Baseball

The St. Louis Cardinals added starting pitcher Erick Fedde and Milwaukee, the team they are chasing in the NL Central, acquired starter Frankie Montas. Those were among the flurry of trades Monday by playoff hopeful teams on the day before the MLB deadline. Kansas City got veteran right-hander Michael Lorenzen. The NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers got hard-throwing reliever Michael Kopeck in the three-team deal that sent Fedde and outfielder Tommy Pham from the lowly White Sox to the Cardinals. Houston and Seattle are in a tight race for the AL West lead, and both acquired players from Toronto. The Mariners got veteran infielder Justin Turner and the Astros added left-handed starter Yusei Kikuchi.

The Astros have acquired left-hander Yusei Kikuchi from the Toronto Blue Jays for 23-year-old right-hander Jake Bloss, rookie outfielder Joey Loperfido and minor league first baseman Will Wagner. Kikuchi, 33, is 4-9 with a 4.75 ERA in 22 starts this season, striking out 130 and walking 30 in 115 2/3 innings. He is 0-4 with a 7.75 ERA in eight starts since winning at Milwaukee on June 11. Kikuchi is 35-46 with a 4.72 ERA in six seasons with Seattle and the Blue Jays. He has a $10 million salary and can become a free agent after the World Series.

Paul Skenes allowed one earned run over six innings in a no-decision and Michael A. Taylor hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the ninth off Josh Hader that led the Pittsburgh Pirates over the Houston Astros 6-3. Skenes lowered his ERA from 1.93 to 1.90, giving up two runs, five hits and three walks with six strikeouts. His 103 strikeouts in his first 13 starts trail only Hideo Nomo (119), Kerry Wood (118), Herb Score (107), Jose DeLeon (106), while matching Masahiro Tanaka. Skenes’ streak of starts with seven or more ended at nine.

Bobby Witt Jr.'s grand slam — and fourth hit of the game — capped Kansas City’s six-run, eighth inning rally and the Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 8-5 on Monday night. Witt lofted the first pitch he saw from John Brebbia, a low slider, into the left-center stands for 19th homer and third career grand slam. Witt also singled twice and doubled as the Royals handed the major league worst White Sox a franchise-record 15th straight loss. With Kansas City trailing 5-2 entering the eight, Hunter Renfroe and MJ Melendez hit back-to-back solo drives off reliever Steven Wilson. Brebbia hit Adam Frazier with a pitch and issued a walk to Michael Massey before Witt connected.

Pete Alonso homered to start a six-run fourth inning and the New York Mets blew out the Minnesota Twins 15-2, turning the opener of an interleague series between playoff contenders into a lopsided laugher. Jeff McNeil and Luis Torrens each drove in three runs for the Mets, who batted around twice in three innings. Every starter had at least one RBI besides newcomer Jesse Winker, who singled and scored in his first Mets start before getting lifted in the sixth. Winker was acquired from Washington in a trade finalized Sunday morning. Jose Quintana fell behind 1-0 after five pitches but kept Minnesota off the scoreboard after that, throwing six effective innings to win his second consecutive start.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered in both games of a doubleheader, including a solo shot to center in the nightcap that helped the Toronto Blue Jays earn a split with an 8-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. Guerrero went 7 for 10 in the doubleheader with five RBIs. In Game 2 Monday night, he had a homer, three doubles and three RBIs. Baltimore made three errors in the second game, leading to three unearned runs. In the opener, Zach Eflin turned in a gritty pitching performance in his Orioles debut, Anthony Santander hit his 30th home run and Baltimore cruised to an 11-5 victory. But the struggling Orioles never led in the second game and now have lost 11 of 17.

Willy Adames hit a three-run homer in the sixth and rookie Jackson Chourio added a two-run shot in the eighth to lift the Milwaukee Brewers past the Atlanta Braves 8-3 on Monday night. Adames’ 416-foot home run came off reliever Jesse Chavez, who took the loss. Joey Ortiz’s run-scoring triple in the seventh gave Milwaukee a three-run margin and Chourio’s homer gave the Brewers a five-run edge. Grant Holmes, a 28-year-old rookie right-hander who spent nearly 10 years in the minors before being called up in mid-June, made his first career start for the Braves. He gave up three hits and one run in five innings. He struck out eight and didn’t issue a walk.