Rays: Edouard Julien hit a three-run homer, and the Minnesota Twins beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 Thursday in a game with a 13-minute interruption largely caused by a video review. With Tampa Bay trailing 4-2 in the seventh inning and Jonny DeLuca on third, Yandy Díaz sliced a drive toward the right-field corner, Matt Wallner gloved the ball on two hops as DeLuca scored, and Wallner’s momentum carried him over the low wall and into a camera well. Umpires held a crew chief review that took about nine minutes and determined Díaz should be placed on second base. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli then brought in reliever Griffin Jax to replace Pablo López (14-8). Jax retired Brandon Lowe on a groundout. Minnesota (76-64) moved a half-game ahead of idle Kansas City (76-65) for the AL’s second wild card. Julien homered in the second inning and Wallner in the third off Taj Bradley (6-10), who allowed six hits in seven innings, struck out 10 and walked one. Bradley is 0-6 in seven starts since winning at Toronto on July 25. López gave up three runs and seven hits, struck out nine and walked one. Jhoan Durán struck out two in a perfect ninth for his 22nd save in 24 chances, finishing a three-hitter.
Reds: Ty France broke open a scoreless game with a home run in the seventh inning to give the Cincinnati Reds a 1-0 win and series sweep of the Houston Astros on Thursday. Rhett Lowder, the seventh overall pick in the 2023 draft, made his second career start. He pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out three. Tony Santillan (2-2) relieved Lowder and recorded the win. Alexis Diaz earned his 25th save in 29 chances. Astros’ Hunter Brown pitched six shutout innings, allowing four hits and and a walk, striking out six. Bryan Abreu (2-3) took over for Brown and was greeted by France’s 12th home run of the season. It was the ninth hit in 11 at-bats for France, who had seven hits in as many at bats in the first two games. Joe Espada was ejected by home plate umpire Brian O’Nora for arguing after a review. Alex Bregman claimed he was hit by a pitch that O’Nora ruled a foul ball.
Extra innings: The Giants and 3B Matt Chapman agreed to a six-year, $151 million contract through the 2030 season. The 31-year-old former All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner entered Thursday’s game against the Diamondbacks with a .247 batting average and a team-high 22 HRs and 56 extra-base hits. ... Ty France broke open a scoreless game with a HR in the seventh to give the Reds a 1-0 win and series sweep of the AL West-leading Astros. Rhett Lowder made his second career start, throwing 6 1/3 scoreless innings and striking out three. The Astros’ Hunter Brown pitched six shutout innings, allowing four hits and and a walk, striking out six.