Five Tampa Bay pitchers held visiting Cleveland without a hit in the seven-inning nightcap of a doubleheader, and the Rays completed the twin-bill sweep with a 4-0 victory Wednesday at St. Petersburg, Fla.
Since this was a seven-inning contest under the current doubleheader format, it does not officially count as a no-hitter, according to Elias Sports Bureau, the official statistician of Major League Baseball.
With the victory, the Rays extended the Indians’ season-high losing streak to nine games. Earlier in the day, Kevin Kiermaier crushed a three-run homer and collected five RBIs as Tampa Bay opened the doubleheader with an 8-1 triumph over Cleveland.
Colin McHugh opened Game 2 by striking out three over two perfect innings. Josh Fleming (7-4) then allowed Oscar Mercado to reach on an error — when Tampa infielders Wander Franco and Taylor Walls collided on a grounder to short — in the third and a walk in the fifth during his 2 2/3 frames. Diego Castillo retired the only batter he faced in the fifth, and Matt Wisler walked a man while striking out two in the sixth.
Pete Fairbanks fanned one while retiring the side in order in the seventh for the Rays, who have won 19 of their past 23 home games.
Nationals 15, Padres 5
Sparked by a three-run homer from Juan Soto, Washington scored nine runs in the first three innings and cruised past host San Diego.
Patrick Corbin (6-7) picked up the win, holding the Padres to two runs on seven hits and two walks with three strikeouts over six innings.
The Nationals’ first nine runs were charged to Chris Paddack (4-6). He gave up eight earned runs on nine hits and a walk with two strikeouts in two-plus innings.
Braves 14, Pirates 3
Ronald Acuna Jr. and Abraham Almonte homered as visiting Atlanta avoided a series sweep by walloping Pittsburgh.
Almonte also hit a two-run single. Ehire Adrianza added a pair of run-scoring doubles in Atlanta’s seven-run eighth inning. The Braves also scored five in the sixth inning. Drew Smyly (7-3) allowed three runs and nine hits in five innings for the win.
Jacob Stallings hit a three-run homer for the Pirates, who had won three straight. Pittsburgh first baseman John Nogowski, who had four hits, pitched a scoreless ninth.
Mets 4, Brewers 3 (Game 1, 8 innings)
Jeff McNeil’s walk-off two-run single in the eighth inning lifted New York to a win against visiting Milwaukee in the opener of a doubleheader.
Brent Suter (8-4) was looking for the first save of his six-year MLB career, but the Mets loaded the bases off him with no outs before McNeil drove in two with a single up the middle.
Mets starter Jacob deGrom went seven innings, allowing two runs and four hits. He struck out 10 and did not walk a batter. Luis Urias and Jace Peterson homered off deGrom for the Brewers.
Brewers 5, Mets 0 (Game 2, 7 innings)
Manny Pina, Willy Adames and Luis Urias homered and visiting Milwaukee held on to defeat New York in the second game of their doubleheader.
Brewers starter Brett Anderson blanked the Mets on three hits through the first four innings. He struck out one and didn’t walk a batter. Jake Cousins (1-0) relieved Anderson to start the fifth and the rookie right-hander delivered a 1-2-3 inning for his first major league win.
Robert Stock made his first start for the Mets since he was acquired off waivers from the Chicago Cubs on June 22. Stock (0-2) allowed two runs and four hits in four innings, striking out five and walking two.
Marlins 9, Dodgers 6
Jesus Aguilar hit a walk-off, three-run homer in the ninth, leading host Miami to its third straight win over Los Angeles.
Aguilar finished 2-for-4 with four RBIs. Miami was also led by Garrett Cooper and Jesus Sanchez. Cooper went 3-for-3 with two solo homers. It was Cooper’s first career multi-homer game. Sanchez hit a homer in the second and an RBI single.
Los Angeles, which had entered Miami on a nine-game win streak, took the lead in the third inning. AJ Pollock and Mookie Betts each went deep off Ross Detwiler to tie the game at 2.
Yankees 5, Mariners 4
Aaron Judge hit his 20th home run of the season and New York held on to defeat host Seattle.
Right-hander Luis Cessa (2-1) allowed just one hit in 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief to earn the victory. Judge’s homer, a two-run shot into the second deck at T-Mobile Park, gave the Yankees a 5-1 lead in the second inning.
Seattle’s Tom Murphy hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning to cut the deficit to one. Mariners left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (6-4), who will be the team’s representative at the All-Star Game, allowed more than three earned runs for the first time in 12 starts dating to April 23. He gave up five runs on eight hits in five innings with five strikeouts and three walks.
