Chicago Cubs pitching smothered the San Diego Padres' batters for the second consecutive night, giving the Cubs a 3-1 victory and another series win against the National League (NL) West contenders. 

A week after sweeping the Padres at Wrigley Field, the Cubs limited San Diego to just seven hits over the final two games of their latest series while getting just enough offence to prevail. 

Chicago starter Jake Arrieta fell behind in the third inning Wednesday on a run-scoring single by Manny Machado, but that was the extent of the damage surrendered by the visitors. 

Cubs relievers Rex Brothers, Ryan Tepera and Craig Kimbrel did not allow a San Diego batter to reach base in the final four innings and the Cubs scratched out two runs against Padres starter Yu Darvish to provide the margin they needed. 

Nationals outlast Rays in 11

The Washington Nationals scored two in the 10th inning and two more in the 11th to fend off yet another Tampa Bay Rays rally and hold on for a 9-7 victory as club icon Ryan Zimmerman hit a pair of home runs. 

Alex Bregman had three hits including his seventh home run of the season and Cristian Javier turned in a spectacular four-inning, one-hit relief performance as the Houston Astros defeated the Boston Red Sox 8-3.

Solo home runs from Justin Turner in the first and third innings provided the winning margin for the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

A day after collecting a pinch-hit single in his MLB debut for the Philadelphia Phillies, Luke Williams made an even bigger splash with a walk-off two-run homer against the Atlanta Braves. According to Stats Perform, Williams is the first player in MLB history to hit a walk-off home run with his team trailing in his first career start. 

Slumping Orioles, Diamondbacks struggle again

Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Matt Harvey allowed eight hits and seven runs in just three innings in a 14-1 loss to the New York Mets, boosting his ERA to an unsightly 7.41. 

The Arizona Diamondbacks (20-43) showed why they have the worst record in MLB, managing only two singles in a 4-0 loss to the Oakland Athletics. 

Non-traditional double play

Seattle Mariners left fielder Jake Fraley robbed the Detroit Tigers' Isaac Paredes of a walk-off home run and doubled Eric Haase off first base on the same play, sending the game to extra innings in what became a 9-6 Seattle win. 

Wednesday's results

Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 Pittsburgh Pirates
New York Mets 14-1 Baltimore Orioles
Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 Atlanta Braves
Cincinnati Reds 7-3 Milwaukee Brewers
Colorado Rockies 4-3 Miami Marlins
Washington Nationals 9-7 Tampa Bay Rays
Houston Astros 8-3 Boston Red Sox
Seattle Mariners 9-6 Detroit Tigers
Texas Rangers 4-3 San Francisco Giants
Toronto Blue Jays 6-2 Chicago White Sox
New York Yankees 9-6 Minnesota Twins
St Louis Cardinals 8-2 Cleveland Indians
Los Angeles Angels 6-1 Kansas City Royals
Oakland Athletics 4-0 Arizona Diamondbacks
Chicago Cubs 3-1 San Diego Padres

Astros at Red Sox

Coming off a complete game in his last start, Zack Greinke heads to the mound for Houston (35-26) as the Astros try to complete a three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox (37-25) at Fenway Park. 

The Tampa Bay Rays are showing no signs of slowing down with a 3-1 win over the Washington Nationals in the MLB on Tuesday.

Manuel Margot hit a solo home run in the first inning to get them on the board, while Tyler Glasnow continued his hot form on the mound.

Glasnow tossed down 11 strikeouts across seven innings, allowing only six hits.

Mike Zunino drove in Austin Meadows and Randy Arozarena in the fifth inning, before the latter produced a spectacular long throw to deny Josh Bell running for home plate.

Relative newcomer Ryan Thompson finished the job for the Rays with a 95 mph rocket to strike out Bell, sealing a hard-fought win.

The Rays improve to 39-23, having won four of their past five matches.

Correa lifts Astros, Acuna takes off

Carlos Correa guided the Houston Astros to a 7-1 victory on the road against the Boston Red Sox.

At the top of the first inning, Correa hit a home run, which stood after a review that clarified it was in fair territory. The homer was the shortest in the majors this season, at 310 feet.

