Thursday's MLB: Taillon nears perfection in Yankees' 2nd win over Angels

New York — Jameson Taillon took a perfect game into the eighth inning, then fell behind before the New York Yankees rallied past the Los Angeles Angels 2-1 Thursday night on a clutch swing by pinch-hitter Anthony Rizzo.

With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Rizzo grounded a two-run single up the middle. Clay Holmes left the bases loaded in the ninth, and the Yankees swept a thrilling doubleheader while handing the Angels their eighth straight loss — the team’s worst skid since 2019.

New York won the opener 6-1, with manager Joe Maddon indicating starter Shohei Ohtani may have been tipping his pitches. The AL MVP gave up solo homers to Matt Carpenter, Gleyber Torres and Aaron Judge.

Jared Walsh ended Taillon’s bid for a perfect game in the top of the eighth with a groundball double off shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s glove. He scored on Kurt Suzuki’s single for a 1-0 lead.

The Yankees countered by loading the bases with one out in the bottom half against Oliver Ortega (1-2). Archie Bradley relieved and struck out Joey Gallo, then got two strikes on Rizzo.

Ohtani made history in the nightcap, joining Hall of Fame slugger Jimmie Foxx as the only players to start both ends of a doubleheader, one of them as a pitcher, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Foxx did it with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1945 during the final month of his career.

In the first game, Nestor Cortes (5-1) delivered seven tidy innings for the Yankees.

Wandy Peralta got his his first save, striking out Ohtani to end it. Ohtani (3-4) was charged with four runs and eight hits in three-plus innings. He had pitched at least five innings in his previous six starts.

(At) Toronto 8, Chicago White Sox 3: Alek Manoah pitched into the eighth inning, Teoscar Hernández homered and Toronto extended its winning streak to eight games by beating Chicago.

Santiago Espinal had three hits and three RBIs as the surging Blue Jays won for the 12th time in 15 games. Chicago was swept in the three-game series and has lost six of eight.

Manoah (6-1) allowed three runs and six hits, walked one and struck out five in 7 2/3 innings. He’s 9-0 with a 2.12 ERA in 13 career home starts.

Johnny Cueto (0-2) allowed three earned runs and seven hits in six innings for Chicago. He walked none and struck out five.

Tampa Bay 3, (at) Texas 1: Corey Kluber excelled again at Globe Life Field, pitching six solid innings to give Tampa Bay a win over Texas.

Kluber (2-2) allowed one run and four hits, striking out four and walking none. The two-time AL Cy Young Award winner matched his longest outing of the season.

Vidal Brujan hit an RBI double in the second inning and Yandy Diaz singled home in the third for Tampa Bay. Ryan Thompson, the fifth Rays reliever, pitched a perfect ninth for his third save in six chances this season.

The Rangers have lost two straight after reaching .500 for the first time since May 2021.

The lone run off Kluber was a two-out, first-pitch home run by Marcus Semien in the sixth.

Taylor Hearn (3-4) allowed all three Rays runs on six hits and four walks.

(At) Miami 3, San Francisco 0: Sandy Alcantara allowed three hits in seven innings and Miami beat San Francisco.

The 26-year-old right-hander walked two and struck out eight, extending his string of recent dominant outings. Alcantara (6-2) has completed at least seven innings in his last five starts and allowed only three earned runs. He lowered his ERA to 1.81.

Jon Berti had two hits while Jacob Stallings, Jesús Aguilar and Miguel Rojas drove in runs for the Marlins. Steven Okert relieved Alcantara and pitched a scoreless eighth. Tanner Scott closed with a perfect ninth for his second save.

Camilo Doval relieved Giants starter Alex Wood (3-5) after Jorge Soler’s one-out single in the sixth. Wood allowed two runs, four hits, walked two and struck out five. The left-hander has lost his last three decisions.

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(At) Cincinnati 8, Washington 1: Reds rookie Graham Ashcraft delivered another gem, throwing seven innings of one-run ball, and Joey Votto and Kyle Farmer hit three-run homers in Cincinnati's big win over Washington.

