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• MLB: Ohtani homers again in Dodgers' win

  Shohei Ohtani's major league-leading 11th home run of the season helped make Walker Buehler's return to the mound a winning one for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who posted a 6-3 victory over the Miami Marlins on Monday.

  The Dodgers homered four times in all to take the opener of this three-game series and extend their winning streak to five games. Ohtani and James Outman delivered two-run blasts, while Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernandez had solo shots for the reigning National League West champions.

  Making his first MLB start since June 2022 after recovering from the second Tommy John surgery of his career, Buehler did not factor in the decision while allowing three runs on six hits with four strikeouts in four innings.

  Buehler's return began in a rocky way, as Jazz Chisholm Jr. opened the game with a single before stealing second and scoring on Bryan De La Cruz's base hit. De La Cruz later scored on Jesus Sanchez's single for a 2-0 Miami lead.

  The Dodgers quickly pulled even, as Ohtani followed a lead-off walk to Mookie Betts in the bottom of the first with his fourth homer in three games. Two pitches later, Freeman connected off Miami starter Roddery Munoz to put Los Angeles in front.

  Nick Gordon's solo homer off Buehler in the second tied the score once again, but Outman sent Los Angeles back ahead in the bottom of the inning with his blast to center that followed a walk to Gavin Lux.

  Hernandez's ninth homer of the season increased the lead to 6-3 in the third, and relievers Ryan Yarbrough, Blake Treinen and Alex Vesia combined for five scoreless innings to protect Los Angeles' advantage.

  Chisholm and Sanchez each had two hits for the Marlins. Munoz allowed all six Los Angeles runs in 4 2/3 innings of work.

   

  Wheeler, Harper help scorching Phillies finish sweep of Giants

  Zack Wheeler struck out 11 over seven innings, Bryce Harper belted a three-run homer for a second consecutive game, and the torrid Philadelphia Phillies completed a four-game sweep of the San Francisco Giants with a 6-1 victory.

  Wheeler allowed one unearned run and four hits in a dominant effort that gave Philadelphia its sixth straight win and 10th in a row at home. The Phillies have now won 10 of their last 11 overall and improved to 17-3 since April 15.

  The Phillies did have one streak end, however, as Alec Bohm went 0 for 4 to end a run of 18 straight games with at least one hit.

  Giants starter Mason Black, making his major league debut, kept the Phillies off the board until the rookie issued back-to-back walks in the fourth inning and gave up a run-scoring single to Whit Merrifield.

  Black ran into greater trouble in the fifth, as Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto began Philadelphia's half of the inning with singles before Harper launched a pitch into the left field seats for a 4-0 lead.

  The Giants got their only run in the sixth when Thairo Estrada reached on an error, moved to third on LaMonte Wade Jr.'s single and scored on Wilmer Flores's sacrifice fly.

  Schwarber capped the scoring with a solo homer off reliever Tyler Rogers in the eighth.

  Black lasted 4 1/3 innings and permitted five runs on eight hits while walking three. 

   

  Twins bounce back, win series opener against Mariners

  Simeon Woods Richardson allowed just one hit over six scoreless innings for the Minnesota Twins, who scored twice in the seventh inning to earn a 3-1 win over the Seattle Mariners to open a four-game series.

  Carlos Correa went 2 for 4 with an RBI double to help Minnesota get back on track following Sunday's 9-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox, which ended the Twins' 12-game winning streak.

  Seattle's Luis Castillo held the Twins to one run through six innings, but was touched for two in the seventh as Minnesota broke a 1-1 tie.

  Castillo walked Max Kepler to start the Twins' half of the inning and Correa followed with his second double of the night to put two on. Correa advanced to third on a fielder's choice grounder as Kepler was thrown out at the plate, then scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly from Christian Vasquez.

  Manuel Margot then greeted reliever Trent Thornton with a run-scoring single that extended the lead to 3-1.

