheader. Scherzer allowed nine hits in his nine innings, striking out 11 without a walk. Four of the hits came in the ninth when Chicago scored twice. The doubleheader was played because Friday night's game was washed out following two long rain delays. Nationals 6, Cubs 5 (Game 2) Bryce Harper hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning that capped Washington's comeback from an early four-run deficit to sweep its doubleheader with Chicago. Greg Holland worked around a leadoff hit by pitch in the ninth to earn his second save with the Nationals after a 1-hour, 29-minute rain delay in the bottom of the eighth inning. The Nationals needed to come back from a 4-0 deficit thanks to Victor Caratini's grand slam in the top of the fourth off starter Jefry Rodriguez. Caratini crushed a 1-0 pitch into the seats for that early lead. Astros 5, Red Sox 3 Alex Bregman and Martin Maldonado slugged solo home runs, and Charlie Morton worked five innings in his first start off the disabled list as Houston extended its winning streak to seven games with a win at Boston. Morton (14-3) skipped a turn in the rotation with right shoulder discomfort and, while he labored a bit, limited the Red Sox to two runs on seven hits and two walks with three strikeouts. Astros rookie right-hander Josh James, making his first career relief appearance and second overall, recorded eight crucial outs in relief of Morton. Closer Roberto Osuna recorded his sixth save with Houston (15th overall) despite allowing an RBI single to Andrew Benintendi. Athletics 8, Rangers 6 Matt Olson hit Chris Martin's second pitch of the eighth inning for a tiebreaking home run, lifting Oakland past visiting Texas. The win allowed the A's (86-57) to keep pace with Houston (89-53) atop the American League West, 3 1/2 games back. After Adrian Beltre's second home run of the day for the Rangers, a two-run shot, tied the score at 6-6 in the top of the eighth, Olson wasted no time putting Oakland back on top for good with his 25th homer of the season. Yankees 4, Mariners 2 Austin Romine hit a tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning as New York defeated host Seattle. Andrew McCutchen also homered for New York, which is 5-0 against the Mariners this year and will go for the season sweep Sunday afternoon. The Mariners threatened in the bottom of the ninth against Dellin Betances. Mitch Haniger led off with a double. An out later, Robinson Cano was hit in the left foot by a pitch, forcing him from the game. Betances then walked Nelson Cruz to load the bases. But Betances struck out Denard Span and Kyle Seager to earn his third save of the season. Indians 9, Blue Jays 8 Roberto Perez homered, doubled and had four RBIs in a seven-run fifth inning as visiting Cleveland held on to defeat Toronto. Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer for the Indians. Randal Grichuk hit two solo homers for the Blue Jays. Rowdy Tellez added his first career homer, giving him seven extra-base hits in his first four major league games, and also singled. Angels 12, White Sox 3 Mike Trout hit two home runs and had five RBIs in his second career five-hit game, and Los Angeles won in a rout at Chicago. Trout hit a two-run homer in the first inning and hit a three-run shot in the third to start his 5-for-5 game. Shohei Ohtani added a three-run triple for the Angels, who have won three in a row. The White Sox have dropped four straight. Rays 10, Orioles 5 Matt Duffy had two hits and two RBIs to lead Tampa Bay in a rout of visiting Baltimore. The Rays (77-64) stayed eight games behind Oakland for the second wild-card spot, also trailing Seattle. Meanwhile, the Orioles fell to 60 games under .500 at 41-101. The Rays jumped on the Orioles early, scoring four runs in the first and another in the second. Pirates 5, Marlins 1 Ivan Nova pitched six scoreless innings, and Josh Bell homered for the second straight day to help Pittsburgh win its fifth straight game at visiting Miami's expense. Nova (8-9) had not pitched since Aug. 28 as he was granted a leave to attend to a personal matter in his native Dominican Republic. He showed no rust, allowing three hits, walking one and tying a season high with nine strikeouts. Marlins starter Wei-Yin Chen (6-10) gave up three runs and five hits in four innings, with six strikeouts and two walks. Reds 7, Padres 2 (7 innings) Joey Votto capped a seven-run second inning with Cincinnati's second grand slam in as many games, leading the hosts to a rain-shortened victory over San Diego. The umpiring crew halted the game with one out in the top of the seventh due to unplayable conditions after an infield single by the Padres' Jose Pirela. Right-hander Matt Harvey (7-8) gave up two runs -- on a fourth-inning homer by Eric Hosmer -- on four hits and three walks with 10 strikeouts over six innings to get the win. --Field Level Media