Rookie catcher Adrian Del Castillo, a Miami native playing his first pro game in his hometown, slugged a grand slam and drove in six runs, leading the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 9-6 win over the host Marlins on Monday night.
Del Castillo went 2-for-4 with a walk and his first career stolen base. He also threw a runner out attempting to steal second.
Brandon Pfaadt (8-6) earned the win despite allowing nine hits, two walks and four runs in 5 1/3 innings. The Diamondbacks have won five straight games in which Pfaadt has pitched.
Nick Fortes had a solo home run and a sacrifice fly as Miami lost for the fourth time in five games.
Mets 4, Orioles 3
Francisco Alvarez hit a walk-off homer — the first of his career — in the ninth inning for host New York, which took the opener of a three-game series against Baltimore.
Edwin Diaz (4-1) logged a perfect ninth inning for the Mets, who won for the fourth time in 10 games to move within 1 1/2 games of the idle Atlanta Braves in the race for the final National League wild-card spot.
Ramon Urias and Ryan Mountcastle had two hits apiece while combining to score all three runs for the Orioles, who fell a half-game behind the idle New York Yankees in the race for first place in the American League East and the top overall seed in the AL.
Rangers 4, Pirates 3
Corey Seager slammed two home runs to account for all of Texas’ offense as the Rangers earned a win against Pittsburgh in the opener of a three-game series at Arlington, Texas.
Marcus Semien had two hits and scored a run for the Rangers, who have won two in a row for the first time since a five-game winning streak from July 21-25. Jose Urena (4-8) pitched four innings of shutout relief for the win.
Jared Triolo hit a three-run homer as the Pirates fell for the 12th time in 14 games. Pittsburgh starter Luis L. Ortiz (5-4) gave up four runs and five hits in six innings.
Reds 6, Blue Jays 3
TJ Friedl had a solo homer among his three hits as visiting Cincinnati defeated Toronto.
Ty France added two hits and two RBIs for the Reds, who ended a three-game losing streak. Cincinnati right-hander Julian Aguiar made his major league debut and allowed two runs and four hits in four innings. Tony Santillan (1-1) earned the win.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Ernie Clement hit solo home runs for the Blue Jays in the opener of a three-game series that begins a seven-game homestand.
Astros 5, Red Sox 4
Yainer Diaz belted his first career walk-off home run with one out in the ninth inning as Houston overcame an error-prone performance and claimed a win over visiting Boston.
Diaz drilled a first-pitch cutter from Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen (3-2) 401 feet to left-center field. It marked the 14th home run of the season for Diaz and made a winner of Astros closer Josh Hader (6-6), who worked a perfect top of the ninth.
Boston’s Masataka Yoshida snapped a 2-2 deadlock with a two-run pinch-hit homer in the top of the sixth. Houston committed a season-high four errors.
Royals 5, Angels 3
Salvador Perez drove in three runs and Paul DeJong homered to lead Kansas City past visiting Los Angeles, the Royals’ fifth consecutive win.
In the opener of a three-game series, Perez began the scoring in the third inning with a two-out RBI single, and he added a two-run double in the seventh.
The Angels put two runners on base in the first inning against Seth Lugo, who then retired 10 consecutive batters. Lugo (14-7) registered his 18th quality start of the year, tied for fourth most in the major leagues, and leads the majors with 166 2/3 innings pitched.
–Field Level Media