  Woods Richardson recorded a career-high eight strikeouts while yielding just a third-inning single to Mitch Garver and a walk to Cal Raleigh in the fifth. The right-hander exited with a 1-0 lead, but reliever Griffin Jax surrendered two hits and a walk in the seventh before Garver got Seattle on the board with a sac fly that plated former Twin Jorge Polanco.

  The Twins had gone ahead in the fifth on back-to-back doubles from Kepler and Correa, the first hits Castillo surrendered during the game.

  Castillo allowed just three hits overall in 6 2/3 innings, but did walk three and was charged with three runs - two earned - to take the loss.

   

   

   

• MLB: Ohtani's two homers help Dodgers sweep

  Shohei Ohtani went 4 for 4 and delivered his first two-homer game as a Los Angeles Dodger to power his new team to a 5-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday.

  Ohtani's big performance enabled the Dodgers to complete a sweep of this three-game series between National League clubs who each won their division last season.

  Two other notable offseason additions also contributed to Los Angeles' fourth straight win. Teoscar Hernandez added a two-run homer, while James Paxton yielded just one run on five hits over 6 2/3 innings to improve to 4-0.

  Ohtani staked the Dodgers to an early lead with a two-run homer off Max Fried in the first inning. The 2023 American League MVP later singled in the sixth before Hernandez launched Fried's curveball into the stands in left center field to extend the margin to 4-0.

  Paxton kept Atlanta off the scoreboard until the seventh, when Marcell Ozuna connected for his 10th home run of the season to move into a tie with Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson and injured Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout for the major league lead.

  Ohtani joined that group an inning later with a titanic 464-foot blast off A.J. Minter in the eighth.

  Fried (2-1) struck out seven in seven innings, but was dealt his first loss of 2024 after allowing four runs on just four hits.

   

  Red Sox end Twins' streak as bats break out

  Sparked by two-run homers from Ceddane Rafaela and Rafael Devers, the Boston Red Sox broke out of an offensive funk to snap the Minnesota Twins' 12-game winning streak with Sunday's 9-2 victory.

  Boston also received two-run doubles from Vaughn Grissom and Dominic Smith to halt a three-game skid in which it scored a combined four runs. The Red Sox had gone six consecutive games without a home run until Rafaela connected off Minnesota starter Joe Ryan in the fifth inning to break a 1-1 tie. 

  The Twins' 12-game run was tied for the franchise's second-longest winning streak since relocating to Minnesota in 1961, surpassed only by a 15-game stretch in 1991.

  Minnesota did own a 1-0 lead following Ryan Jeffers' solo homer off Cooper Criswell in the third inning, but Rob Refsnyder doubled home Jarren Duran in the fourth to pull Boston even.

  Rafaela then followed Reese McGuire's single with his fifth homer of the season to give the Red Sox a 3-1 advantage in the fifth. The score remained that way until Boston broke the game open with four runs against the Twins' bullpen in the eighth.

  After loading the bases with one out on a Devers single, a Tyler O'Neill double and a walk, Grissom drove in two with an opposite-field double that preceded Smith's two-run double that increased the lead to 7-1.

  The Twins got a run back in their half of the eighth when Max Kepler doubled and scored on Trevor Larnach's single, but Devers followed a triple by Duran with his blast off reliever Jay Jackson in the ninth.

  Brennan Bernardino received the win after retiring both batters he faced in relief of Criswell, who allowed one run in 4 1/3 innings.

  Ryan (1-2) surrendered three runs while striking out five in six innings.

   

  Harper's three-run homer helps Phillies stay hot

  Bryce Harper's three-run homer in the third inning provided the biggest blow as the scorching Philadelphia Phillies won their fifth straight game by holding on for a 5-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants. 

  J.T. Realmuto had three hits and Alec Bohm extended his hitting streak to 18 games to help Philadelphia win for the ninth time in 10 outings. The Phillies, owners of MLB's best record at 24-11, are 16-3 since April 15.

