Alexander, Peña help Astros beat Marlins and snap Miami's five-game winning streak

MIAMI (AP) — Jason Alexander pitched six scoreless innings, Jeremy Peña doubled twice and the Houston Astros used a five-run fourth to beat the Miami Marlins 8-2 on Monday night.

Alexander picked up his second win of the season after holding Miami to three hits. He struck out six and walked one.

The Astros built a 5-0 lead during a disastrous fourth by Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara (6-10), who was perfect his first time through the Houston order before giving up six hits in the inning.

Peña led off the fourth with a double. Jesús Sánchez then drove in Peña with a double in his first game against his former team, which dealt him to Houston at the trade deadline. Yainer Diaz added a two-run double, Carlos Correa had an RBI single and Christian Walker drove in another run on a fielder’s choice.

Alcantara allowed nine hits and six runs. He struck out five over seven innings and threw 100 pitches.

TIGERS 6, TWINS 3

DETROIT (AP) — Kerry Carpenter homered in a three-run sixth inning and Detroit rallied for a win over Minnesota.

Wenceel Pérez and Dillon Dingler also homered for the Tigers, while Ryan Jeffers, Trevor Larnach and Matt Wallner had homers for Minnesota.

Detroit has won six of its last eight games since losing 12 of 13. The Twins have lost five of six.

Casey Mize (10-4) picked up the win, allowing three runs in six innings while Kyle Finnegan pitched the ninth for his second Tigers save. Noah Davis (0-2) took the loss in relief.

PHILLIES 13, ORIOLES 3

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kyle Schwarber homered twice, including a grand slam Philadelphia’s eight-run sixth inning, and the Phillies pounded Baltimore.

Schwarber finished with six RBIs, running his major league-leading total to 94 on the season.

Schwarber’s first homer of the game was a two-run shot deep into the second deck that tied it at 3 in the third. He heard “MVP! MVP!” chants when he came to the plate in the sixth. Schwarber, the All-Star Game MVP, launched his NL-best 40th of the season into the right-center seats off Yaramil Hiraldo for a grand slam that sent the crowd of 41,099 into a frenzy.

Harrison Bader homered for the first time since he was acquired by the Phillies at the trade deadline, a tiebreaking three-run shot earlier in the sixth.

The Phillies added closer Jhoan Duran and Bader in trades on consecutive days with Minnesota. With his 102.5 mph fastball and electric entrance, Duran was an instant fan favorite in Philly. Bader made his case with a homer off Corbin Martin.

BREWERS 3, BRAVES 1

ATLANTA (AP) — Isaac Collins hit a three-run homer, Quinn Priester allowed just one more hit over seven innings after surrendering a first-pitch home run, and Milwaukee beat Atlanta.

Priester (11-2) struck out four and walked two while throwing 90 pitches as the Brewers improved to a major league-best 68-44.

Jurickson Profar hit Priester’s first pitch of the game over the right-field wall to put the Braves ahead. It was Profar’s fourth home run of the year.

Collins, the NL rookie of the month, made it 3-1 in the fourth with his drive to right.

Erick Fedde (3-12), who made his first home start with the Braves, pitched 5 1/3 innings while giving up three runs. Aaron Bummer came in as relief and posted the first strikeout of the game for Atlanta in the seventh inning.

PIRATES 5, GIANTS 4

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s fielder’s choice scored Jack Suwinski with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning as Pittsburgh rallied to beat San Francisco.

Kiner-Falefa hit a hard ground ball to first baseman Rafael Devers but Suwinski beat the throw home. Joey Bart’s RBI single off Randy Rodriguez (3-3) earlier in the inning tied the score.

It was the fifth walk-off RBI of Kiner-Falefa’s career.

Dauri Moreta (1-0) pitched a scoreless inning in his second appearance of the season for the win.

GUARDIANS 7, METS 6, 10 INNING

NEW YORK (AP) — Pete Alonso hit his 251st career homer Monday night to pull within one of Darryl Strawberry’s New York Mets franchise record, but Cleveland earned a 10-inning win after squandering a five-run lead.

