MLB roundup: Astros top Red Sox 7-3 for 10th straight win
Tyler White’s two-run double capped a five-run first inning, Josh Reddick hit a solo homer and the Houston Astros kept rolling, beating the Boston Red Sox 7-3 Saturday night in Boston for their 10th straight victory.
Michael Brantley had three hits and an RBI for Houston (31-15), which matched the best start in franchise history after 46 games.
Christian Vazquez hit a solo homer for the Red Sox, who had won six of eight.
Josh James (1-0) got the victory with three innings of hitless relief after starter Corbin Martin went four, giving up three runs, two earned, in his second major league start.
Boston spot starter Hector Velazquez (1-3) retired just one batter, giving up five runs, three hits with two walks and had a spattering of boos cascading down as he walked off.
George Springer opened the game with a triple off the center-field wall and Brantley followed with an RBI double over the head of right fielder Mookie Betts’ leap at the bullpen wall before Reddick’s sacrifice fly.
Yuli Gurriel’s bloop single made it 3-0 and chased Velazquez. White then hit reliever Colten Brewer’s first pitch down the right-field line for a two-run double.
Cardinals 8, Rangers 2
ARLINGTON, Texas – Paul DeJong homered and had a season-high four RBIs and Matt Carpenter’s opposite-field double off the very top of the outfield wall ignited a decisive inning for the Cardinals, who got their first victory over the Rangers since the 2011 World Series.
Carpenter was initially given a two-run homer in the fifth after his drive hit the wide pad atop the 14-foot left field wall, bounced up and then came back down into the field of play. That was changed to an RBI double on replay review after the Rangers challenged. It was the first run in a five-run outburst.
The Cardinals had lost seven regular-season games in a row against Texas since their World Series title eight years ago.
Cardinals rookie right-hander Dakota Hudson (3-3) struck out five and allowed two runs over six innings.
Ariel Jurado (1-2) was lifted in the fifth inning and DeJong greeted reliever Jeanmar Gomez with a two-run double into the left field corner that made it 4-0.
Thunderstorms with heavy rain delayed the start of the game by 2 hours, 11 minutes.
Rays 2, Yankees 1
NEW YORK – Austin Meadows homered off Luis Cessa in the 11th inning for the Tampa Bay Rays, who regained the AL East lead after dropping behind New York for a day.
New York’s bullpen retired 13 in a row before Meadows lined a slider from Cessa (0-1) into the right-field seats for his ninth homer.
Hunter Wood (1-0) pitched a perfect 11th in his first appearance since May 1 following a stint on the injured list caused by right shoulder soreness.
Brandon Lowe tied the score in the seventh, homering on the second pitch from reliever Tommy Kahnle.
Masahiro Tanaka outpitched AL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell for the second time in less than a week and was provided a lead when Snell threw a run-scoring wild pitch in the third. Jose Alvarado notched his fifth save in six chances.
Tanaka allowed three hits in six scoreless innings, struck out six and walked none. He left with a bruised shin after getting hit by a hard grounder up the middle in the sixth. The Yankees said X-rays of the shin were negative.
Athletics 4, Tigers 1
DETROIT – Daniel Mengden pitched seven impressive innings and Nick Hundley and Chad Pinder homered to lift the Oakland Athletics to their 15th straight win over Detroit.
Mengden (1-1) allowed a run and three hits. Lou Trivino worked the eighth inning, and Blake Treinen pitched the ninth for his seventh save in nine chances.
Matthew Boyd (4-4) allowed four runs in 6 1/3 innings for the Tigers, who have dropped six straight. Boyd struck out eight.
Making his 100th career appearance, Boyd retired his first seven batters before allowing a single to Jurickson Profar, the first of three hits for the Oakland infielder. Hundley followed with his first home run of the season, which barely cleared the wall in right field.
Profar hit an RBI double in the fifth to make it 3-1, and Pinder added a solo homer in the seventh
The only run for Detroit came in the fourth when Ronny Rodriguez scored on Mengden’s wild pitch.
If the A’s beat the Tigers on Sunday, they would tie a franchise record for their longest winning streak against one team. Oakland won 16 in a row over the New York Yankees from 1989-91.
Reds 4, Dodgers 0
CINCINNATI – Jesse Winker’s homer ended LA’s stretch of scoreless pitching and Yasiel Puig singled home a pair of runs as the Reds snapped the Dodgers’ four-game winning streak.
The Reds beat the Dodgers for the first time in five games this season, including LA’s three-game sweep in April. The Dodgers are 34-23 at Great American Ball Park, the second-best mark by an NL team behind the Mets.
Tyler Mahle (1-5) got his first win in his ninth start, allowing four singles and a pair of walks in five innings. The Dodgers got a base runner in each of the first five innings Saturday but Mahle escaped a pair of scoring threats.
Three relievers completed the Reds’ sixth shutout, tied with the Cubs for most in the NL. The Dodgers were blanked for the fourth time.
Winker’s solo homer in the second inning off Walker Buehler (4-1) ended the Dodgers’ streak of 23 scoreless innings.
Cody Bellinger had a pair of singles, leaving his batting average at .409. He fouled a ball off his right foot in his final at-bat but stayed in the game and singled.
