Paul Skenes flirted with a no-hitter for the second consecutive start, striking out 10 and allowing two hits over eight scoreless innings to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 3-1 win over the visiting Colorado Rockies on Tuesday.
Skenes (6-2), the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, held the Rockies hitless for 6 1/3 innings until Mickey Moniak looped a ball that dropped just out of the reach of a diving Oneil Cruz in center field.
Skenes has delivered back-to-back starts of eight scoreless innings with only two hits allowed. He has not allowed a run in four of his past five starts, lowered his ERA to 1.98 and did not walk a batter for the fifth consecutive start. His counterpart, Colorado starter Michael Lorenzen (2-5), gave up two runs on five hits and two walks and struck out five over five innings.
Pittsburgh’s Nick Gonzales had two hits and an RBI and Spencer Horwitz also had two hits. Brandon Lowe and Bryan Reynolds each drove in a run to give Skenes the minimal run support he required.
Rays 7, Blue Jays 6 (10 innings)
Jonathan Aranda’s sacrifice fly proved to be the difference as Tampa Bay improved to 5-0 this season against host Toronto.
Taylor Walls’ single to right against Braydon Fisher (2-1) scored automatic runner Cedric Mullins to give Tampa Bay a 6-5 lead. Yandy Diaz walked before Walls took third on a wild pitch and scored on Aranda’s sacrifice fly on Daulton Varsho’s superb catch at the wall in center.
Ian Seymour (2-0) pitched a perfect ninth for the Rays, who blew a five-run lead by surrendering five two-out runs to the Blue Jays in the seventh inning.
Braves 5, Cubs 2
Mike Yastrzemski homered and drove in three runs, Austin Riley also homered and Dominic Smith went 4-for-4 on Tuesday night to help Atlanta post a victory over visiting Chicago to improve its major-league-leading record to 29-13.
Yastrzemski’s first homer with the Braves broke a 2-2 tie as part of the team’s four-run sixth inning. Didier Fuentes (2-0) tossed three hitless innings in relief before Raisel Iglesias capped off a combined one-hitter with a perfect ninth.
Starter Colin Rea (4-2) yielded five runs on seven hits across 4 1/3 innings for the Cubs, who dropped their third straight game. Alex Bregman homered for Chicago, which has mustered just two runs across its last three games.
Twins 3, Marlins 0
Bailey Ober struck out seven in a complete-game shutout to lead Minnesota to a win over Miami in Minneapolis.
Byron Buxton stole home and Ryan Jeffers clubbed a two-run home run to lead Minnesota at the plate. The Twins have won three in a row after losing 16 of their previous 21. Ober (4-2) recorded his first complete-game shutout in his 124th start. The big right-hander walked none and threw 64 of his 89 pitches for strikes.
Kyle Stowers and Jakob Marsee had one single apiece for Miami’s only hits in its fourth shutout this season. Marlins right-hander Eury Perez (2-5) allowed three runs on three hits in six innings. He struck out eight and walked three.
Guardians 3, Angels 2
Angel Martinez hit a solo homer and Patrick Bailey drove in his first run since being acquired in a trade to help host Cleveland continue its dominance over Los Angeles.
Vaughn Grissom homered in the eighth for the Angels, who are 4-29 in Cleveland since 2015 — the most lopsided series in the majors at one team’s ballpark during the period — and have not won consecutive games in the city in 13 years.
Hunter Gaddis (1-1) allowed one hit over 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Cade Smith picked up his 12th save in 14 opportunities by retiring all four batters he faced.
Nationals 10, Reds 4
Daylen Lile and Luis Garcia Jr. each hit a pair of home runs as Washington hit six long balls to blast past host Cincinnati.
Lile, from nearby Louisville, Ky., hit a solo home run in the fourth and a three-run shot in the fifth for his first career multi-homer game. Garcia hit two solo home runs as both players collected three base hits. James Wood and Brady House also homered for the Nationals.
Lile and Garcia are the sixth pair of Nationals (2005-present) to have multi-homer performances in the same game and the first since Brian Dozier and Juan Soto (Aug. 18, 2019, in a 16-8 home win over the Brewers).
Yankees 6, Orioles 2
Paul Goldschmidt and Trent Grisham homered as New York built an early lead to halt a four-game losing streak by beating host Baltimore.
Grisham’s three-run blast came with two outs during the Yankees’ five-run third inning. Aaron Judge joined Goldschmidt with two hits. Will Warren (5-1) took a shutout into the sixth inning, giving up two runs on four hits.
The Orioles had a two-game winning streak snapped despite two hits apiece from Samuel Basallo and Taylor Ward. They’ve won only four of their last 13 games.
Mets 10, Tigers 2
A.J. Ewing scored two runs and drove in a pair in his major league debut, sparking host New York to a win over Detroit.