Correa was at it again at the top of the second inning, drive in a run on a double, as the Astros piled on five runs.

Ronald Acuna Jr clocked up his 18th home run of the season, returning to equal top spot on the charts alongside Vladimir Guerrero Jr in the Atlanta Braves' 9-5 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Acuna's monster homer came in at 460 feet, landing at the top of the stand, going at 116 mph, which was the hardest hit home run by a Braves player in the Stat Cast era.

Walker Buehler had seven shutout innings and was two-for-three from the plate as the Los Angeles Dodgers won 5-3 at the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Padres lose their puff

Anthony Rizzo knocked in four as the Chicago Cubs hit three homers in a 7-1 win away to the San Diego Padres. The Padres have now lost seven of their past 10 games.

Magic Maikel

Maikel Franco had a night to remember in the Baltimore Orioles' 10-3 win over the New York Mets, hitting a moon shot into the second deck as well as a brilliant bare-handed throw from third to first. He also hit another homer, along with three runs batted in.

Tuesday's results

Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3 Pittsburgh Pirates
Baltimore Orioles 10-3 New York Mets
Atlanta Braves 9-5 Philadelphia Phillies
Milwaukee Brewers 5-1 Cincinnati Reds
Miami Marlins 6-2 Colorado Rockies
Tampa Bay Rays 3-1 Washington Nationals
Houston Astros 7-1 Boston Red Sox
Detroit Tigers 5-3 Seattle Mariners
San Francisco Giants 9-4 Texas Rangers
Chicago White Sox 6-1 Toronto Blue Jays
New York Yankees 8-4 Minnesota Twins
Cleveland Indians 10-1 St Louis Cardinals
Los Angeles Angels 8-1 Kansas City Royals
Oakland Athletics 5-2 Arizona Diamondbacks
Chicago Cubs 7-1 San Diego Padres

Blue Jays at White Sox

The Chicago White Sox (37-23), leaders in the American League Central, continue their series at home against the Toronto Blue Jays (30-28).

Clint Frazier had a dream game as the New York Yankees ended their four-game losing run and halted the Tampa Bay Rays' five-game winning streak with a 5-3 walk off victory on Tuesday.

Austin Meadows homered early for the Rays, while Miguel Andujar sent Tyler Glasnow into the bleachers at the bottom of the fourth inning to make it 3-3.

At 3-3, outfielder Frazier made his first major impact on the game with a sensational diving catch from Joey Wendle.

The game went to extras and in the 11th inning with two outs and a runner on third, Frazier hit a home run for his second career walk off.

Orioles end losing run, sluggers slug

The Baltimore Orioles ended their 14-game losing streak with a 7-4 triumph over the Minnesota Twins.

Center fielder Cedric Mullins pulled off a spectacular catch on the wall, before touching down on home base in the third inning from Trey Mancini's home run.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr and Ronald Acuna Jr remain top of the home run charts with both scoring homers on Tuesday.

Guerrero's Toronto Blue Jays swept aside the Miami Marlins 5-1, taking his season home run tally to 17.

Acuna's 17th home run came in a losing battle, with the Atlanta Braves going down 11-6 to the Washington Nationals who hauled pitcher Stephen Strasburg with a suspected shoulder injury after velocity issues.

Venezuela-born Acuna had four runs, three hits and two runs batted in across his four innings, but it was in vain.

Padres sweating on Tatis

The San Diego Padres were beaten 4-3 at the Chicago Cubs but to add injury to insult, the also lost Fernando Tatis Jr due to tightness around the mid-section after over-stretching in the field. Padres manager Jayce Tingler set the exit of Tatis, who has hit 16 home runs this season, was "precautionary".

Rendon flies for Angels

Anthony Rendon came up with the goods with three hits and 5 runs batted in as the Los Angeles Angels won 8-1 at the San Francisco Giants. With bases loaded, Rendon hit a home run at the top of the four inning to give the Angels an 8-0 lead they would never surrender.

