MLB scores: Mets come back to beat Nationals again; Twins move back into first place in AL Central

The second Saturday in August brought us a full 15-game slate of big league action. Among them were important intra-division games in Minnesota and Queens. Here's everything you need to know about Saturday's MLB action.

Select games can be streamed regionally via fuboTV (Try for free). For more on what channel each game is on, click here.

Baseball scores for Saturday, August 10

FINAL - Blue Jays 5, Yankees 4 (box score)
FINAL - Angels 12, Red Sox 4 (box score)
FINAL - Giants 3, Phillies 1 (box score)
FINAL - Royals 7, Tigers 0 (box score)
FINAL - Marlins 7, Braves 6 in 10 innings (box score)
FINAL - Astros 23, Orioles 2 (box score)
FINAL - Reds 10, Cubs 1 (box score)
FINAL - Twins 4, Indians 1 (box score)
FINAL - Mets 4, Nationals 3 (box score)
FINAL - White Sox 3, Athletics 2 (box score)
FINAL - Brewers 3, Rangers 2 (box score)
FINAL - Cardinals 3, Pirates 1 (box score)
FINAL - Padres 8, Rockies 5 (box score)
FINAL - Dodgers 4, Diamondbacks 0 (box score)
FINAL - Rays 5, Mariners 4 (box score)

Mets come back to beat Nats again

Make it 15 wins in the last 16 games for the Amazin' Mets. New York came back against the super sketchy Nationals bullpen for the second consecutive night Saturday, this time tagging Fernando Rodney and Daniel Hudson for two runs in the eighth. Juan Soto hit a go-ahead homer in the top of the eighth, then Luis Guillorme tied the score with a pinch-hit blast in the bottom half.

Here is Guillorme's game-tying homer. Heck of a time for his first career MLB homer, huh?

J.D. Davis added the go-ahead sacrifice fly later in the bottom of the eighth to give the Mets the lead. Seth Lugo, who served up the Soto homer in the eighth, staying on to retire the side in order in the ninth inning to close things out. Edwin Diaz remained in the bullpen.

Washington took an early 2-0 lead on Soto's first inning homer -- he has three homers in the series -- before the Mets answered with back-to-back shots against Patrick Corbin in the fourth inning. Davis and Wilson Ramos did the deed. The Nationals had a lead in the eighth inning. Once again though, their bullpen let them down.

With the Brewers beating the Rangers, the Mets remain a half-game behind Milwaukee and the Nationals for a wild-card spot. The Cardinals, Phillies, and Diamondbacks are within two games as well, so the wild-card race is very tight.

Twins reclaim first place

Cleveland's four-game winning streak is over and Minnesota's four-game losing streak is over. Led by Jake Odorizzi, the Twins beat the Indians at Target Field on Saturday to move back into first place in the AL Central. Odorizzi fired 5 2/3 scoreless innings and has allowed only two runs in 17 innings against the Indians this year.

Jake Odorizzi

TB • SP • #20

August 10 vs. Indians

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Luis Arraez tripled in a run and both Max Kepler and Marwin Gonzalez swatted solo home runs. The Indians went 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position -- the Twins turned a nifty double play to snuff out a rally in the eighth -- and that's a pretty good recipe for a loss. Cleveland had opportunities to make the game interesting, but couldn't get The Big Hit.

On Friday night the Indians moved into a tie atop the AL Central after sitting 11 games back as recently as June 15. Following Saturday's win, the Twins are back to one game up. Of course, these two teams still have two more games remaining this weekend, plus six more games to play in September, so this division race is far from over.

Aquino launches three homers for Reds

Welcome to the big leagues, Aristides Aquino. Summoned to replace Yasiel Puig after the trade deadline, the man they call The Punisher extended his home run streak to four games with three dingers against the Cubs on Saturday night. He hit the first two against Kyle Hendricks, and the third against Dillon Maples.

Here are Aquino's three homers:

Aquino is now 13 for 28 (.464) with seven home runs in nine games this year. Including the one game with played with the Reds last year, Aquino has tied Trevor Story's record for the most home runs (seven) through the player's first 10 MLB games.

Aquino is the 17th player with a three-homer game this season -- Astros rookie Yordan Alvarez hit three homers Saturday night as well (more on him in a bit) -- and the second Red (Derek Dietrich). There have been 18 three-homer games this season, the third most in a single season in baseball history. The record is 22, set in 2001.