Giants 5, Cardinals 2
Mike Yastrzemski and Donovan Solano had RBI doubles, Tyler Rogers pitched out of an eighth-inning jam and San Francisco avoided a sweep from visiting St. Louis.
Left-hander Alex Wood (8-3) won his third consecutive decision with seven innings of one-run ball and Darin Ruf provided late insurance with a two-run homer.
Right-hander Johan Oviedo (0-5) took the loss after giving up two runs and three hits in four innings. He walked four and struck out three.
Cubs 8, Phillies 3
Joc Pederson, Anthony Rizzo and Nico Hoerner had two hits apiece and Patrick Wisdom drove in a pair of runs as host Chicago defeated Philadelphia to snap an 11-game losing streak.
Chicago stormed to a 5-0 lead after two innings on the strength of four RBI singles and Rizzo’s run-scoring triple. Right-hander Alec Mills and three relievers limited the Phillies to six hits to help send the Cubs to their first victory since June 24, halting the club’s longest skid since 2012.
Phillies starter Zack Wheeler fell to 6-5 after yielding seven runs (four earned) on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. Wheeler walked one and struck out six.
Astros 4, A’s 3
Jose Altuve and Kyle Tucker belted home runs and Houston extended its winning streak to six games with a win over visiting Oakland.
Astros starter Luis Garcia threw five innings of one-run ball. Blake Taylor (2-2) tossed a scoreless inning for the win, and Ryan Pressly delivered a 1-2-3 ninth for his 16th save.
Matt Olson and Elvis Andrus homered for the A’s. Sean Manaea (6-6) gave up four runs, three earned, in 6 2/3 innings.
White Sox 6, Twins 1
Leury Garcia went 3-for-4 with a home run, a triple and three RBIs and Tim Anderson went 4-for-4 as visiting Chicago cruised past Minnesota in the rubber game of a three-game series at Minneapolis.
Adam Engel had two doubles and two runs and Jake Burger, Brian Goodwin and Billy Hamilton also each had two hits for Chicago, which finished with 15 hits, eight for extra bases. The four hits tied a career high for Anderson.
Lance Lynn (9-3) picked up the win by allowing one run on four hits over six innings. Trevor Larnach homered and Luis Arraez and Jorge Polanco each had two hits for the Twins.
Tigers 5, Rangers 3
Jeimer Candelario homered for the first time since May 18 and visiting Detroit handed All-Star Kyle Gibson his first loss this season in its defeat of Texas.
Robbie Grossman reached base four times and drove in two runs for the Tigers, who have won six of their past eight games.
Joey Gallo homered twice and drove in all three Rangers runs. The All-Star has 10 blasts in his last 10 games and 23 overall.
Angels 5, Red Sox 4
Jared Walsh homered twice, Shohei Ohtani hit his major league-leading 32nd homer and Los Angeles held off Boston in Anaheim, Calif.
Ohtani and Walsh went back-to-back in the fifth inning, breaking a 2-2 tie and giving the Angels the lead for good. For Ohtani, his 32 home runs set a record for most in a season by a Japanese-born player. Hideki Matsui hit 31 homers for the Yankees in 2004.
Walsh, who will join Ohtani next week at the All-Star game, now has 22 home runs.
Reds 5, Royals 2
Jonathan India’s two-run double capped a three-run seventh as Cincinnati defeated host Kansas City in the rubber game of a three-game series. The Reds trailed 2-0 entering the seventh.
Sonny Gray (2-4) allowed two runs on seven hits in seven innings. He struck out seven and walked just two. Heath Hembree pitched a perfect ninth inning for his fourth save.
Royals starter Brady Singer was charged with one run on five hits and a walk with six strikeouts in six-plus innings. Scott Barlow (2-3) took the loss in relief.
Blue Jays 10, Orioles 2
Bo Bichette homered, finished with three hits and three RBIs as visiting Toronto defeated Baltimore.
Bichette (3-for-5, two runs), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (3-for-4, two RBIs) and Cavan Biggio (2-for-4, two RBIs) each drove in at least two, accounting for seven of the team’s runs.
The Blue Jays finished with 15 hits overall and went 6-for-13 with runners in scoring position.
Diamondbacks 6, Rockies 4
Eduardo Escobar homered among his three hits and Arizona beat Colorado in Phoenix to produce a rare winning streak.
The Diamondbacks have won back-to-back games for the first time since May 10-11 against the Miami Marlins. Arizona had gone 6-44 since then prior to defeating Colorado on Tuesday.
Matt Peacock (3-6) pitched three innings of one-run relief, and Joakim Soria got the last three outs for his second save. Elias Diaz homered and singled and Charlie Blackmon and Ryan McMahon three hits each for Colorado, which has lost 10 of its past 11 road games.
–Field Level Media