MLB roundup: 19-year-old rookie Juan Soto powers Nationals to win over Padres
Juan Soto, the youngest player in the majors at 19, hit a three-run home run in his first career start as the Washington Nationals defeated the San Diego Padres 10-2 on Monday in Washington.
Mark Reynolds had two solo home runs for the Nationals, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Bryce Harper had a homer and an RBI double.
Soto’s drive highlighted a five-run second inning for Washington. The promising outfielder, who played for three minor league teams this season, hit the first pitch from Robbie Erlin (1-3) over the Nationals bullpen in left-center field. Soto also singled.
Soto’s homer traveled an estimated 442 feet at Nationals Park. He earned a standing ovation from the crowd and the teenager responded by taking a curtain call. Per Baseball-Reference.com, Soto became the first teenager to hit a home run in a major league game since Harper on Sept. 30, 2012.
Called up to Washington on Sunday, Soto became the first 19-year-old to make his major league debut since Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias in 2016. He entered that game in the eighth inning as a pinch-hitter and struck out.
Washington’s starting left fielder began the season at Class A Hagerstown. He hit a combined .362 with 14 homers and 52 RBIs in his three minor league stops.
Gio Gonzalez (5-2) allowed two runs and two hits in seven innings to pick up the win.
Cardinals 6, Royals 0: In St. Louis, Miles Mikolas pitched his first career shutout and Tyler O’Neill homered for the third straight game and drove in four runs, leading St. Louis over Kansas City.
Mikolas needed just 109 pitches to remain unbeaten and struck out a career-high nine. The Cardinals won for the third time in four games and beat the Royals for the fifth straight time.
Mikolas (6-0) retired 13 of the final 14 batters he faced. The only trouble he faced came after he allowed back-to-back singles to start the third, but got out of it with the help of a double play.
O’Neill’s three-run homer, his first career to the opposite field, capped a four-run third in which the Cardinals strung together five two-out hits. O’Neill’s double in the fifth scored Marcell Ozuna, giving the Cardinals a 5-0 lead.
Ozuna proceeded O’Neill’s blast with an RBI single, breaking a 0-for-22 slump. Ozuna reached three times and had a pair of hits.
Matt Carpenter homered in the seventh as part of a three-hit night. Carpenter is hitting .542 (13 for 24) in his last six games, including seven doubles, to raise his average to .210. It is the first time since April 7 that Carpenter’s average rose north of .200.
Royals starter Ian Kennedy (1-5) gave up five runs, all with two outs, in 5 2/3 innings.
Phillies 3, Braves 0: In Philadelphia, Nick Pivetta struck out seven over seven innings, and Nick Williams and Aaron Altherr each homered to lead the Phillies past Atlanta.
The Phillies took the opener of the three-game series and moved a half-game behind Atlanta for first place in the N.L. East.
Philadelphia hasn’t had a winning record since it made the last of five straight postseason berths in 2011. The Phillies lost 96 games in 2017 – the third straight season of more than 90 losses.
Under first-year manager Gabe Kapler, the Phillies are back in a battle for first in late May for the first time since Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Cole Hamels dominated during the glory years. But in a year where the Eagles won the Super Bowl, Villanova won a national championship and the 76ers won 52 games, perhaps Philly fans need more than 45 games to hop on the bandwagon. Citizens Bank Park – the site of an NL-record 257 straight sellouts that ended in 2012 – was thin with just over 21,000 fans announced on a gorgeous night.
Mets 2, Marlins 0: In New York, Jason Vargas returned to the rotation with five excellent innings, AJ Ramos pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth and the Mets beat Miami.
The Mets got their fourth straight win, following up a three-game sweep of N.L. West-leading Arizona. New York is 6-2 in its past eight games, 5-1 on this homestand and 24-19 overall.
The 35-year-old Vargas (1-3) had his previous turn skipped after three sloppy outings to open the season, but he shut down Miami with changeups and guile for his first victory with the Mets. Ten of his outs came via the change, and he struck out seven without reaching 90 mph even once with his fastball. He allowed two hits and a walk before leaving after 86 pitches.
New York used three pitchers in a scoreless – but eventful – sixth inning. Paul Sewald got two outs but put two on before left-hander Jerry Blevins entered to face lefty slugger Justin Bour. Blevins walked Bour on a full count and was replaced by Ramos, and the right-hander struck out pinch-hitter Derek Dietrich swinging to leave the bases loaded and preserve a 1-0 lead.
Ramos followed with a scoreless seventh, ending the inning by beginning a bold 1-6-3 double play on pinch-hitter J.B. Shuck’s hit-and-run comebacker. Ramos’ throw to second narrowly nabbed Miguel Rojas.
