Braves hold off Nationals, pick up reliever to bolster bullpen

The Washington Nationals tried to put together a late rally, but the Atlanta Braves managed to pull off a win in MLB on Tuesday.

The 11-8 Atlanta victory came a day after Washington won by the same margin of victory and was led by the efforts of Adam Duvall.

He hit two home runs to help give the Braves enough of a cushion to withstand the seven runs scored by the Nationals in the final three innings.

Along with the win, the Braves added a reliever to their bullpen.

Atlanta picked up righty Chris Martin from the Texas Rangers in exchange for former top prospect Kolby Allard.

Source: @aduvall123 has acquired his second dinger of the game.#ChopOn pic.twitter.com/ze0dURADeR
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) July 31, 2019

Wonderful Verlander

Justin Verlander struck out 13 across seven scoreless innings as the Houston Astros beat the Cleveland Indians 2-0.

Diamondbacks rookie Taylor Clarke impressed in his Yankee Stadium debut. He picked up a win as Arizona went on to beat New York 4-2.

Avisail Garcia hit a home run and added a go-ahead, two-run double in the sixth to push the Tampa Bay Rays past the Boston Red Sox 6-5.

Cabrera can't lift Rangers

Asdrubal Cabrera was the only player in the Rangers' starting lineup to not record a hit. He went 0 for three as Texas fell 8-5 to the Seattle Mariners.

The San Francisco Giants' Tyler Beede gave up four runs on 10 hits through five innings of work on his way to a loss against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Goldschmidt homers again

The St Louis Cardinals struck gold with Paul Goldschmidt's 25th home run of the season.

The @Cardinals take sole possession of 1st in the NL Central.A homer by the #MLBTwitterHitter was the difference. pic.twitter.com/FwswSKzhI0
— MLB (@MLB) July 31, 2019

Tuesday's results

Baltimore Orioles 8-5 San Diego Padres
Arizona Diamondbacks 4-2 New York Yankees
Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 San Francisco Giants
Atlanta Braves 11-8 Washington Nationals
Tampa Bay Rays 6-5 Boston Red Sox
Pittsburgh Pirates 11-4 Cincinnati Reds
Houston Astros 2-0 Cleveland Indians
Minnesota Twins 2-1 Miami Marlins
Seattle Mariners 8-5 Texas Rangers
New York Mets 5-2 Chicago White Sox
Toronto Blue Jays 9-2 Kansas City Royals
St Louis Cardinals 2-1 Chicago Cubs
Los Angeles Dodgers 9-4 Colorado Rockies
Los Angeles Angels 6-1 Detroit Tigers
Oakland Athletics 3-2 Milwaukee Brewers

Pirates at Reds

After another bench-clearing brawl between these two teams, it will be interesting to see if tempers flare when they continue the series on Wednesday. Pittsburgh will start Dario Agrazal (2-1, 3.24 ERA) after beating Cincinnati 11-4. The Reds will counter with Luis Castillo (9-4, 2.71 ERA).

Published 31 Jul 2019, 10:58 IST