Fernando Tatis Jr. celebrates with Padres teammate Adam Frazier after hitting his second home run of the game Sunday against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press
PHOENIX — Fernando Tatis Jr. homered twice and drove in four runs in his return from the injured list, and the San Diego Padres beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-2 on Sunday.
The 22-year-old Tatis had four hits, helping the Padres snap a four-game losing streak. It was Tatis’ fifth multi-homer game this season and No. 8 for his career.
Playing right field for the first time in his professional career and batting leadoff, Tatis ripped a double down the third-base line to start the game.
He hit his first homer of the afternoon in the third – a towering solo shot that cleared the wall in left. His 33rd homer came in the fifth and was more of a low liner, but cleared the wall in approximately the same spot and gave the Padres a 2-1 lead.
Tatis added a bases-loaded single in the eighth that brought home Victor Caratini and Trent Grisham. Tatis had been on the injured list since July 31 after partially dislocating his left shoulder for the third time this season.
The electrifying star usually plays shortstop, but the Padres decided to move him to the outfield for the time being. The hope is there’s less chance Tatis will get hurt, allowing him to stay in the lineup for the rest of the season.
Tatis suffered a partially dislocated left shoulder on a violent swing April 5 against San Francisco and went on the 10-day injured list. He reinjured the shoulder diving for a ball and left a game against Cincinnati on June 19 but missed only one game.
INDIANS 11, TIGERS 0: Triston McKenzie retired the first 23 Detroit batters before Harold Castro lined a single to right with two out in the eighth inning, and Cleveland won at Detroit.
The 24-year-old stunned the Comerica Park crowd of 25,684 hoping to see Miguel Cabrera’s 500th homer. Instead, they gave McKenzie a standing ovation after Castro’s hit and another after he finished the inning with his 11th strikeout.
McKenzie (2-5) came within four outs of breaking baseball’s longest no-hit drought. Cleveland hasn’t had one since Len Barker’s perfect game on May 15, 1981, against the Toronto Blue Jays.
McKenzie, who has bounced between the Indians and Triple-A this season, pitched eight innings for the first time in his major league career.
TWINS 5, RAYS 4: Jorge Polanco hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift Minnesota over Tampa Bay.
Max Kepler led off the ninth against Matt Wisler (3-5) with a double and moved to third when Austin Meadows misplayed the ball in left field. Polanco then hit a drive that was caught on the right-field warning track, scoring Kepler without a throw.
Alexander Colomé (3-4) pitched a scoreless ninth for the Twins, who won their third straight series, all against first-place teams.
Mike Zunino and Wander Franco homered for the Rays, who lead the AL East by three games over the Red Sox.
YANKEES 5, WHITE SOX 3: Rougned Odor hit a two-run homer, Nestor Cortes pitched six solid innings and New York won at Chicago.
Luke Voit also hit a two-run homer for New York, which went 5-1 in the season series against Chicago. Cortes (1-1) allowed one run and seven hits in his first win since Aug. 6, 2019, versus Baltimore.
BLUE JAYS 8, MARINERS 3: Teoscar Hernández and Randal Grichuk homered in the second inning, and Toronto used four long balls to avoid a series sweep at Seattle.
ANGELS 3, ASTROS 1: Reid Detmers pitched six innings of three-hit ball to earn his first major league victory, and Los Angeles avoided a three-game sweep against visiting Houston.
BRAVES 6, NATIONALS 5: Dansby Swanson homered for the third straight game and visiting Atlanta completed a three-game sweep.
Swanson hit a two-run drive to center to increase the Braves’ lead to 3-0 in the third. It was his 24th home run of the season, a total that includes two from Saturday and another Friday for four of Atlanta’s 11 homers in the three-game set.
The Braves have won a franchise-best eight straight games in Washington and 10 of 12 overall. They have a one-game lead over Philadelphia for the NL East lead.
REDS 7, PHILLIES 4: Jonathan India homered and scored three times, and Cincinnati won at Philadelphia.
India, one of the leading candidates for NL Rookie of the Year, drove Aaron Nola’s third pitch deep to left-center for his 15th homer. He also singled and scored on Shogo Akiyama’s two-run double in the third and singled and scored again on Tyler Naquin’s bases-loaded walk in the fifth.
Tyler Stephenson added a two-run homer for Cincinnati, which took two of three in the weekend series. Stephenson’s pinch-hit drive capped the Reds’ three-run eighth.
MARLINS 4, CUBS 1: Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Jesús Aguilar homered, and Miami handed visiting Chicago its 11th straight loss.
The game was tied at 1 before Chisholm connected against Alec Mills (5-5) in the sixth inning. Chisholm also singled and scored on Aguilar’s 22nd homer in the seventh.
BREWERS 2, PIRATES 1: Willy Adames scored twice, Christian Yelich had two hits and Milwaukee won at Pittsburgh.
RANGERS 7, ATHLETICS 4: Rookie DJ Peters connected on a pair of two-run homers, Kolby Allard was solid in his first win in two months, and Texas beat visiting Oakland.
CARDINALS 7, ROYALS 2: Nolan Arenado homered for the third straight game, Tyler O’Neill hit one right after him and St. Louis Cardinals completed a sweep at Kansas City.
GIANTS 5, ROCKIES 2: Tommy La Stella had three hits and two RBI, and San Francisco won at home.
Alex Wood pitched into the seventh inning to win his fifth straight decision.
DODGERS 14, METS 4: Max Muncy hit a pair of two-run homers and Max Scherzer worked out of some trouble over six solid innings, leading Los Angeles to a rout at New York and a sweep of the three-game series.
NOTES
YANKEES: Gerrit Cole has recovered from COVID-19 and will start Monday against the Los Angeles Angels.
Cole is 10-6 with a 3.11 ERA in 21 starts. The four-time All-Star was placed on the COVID-19 injured list after testing positive on Aug. 3. Five days earlier, he allowed eight runs in 5 1/3 innings in a loss at Tampa Bay.
Speaking before Sunday’s game at the Chicago White Sox, Cole described his symptoms as “mild.”
“I am feeling good. Ready to go and very much looking forward to it,” he said. “I don’t think we’ll push the limits by any means because the recovery will be very important.”
New York still has four players on the COVID-19 list: First baseman Anthony Rizzo, catcher Gary Sánchez, starter Jordan Montgomery and reliever Clay Holmes. The Yankees host the Red Sox for a doubleheader Tuesday, starting a three-game series.
NATIONALS: Right-hander Joe Ross was placed on the 10-day injured list because of a partially torn elbow ligament and will be re-evaluated by the doctor who performed his Tommy John surgery in 2017.
Ross has been the Nationals’ most consistent starter this season apart from Max Scherzer, who was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the deadline. The 28-year-old Ross is 5-9 with a 4.17 ERA in 20 starts, with career highs in innings pitched (108) and strikeouts (109) in 20 games (19 starts).
Manager Dave Martinez said Ross felt tightness in his right forearm after a bullpen session on Saturday and had an MRI that showed a partial tear of his ulnar collateral ligament.
ANGELS: Veteran outfielder Adam Eaton was designated for assignment after 25 games with the club.
The Angels made the move in the latest indication the injury-plagued team has decided to focus on the future with little hope of ending its six-year playoff drought this season. Los Angeles (58-60) also recalled right-hander James Hoyt from Triple-A Salt Lake.
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