The 24-year-old Ashcraft (2-0), who got his first major league win last week, reached the upper 90s with his sinker and cutter. He struck out four and allowed just four hits, shutting out the Nationals until Josh Bell hit a one-out solo homer in the seventh inning.

Art Warren and Joel Kuhnel each pitched a scoreless inning to finish it for the Reds.

Joan Adon (1-9) allowed three runs and six hits through 5 1/3 innings for the Nationals.

(At) Milwaukee 5, San Diego 4: Jace Peterson tied the score in the ninth inning with a three-run triple and slumping Andrew McCutchen followed with a game-ending single as Milwaukee rallied past San Diego.

Jorge Alfaro’s two-run homer in the sixth off Brent Suter gave the Padres a 3-1 lead. Eric Hosmer made it 4-1 with an RBI double in the eighth.

Taylor Rogers (0-3) took over in the ninth but after allowing a leadoff single to Keston Hiura, hit two straight batters with pitches to load the bases for Peterson, who sent a drive off the wall in center field.

Padres manager Bob Melvin called on Nabil Crismatt to face McCutchen, who snapped an 0-for-32 skid with a base hit back up the middle to win it.

Peter Strzelecki (1-0) worked two innings in relief, earning the win in his major league debut. He struck out three.

(At) Chicago Cubs 7, St. Louis 5: Frank Schwindel launched a long solo homer and doubled among his three hits, and Chicago topped St. Louis Cardinals.

Willson Contreras went deep for the third time in four games and Ian Happ also homered to help Chicago end the Cardinals’ three-game winning streak.

Paul Goldschmidt doubled to extend his hitting streak to 24 games and reached safely for a career-best 38th consecutive game.

Keegan Thompson (6-0) was effective again in a spot start, allowing three runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings for a win in his fourth straight outing.

Cubs rookie Christopher Morel doubled, walked and scored two runs to extend his career-opening on-base streak to 16 games.

Matthew Liberatore (1-1), the Cardinals’ top pitching prospect, was tagged with Chicago’s three homers and four runs in his third start and first loss.

Seattle 7, (at) Baltimore 6, (10 innings): Abraham Toro hit a tiebreaking triple in the top of the 10th inning, and Diego Castillo shut down Baltimore in the bottom half to give Seattle a win.

With the automatic runner on third and one out, Toro hit a drive to deep center field off Jorge López (3-3). Cedric Mullins ran it down at the wall but couldn’t hold onto the ball. Toro sped around to third, but López retired Luis Torrens and Jesse Winker to limit the Mariners to a run.

Castillo (2-0) made it hold up, striking out Austin Hays and Ryan Mountcastle before rookie Adley Rutschman hit a line drive into the Mariners’ defensive shift. The Seattle reliever retired all six hitters he faced.

The Orioles led 3-2 before a wild sixth inning that included seven runs and five pitching changes. Eugenio Suárez tied the game with an RBI single, chasing Baltimore starter Jordan Lyles. Adam Frazier followed with a sacrifice fly off Cionel Pérez, and after two walks loaded the bases, Joey Krehbiel came on and allowed a two-run single by Torrens that made it 6-3.

The Orioles struck back when Ramón Urías hit an RBI double and Cedric Mullins tied it at 6 with a two-run double down the left-field line.

Atlanta 13, (at) Colorado 6: Travis d’Arnaud homered twice, including a grand slam, and drove in a career-high six runs as Atlanta pounced on Colorado’s struggling pitching.

The Braves had 18 hits against the Rockies, who have allowed 39 runs over the past three games.

C.J. Cron hit his 14th homer, Garrett Hampson also went deep and Charlie Blackmon went 4 for 5 in Colorado’s 17th loss in 24 games.

Colorado's Austin Gomber (2-6) was charged with nine runs and 10 hits over five innings.

Ian Anderson (4-3) allowed five runs and 10 hits with nine strikeouts over six innings.

Colorado second baseman Brendan Rodgers doubled in the seventh to extend his hitting streak to 20 games, and Connor Joe doubled twice to push his on-base streak to 29 games.