Ranger Suarez and the Philadelphia Phillies each extended impressive streaks in the team's 7-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in Monday's opener of a four-game series.
Suarez increased his run of consecutive scoreless innings to 22 by limiting the Reds to two hits and a walk over seven dominant frames in Philadelphia's seventh straight win. The left-hander struck out five and improved to 4-0 in five starts this season.
Kody Clemens supplied the offence for the Phillies by going 2 for 4 with a three-run homer after being called up from the minors to replace slugger Bryce Harper, who is away from the team to attend the birth of his child.
Hunter Greene threw a season-high seven innings for Cincinnati but was handed the loss after allowing four runs on seven hits.
The Phillies opened the scoring in the second when Alec Bohm and Nick Castellanos reached on back-to-back singles before Bryson Stott plated Bohm with a sacrifice fly.
Johan Rojas tripled off Greene to start the third and came home on Kyle Schwarber's sac fly for a 2-0 edge, and the Phillies tacked on another run in the fourth when Bohm doubled and scored on Stott's fielder's choice grounder.
J.T. Realmuto's run-scoring double in the fifth put Philadelphia up 4-0, and Clemens' blast with Castellanos and Stott aboard in the ninth closed out the scoring.
Gelof's homer in ninth lifts Athletics over Yankees
Zack Gelof broke a scoreless tie with a two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning that gave the Oakland Athletics a 2-0 win over the New York Yankees in the opener of a four-game series.
Abraham Toro greeted reliever Victor Gonzalez with an infield single to start the ninth before Gelof lined a pitch from the Yankees' left-hander into the right field seats to end the scoreless stalemate.
Mason Miller then struck out Anthony Volpe, Juan Soto and Aaron Judge in order in the bottom of the ninth to record his fifth save and put an end to Oakland's three-game losing streak.
The Yankees were dealt a second loss in three games despite a dominant start from Carlos Rodon, who yielded only a fifth-inning single and two walks over seven innings.
A's starter JP Sears was equally good, however, as the former Yankee permitted just three hits and a walk while striking out seven in six innings.
The Yankees played nearly the entire game without manager Aaron Boone, who was ejected by home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt in the top of the first inning after questioning whether Oakland lead-off hitter Esteury Ruiz swung a pitch that hit the outfielder.
Boone said after the game Wendelstedt was angered by a remark directed at the umpire by a fan sitting behind New York's dugout.
Orioles stay hot by extending Angels' struggles
James McCann and Colton Cowser homered to back 5 2/3 scoreless innings from Albert Suarez as the Baltimore Orioles continued their surge with a 4-2 victory over the slumping Los Angeles Angels.
Adley Rutschman added two hits and two RBIs to help Baltimore to its seventh win in eight games, a run that has moved the Orioles a half-game ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the American League East.
The Angels, meanwhile, have now lost five straight after dropping the opener of this three-game series.
Suarez scattered four hits and two walks while striking out five before departing with a 3-0 lead. McCann's solo homer in the second inning put Baltimore on the board before Jorge Mateo stole two bases in the third to precede Rutschman's run-scoring single.
Rutschman made it 3-0 when he followed Gunnar Henderson's single with a double off Los Angeles starter Reid Detmers in the fifth, and Cowser increased the margin in the seventh with his sixth home run of the season.
All four Baltimore runs came off Detmers, who lasted seven innings and was dealt his first loss of the season after going 3-0 over his first four starts.
The Angels did close the gap in the bottom of the seventh, as Jo Adell homered and Logan O'Hoppe followed with a single before later scoring on Nolan Schanuel's base hit that cut the lead to 4-2.
Los Angeles threatened in the ninth by loading the bases with one out, but Baltimore closer Craig Kimbrel got Schanuel to pop out before fanning Mike Trout to end the game and record his sixth save.
O'Hoppe recorded three of the Angels' eight hits for the game.
Schmidt shuts down Twins as red-hot Yankees complete sweep
New York Yankees lead-off hitter Anthony Volpe started off Thursday's game against the Minnesota Twins with a home run.
That was all the run support Clarke Schmidt would need.
Schmidt pitched a career-high eight innings and the Yankees completed a three-game sweep of the Twins with a 5-0 win.
Schmidt permitted three hits without a walk while striking out eight as New York won for the 10th time in 12 games to become the first AL club to 30 wins.
The Yankees (30-15) posted back-to-back shutouts at Minnesota and extended their scoreless streak to 26 innings dating to the first inning of Tuesday's series opener.
Volpe's homer sparked a three-run first inning for New York, which outscored Minnesota 14-1 in the three games.
Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres each hit two doubles, while Anthony Rizzo, Austin Wells and Alex Verdugo all drove in one run.
The Twins (24-19) entered this series with only three losses in their previous 20 games before promptly being swept for the first time since April 15-17, at Baltimore.
Mets score two in 11th to edge Phillies
J.D. Martinez hit a go-ahead single in the 11th and later scored on a wild pitch to provide the final margin as the New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies to avoid a four-game sweep in the home-and-home series.
The Phillies sent the game into extras after Bryson Stott tied the game with a single off Mets closer Edwin Díaz in the 9th.
It marked the second straight blown save for Díaz and his third in four opportunities since May 5.
Pete Alonso opened the scoring with a first-inning homer for the Mets (20-23), who had lost to the Phillies at home on Monday and Tuesday and then lost the opener of the two-game series in Phildelphia on Wednesday.
In a scheduling quirk, these teams played four consecutive games split between New York and Philadelphia, as part of the arrangement with the teams playing a two-game set in London on June 8-9.
Kyle Schwarber and Alec Bohm each had run-scoring doubles for the NL East-leading Phillies (31-14), who lost for only the fourth time in 20 games.
