Alec Mills cruised through baseball’s second no-hitter this season in just the 15th start of his major league career, leading the Chicago Cubs over the Milwaukee Brewers 12-0 on Sunday.
The former college walk-on at Tennessee-Martin retired Jace Peterson on a game-ending groundout. Peterson had replaced 2018 NL MVP Christian Yelich on defense to start the eighth inning.
Mills (5-3) threw 114 pitches and hardly had any close calls in Chicago’s 16th no-hitter. He struck out five, walked three and induced five swings and misses, tied with Oakland’s Dallas Braden during his perfect game in 2010 for fewest in a no-hitter since at least 1988, according to Stats.
Chicago White Sox ace Lucas Giolito threw baseball’s other no-hitter this season against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Aug. 15.
Jason Heyward’s RBI double put the Cubs ahead in a five-run fourth against Adrian Houser (1-5) that included Ian Happ’s two-run single. David Bote added a two-run homer in the fifth.
ANGELS 5, ROCKIES 3
Albert Pujols tied Willie Mays for fifth place on the career homer list with No. 660, a two-run shot in the eighth inning off Carlos Estevez (1-3) that overcame a 3-2 deficit. The 40-year-old Pujols had not gone deep since Aug. 4.
Pujols trails only Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755), Babe Ruth (714) and Alex Rodriguez (696).
Andrew Heaney (4-3) threw seven efficient innings for Los Angeles, allowing three runs and no walks while striking out eight. Matt Andriese tossed two innings to earn a save for the second straight game.
PADRES 6, GIANTS 0
Mike Clevinger pitched a two-hitter for his second career shutout to open a doubleheader forced because of a false positive COVID-19 test. Clevinger (3-2) struck out seven and walked one in seven innings for his second career complete game.
Greg Garcia and Wil Myers each had a two-out, two-run single off Johnny Cueto (2-1) for the Padres, who won their sixth straight game and for the 10th time in 12 games.
San Diego entered entered the day three games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.
The Giants said Sunday that outfielder Alex Dickerson received news of a positive test result for the novel coronavirus minutes before he was set to play against his hometown team on Friday night. Dickerson was pulled off the field and placed in isolation at Petco Park, and two games were postponed. Major League Baseball and the players’ union said Sunday morning that it was determined to be a false positive.
BRAVES 8, NATIONALS 4
Adam Duvall and Ozzie Albies hit two-run homers in the sixth as Washington overcame a 4-2 deficit against Max Scherzer (4-3).
Scherzer allowed six runs in 5 1/3 innings, the most off him since seven by Miami on April 20, 2019.
Kyle Wright (1-4) gave up four runs — three earned — and eight hits in six innings. He had been 0-7 with a 7.86 ERA in 16 career appearances coming in.
YANKEES 3, ORIOLES 1
Gleyber Torres had a tiebreaking, two-run double with two outs in the eighth inning for his first career pinch hit, and New York (26-21) completed a four-game sweep that opened a 5 1/2-game lead over the Orioles (20-26) for the AL’s eighth and final playoff spot.
Torres’ drive off Tanner Scott followed two-out singles by Aaron Hicks and Clint Frazier off Dillon Tate (1-1).
Zack Britton (1-2) pitched a 1-2-3 eighth and Aroldis Chapman struck out two in a perfect ninth for his second save.
BLUE JAYS 7, METS 4
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a home run completely out of Sahlen Field and Hyun Jin Ryu (4-1) made the early lead stand up, winning his fourth straight decision by allowing one run in six innings.
Santiago Espinal hit a three-run double in a five-run sixth inning for the Blue Jays, 3½ games behind Tampa Bay for the AL East lead.
New York dropped to 21-26 and remains out of the NL playoff field. David Peterson (4-2) lost for the first time since Aug. 2, allowing two runs and three hits in five innings.
RED SOX 6, RAYS 3
Christian Vázquez and Christian Arroyo homered as last-place Boston gained a four-game split against Tampa Bay, which has lost four of six.
Martín Pérez (3-4) gave up three runs and five hits over five innings. Matt Barnes, the fourth Boston reliever, worked the ninth for his sixth save.
Tampa Bay completed the season series 7-3 and has won 14 of the its 18 games against the Red Sox.
