The Atlanta Braves have under-achieved all season, but they unleashed some frustration on Wednesday in a 20-2 demolition of the New York Mets.
After falling behind immediately on Pete Alonso's two-run homer in the top of the first inning, the Braves tied it up in the bottom half on a Ronald Acuna Jr. home run and an Ozzie Albies single and never looked back.
The game turned into a runaway in the fourth, when Atlanta sent 12 men to the plate and scored seven times to take an 11-2 lead.
The Braves tacked on six more in the eighth, capped by Albies' second home run of the night and 15th of the season.
It was the 17th time Acuna and Albies have homered in the same game, which is the most all-time by team-mates 24 or younger according to Stats Perform.
Impressive as Atlanta's offensive outburst was, this was not their largest margin of victory this season, but this game and the Braves' 20-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 21 make them the first National League team to win multiple games by at least 18 runs in a season since the 1901 Brooklyn Superbas.
Angels stun Yankees with late rally
Shohei Ohtani's highly anticipated first start on the mound at Yankee Stadium did not go according to plan, as New York drove the Los Angeles Angels star from the game with seven first-inning runs. But Ohtani's team-mates waited out a two-hour, 13-minute rain delay, then scored seven runs in the top of the ninth after Aroldis Chapman walked the bases loaded to claim a stunning 11-8 victory with Jared Walsh's game-tying grand slam the big blow.
Trent Grisham had two homers, including a grand slam, and Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his 26th of the season as the San Diego Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-5 in a rain-shortened game.
The Detroit Tigers swept a doubleheader from the Indians in Cleveland for the first time since September 1977 as Miguel Cabrera capped off the second game with his 494th career home run, moving him into 28th on the all-time list.
Cubs collapse quickly after hot start
The Chicago Cubs scored seven runs in the top of the first inning but trailed 14-7 by the end of the fourth in a 15-7 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. According to Stats Perform, it's the first time in MLB's modern era (since 1900) that both teams have held leads of at least seven runs in the first four innings of a game.
The Houston Astros saw their American League (AL) West lead cut to a half-game after falling 5-2 to complete a three-game sweep at home by the Baltimore Orioles, who still have the worst record in the AL.
Turner's happy birthday
Trea Turner of the Washington Nationals celebrated his 28th birthday in style, collecting a single, double, home run and triple in the first six innings of a 15-6 defeat of the Tampa Bay Rays to hit for the cycle for the third time in his career. He is the fifth player in MLB history to do that, joining John Reilley, Bob Meusel, Babe Herman and Adrian Beltre.
Wednesday's results
Los Angeles Angels 11-8 New York Yankees
Detroit Tigers 9-4 Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers 7-1 Cleveland Indians
Miami Marlins 11-6 Philadelphia Phillies
Washington Nationals 15-6 Tampa Bay Rays
Seattle Mariners 9-7 Toronto Blue Jays
Boston Red Sox 6-2 Kansas City Royals
San Diego Padres 7-5 Cincinnati Reds
Atlanta Braves 20-2 New York Mets
Baltimore Orioles 5-2 Houston Astros
Milwaukee Brewers 15-7 Chicago Cubs
Chicago White Sox 13-3 Minnesota Twins
St Louis Cardinals 7-4 Arizona Diamondbacks
Colorado Rockies 6-2 Pittsburgh Pirates
Oakland Athletics 3-1 Texas Rangers
Mets at Braves
The New York Mets (41-35) are not likely to surrender 20 runs again with Jacob deGrom on the mound as they face Ian Anderson and the Braves (38-41) in Atlanta.
Toronto FC v CF Montreal: Courtois accepts blame amid ongoing winless streak
Laurent Courtois has accepted that it is on him to find a winning formula as CF Montreal look to snap their winless run against Toronto FC.
Montreal were beaten 3-1 by Columbus Crew in midweek and are now without a victory in six games in all competitions.
That includes a three-game losing streak in MLS, leaving them 13th in the Eastern Conference, and Courtois is eager to get back on track.
"It's up to me to find the winning formulas and discern the phases of the game," head coach Courtois said after the loss to Columbus.
"We have to grit our teeth and find solutions. The difficult times we are going through help me identify my group. I want to know the players better.
