The Tampa Bay Rays improved to 6-0 with their second series sweep of the 2023 season, downing the Washington Nationals 7-2 on Wednesday.
The Rays' exceptional start has included winning all six games by four or more runs, outscoring their opponents by 31 runs (44-13) in the process.
Tampa Bay are the first team win their first six games by at least four runs since the St Louis Maroons in 1884, who managed 13 in a row.
It is Tampa Bay's best start in franchise history and the best start of any franchise in the majors since the Baltimore Orioles opened 7-0 in 2016.
It has been a spread of contributions for Tampa Bay as well, with starting pitcher Shane McClanahan having six strikeouts across six innings, with Wander Franco and Harold Ramirez hitting homers.
Franco's third-inning two-run shot opened up a 3-1 lead, with Ramirez's sixth-inning solo blast over center restoring their two-run lead at 4-2 with two outs.
The Rays added two further runs in the sixth, with Taylor Walls driving home Manuel Margot, before Jose Siri singled to right for Walls to score with Victor Robles losing the fly ball in the sun.
Walls along with Randy Arozarena both had two hits, while the latter took a fine leaping catch on Joey Meneses in the first.
Cole outpitches Nola as Phillies slump
Gerrit Cole piled more misery on the struggling Philadelphia Phillies with eight strikeouts in the New York Yankees' 4-2 win.
The Phillies had claimed their first win of the season against the Yankees on Tuesday but slumped to 1-5 with the defeat, where Jose Trevino's seventh-inning two-run shot opened up a 4-1 lead, with Gleyber Torres having three hits with two RBI singles.
Cole outpitched Phillies right-hander Austin Nola, who had seven Ks across six innings. The Yankees pitcher allowed one run with three hits and three walks across six-and-one-third innings.
The Phillies, who were NL champions last year, were held to two or less runs for the third time in four games with Kyle Schwarber hitting a ninth-inning consolation homer.
More Brewers blasts in walk-off win
Rookie Garrett Mitchell blasted a ninth-inning walk-off home run as the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the New York Mets 7-6.
Leading off at the bottom of the ninth, Mitchell fell behind 1-2 in the count before unleashing his game-winning shot into the right-field stands, marking his third blast in his past two games.
The result means Milwaukee have won five games in a row, leading the NL Central division with a 5-1 record. The Brewers, who have homered seven times in two games, have scored 38 runs in their past 36 innings.
For the Mets, Pete Alonso hit a duo of two-run homers, the latter putting his side up 6-4 in the fifth.
Napoli 2-2 Roma: Late Abraham header denies wasteful hosts
A wasteful Napoli were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Roma in Serie A, with a late Tammy Abraham header securing a point for the visitors.
The visitors took the lead from the penalty spot a minute before the hour mark, with Paulo Dybala converting after Juan Jesus fouled Sardar Amzoun.
However, Napoli equalised six minutes later through Matias Olivera's deflected shot, and completed the turnaround with their own penalty six minutes from time as Victor Osimhen tucked away after Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was felled by Renato Sanches.
The hosts could not hold on, though, and were pegged back with two minutes to go. Substitute Abraham's header from a corner was eventually awarded following a VAR review after he had initially been ruled offside.
Data debrief
Napoli remain eighth in the Serie A table on 50 points, the exact amount they had registered after their opening 19 games of last season.
Though his penalty was not enough to earn Roma victory, Dybala continued his impressive start to 2024, during which he has been involved in the joint-most goals in Serie A with 12 (nine goals, three assists).
Lyon are through to their 11th Women's Champions League final after sealing a 5-3 aggregate victory over compatriots Paris Saint-Germain.
The record eight-time winners scored three times in the final 10 minutes of last week's first leg to take a narrow 3-2 lead into the return fixture at Parc des Princes.
However, they were quicker out of the blocks in the second leg, with just three minutes on the clock when Selma Bacha drilled home from range for her first Champions League strike in five-and-a-half years.
Tabitha Chawinga responded before the break to reduce PSG's aggregate deficit to a single goal, but Melchie Dumornay put the tie beyond doubt nine minutes from time, as Sonia Bompastor's side set up a final showdown with Barcelona on May 25.
Data debrief
Lyon continued their dominance over PSG in Champions League semi-final encounters, having now progressed from each of their last four such ties.
The eight-time champions lost their first two semi-finals they contested in this competition, but have now won each of the last 10, and will seek a record-extending ninth title in Bilbao next month.
Alcaraz's pursuit for third straight Madrid Open crown continues by defeating Seyboth Wild
Carlos Alcaraz boosted his hopes of a third straight Madrid Open title as he comfortably beat Thiago Seyboth Wild to reach the fourth round on Sunday.
Back in his home country of Spain, Alcaraz eased to a 6-3 6-3 triumph to set up a fourth-round clash with Jan-Lennard Struff, whom he beat in last year's final.
The first six games of the opening set went to serve, but Alcaraz found a crucial break in the seventh and ninth games of the set to put him in pole position for victory, a lead he would not relinquish as he overcame being broken in the seventh game of the second set to seal his safe progression.
Holger Rune was a surprise casualty as the world number 12 was defeated 6-4 4-6 6-3 by Tallon Griekspoor, though world number eight Andrey Rublev eased through with a straight-sets win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Data debrief
With his triumph over Seyboth Wild at the Madrid Open, Alcaraz has now won 93.3 per cent of his games at the tournament. That is the highest win percentage of any player with at least 10 games played in a single ATP-1000 event since the format was introduced in 1990.
Against Seyboth Wild, Alcaraz won 27 of his 31 first-serve points, also recording 19 winners to his opponent's 10 as he dominated the contest on his way to victory.
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