Tuesday's results

Cleveland Indians 6-5 Chicago White Sox
New York Yankees 5-3 Tampa Bay Rays
Baltimore Orioles 7-4 Minnesota Twins
Toronto Blue Jays 5-1 Miami Marlins
Philadelphia Phillies 17-3 Cincinnati Reds 
Atlanta Braves 11-6 Washington Nationals
Detroit Tigers 10-7 Milwaukee Brewers
Chicago Cubs 4-3 San Diego Padres
Kansas City Royals 10-5 Pittsburgh Pirates
Houston Astros 5-1 Boston Red Sox
Colorado Rockies 3-2 Texas Rangers
Los Angeles Angels 8-1 San Francisco Giants 
Arizona Diamondbacks 6-5 New York Mets
Oakland Athletics 12-6 Seattle Mariners
St Louis Cardinals 3-2 Los Angeles Dodgers

Rays at Yankees

The Tampa Bay Rays (35-21) continue their series away to the New York Yankees (30-25) in their American League East match-up.

This season's MLB leading home-run scorer Ronald Acuna Jr has returned negative X-rays after injuring his left ankle in the Atlanta Braves' 8-4 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday.

Acuna Jr hit a ground ball to third base and twisted his left ankle on his run-through after he crossed at the first base bag.

Braves manager Brian Snitker was one of the first on the scene to assist Acuna Jr who has hit 12 home runs this season, including another on Thursday against the Blue Jays.

The Braves later confirmed that X-rays came back negative to any damage although he would be re-evaluated again on Friday.

"He was trying like hell to beat the throw and probably hit the bag wrong," Snitker said.

"Those are scary moments for players, especially when they’ve got the torque and force he’s running with. So, I’m just glad the X-rays were negative."

Acuna Jr's 442 foot home run against Toronto was his 21st leadoff homer since 2018.

This season's MLB leading home-run scorer Ronald Acuna Jr has returned negative X-rays after injuring his left ankle in the Atlanta Braves' 8-4 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday.

Acuna Jr hit a ground ball to third base and twisted his left ankle on his run-through after he crossed at the first base bag.

Braves manager Brian Snitker was one of the first on the scene to assist Acuna Jr who has hit 12 home runs this season, including another on Thursday against the Blue Jays.

The Braves later confirmed that X-rays came back negative to any damage although he would be re-evaluated again on Friday.

"He was trying like hell to beat the throw and probably hit the bag wrong," Snitker said.

"Those are scary moments for players, especially when they’ve got the torque and force he’s running with. So, I’m just glad the X-rays were negative."

Acuna Jr's 442 foot home run against Toronto was his 21st leadoff homer since 2018.

The Boston Red Sox lost for the first time since the opening series of the season as the Minnesota Twins snapped a five-game losing streak of their own Thursday. 

German-born outfielder Max Kepler's bloop single in the ninth inning brought home Luis Arraez to end Boston's remarkable run of nine consecutive victories with a 4-3 Minnesota triumph.

On a day when every player in MLB wore number 42 to honour Jackie Robinson's barrier-breaking debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, a sea of 42 jerseys gathered in celebration at Target Field.  

It was a gutsy display from the Twins, who built a 3-0 lead to back Michael Pineda's seven scoreless innings but watched the red-hot Red Sox score three in the eighth inning to equalise. 

Arraez sparked the winning rally in the final inning, though, allowing the Twins to relax a bit after a rough stretch.

"It's impossible to go out and play baseball and not feel it when it's going really well or when it's not going really well," said Twins manager Rocco Baldelli. "It's really how you harness that and control it at times and sometimes how you just let it go."

Braves stage rally of their own

The Atlanta Braves followed the same blueprint as the Twins, stopping a four-game skid of their own after blowing a lead and then rallying to win in their final at-bat. 

Atlanta avoided a four-game sweep by the Miami Marlins with a 7-6 victory capped by Dansby Swanson's game-ending single in the ninth. 

It was a fitting finish for a contest packed with momentum swings, as Miami went out to a 3-0 lead before the Braves jumped ahead 5-3 on home runs by Ronald Acuna Jr. and Pablo Sandoval. 

The Marlins scored three of their own to surge back in front before five of the six Braves to bat in the ninth reached base, ending in the win.