Ewing had an RBI triple and drew three walks. Carson Benge and Juan Soto each had two hits, a run scored and an RBI for the Mets to supplement Freddy Peralta (3-3), who gave up two runs and struck out seven in six innings.
Dillon Dingler had a solo homer for Detroit, which has lost six of its last seven. Jack Flaherty (0-4) gave up three runs in 3 2/3 innings.
Phillies 2, Red Sox 1
Kyle Schwarber matched a franchise record by hitting a home run for the fifth consecutive game and Zack Wheeler pitched into the eighth inning to help Philadelphia edge host Boston in the opener of a three-game series.
Schwarber homered against Jovani Moran (0-1) in the top of the first. Schwarber has six home runs in his last five games and leads the majors with 17 home runs this season. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Schwarber is one of eight Phillies to homer in five straight games, including shortstop Trea Turner from Aug. 28 to Sept. 2, 2023.
Wheeler (2-0) was pulled with one out in the eighth. He allowed a run on six hits and struck out four.
White Sox 6, Royals 5
Derek Hill delivered a pinch-hit, tiebreaking solo home run in the eighth inning and Chase Meidroth and Drew Romo also homered to lift host Chicago to a victory against Kansas City.
Chicago was outhit 11-7 but rallied to stretch its winning streak to three games. Sam Antonacci and Miguel Vargas both had two hits for the White Sox. Bryan Hudson worked a perfect ninth for the save.
Kansas City reached White Sox starter Erick Fedde for a pair of solo homers in the first inning. Bobby Witt Jr., the reigning American League Player of the Week, opened the scoring two batters into the game with a blast to right. Salvador Perez added to the advantage two batters later with a drive to right-center.
Brewers 6, Padres 4
Brandon Sproat pitched effectively into the sixth inning to earn his first career victory and Joey Ortiz homered for the first time since last July to lead Milwaukee past visiting San Diego in the opener of the three-game series.
Milwaukee extended its winning streak to five games to move a season-high seven games above .500 by erasing a 2-1 deficit with five runs in the fourth off knuckleballer Matt Waldron (1-2).
Sproat (1-2) allowed three runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings in his sixth start and eighth appearance this season. He struck out six and walked two. Sproat was 0-2 last season in four September starts with the Mets as a rookie. Abner Uribe finished with a scoreless ninth for his fourth save in five opportunities.
Rangers 7, Diamondbacks 4
MacKenzie Gore allowed just one run on three hits over a season-high eight innings as Texas downed Arizona in Arlington, Texas.
Joc Pederson and Ezequiel Duran homered and Brandon Nimmo and Jake Burger each had three hits for the Rangers. Nimmo left the game in the bottom of the sixth when his left ankle got twisted in a close play at first base which turned out to be an infield hit. Texas manager Skip Schumaker said later that Nimmo is considered day-to-day with a sprain after X-rays were clear on the left ankle.
Ildemaro Vargas’ solo home run in the top of the first inning was all the Diamondbacks could muster against the left-handed Gore (3-3), who had been 0-3 with a 6.85 ERA since April 8. Arizona right-hander Zac Gallen (1-4) could not get out of the fifth and lost his third consecutive start.
Mariners 10, Astros 2
Dominic Canzone clubbed his first career grand slam and Randy Arozarena produced a four-hit, three-RBI game in support of Bryan Woo as visiting Seattle ran away with a victory over slumping Houston.
Canzone’s fourth-inning slam broke a 2-2 deadlock after Houston starter Tatsuya Imai (1-1) loaded the bases with no outs. Woo (3-2) tied his season high with nine strikeouts, allowing two runs on four hits and retiring the final 11 batters he faced.
Imai allowed six runs on five hits over four innings in his first start since April 10. Braden Shewmake had an RBI single and Christian Walker snapped an 0-for-17 skid with an RBI double for the Astros.
Cardinals 6, Athletics 4
JJ Wetherholt smacked a two-run homer and Jose Fermin added a two-run double to lead St. Louis to a victory over the Athletics at West Sacramento, Calif.
Ivan Herrera joined Wetherholt with two hits as St. Louis ended a two-game slide and won for the 10th time in the past 14 games. Andre Pallante (4-3) gave up three runs and four hits over five innings for the Cardinals.
Shea Langeliers hit his 100th career homer and also had a two-run double for the Athletics, who lost their second straight game.
Giants 6, Dodgers 2
Eric Haase hit two home runs, Harrison Bader added another and San Francisco improved to 4-1 against Los Angeles this season with a road win.
Adrian Houser (1-4) gave up two runs on three hits and three walks with four strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings to pick up his first win as a member of the Giants. Jung Hoo Lee added a two-run double in a three-run seventh inning.
Shohei Ohtani hit a home run and had two hits for the Dodgers, while Yoshinobu Yamamoto (3-3) gave up a season-high five runs on six hits over 6 1/3 innings. Los Angeles saw its losing streak extended to four games to match a season high.