"From all the negative aspects we can observe, I can identify a few individual aspects to improve the game or the team itself."
Monreal's rivals Toronto have themselves lost back-to-back games ahead of Saturday's Canadian Classique at BMO Field.
Nashville SC scored twice late on to snatch a 2-0 win in the Reds' most recent match, but acting head coach Jason deVos admits there can be no excuses.
"The last ten minutes, two mistakes cost us and that's the cruelty of football sometimes - that it's a 90-minute match and you need to put in a 90-minute performance in," he said.
"The players are aware of that. They know where the growth areas are for us as a team."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Toronto - Federico Bernardeschi
Bernardeschi missed the loss to Nashville but will hope to start this weekend in a fixture he has fond memories of.
The Italian has scored in each of his two home games against Montreal, making him the third Toronto player to score in two successive home games against them after Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley.
Montreal - Joel Waterman
Montreal have conceded three or more goals five times across their 12 MLS games this season, which is tied with San Jose Earthquakes for the most in MLS.
They quite simply need to sharpen up at the back, with Joel Waterman needing to step up and hope others around him also do so.. The centre-back led the way for interceptions (three) and clearances (four) against Columbus, yet it was still not enough.
MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW
Montreal have won five successive matches against Toronto, following a run of neither side ever winning more than three on the spin in this fixture.
Toronto have won seven and drawn one of their eight matches in which they have held opponents under two goals since September, while they have lost all 13 in which they have shipped two or more.
Keeping the opposition quiet is therefore key, and this could present a chance to do just that against a Montreal side with fewer points (five) than any side in MLS since mid-March.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Toronto - 39.6%
Draw - 28.5%
Montreal - 31.9%
New England Revolution v Philadelphia Union: Porter urges players to cut out errors
Caleb Porter accepts New England Revolution must cut out the individual errors if they are to return to winning ways against Philadelphia Union.
The Revs went down 4-2 to New York Red Bulls last time out to make it four defeats in their last five games, and eight losses in 11 overall this season in MLS.
New England are bottom of the Eastern Conference, but Porter hopes lessons have been learned ahead of hosting Philadelphia on Saturday.
"Three of the four [goals NYRB scored] were individual mistakes that are easily correctable," Porter told The Blazing Musket. "We've gone to the training ground and corrected a few of those situation.
"But it's just individuals in those moments have to be better. It wasn't a bad team-defending performance, but three of the four goals we gave up were routine."
The Union have double the number of points compared to their opponents, having played one game more, as they occupy ninth place in the East.
The Us are themselves not in great form, though, as they lost 2-1 at home to New York City FC in their most recent game - a contest overshadowed by a raccoon that entered the field.
They have just two points from the past 18 on offer, meanwhile, and head coach Jim Curtin admits it is on him and his players to turn things around.
"The guys fight until the end, and we have to find a way to get out of this," Curtin said. "We're the only people that are going to get us out of it.
"The people in that locker room, the coaches, the players, they recognise that. They've shown they can beat anybody, and we're the only ones that can dig us out of this now."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
New England Revolution - Carles Gil
Gil got the Revs temporarily on level terms against New York Red Bulls, with that his 100th regular-season goal contribution in MLS. That makes the Revs' attacking midfielder the seventh European player to reach that milestone, and the second Spaniard after David Villa.
Philadelphia Union - Julian Carranza
Carranza was on target for the Union in their midweek loss to New York City, coming from one of nine attempts he had on target. The former Argentina age-grade international has now registered four-or-more shots in four MLS career matches.
To put that in perspective, the two other players to have done so in the club's history - Conor Casey and Andrew Wenger - have done so in a combined two games (one each).
MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW
Philadelphia have won 12 matches against the Revs across all MLS competitions, which includes MLS is Back, since 2018 - their best return against any single opponent across that period.
New England's tally of seven points from their opening 11 games is their worst-such return at this stage of a campaign in club history, with only two out of 17 teams in the post-shootout era (since 2000) managing to reach the playoffs from this position.
However, there is some hope for them this weekend as the Union's one point across their past five matches is their fewest across any five-game span within a single season since April 2017.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
New England Revolution - 36.1%
Draw - 28.8%
Philadelphia Union - 35.1%
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.
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