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: Orioles' Bradish throws seven no-hit innings
Kyle Bradish struck out 11 over seven no-hit innings in a dominant start that propelled the Baltimore Orioles to a 4-1 win over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday and a sweep of the four-game series.
Bradish walked four before being removed to start the bottom of the eighth inning after having thrown 103 pitches. The right-hander was making his fifth start since returning from an elbow injury that sidelined him for just over a month to begin the season.
Danny Coloumbe relieved Bradish and surrendered a lead-off homer to Danny Mendick, Chicago's only hit of the game.
Adley Rutschman went 2 for 4 for Baltimore and snapped a scoreless tie with a two-run homer off Chicago starter Garrett Crochet in the sixth inning.
Crochet also recorded 11 strikeouts and had only yielded one hit before Jordan Westburg singled in front of Rutschman's sixth homer of the season.
Colton Cowser extended the lead to 3-0 with a solo homer in the top of the eighth inning, and the Orioles tacked on another run in the ninth. Anthony Santander drew a walk before being removed for pinch-runner Cedric Mullins, who stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error before crossing the plate on James McCann's sacrifice fly.
Craig Kimbrel retired the side in order in the bottom of the ninth to earn his 12th save and close out the White Sox's fifth straight loss and ninth in 10 games.
Guardians finish sweep of Angels, run winning streak to nine
Ben Lively threw seven solid innings and the Cleveland Guardians held off a late comeback attempt from the Los Angeles Angels to earn a 5-4 victory and extend their winning streak to nine games.
Johnathan Rodriguez went 2 for 4 with a two-run double to help Cleveland to its longest winning streak since an American League-record 22-game run in 2017. The AL Central-leading Guardians also matched the best 53-game start in franchise history at 36-17, a feat they last accomplished during their last World Series appearance in 1995.
Lively (4-2) held the Angels to two runs on four hits while striking out five to win his third consecutive start. Emmanuel Clase worked a scoreless ninth to record his 17th save, the most in the majors this season.
Rodriguez also started a three-run sixth inning with a lead-off single that chased Los Angeles starter Reid Detmers with the game tied at 2-2. Adam Cimber replaced Detmers and issued a pair of walks to load the bases before hitting Tyler Freeman with a pitch to force in the go-ahead run.
Andres Gimenez followed with a run-scoring single before Jose Ramirez drew a bases-loaded walk against Matt Moore to extend the lead to 5-2.
The Angels put forth a two-out rally with Lively out of the game in the eighth, however. Nolan Schanuel began the comeback try with a double off Sam Hentges and scored on Luis Rengifo's single to cut the lead to 5-3. Taylor Ward then greeted reliever Scott Barlow with a single that brought in Rengifo and trimmed the margin to a run.
Barlow prevented further damage, though, before Clase protected the lead in the ninth to finish off the Guardians' sweep of the three-game series.
Rodriguez gave Cleveland a 2-0 edge with a two-out double off Detmers in the third inning. The Guardians had put two runners on when Detmers hit Gimenez with a pitch and walked Ramirez.
Detmers (3-5) was charged with three runs in five-plus innings and finished with eight strikeouts.
Rays rally to halt Royals' eight-game winning streak
Pinch-hitter Brandon Lowe came through with a go-ahead three-run triple in the seventh inning as the Tampa Bay Rays rallied for a 4-1 victory over Kansas City that stopped the Royals' eight-game winning streak.
The Rays trailed 1-0 before scoring four times in the seventh to end a six-game skid and prevent the up-and-coming Royals from sweeping the three-game series.
Tampa Bay appeared on its way to another defeat when former Ray Michael Wacha retired the game's first 15 hitters before having his perfect-game bid broken up in the sixth.
Wacha (4-5) ran into trouble in the seventh, though, as Harold Ramirez opened the Rays' half of the inning with a single and Isaac Paredes followed with a double to chase the Kansas City starter.
John Schreiber relieved Wacha and hit Randy Arozarena with a pitch to load the bases. Two batters later, Lowe drove a pitch into the right field corner to drive in all three runners and put the Rays ahead.
Lowe later scored Tampa Bay's final run on a Jose Siri single.
Bobby Witt went 2 for 5 and accounted for the Royals' lone run with a solo homer in the sixth inning. The star shortstop was thrown out at the plate by Arozarena when trying to score on a Salvador Perez single, however, to help halt a Kansas City rally attempt in the eighth.
The Royals also threatened in the ninth by loading the bases with two out, but Pete Fairbanks retired Witt on a groundout to end the game and pick up his fifth save.