Corbin has no answers for Diamondbacks

Washington Nationals starter Patrick Corbin got bombed in an 11-6 loss to Arizona, surrendering 10 Diamondbacks runs (nine earned) on six hits and four walks in just two innings. Corbin watched the second and third batters of the game, Carson Kelly and Eduardo Escobar, hit solo homers, then gave up a grand slam to Andrew Young in the second inning. He departed the game against his former club with an unsightly 21.32 ERA.

Mercedes' monster moon shot

Toronto Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. muscled up on a hanging slider from Royals pitcher Kyle Zimmer for a 456-foot blast, the longest home run of his career, in the seventh inning of a 7-5 loss to Kansas City. 

Thursday's results
Atlanta Braves 7-6 Miami Marlins
San Diego Padres 8-3 Pittsburgh Pirates
Seattle Mariners 4-2 Baltimore Orioles
Seattle Mariners 2-1 Baltimore Orioles
Minnesota Twins 4-3 Boston Red Sox
Cleveland Indians 4-2 Chicago White Sox
Arizona Diamondbacks 11-6 Washington Nationals
Texas Rangers 6-4 Tampa Bay Rays
Kansas City Royals 7-5 Toronto Blue Jays
Oakland Athletics 8-4 Detroit Tigers
Los Angeles Dodgers 7-5 Colorado Rockies
Philadelphia Phillies-New York Mets (postponed)

Dodgers at Padres

The match-up of division rivals will feature the first MLB start for pitcher Ryan Weathers of the Padres (9-5) as he takes on Walker Buehler and the Dodgers (11-2).

Homegrown Joe Musgrove tossed the first no-hitter in the San Diego Padres' franchise history in a 3-0 victory over the Texas Rangers in MLB on Friday night.

Musgrove blanked the Rangers across nine close-to-faultless innings with 10 strikeouts, which set off wild frenzied celebrations among the Padres.

"Everyone dreams of getting the chance to throw a no-hitter," Musgrove said post-game. "I've never even thrown a no-hitter in my life, so my first one came today on this field.

"It's awesome to have it be in a Padres uniform and for it to be the first one for the franchise. That's incredible."

It was only Musgrove's second start for the Padres and improves their season record to 5-3.

Shohei Ohtani may not be on the mound at the moment but he hit his third home run of the year in the Los Angeles Angels' 7-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Japanese star went 2-for-5 at the plate with a homer, double and four RBIs, with Mike Trout taking a backseat.

Acuna does it all for Braves

Young gun Ronald Acuna Jr did it all for the Atlanta Braves in their 8-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

The 23-year-old Venezuelan hit a huge home run, added a duo of doubles and made a super outfield catch as he notched his fifth career four-hit game to lead the Braves to victory. 

"That just shows you the complete player he is and the skillset this kid has and what he brings," Braves manager Brian Snitker said.

Corey Kluber had a tough shift as the New York Yankees were battered by reigning American League champions the Tampa Bay Rays 10-5.

Rich Hill struck out seven for the Rays while Joey Wendle and Brandon Lowe combined to drive in five.

Justin Turner homered in the sixth inning to earn the Los Angeles Dodgers a 1-0 victory over the Washington Nationals.

After being beaten by the Houston Astros five times, the Oakland Athletics hit back with Matt Olson's three-run homer helping them to a 6-2 triumph.

Fowler felled in scary play

In a scary moment, Angels' right fielder Dexter Fowler was carted off with a left knee issue after an awkward fall on second base, although cmanager Joe Maddon later said "I don't think it's bad, fortunately".

Freddie finds his form

Acuna stole the show for the Braves but 2020 National League MVP Freddie Freeman would not be denied with a big home run of his own.

Friday's results

Tampa Bay Rays 10-5 New York Yankees
Los Angeles Dodgers 1-0 Washington Nationals
San Francisco Giants 3-1 Colorado Rockies
Los Angeles Angels 7-1 Toronto Blue Jays
Cleveland Indians 4-1 Detroit Tigers
Atlanta Braves 8-1 Philadelphia Phillies
San Diego Padres 3-0 Texas Rangers
Oakland Athletics 6-2 Houston Astros
Cincinnati Reds 6-5 Arizona Diamondbacks 

Yankees at Tampa

There's a full 15-game fixture on Saturday with the Tampa Bay Rays series against the New York Yankees ongoing.