Indians 4, Orioles 1
CLEVELAND – Adam Plutko, making his first appearance of the season, allowed one run in six innings – a solo homer by Trey Mancini for Baltimore’s only hit.
Called up from Triple-A Columbus before the game, Plutko struck out four, walked two and was pulled after throwing 83 pitches.
Cleveland used three relievers to finish it. Oliver Perez struck out three of the four hitters he faced. Adam Cimber retired a batter in the eighth, but a fielding error by third baseman Jose Ramirez and a walk put two runners on.
Brad Hand struck out Jonathan Villar to end the inning and worked the ninth for his 12th save in 12 chances.
Jordan Luplow and Carlos Santana homered for Cleveland, extending Baltimore’s major-league-leading total of home runs allowed to 93.
John Means (5-4) took the loss.
Nationals 5, Cubs 2
WASHINGTON – Stephen Strasburg allowed two runs in eight innings and struck out seven, and Juan Soto had two hits and drove in three runs to lead Washington.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon protested the loss after twice coming out to complain about the delivery of Washington closer Sean Doolittle, who pitched the ninth for his eighth save in nine chances.
Brian Dozier’s homer gave the Nationals a 1-0 lead. Soto’s two-run double capped a three-run third inning, and he added an RBI single in the fifth.
David Bote homered in the sixth for the Cubs, who have lost three of four.
Chicago’s Jon Lester, who hadn’t given up an earned run in his last three outings, a span totaling 19 2/3 innings, allowed five runs and 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings. He had only allowed a total of five earned runs over his first seven starts of the season.
Braves 4, Brewers 3
ATLANTA – Freddie Freeman led off the 10th inning with a home run into the right-field seats to give the Braves their fourth straight win after Luke Jackson blew a 3-2 lead in the ninth.
Freeman pulled a fastball from Josh Hader (0-3) for his 10th homer. Jacob Webb (2-0) pitched a perfect 10th for Atlanta.
Braves rookie left fielder Austin Riley continued his hot start in his first week in the majors by hitting a go-ahead, two-run homer in the sixth for a 3-2 lead.
Jackson couldn’t protect a 3-2 lead in the ninth. Jackson hit Keston Hiura with a pitch to open the inning. Hiura moved to third on Orlando Arcia’s one-out single to right and scored on Lorenzo Cain’s high bouncer over third baseman Josh Donaldson for a 3-3 tie.
Riley’s homer off left-hander Alex Claudio gave him eight hits, including two homers, in four games since he was called up from Triple-A Gwinnett.
White Sox 4, Blue Jays 1
CHICAGO – Lucas Giolito threw five solid innings, Leury Garcia homered and the Chicago White Sox won a game that was stopped after 4 1/2 innings because of rain.
Giolito (5-1) struck out the side in the top of the fifth before play was halted. The game was called after a wait of three hours. Giolito gave up a run and three hits and was credited with his first career complete game. He struck out four and walked two.
Yonder Alonso had two singles and two RBIs for the White Sox, who have won five of seven.
Ryan Feierabend (0-1) allowed four runs and seven hits in four innings for Toronto in his first start in the majors since 2008. He struck out two and walked one. The Blue Jays have lost 10 of 13.
Garcia homered to left field on Feierabend’s second pitch for his second home run this season and second career leadoff drive.
Alonso and Charlie Tilson singled to drive in two runs for a 3-1 lead in the second inning and Alonso added another RBI single in the third.
MARLINS 2, METS 0
MIAMI – Miami starter Pablo Lopez gave up a double on his first pitch, then combined with the Marlins’ bullpen to hold the New York Mets hitless the rest of the way.
The Marlins, with the worst record in the majors, beat the Mets for the second straight day after entering the series with a seven-game losing streak. The Mets lost their fourth in a row.
Jeff McNeil sliced the first pitch of the game just inside the left field line for a double, but that was all the Mets managed against Lopez (3-5) and two relievers. Lopez pitched seven innings and tied a career high with seven strikeouts.
Tayron Guerrero got four outs and Adam Conley finished for his second save.
Jon Berti hit his second home run of the season and Brian Anderson knocked in the other Miami run with a single in the third.
Steven Matz (3-3) was activated from the 10-day injured list to make his first start in two weeks. He allowed two runs and five hits in 3 2/3 innings and struck out six with two walks.
Phillies 2, Rockies 1
PHILADELPHIA – Bryce Harper homered over the batter’s eye in center field in the first inning, a drive estimated at 466 feet, and Aaron Nola tied his career high with 12 strikeouts while pitching into the seventh inning to lead the NL East-leading Phillies.
Nola (4-0) allowed one run on eight hits while walking one. He notched double-digit strikeouts for the 10th time but first this season and got past the fourth inning for the seventh time in 10 starts.
Philadelphia went in front 2-0 in the third with the help of the Rockies. Jean Segura walked, went to third on Rhys Hoskins’ single that was booted in left by Raimel Tapia, and scored on a wild pitch by Antonio Senzatela (3-3).
Tony Wolters tripled in the seventh and scored on a double by Ryan McMahon for Colorado, which has lost three straight.
Hector Neris retired six straight batters in the final two innings for his seventh save in as many chances.