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PHILADELPHIA — Brandon Marsh sat at his locker scrolling Instagram highlights of Philadelphia’s ninth-inning rally and could not decide on which one was his favorite.
The big-bearded outfielder had plenty of choices: Nick Castellanos’ distracting lead off third nearly 60 feet off the bag that saw him begging for a disengagement. Marsh even played a pivotal role with an RBI single and a pivotal stolen base.
But it was the last swing of the game that got the most likes for the Phillies. Bryson Stott capped a three-run rally in the ninth inning with a winning single to lead Philadelphia over the Cincinnati Reds 3-2 on Saturday.
Cincinnati’s bullpen wasted a tremendous effort from left-hander Nick Lodolo, who struck out a career-high 12 and tossed three-hit ball over seven shutout innings. He walked two batters over 106 pitches and left with a 1-0 lead.
Consider it a success. The Phillies had no runs and three hits through eight innings and got three runs and three hits in the ninth.
Alexis Díaz (0-1), who struck out the side in the eighth, couldn’t escape the ninth. He walked Castellanos and Alec Bohm singled up the middle. With nearly 44,000 fans standing and going wild like last October, Marsh ripped an RBI single to make it 2-1.
Díaz got the hook for Ian Giabut, who allowed Edmundo Sosa’s tying sacrifice fly. Marsh stole second base and sped home on Stott’s single that sent the NL champions to their second straight win.
METS 5, MARLINS 2
NEW YORK — Kodai Senga (2-0) won his Citi Field debut, pitching six innings of one-run, three-hit ball and wearing a Mets blue-and-orange glove with an image of a ghost and a pitchfork. He struck out six and walked three, allowing his only run on Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s leadoff homer in the sixth.
Pete Alonso chased Trevor Rogers (0-2) in the fifth with a two-run homer, his fourth homer in the past three games and fifth this season. Eduardo Escobar also homered, and David Robertson pitched a perfect ninth for his second save.
RED SOX 14, TIGERS 5
DETROIT — Rafael Devers homered twice, including his fifth career grand slam, and drove in five runs.
Devers’ grand slam capped a six-run, second inning. Adam Duvall hit a two-run homer, doubled twice and scored three runs for Boston, which has scored nine or more runs in half its eight games. Raimel Tapia had a pinch two-run homer. Connor Wong and Rob Refsnyder also drove in two runs each.
Tanner Houck (2-0) gave up two runs and three hits in five innings. Joey Wentz (0-2) walked four in the second inning, including Connor Wong and Rob Refsnyder with the bases loaded.
CUBS 10, RANGERS 3
CHICAGO — Justin Steele (1-0) allowed one run and four hits in six innings as Chicago won its third straight.
Patrick Wisdom homered and Trey Mancini had three of Chicago’s 14 hits. Dansby Swanson had two hits and is batting .429 (12 for 28) in his first seven games with the Cubs after signing a $177 million, seven-year contract.
Texas committed five errors in its fourth loss in five games, and a balk by Martín Pérez (1-1) set up Chicago’s first run.
ROYALS 6, GIANTS 5
SAN FRANCISCO — Salvador Pérez hit a tying, three-run homer in the eighth inning and pinch-runner Nate Eaton scored on a wild pitch in the ninth by Camilo Doval (0-1) after Vinnie Pasquantino doubled and advanced on Hunter Dozier’s groundout.
Taylor Clarke (1-0) struck out the side in the eighth and Aroldis Chapman pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his first save with the Royals.
Kansas City is 2-2 under bench coach Paul Hoover, the interim manager, while Matt Quatraro has been away with COVID-19.
TWINS 9, ASTROS 6
MINNEAPOLIS — Byron Buxton and Kyle Farmer hit three-run homers, and Christian Vázquez had two RBI singles, one a tiebreaking hit off Seth Martinez (1-1) in the sixth.
Joe Ryan (2-0) recovered from Yordan Alvarez’s grand slam to win his second straight start, giving up four runs and three hits in six innings with 10 strikeouts. Jhoan Duran struck out Yainer Diaz with two on for his second save.
MARINERS 3, GUARDIANS 2
CLEVELAND — Eugenio Suárez hit RBI singles in the first and second innings off Cal Quantrill (0-1), who entered 14-0 in 34 regular-season starts at Progressive Field. Quantrill had not lost a home start since Sept. 9, 2019, with San Diego.
Marco Gonzales (1-0) allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings, and Seattle won its sixth straight at Cleveland. Paul Sewald put two on in the ninth before getting his second save in two days.