Gabriel Arias’ 440-foot, three-run homer to left-center ended a five-run sixth inning against Sean Manaea, who surrendered RBI singles to David Fry and Carlos Santana earlier in the inning.

Alonso, starting at designated hitter for the 59th time in his career, hit a 388-foot blast to left-center in the bottom half against Slade Cecconi. The slugger has three homers in his last four games.

Alonso had his fourth hit, an RBI single, in the eighth, before Mark Vientos delivered the game-tying sacrifice fly.

Cade Smith (4-4) escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the ninth. Automatic runner Daniel Schneemann scored the tie-breaking run in the 10th, when third baseman Brett Baty threw the ball wide of second on David Fry’s bunt against Ryan Helsley (3-2). Arias added a sacrifice fly.

Nic Enright earned his first career save despite allowing Baty’s two-out RBI single in the 10th.

RED SOX 8, ROYALS 5

BOSTON (AP) — Jarren Duran hit a three-run homer and Brayan Bello pitched six effective innings, helping Boston beat Kansas City for their sixth consecutive victory.

Rob Refsnyder drove in two runs, and Duran added a leaping, run-saving catch in front of the Green Monster in the fourth.

Bello (8-5) allowed an unearned run and six hits. The right-hander has surrendered three earned runs or fewer in 13 of his last 14 outings.

The Royals got back-to-back home runs from Vinnie Pasquantino and Maikel Garcia off Jorge Alcala as part of a four-run eighth. But Aroldis Chapman handled the ninth for his 21st save.

REDS 3, CUBS 2

CHICAGO (AP) — TJ Friedl hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the seventh inning, and Cincinnati held off Chicago.

Tyler Stephenson homered for Cincinnati, and Elly De La Cruz had an RBI double. The Reds (59-54) had dropped four of six.

Dansby Swanson hit his 17th homer for the Cubs (65-47), who fell three games behind NL Central-leading Milwaukee.

With two outs and runners on the corners in the seventh, Friedl drove in Jake Fraley with a looper into center field against Caleb Thielbar. Ryan Brasier (0-1) got the loss.

RANGERS 8, YANKEES 5, 10 INNINGS

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Josh Jung hit a three-run homer in the 10th inning, after Joc Pederson’s tying pinch-hit homer in the ninth, and Texas beat New York for their seventh consecutive home win.

Jung connected off Jake Bird (4-2) for his 11th homer, a 401-foot drive to left-center after Wyatt Langford was intentionally walked with two outs.

Pederson, hitting .132, tied it with a 408-foot shot off Devin Williams. That was the first homer since May 17 for Pederson, in only his eighth game since missing two months with a right hand fracture.

Danny Coulombe (2-0), the fourth Texas pitcher and in his third game since being acquired from Minnesota at the trade deadline Thursday, worked the 10th for his first Rangers victory.

BLUE JAYS 15, ROCKIES 1

DENVER (AP) — Bo Bichette homered twice and drove in six runs, Ernie Clement had a career-best five of Toronto’s season-high 25 hits and the Blue Jays beat Colorado.

Eric Lauer (7-2) allowed a run in six innings, giving up seven hits with a walk and four strikeouts.

Clement capped the scoring with an RBI single in the ninth and finished with three runs scored. Bichette, Nathan Lukes and Joey Loperfido had three hits apiece and Daulton Varsho had four RBIs.

ANGELS 5, RAYS 1

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Jo Adell hit a two-run homer, Yusei Kikuchi allowed four hits in six innings and Los Angeles beat Tampa Bay.

The Rays struck in the opening frame when Yandy Díaz doubled to right and scored on Junior Caminero’s sacrifice fly to center field. Kikuchi (5-7) escaped without further damage and finished with seven strikeouts and two walks.

Yoán Moncada reached on a fielder’s choice for the Angels in the second inning before Adell launched a 428-foot homer to left-center off Adrian Houser (6-3), putting Los Angeles ahead 2-1.

The Angels made it 4-1 in the third inning on Taylor Ward’s two-run single. Bryce Teodosio doubled in the sixth and Zach Neto drove him in with a double of his own that put the Angels up 5-1.

Houser worked 5 2/3 innings, allowing 11 hits and five runs while striking out three.

Angels pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts.

DIAMONBACKS 6, PADRES 2

PHOENIX (AP) — Corbin Carroll and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. each drove in two runs, Brandon Pfaadt pitched into the sixth inning, and Arizona beat San Diego.

Tyler Locklear and Alek Thomas each hit a solo homer for Arizona.

Pfaadt (11-7) gave up two runs in 5 2/3 innings and was replaced in the sixth by Andrew Hoffmann with runners at first and third and two out. Hoffman got Ryan O’Hearn to fly out to end the threat and pitched a 1-2-3 seventh before Kyle Backhus got the final six outs for his first career save.

CARDINALS 3, DODGERS 2

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Pinch-hitter Yohel Pozo delivered a tiebreaking RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning, and St. Louis hung on for a victory over Los Angeles.

After Willson Contreras got a leadoff single off new Dodgers reliever Brock Stewart (2-2), pinch-runner Garrett Hampson eventually scored on a soft single to right by Pozo. The Cards’ backup catcher celebrated enthusiastically after just his second hit in his last eight games.

Sonny Gray yielded one hit over seven stellar innings for the Cards, and two relievers combined on a perilous three-hitter for St. Louis.

Houston Astros closing pitcher Hector Neris pitches in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Monday, Aug. 4, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez on Thursday asked lawmakers to approve reforms to the oil industry that would open the doors to greater foreign investment during her first state of the union speech less than two weeks after its longtime leader was toppled by the United States.

Rodríguez, who has been under pressure by the Trump administration to fall in line with its vision for the oil-rich nation, said sales of Venezuelan oil would go to bolster crisis-stricken health services, economic development and other infrastructure projects.

She outlined a distinct vision for the future, straying from her predecessors, who have long railed against American intervention in Venezeula. “Let us not be afraid of diplomacy” with the U.S., said Rodriguez, the former vice president who must now navigate competing pressures from the Trump administration and a government loyal to former President Nicolás Maduro.

The speech, which was broadcast on a delay in Venezuela, came one day after Rodríguez said her government would continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro in what she described as “a new political moment” since his ouster.

On Thursday, Trump met at the White House with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, whose political party is widely considered to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro. But in endorsing Rodríguez, who served as Maduro’s vice president since 2018, Trump has sidelined Machado.

Rodríguez, who had a call with Trump earlier this week, said Wednesday evening on state television that her government would use “every dollar” earned from oil sales to overhaul the nation’s public health care system. Hospitals and other health care facilities across the country have long been crumbling, and patients are asked to provide practically all supplies needed for their care, from syringes to surgical screws.

The acting president must walk a tightrope, balancing pressures from both Washington and top Venezuelan officials who hold sway over Venezuela's security forces and strongly oppose the U.S. Her recent public speeches reflect those tensions — vacillating from conciliatory calls for cooperation with the U.S., to defiant rants echoing the anti-imperialist rhetoric of her toppled predecessor.

American authorities have long railed against a government they describe as a “dictatorship,” while Venezuela’s government has built a powerful populist ethos sharply opposed to U.S. meddling in its affairs.

For the foreseeable future, Rodríguez's government has been effectively relieved of having to hold elections. That's because when Venezuela’s high court granted Rodríguez presidential powers on an acting basis, it cited a provision of the constitution that allows the vice president to take over for a renewable period of 90 days.

Trump enlisted Rodríguez to help secure U.S. control over Venezuela’s oil sales despite sanctioning her for human rights violations during his first term. To ensure she does his bidding, Trump threatened Rodríguez earlier this month with a “situation probably worse than Maduro.”

Maduro, who is being held in a Brooklyn jail, has pleaded not guilty to drug-trafficking charges.

Before Rodríguez’s speech on Thursday, a group of government supporters was allowed into the presidential palace, where they chanted for Maduro, who the government insists remains the country’s president. “Maduro, resist, the people are rising,” they shouted.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez makes a statement to the press at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez, center, smiles flanked by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, right, and National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez after making a statement to the press at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)