De La Cruz runs wild as Reds blank Dodgers
Elly De La Cruz had four hits, three runs and four stolen bases as the visiting Cincinnati Reds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-2 in their series opener.
De La Cruz now has a major league-leading 30 steals - 13 more than the next-closest player (Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Jose Caballero).
Playing in Cincinnati's 44th game, he is the fastest player to 30 steals since 1996, when Kenny Lofton reached 30 steals in Cleveland's 41st game.
De La Cruz had has many hits as the Dodgers (29-17), who have now totalled one run in their last two games to lose consecutive games for the first time since April 19-20.
The Reds (19-25), who ended up using seven pitchers during a bullpen day, won for the second time in three games after going just 1-11 in their previous 12.
MLB: Phillies' Suarez beats Mets to become first in majors to 8 wins
Ranger Suarez became the first eight-game winner in the majors and Bryce Harper homered, doubled and drove in three runs to lead the red-hot Philadelphia Phillies to a 10-5 win over the New York Mets on Wednesday.
Suarez limited New York to two unearned runs and four hits in five innings with three strikeouts and two walks. He lowered his ERA to 1.37.
Cristian Pache added two RBIs for the major league-leading Phillies, who have won three straight against the Mets and 16 of 19 overall.
Harper returned to the lineup after missing Tuesday’s game with a migraine. He hit a solo homer in the first inning and added a two-run double to cap a four-run fifth.
The Mets have lost eight of 11 to fall four games under .500 (19-23) for the first time since they were 2-6 in early April.
Gomber leads streaking Rockies
Austin Gomber pitched two-hit ball over six innings and rookie Jordan Beck homered and drove in a career-high five runs as the Colorado Rockies won their seventh straight game, 8-0 over the San Diego Padres.
Gomber struck out five and walked two before a trio of relievers finished a four-hitter.
The Rockies, who hadn’t won seven straight since an eight-game run in 2019, swept a three-game series in San Diego for the first time since 2013.
Beck entered with just one extra-base hit in 14 games but had a two-run double in the second inning, his first career homer in the sixth and an RBI single in the eighth.
Michael King was tagged for six runs on eight hits over 5 1/3 innings. He surrendered Brenton Doyle’s solo homer in the second – his major league-high 11th allowed this season.
The Padres were shut out for the third time this season and second time on their six-game homestand.
Rutschman gives Orioles walk-off win
Adley Rutschman hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Baltimore Orioles to a 3-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
With a split of the rain-shortened two-game set, the Orioles have gone 105 straight regular-season series of at least two decisions without being swept. That is tied for the third-longest run in major league history.
They were swept by Texas in last year’s AL Division Series but haven’t been swept in the regular season since May 13-15, 2022, at Detroit.
The streak was in danger of ending almost exactly two years later, but Jordan Westburg, who homered in the first inning, led off the ninth with an infield single before Rutschman’s high drive off Jordan Romano just barely cleared the wall in right field.
The Orioles also extended their streak of 17 consecutive non-losing series against AL East opponents, and they remained one of three teams without a three-game skid this season (Cubs and Phillies).
MLB: Astros pitcher Blanco ejected following glove inspection
Houston Astros pitcher Ronel Blanco was ejected following a foreign substance check before Victor Caratini singled home a run in the bottom of the 10th inning in a 2-1 win over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday.
Blanco was tossed by third base umpire Laz Diaz after a check of his glove before the start of the fourth inning. The umpires, Blanco and Astros manager Joe Espada stood at the mound for a couple of minutes discussing the issue before the right-hander was thrown out.
Blanco, who threw a no-hitter in his season debut, allowed four hits over three scoreless innings.
Blanco denied using an illegal substance.
“Just probably rosin I put on my left arm,” he said in Spanish through a translator. “Maybe because of the sweat, it got into the glove and that’s maybe what they found.”
MLB began cracking down on foreign substances in June 2021, and Blanco will likely face a 10-game suspension.
Houston’s Alex Bregman homered after he went deep twice on Monday. He also doubled in the fourth to become the first player in franchise history with an extra-base hit in five straight at-bats.
Nola goes distance for surging Phillies
Aaron Nola pitched a four-hitter for his fourth major league shutout and the major league-leading Philadelphia Phillies beat the slumping New York Mets, 4-0.
Nola struck out eight without a walk and threw 73 of his 109 pitches for strikes. He notched his sixth career complete game and first since a two-hit shutout against Cincinnati in August 2022.
Philadelphia improved the majors’ best record to 30-13 and earned its first sweep at Citi Field since a three-game series in April 2013. The Phillies have won or tied all 12 of their series since April 5, their best such streak since August 1994 to June 1995 (13 series).
The Mets completed a 1-4 homestand against two NL East rivals and dropped to 10-14 at home.
The Phillies scored twice in the third inning off Jose Butto on a bases-loaded hit by pitch and Brandon Marsh’s bases-loaded walk.
Bryson Stott had a run-scoring single in the ninth and Alec Bohm doubled home a run.
Butto needed 97 pitches to get through five innings – including 41 in the third. He gave up just one hit but walked four.
Sale sharp again as Braves roll
Chris Sale pitched two-hit ball over seven stellar innings to win his fifth straight start and Matt Olson hit a three-run homer to lead the Atlanta Braves to a 7-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs for their second straight shutout.
Sale (6-1) struck out nine and did not issue a walk to match his win total from all last season. The veteran left-hander is 5-0 with a 1.41 ERA over his last five starts with 41 strikeouts in 32 innings.
Starter Jameson Taillon’s error on Orlando Arcia’s grounder helped set up Atlanta’s six-run fourth inning, including Olson’s blast that made it 7-0. Michael Harris homered to lead off that inning.
The Braves, who have won six of seven, have outscored the Cubs 9-0 in the first two games of the series.
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