Mets left fielder Brandon Nimmo made a diving catch on Brian Anderson’s two-out line drive to help Seth Lugo escape the eighth unscathed. Jeurys Familia pitched the ninth to cap a five-hitter for his 13th save and New York’s second shutout this season.
Brewers 4, Diamondbacks 2: In Milwaukee, Travis Shaw, Domingo Santana and Lorenzo Cain each hit home runs off Zack Greinke, and Milwaukee beat Arizona.
Arizona has lost five in a row and 11 of 12, scoring just 24 runs in that span.
Greinke (3-3) struck out nine, walked none and gave up five hits in six innings, but the home runs did him in.
Shaw hit a two-run homer in the first, Santana sliced an opposite-field solo shot in the fourth and Cain homered leading off the sixth. Greinke hadn’t allowed more than two home runs in a game this season.
Greinke, who got an extra day of rest before this game, slipped to 1-4 at Miller Park after a 15-0 stretch while pitching for the Brewers from May 9, 2011 to June 6, 2012.
Chase Anderson (4-3) threw six strong innings in his return to the rotation. He’d been ill and on the 10-day disabled list, came back and allowed three hits in his first start since May 6.
Rockies 2, Dodgers 1: In Los Angeles, pinch-hitter Carlos Gonzalez drove in the go-ahead run with an infield single in the eighth inning and the Colorado Rockies edged the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 on Monday night.
German Marquez pitched seven innings of two-hit ball and Gerardo Parra homered for the Rockies, who moved into first place in the N.L. West ahead of slumping Arizona.
The loss snapped the Dodgers’ four-game winning streak as they returned home after sweeping three games against the Nationals.
Los Angeles committed two errors in the eighth and another in the ninth in the first of 19 meetings with the Rockies.
Dodgers starter Walker Buehler gave up one run and two hits in seven innings, struck out six and walked none.
Twins 4, Tigers 2: In Minneapolis, Logan Morrison forced in the go-ahead run with a four-pitch walk in the eighth inning after striking out in his first three at-bats, propelling Minnesota over Detroit.
Jose Berrios (5-4) struck out nine, giving up just three hits and two walks over eight innings.
Fernando Rodney closed for his 10th save in 13 tries. Rodney, whose first eight seasons of his major league career were with the Tigers, has converted eight straight saves in 10 consecutive scoreless innings.
The more relevant reunion was the return of Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire to Minnesota, where he managed the Twins for 13 seasons. This was the first game between the division rivals since Gardenhire was hired by Detroit.
Nicholas Castellanos gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead with a home run to straightaway center field in the first inning and a two-out RBI single in the third, both hits on first pitches. Berrios retired 15 straight batters after that to sail past the seven-inning mark he’s reached in half of his 10 starts.
Yankees 10, Rangers 5: In Arlington, Texas, Gleyber Torres hit two of the four Yankees homers off Bartolo Colon and New York won to deny the Texas starter a milestone victory only three days before his 45th birthday.
Aaron Judge and Neil Walker also went deep against Colon. Judge’s 12th homer, leading off the fifth, snapped a 4-all tie and put the Yankees ahead to stay. Aaron Hicks added a two-run homer in the ninth for New York, which had a season-high 10 extra-base hits.
Colon (2-2) allowed six runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings in his 178th career loss. He remained one win short of matching Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marchial’s 243 victories, the most by a player born in the Dominican Republic.
No. 9 hitter Torres, the rookie second baseman in his 25th career game, was only three months old when Colon made his big league debut on April 4, 1997. Torres hit a two-run homer in the second, and his solo shot in the sixth, his sixth homer of the season, ended Colon’s night.
Masahiro Tanaka (5-2) limited the Texas to three hits over five innings, but walked four and gave up two homers. The right-hander struck out three.
Joey Gallo’s 14th homer led off the Texas second. Rougned Odor’s three-run blast, his first this season, tied the game at 4 in the fourth.
Orioles 3, White Sox 2: In Chicago, Manny Machado, Adam Jones and Mark Trumbo homered, helping Andrew Cashner and Baltimore beat Chicago.
Machado hit a line drive to left in the fourth inning for his 15th homer, moving into a tie for the major league lead with Boston’s Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez. Trumbo connected in the fifth against Hector Santiago, and Jones went deep in the sixth after leaving Sunday’s 5-0 loss to the Red Sox due to an illness.
Cashner (2-5) got his first win since April 5, helped by some terrific relief work by Mychal Givens. Cashner pitched five-plus innings and was charged with two runs and eight hits.
Baltimore improved to 2-3 on an 11-game trip to Boston, Chicago and Tampa Bay. The last-place Orioles (15-32) had dropped four of five heading into the four-game series between two of the A.L.’s worst teams.