Given the way the ball is flying this year, I think it's safe to say there will be more three-homer games this season than any other season in baseball history. Heck, the record might be set before the end of the weekend.

New-look Braves bullpen blows game vs. Marlins

The Braves added Mark Melancon and Shane Greene to their bullpen at the trade deadline and already Greene has lost the closer's role. Melancon inherited it, and, on Saturday, he was charged with four runs in one-third of an inning to blow a save in Miami.

Greene replaced Melancon mid-inning and allowed the game-tying two-run double to Starlin Castro:

The winning run was thrown out at the plate on Castro's double, though that just delayed the inevitable. Martin Prado walked it off with a sacrifice fly against Sean Newcomb in the 10th inning. Melancon, Greene and Anthony Swarzak -- Swarzak came over in a trade a few weeks ago -- combined to allowed six runs and nine baserunners in 1 1/3 innings Saturday.

Atlanta has a fairly comfortable 6 1/2-game lead atop the NL East, but still, they were hoping Melancon and Greene (and Swarzak) would turn their bullpen into a strength. That has not been the case so far. Still plenty of time to go this season, so they'll work to get them right before October.

Astros score 23 runs against Orioles

The Astros became the first team this season to score 20 runs in a game on Saturday night. You should not be surprised to learn they did it against the Orioles. Houston cranked six home runs in the 23-2 blowout win, including four in three innings against O's starter Aaron Brooks. Baltimore is on pace to allow 338 (!) home runs this year.

Here are Yordan Alvarez's three home runs. He added a third homer later in the game. Alvarez and Aquino are the first set of the rookies with a three-homer game on the same day in baseball history.

This is only the second time in franchise history the Astros scored at least 20 runs in a game. They beat the Diamondbacks 21-5 back on October 2, 2015. As for the Orioles, they allowed 20 homers in a game for the first time since the infamous 30-3 game against the Rangers in 2007. Here are 10 fun facts about that game.

The Mets were the last time to score as many a 23 runs in a game. They beat the Phillies 24-4 last Aug. 16.

Angels snap eight-game losing streak

Barring a miracle, the Angels will miss the postseason for the seventh time in Mike Trout's eight full seasons. The Halos went into Saturday's game riding an eight-game losing streak that dropped them to 56-61 on the year.

The Angels snapped their losing streak with a blowout win over the Red Sox on Saturday. Trout chipped in offensively with a rocket two-run home run over the Green Monster. It was his first career home run at Fenway Park. Check it out:

Trout has now homered in every AL park. He has yet to homer in five NL parks: Busch Stadium (three games), Chase Field (two games), Citizens Bank Park (two games), Nationals Park (five games), PNC Park (three games), and Wrigley Field (five games).

The Angels sit 10 1/2 games behind the second wild-card spot and are essentially auditioning pitchers for next year's staff. As for the Red Sox, they are six games behind the second wild-card spot. If they're to make a run, it has to start soon.

Sanchez homers in return to Yankees

The Yankees have their All-Star catcher back. Gary Sanchez returned to the lineup Saturday after spending roughly two weeks on the injured list with a groin strain. And in his first game back, Sanchez went deep. To the action footage:

That was home run No. 25 for Sanchez. The injuries -- he also missed two weeks with a calf problem in April -- probably cost him a shot at becoming the sixth catcher in history to hit 40 homers in a season (Hall of Famers Johnny Bench and Mike Piazza both did it twice), but he still has a chance for his second career 30-homer season.

It should be noted New York's catchers were excellent while Sanchez was sidelined. Austin Romine and Kyle Higashioka combined to hit .317 with 11 homers in 16 games.

Stat of the Day: Votto becomes GABP all-time hits leader

Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati has a new all-time hits leader. Joey Votto's first-inning double against Kyle Hendricks on Saturday gave him sole possession of first place on the ballpark's hits leaderboard. Here's the milestone hit:

With this double, Joey Votto is now Great American Ball Park’s all-time hits leader (865) passing Brandon Phillips!#BornToBaseball pic.twitter.com/3qEtBEZGbt
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) August 10, 2019

Great American Ball Park opened in 2003 and is the eighth oldest ballpark in the National League, if you can believe that. Here is the ballpark's hits leaderboard: