MLB World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers broke their slump with a 16-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Dodgers arrested a three-game skid and avoided a series sweep at the hands of the Brewers thanks to Sunday's onslaught.
A.J. Pollock and Matt Beaty fuelled the Dodgers with grand slams off Brewers rookie Alec Bettinger in each of the first two innings.
Pollock had two home runs and eight RBI, while Beaty contributed four hits and seven RBI against the Brewers as they became the first Dodger duo in history to record seven-plus RBI in the same game.
Elsewhere, the Cincinnati Reds topped the Chicago Cubs 13-12 in a wild walk-off win.
Nick Castellanos – who also clubbed two home runs – hit a game-ending RBI single in the 10th inning to lead the Reds past the Cubs in an epic encounter.
"It felt like a playoff game, to be honest with you," Cubs manager David Ross said. "Back and forth. Heavyweight fight. Wind blowing out in Cincinnati. And we just came up on the short end."
Scherzer sizzles as Kluber celebrates 100th win
Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer dominated in a 3-1 win over the Miami Marlins. Scherzer – who carried a shutout into the ninth inning – pitched a five-hitter, finishing with nine strikeouts, five hits and no walks before hurrying to the hospital for the birth of his third child.
Corey Kluber earned his 100th career victory as the New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers 2-0. A two-time Cy Young Award winner, Kluber gave up two hits in eight innings, walking one and striking out 10 batters – his first 10-strikeout game since September 2018. He became the 17th active pitcher in the majors to reach 100 wins.
Andrelton Simmons and Mitch Garver homered in a seven-run third inning to inspire the Minnesota Twins' 13-4 rout of the Kansas City Royals.
Marcus Semien homered and drove in four runs as the Toronto Blue Jays swept the Atlanta Braves with a 7-2 triumph. Toronto's Bo Bichette carried an historic start into the game, with a franchise record 124 hits, 69 runs, 32 doubles, 23 homers and 56 extra-base hits through his first 100 career games.
Bettinger schooled on debut
It was a forgettable first MLB appearance for Milwaukee's Bettinger. Having never pitched above Double-A previously, debutant Bettinger gave up 11 runs against the Dodgers. He allowed 11 hits and two walks in four innings, while hitting a batter and striking out none.
Tatis homer!
The San Diego Padres lost 7-1 to rivals the San Francisco Giants but Fernando Tatis Jr. stayed hot. Tatis homered for the eighth time this season as he became the first player to record 40-plus home runs and 30-plus stolen bases in his first 162 career games.
Sunday's results
New York Yankees 2-0 Detroit Tigers
Washington Nationals 3-1 Miami Marlins
St Louis Cardinals 3-0 Pittsburgh Pirates
Toronto Blue Jays 7-2 Atlanta Braves
Cincinnati Reds 13-12 Chicago Cubs
Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 Houston Astros
Cleveland Indians 5-0 Chicago White Sox
Minnesota Twins 13-4 Kansas City Royals
Los Angeles Dodgers 16-4 Milwaukee Brewers
Texas Rangers 5-3 Boston Red Sox
Oakland Athletics 7-5 Baltimore Orioles
Seattle Mariners 2-0 Los Angeles Angels
Arizona Diamondbacks 8-4 Colorado Rockies
San Francisco Giants 7-1 San Diego Padres
New York Mets 8-7 Philadelphia Phillies
Rays at Angels
Two-way star Shohei Ohtani will take to the mound for the Angels (13-13), who host the Rays (14-15) on Monday.
Mariners reportedly acquire Arozarena from Rays
Randy Arozarena is on the move,
The Seattle Mariners are reportedly acquiring Arozarena in a deal with the Tampa Bay Rays.
As part of the trade, which was reported late Thursday by multiple sources, the Mariners are sending the Rays outfielder Aidan Smith, right-hander Brody Hopkins and a player to be named later.
Arozarena was named to his first All-Star team last year, but is struggling a bit this season.
He is batting a career-low .213, but does have 15 home runs, 19 doubles and 16 stolen bases in 99 games.
His .717 OPS, however, is higher than any of Seattle's everyday players.
The Mariners are in need of a jolt with their offence suddenly struggling.
After leading the AL West by 10 games on June 18, Seattle has lost 20 of 29 and now trails the Houston Astros by one game for the division lead.
The offence has been the biggest culprit for the recent slide, as the Mariners have plated exactly one run in each of their last three games and have scored two or fewer in seven of their last eight.
Seattle is also in need of another outfielder with star centre fielder Julio Rodríguez sidelined until August with a high-ankle sprain sustained Sunday.
Cease tosses second no-hitter in Padres franchise history with gem against Nationals
Two years ago, Dylan Cease came within one out of throwing a no-hitter.
Against the Washington Nationals on Thursday, he finished the job, recording all 27 outs without allowing a hit.
Cease threw the second no-hitter in San Diego Padres franchise history, baffling the Nationals during a 3-0 win.
Cease improved to 10-8 and struck out nine in his nine sterling innings of work to win his third straight start.
Despite walking three batters, Cease faced only one over the minimum, with the Nationals caught stealing in the first inning and grounding into a double play in the fourth.
He threw 71 of his 114 pitches for strikes en route to joining Joe Musgrove as the only San Diego pitchers to throw a no-hitter. Musgrove's came against the Texas Rangers on April 9, 2021.
Baseball's latest no-no is the second of the season after the Houston Astros' Ronel Blanco threw one against the Toronto Blue Jays on April 1.
Cease's achievement also helps take away some of the sting from his near no-hitter from two years ago.
While pitching for the Chicago White Sox on September 3, 2022, he was one out away from no-hitting the Minnesota Twins, when current teammate Luis Arraez broke it up with a single to right-centre.
In this one, he got CJ Abrams to hit a flyout to right field for the final out.
Cease is in his first year with the Padres after beginning his career with the White Sox, and after a rocky June, has been pitching brilliantly lately.
In his last three outings, he has not allowed a run, while surrendering just two hits and seven walks over 22 innings while piling up 30 strikeouts.
His latest gem helped San Diego to its fifth consecutive win.
The Padres (55-50) didn’t need much offence against the Nationals (47-56) to back Cease, with Ha-Seong Kim plating all three runs on a first-inning single off Patrick Corbin.
Kershaw makes season debut in Dodgers' win over Giants
Clayton Kershaw permitted two runs over four innings in his first start of the season and the Los Angeles Dodgers went on to beat the San Francisco Giants 6-4.
The game was tied 4-4 until Nick Ahmed and Shohei Ohtani homered on consecutive pitches in the eighth inning to lead the NL West-leading Dodgers (62-42) to their sixth win in seven games since the All-Star break.
Ohtani's homer was his 31st of the season and his second in the last five games. He also doubled to give him four doubles since the All-Star break.
Kershaw allowed six hits and two walks with six strikeouts, while throwing 47 of his 72 pitches for strikes in his first start since Game 1 of last October's NL Division Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner had shoulder surgery four weeks later.
Ohtani signed with the Dodgers a month later and this was the first game the Japanese superstar and Kershaw played together.
Heliot Ramos led the Giants (49-55) with three hits and drove in a run while Jorge Soler singled twice.
Logan Webb yielded four runs and nine hits, and now has surrendered 15 runs and 25 hits with eight walks over 16 innings in his last three starts.
Mets beat Braves in 10 innings to stay hot
Jeff McNeil drove in the winning run with a 10th-inning hit on a ball Ramón Laureano misplayed in the New York Mets' 3-2 win over the Atlanta Braves.
McNeil's hit was just the third of the game for the Mets, and possibly could've been caught had Laureano not overrun it. The ball was hit hard down into the right-field corner and Laureano raced to track it down but ran too far and couldn't catch it as he reached his glove back across his body.
Jose Iglesias scored from second base, giving New York (54-48) its fourth straight win, and 10th victory in 13 games.
The Braves (54-47), meanwhile, lost their fifth straight game, as the Mets moved within one-half game of them for the NL's top wild-card spot.
McNeil and Francisco Lindor have been leading the charge for New York.
McNeil has driven in six runs in the last four games, and is hitting .417 with four home runs and nine RBIs in seven games since the All-Star break.
Lindor homered for the fifth time in four games, and is batting .359 with 14 RBIs during a 10-game hitting streak.
Atlanta squandered another stellar outing from Chris Sale.
The eight-time All-Star yielded two runs, two hits and a walk while striking out nine over 7 1/3 innings. It marked the eighth straight start in which he allowed two runs or fewer.
Padres’ Dylan Cease throws no-hitter against Nationals
San Diego Padres starter Dylan Cease threw MLB’s second complete-game no-hitter of the season, baffling the Washington Nationals during a 3-0 win on Thursday.
Cease improved to 10-8 and struck out nine in his nine sterling innings of work as the Padres won their fifth consecutive game.
The Houston Astros’ Ronel Blanco had the season’s first no-hitter on April 1 against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Despite walking three batters, Cease faced only one over the minimum, with the Nationals caught stealing in the first inning and grounding into a double play in the fourth.
Cease threw 71 of his 114 pitches for strikes as he won his third straight start.
Cease has not allowed a run in his last three outings, surrendering just two hits and seven walks over 22 innings while piling up 30 strikeouts.
Cease is in his first year with San Diego after beginning his career with the Chicago White Sox. After a rough June, Cease’s ERA sat at 4.24 on July 2, but his recent hot streak – punctuated by Thursday’s no-hitter – brought that number down to 3.50.
In 2022, while with the White Sox, Cease had a no-hitter broken up with two outs in the ninth by current teammate Luis Arraez, who was then with the Minnesota Twins.
The Padres didn’t need much offence Thursday to back Cease, with Ha-Seong Kim plating all three runs on a first-inning single off Patrick Corbin.
San Diego (55-50) are seven games back of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West but are in the thick of a crowded NL wild-card race.
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