Jesús Sánchez hits grand slam; Bravos, Rojos and Cerveceros also come out on top

TORONTO. – Dominican Jesús Sánchez punished his former team with the first grand slam of his career to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to an 8-1 victory over the Miami Marlins, on a Major League Baseball day that also saw important wins for the Braves, Brewers, Reds and Pirates.

Sánchez was the big figure of an explosive sixth inning of six runs that allowed Toronto to secure a comfortable victory at the Rogers Centre. The Dominican outfielder sealed the game with his grand slam.

Ernie Clement also shone for the Blue Jays by hitting a home run for the second consecutive game against a high pitch from the Dominican Sandy Alcántara. In addition, Spencer Miles contributed from the bullpen with 4.1 innings of one run allowed, while the Venezuelan Yohendrick Piñango added a home run to redeem himself after his defensive failures the previous day.

In Boston, the Atlanta Braves defeated the Red Sox 7-6 thanks to the offensive awakening of Matt Olson, who hit his 15th home run of the season to tie the game. Michael Harris II had a perfect night with four hits and a home run, while Ronald Acuña Jr. and Austin Riley produced important runs in a decisive sixth inning.

Right-hander Spencer Strider also responded for Atlanta after recovering from a difficult start and dominating Boston’s offense for much of his outing.

For their part, the Cincinnati Reds defeated the New York Mets 7-2 behind another solid start by Chase Burns. The young pitcher struck out eight batters in 5.1 innings and improved his record to 7-1 with an ERA of 1.96.

Dominican Juan Soto avoided the shutout for the Mets with a two-run homer in the sixth inning, while Elly de la Cruz hit a two-run double to extend Cincinnati’s lead.

In Milwaukee, Kyle Harrison continued his impressive season and led the Brewers to a 6-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. The lefty threw six scoreless innings and lowered his ERA to 1.57, setting the franchise’s best mark in a pitcher’s first 10 starts.

William Contreras drove in two runs with a double and Garrett Mitchell added a three-run homer to back Harrison’s pitching performance.

Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, rookie Konnor Griffin made history by becoming the youngest Pirates player to bat first since 1952, during the 12-1 thrashing of the Chicago Cubs.

Griffin scored two runs and walked in his first at-bat, while Bryan Reynolds and Esmerlyn Valdez led Pittsburgh’s offense. Starter Braxton Ashcraft worked 6.1 innings of just one earned run allowed to secure the victory.