  The Phillies also got a strong effort from Taijuan Walker in his second start back from the injured list. The right-hander worked 6 1/3 innings and allowed three runs while striking out seven to move to 2-0.

  Walker was touched for a run in the first inning after permitting a single to Lamonte Wade Jr. and a run-scoring double to Michael Conforto. The veteran hurler settled down from there, though, and the Phillies pulled even in the second when Bohm reached second on an error and later crossed the plate on Edmundo Sosa's infield single.

  Harper then put Philadelphia ahead in the third when he followed a walk to Kyle Schwarber and a Realmuto single with a drive into the home bullpen off San Francisco starter Logan Webb.

  Webb (3-3) struck out six but was removed after throwing 98 pitches in four innings. The Giants' ace was tagged for five runs - four earned - on six hits and two walks.

  Walker protected the 5-1 lead until serving up a two-run homer to Thairo Estrada in the seventh. The Giants inched closer on Jakson Reetz's solo homer off Jose Alvarado with one out in the ninth, but the Philadelphia closer retired the next two hitters to record his seventh save of the season.

  Reetz's homer was his first in the majors. The catcher had his contract purchased from Triple-A prior to the game.

  Bohm kept his hitting streak alive in his final plate appearance when he doubled in the seventh. 

   

• MLB: Rooker hits 2 home runs in 10-run 3rd, Athletics win 20-4

  Brent Rooker homered twice in a 10-run third inning and Brett Harris hit the first two home runs of his major league career as the surprising Oakland Athletics reached .500 with a 20-4 pounding of the Miami Marlins on Saturday.

  Rooker became the first Athletics player in 30 years to go deep twice in an inning and became the 60th in major league history. Trea Turner of Philadelphia was the last to do it on Aug. 19. The most recent A’s player to do it was Mark McGwire against Seattle in 1996.

  Shea Langeliers and JJ Bleday also homered for the Athletics, who have won six straight and eight of nine to get to .500 for the first time since they were 1-1 after a win on April 1, 2023.

  Rooker finished with three hits and tied a career high with five RBIs, Bleday had three hits and drove in four, while Langeliers and Darrell Hernaiz added three hits apiece.

  Oakland collected 21 hits, its most since it had 25 at Houston on Sept. 10, 2019.

  The A’s are the biggest surprise in baseball after losing 112 games last season. Oakland didn’t win its 17th game last season until June 12.

   

  Twins beat Red Sox for 12th straight victory

  Max Kepler’s home run backed a strong outing by Pablo Lopez and the Minnesota Twins won their 12th straight game, 3-1 over the Boston Red Sox.

  The Twins’ streak matches their run from the 1980 season, tied for the second-longest in team history. The club record for consecutive wins is 15, set in June 1991, the last season Minnesota won the World Series.

  Lopez allowed one run on five hits over six innings with one walk and eight strikeouts. Three relievers worked two scoreless innings before Cole Sands pitched the ninth for his second save.

  Kepler homered off Cam Booser in the fourth inning to snap a 1-1 tie and Carlos Correa’s sacrifice fly in the sixth closed the scoring.

  The Red Sox lost their third in a row and have gone six consecutive games without a home run, their longest streak since six straight in 2022.

   

  Muncy hits three home runs in Dodgers’ win

  Max Muncy had the first three-home run game of his career among his four hits and Shohei Ohtani added three hits with a home run to lift the surging Los Angeles Dodgers to an 11-2 rout of the Atlanta Braves.

  Freddie Freeman also had three hits for the Dodgers, who have won three straight and 10 of 12.

  Muncy hit a two-run shot in the second inning off Bryce Elder and added solo shots in the seventh and eighth innings to become the first Dodger with a three-homer game since Trayce Thompson on April 1, 2023.

  Ohtani led off the third with his eighth home run and surpassed manager Dave Roberts for most homers by a Japanese-born player with the Dodgers.

  Tyler Glasnow struck out 10 and became the second pitcher in the majors to reach six wins. He allowed two runs on five hits over seven innings.