Wacha was charged with two runs on three hits over six-plus innings. Rays starter Taj Bradley allowed just one hit and struck out six over five scoreless innings.
Atlanta Braves star Acuna tears ACL
The Atlanta Braves announced that star outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. will miss the remainder of the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in Sunday's win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Acuna, the 2023 National League MVP, was injured attempting to steal third base in the first inning of Atlanta's 8-1 victory. Though he was able to walk off the field under his own power and the Braves initially termed the injury as left knee soreness, subsequent tests revealed a complete tear of the ACL that will require surgery at a yet-to-determined date.
The four-time All-Star previously tore the ACL in his right knee on July 20, 2021 and missed the remainder of that season, as well as the Braves' first 19 games of the 2022 season.
“I saw the catcher throwing the ball back to the pitcher very slow,” Acuña told reporters afterward. “I was timing that so I could steal third. But in that moment, he threw it hard. So I had to come back, and that’s when I felt (his knee buckle).
Acuna unanimously won the NL's MVP award with a monster 2023 campaign in which he became the first player in Major League Baseball history to record 40 home runs and 60 stolen bases in a season. The 26-year-old led the majors in stolen bases (73) and runs scored (149), ranked second with a .337 batting average, and produced 41 homers and 106 RBIs in 159 games.
Though Acuna's numbers were down so far in 2024, he still entered Sunday's game tied for fourth in the majors with 16 stolen bases. The 2018 NL Rookie of the Year was hitting .250 with four homers and 15 RBIs in 49 games at the time of the injury.
Atlanta, which has won the last six NL East titles, is already dealing with another season-ending injury to a top player with ace pitcher Spencer Strider undergoing surgery in April to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.
The Braves are currently six games behind the first-place Philadelphia Phillies in the division standings.
MLB: Ramirez homers as Guardians win 8th straight
Jose Ramirez capped a four-run fourth with a two-run homer and the Cleveland Guardians extended their winning streak to eight, 4-3 over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday night.
Cleveland did all its scoring in the fourth against Jose Soriano, who walked Estevan Florial to open the inning. After Bo Naylor struck out, Bryan Rocchio and Tyler Freeman singled to make it 1-0. After another strikeout and a wild pitch added another run, Ramirez connected for his 15th home run of the season and sixth in eight games.
He’s tied for fourth in the majors in home runs and has an MLB-leading 51 RBIs.
Taylor Ward’s three-run homer in the bottom of the inning would be the end of the scoring.
Tanner Bibee allowed those three runs and six hits in six innings with six strikeouts. Cade Smith and Hunter Gaddis each pitched one inning before Emmanuel Clase struck out two in the ninth for his 16th save.
The Guardians’ eight-game streak is their longest since a 22-game run in 2017 - the second-longest in major league history.
The last-place Angels lost for the 18th time in 24 home games.
Streaking Royals outlast Rays
Nelson Velazquez homered and delivered a tiebreaking RBI double to ignite a three-run 11th as the Kansas City Royals won their eighth straight game, 7-4 over the Tampa Bay Rays.
Velazquez doubled home automatic runner Freddy Fermin to put the Royals on top and scored on Adam Frazier’s infield single. Maikel Garcia added a run-scoring single for a 7-4 advantage.
Four Kansas City relievers combined to allow one unearned run over the final 4 2/3 innings with former Tampa Bay pitcher Nick Anderson pitching the 11th for his first save of the season.
The Royals moved a season-high 15 games over .500 with their first eight-game winning streak since capturing nine in a row in July 2017.
Jonathan Aranda homered for Tampa Bay, which went 2 for 14 with runners in scoring position and lost its season-high sixth straight.
Red-hot Judge homers again as Yankees continue roll
Aaron Judge went deep for the fourth straight game and Marcus Stroman pitched six scoreless innings to lead the scorching New York Yankees to a 4-1 victory over the San Diego Padres.
Judge took Dylan Cease deep in the first inning with one out after Anthony Volpe led off with a single for his 17th home run, tied for the major league lead.
Over his last 19 games, Judge is batting .422 (27 for 64) with 11 home runs, 20 RBIs and 22 runs to help the Yankees win 15.
Stroman gave up just three hits with one walk and five strikeouts and Clay Holmes worked a perfect ninth for his 15th save.
For the first time in franchise history, Yankees starters have thrown at least five innings and allowed two or fewer runs in 13 straight games.
Fernando Tatis Jr. homered for the Padres, who dropped their fifth straight at home.
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