Corbin Carroll hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning to lift the Arizona Diamondbacks to their fifth straight win, 3-2 over the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday.
After the Reds scored twice in the top of the eighth to take the lead, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. led off the bottom half with a walk. Alex Young got Evan Longoria to fly out before Carroll followed with his 22nd home run of the season for a 3-2 lead.
Miguel Castro got the final out of the eighth for the win and Paul Sewald worked around a one-out walk in the ninth for his seventh save since joining the Diamondbacks.
Arizona has won eight of nine to move past Cincinnati and San Francisco into sole possession of the third and final NL wild-card spot.
Merrill Kelly had a stellar start for Arizona, allowing one hit over seven scoreless innings while matching a career high with 12 strikeouts before leaving with an undisclosed injury.
He was warming up in the eighth but grimaced after throwing a pitch. Kelly walked around the mound for a few seconds before leaving the field with Arizona’s medical staff.
Rookie Brandon Williamson was almost as good for Cincinnati, yielding six hits in six shutout innings with one walk and six strikeouts.
Nick Senzel had a pinch-hit home run in the eighth for the Reds, who had a three-game overall winning streak snapped and fell to 0-4 this season against the Diamondbacks.
Jeffers hits late HR as Twins extend Rangers’ slump
Pinch-hitter Ryan Jeffers hit a tie-breaking home run in the eighth inning, Michael A. Taylor went deep twice and the Minnesota Twins beat the Texas Rangers 7-5 Thursday, handing the Rangers their seventh straight loss.
The Twins entered the eighth trailing by a run but tied the game when Matt Wallner scored from first on a Carlos Correa double. With two outs, Jeffers pitch hit for Edouard Julien and hit the go-ahead blast off Will Smith.
Royce Lewis and Kyle Farmer also went deep for Minnesota, while Texas came up short despite home runs from Marcus Semien, Corey Seager and Leody Tavares.
Twins Reliever Josh Winder held the Rangers hitless in three innings to keep the game close, and Griffin Jax induced a game-ending double play for his second save of the season.
Minnesota expanded its lead in the AL Central to six games with the win, while Texas failed to expand on its one-game lead in the AL West.
Verdugo, Abreu help Red Sox rip Astros
Alex Verdugo and rookie Wilyer Abreu each had four hits and a home run to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 17-1 rout over the Houston Astros.
Verdugo led off the game with his home run and finished 4 for 7, while Abreu was 4 for 5 with a walk.
Every player in Boston’s starting lineup had at least one hit and at least one RBI as the Red Sox had the highest-scoring game of their season.
Red Sox starter Brayan Bello earned his 10th win, working around nine hits and three walks to allow one run in seven innings.
Boston has won 10 of its last 15 games but still trails Houston and Seattle by 3 ½ games in the chase for the AL’s final wild card spot.
MLB: Pirates' Skenes strikes out 11 in 6 no-hit innings for first major league win
Paul Skenes struck out the first seven batters and finished with 11 as part of six no-hit innings in his second major league start, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 9-3 win over the Chicago Cubs on Friday.
Skenes allowed just one baserunner – Michael Busch’s full-count walk in the fifth – in a dominant performance to earn his first victory. He struck out the side in the first and fanned Mike Tauchman on a 100-mph fastball on his 100th and final pitch – his 12th to reach triple digits.
The No. 1 pick in the 2023 amateur draft became the third rookie with seven strikeouts to start a game, joining Jacob deGrom on Sept. 15, 2014, and Jim Deshaies on Sept. 23, 1986. He also became the first rookie with an outing of at least six no-hit innings and 10-plus strikeouts since Chris Heston threw a no-hitter for San Francisco against the Mets on June 9, 2015.
The Cubs didn’t get their first hit until Christopher Morel singled against Carmen Mlodzinski with two outs in the seventh.
Andrew McCutchen and Jared Triolo homered for the Pirates, who have won the first two games of this series after losing seven of nine.
Kyle Hendricks allowed season highs of eight runs and 11 hits in 4 2/3 innings in his second start since returning from a lower back strain.
Rays’ Alexander flirts with perfection
Tyler Alexander took a perfect game into the 8th inning before Danny Jansen blooped an opposite-field, one-out single and the Tampa Bay Rays held on for a 4-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Alexander retired his first 22 batters, but Jansen dropped a 1-0 changeup between right fielder Josh Lowe and second baseman Richie Palacios.
Davis Schneider homered two pitches later to draw the Blue Jays within 4-2.
Alexander allowed three runs on three hits without a walk and struck out four. He threw 105 pitches, three more than his previous career high.
Pete Fairbanks pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save in five chances.
Palacios hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning off Chris Bassitt as Tampa Bay won for the 10th time in 14 games.
Streaking Astros edge Brewers
Jake Meyers hit a two-run homer and Jeremy Pena added a three-run shot to lift the Houston Astros to their sixth consecutive win, 5-4 over the Milwaukee Brewers.
It was the eighth win in nine games for the Astros, who moved into third place in the AL West.
Jake Bauers homered and Joey Ortiz added three hits, including a three-run home run for the Brewers, who went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position.
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).
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