MARLINS 2, PHILLIES 1, 1ST GAME
MARLINS 8, PHILLIES 1, 2ND GAME
Braxton Garrett (1-0) allowed three hits over five innings to win his major league debut, and Miami completed a doubleheader sweep to leapfrog Philadelphia for second place in the NL East.
Zach Eflin (2-2) allowed four runs, eight hits and two walks in four-plus innings for the Phillies, who have lost five of seven.
Miami (23-21) has won four of the first six-games against the Phillies (23-22) in the major leagues’ first seven-game, regular-season series since 1967. The teams play again Monday.
Rookie Sixto Sánchez (3-1) pitched a three-hitter over seven innings to win the opener, his first complete game in five major league starts. Rookie Ramón Rosso (0-1) made his first big league start after five relief appearances and allowed two runs, two hits and three walks in 2 1/3 innings.
ROYALS 11, PIRATES 0
Brad Keller (4-2) pitched a five-hitter for his first major league shutout, and Kansas City won its sixth in a row.
Salvador Pérez and Hunter Dozier homered to help Kansas City win its second consecutive series after losing its previous eight. Pittsburgh lost its fourth game in a row. Chad Kuhl (1-2) walked six, helping set up nine runs in 2 1/3 innings.
TWINS 7, INDIANS 5
Nelson Cruz hit his 16th homer, and Marwin Gonzalez, Ryan Jeffers and Josh Donaldson also connected as Minnesota completed a weekend sweep and won for the 10th time in 12 games. The Twins stayed one game back of AL Central-leading Chicago heading into a four-game series at the White Sox starting Monday night.
Caleb Thielbar (2-0) got two outs in relief of Michael Pineda. Sergio Romo earned his fourth save by striking out Franmil Reyes and retiring Tyler Naquin on a flyout after allowing two hits.
Indians rookie Triston McKenzie (2-1) struggled for the first time in his fifth career start. McKenzie gave up five runs in 4 1/3 innings, despite surrendering just three hits. Cleveland has lost six straight.
WHITE SOX 5, TIGERS 2
Eloy Jiménez homered, Yoán Moncada had three hits and Chicago won its fourth straight overall and ninth in a row against Detroit. Jiménez had two hits and two RBIs for the White Sox, who have won eight of nine.
José Abreu had a run-scoring single for his major league-best 48th RBI. Jimmy Cordero (1-2) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the win, and Alex Colomé got three outs for his 11th save.
Detroit lost for the fifth time in six games. Spencer Turnbull (4-3) allowed five runs and eight hits in five innings.
REDS 10, CARDINALS 5
Andrew Miller loaded the bases by hitting pinch-hitter Aristides Aquino with a pitch, followed with a tying four-pitch walk to Freddy Galvis and threw a wild pitch that put Cincinnati ahead in a three-run seventh inning.
St. Louis, second in the NL Central at 20-20, dropped four games behind the division-leading Chicago Cubs (28-20) with two weeks left. The fourth-place Reds are 21-26 and also trail Milwaukee (20-24) .
Mike Moustakas drew a one-out walk in the seventh, and John Gant (0-3) relieved and allowed Tyler Stephenson’s single. With a 1-0 count to Brian Goodwin, athletic trainer Adam Olsen came to the mound, and Gant was removed due to groin discomfort.
Archie Bradley (2-0) pitched two hitless innings for his first win since he was acquired from Arizona on Aug. 31. Raisel Iglesias got six outs for his seventh save.
RANGERS 6, ATHLETICS 3
Lance Lynn (6-2) struck out a season-high 10 in seven innings retired 17 straight after the first two batters reached. Rougned Odor hit a tiebreaking three-run homer and last-place Texas gained a four-game split.
Oakland headed to Seattle for a doubleheader that will be part of four games in about 60 hours, in three cities and time zones. The three-day travel binge ends with the start of a two-game series at Colorado on Tuesday.
Frankie Montas (3-4) allowed at least four runs for the fourth time in five starts since dropping his ERA to 1.57 with seven scoreless innings in a 3-1 win over Houston on Aug. 8. He struck out seven in 5 1/3 innings.
MARINERS 7, DIAMONDBACKS 3
Donovan Walton had three RBIs, and Seattle took two of three.
José Marmolejos had two hits and drove in a run, and Phillip Ervin scored twice and drove in a run.
Casey Sadler (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings. Luke Weaver (1-7) allowed two runs and four hits in five innings.