Shohei Ohtani homered on the first pitch Wednesday night and tossed five scoreless innings to lead the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers past the San Diego Padres 4-0.
Ohtani (4-2) permitted three hits and walked two while striking out four in an 88-pitch effort. Four relievers finished up the five-hitter, enabling Los Angeles to win the first series of the year between the National League West rivals.
San Diego starter Randy Vasquez (5-2) yielded six hits and three runs in 4 1/3 innings.
To start the game, Ohtani clouted a high fastball over the wall in deep right-center, just over leaping center fielder Jackson Merrill, for his eighth homer of the year. Adding literal injury to insult, Merrill left the game after four innings with an apparent back ailment sustained during his unsuccessful effort.
Brewers 5, Cubs 0
Kyle Harrison allowed two hits over seven shutout innings to help visiting Milwaukee finish off the three-game sweep of Chicago.
Harrison (5-1) struck out 11 while lowering his ERA to 1.77. David Hamilton singled twice, tripled, scored two runs and drove in another while William Contreras also had three hits and scored a run for Milwaukee, which has won six of the past seven games. DL Hall pitched two innings to complete the two-hit shutout.
Cubs starter Edward Cabrera (3-2) allowed four runs, one earned, in three innings before getting lifted one pitch into the fourth because of a blister on his right middle finger. Chicago has lost a season-high five in a row and nine of the past 11.
Reds 9, Phillies 4
Andrew Abbott won his fourth straight decision while Nathaniel Lowe doubled twice and drove in three runs as visiting Cincinnati turned back Philadelphia in the rubber game of the series.
The Reds earned a split of their six-game road trip while the Phillies lost for just the sixth time in 22 games and took their first series defeat under new manager Don Mattingly.
Lowe’s two-run double in the seventh expanded Cincinnati’s lead to 7-4 before Sal Stewart added a two-run homer in the ninth for the final margin.
Rays 5, Orioles 3
Two-out hits from Jonathan Aranda and Richie Palacios in the eighth inning allowed Tampa Bay to rally for a victory against Baltimore, completing a three-game series sweep in St. Petersburg, Fla.
The Rays had only two hits through seven innings before a four-run uprising to produce their fourth victory in a row. Junior Caminero and Hunter Feduccia, who homered, each had two hits to help the Rays finish a 5-1 homestand.
Pete Alonso and Samuel Basallo homered, but it wasn’t enough for the Orioles to avoid their sixth loss in eight games. Shane Baz had his best pitching performance of the season against his former team, throwing six innings of one-run ball.
Guardians 3, Tigers 2 (10 innings)
Angel Martinez’s triple drove in the go-ahead in the 10th inning as Cleveland downed host Detroit to move within one win of a four-game sweep.
Jose Ramirez supplied an RBI double in the 10th against Tyler Holton (0-4) as the Guardians prevailed for the eighth time in nine games. Colin Holderman (2-0) struck out both batters he faced.
Zach McKinstry led off the bottom of the 10th with an RBI single, but Cade Smith retired the next three batters for his 16th save. The Tigers lost for the 13th time in 15 games.
Twins 4, Astros 1
Ryan Kreidler belted a three-run homer and Joe Ryan struck out a season-high nine batters, fueling Minnesota to a victory over Houston in Minneapolis.
Victor Caratini launched a solo homer among his two hits as the Twins won the decisive contest of a three-game series. Ryan (3-3) allowed one run on four hits in six innings. Andrew Morris retired the side in the ninth to secure his first career save.
Christian Vazquez had an RBI single and Cam Smith had two of the five hits for the Astros, who have lost eight of their past 12 games. Mike Burrows (2-6) yielded seven runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings.
Pirates 7, Cardinals 0
Spencer Horwitz homered as Pittsburgh emphatically snapped a four-game losing streak with a win at St. Louis.
Carmen Mlodzinski (4-3) threw five scoreless innings for the Pirates, who outhit the Cardinals 15-5. Four relievers completed the shutout. Pittsburgh rookie Konnor Griffin went 4-for-5 and scored three runs.
JJ Wetherholt finished 2-for-4 for the Cardinals, who had won four of their previous five games. Michael McGreevy (3-3) was charged with three runs in five-plus innings.
Rangers 5, Rockies 4
Josh Jung’s single in the top of the ninth capped a 3-for-4 day and plated the go-ahead run for Texas, which scored twice in the top of the frame to beat Colorado in Denver.
The Rangers’ Justin Foscue went 3-for-5 for his second three-hit game of the series. Jake Burger homered as part of a 2-for-5 game. Texas reliever Jacob Latz (1-1) threw two shutout innings.
Jake McCarthy, Tyler Freeman and TJ Rumfield each had two hits for the Rockies, who lost the last two games of the three-game series. Brennan Bernardino (2-2) was charged with two unearned runs while getting just one out.
Mariners 5, White Sox 4
Jhonny Pereda and Randy Arozarena homered in a three-run seventh inning as Seattle broke a tie and held to edge visiting Chicago.
Mariners reliever Matt Brash (3-0), activated from the injured list earlier in the day, pitched a scoreless inning. Jose A. Ferrer worked the ninth for his third save, despite allowing a leadoff homer to pinch hitter Randal Grichuk. Ferrer then struck out three to end the game.
Pereda hit his first career homer to lead off the Seattle seventh, going deep to left off Sean Newcomb (0-1) to give the Mariners a 3-2 lead. After a double by Julio Rodriguez, the White Sox brought in Jordan Hicks to face Arozarena with two outs. The move backfired as Arozarena homered to put Seattle up by three.
Braves 9, Marlins 1
Austin Riley and Dominic Smith slugged three-run homers to back up Chris Sale’s strong pitching effort as Atlanta crushed host Miami.
Sale (7-3) ended a two-game losing streak and earned his first career victory against the Marlins. He pitched seven innings and allowed one run on four hits, striking out eight and walking none. The left-hander has given up one or none in eight of 10 starts this season.
Miami starter Janson Junk (2-5) pitched five-plus innings, permitting a career-high eight runs on eight hits. He has allowed 15 runs in 10 2/3 innings over his past two starts.
Nationals 8, Mets 4
CJ Abrams hit a three-run homer, Zack Littell pitched five solid innings and host Washington topped New York.
Jacob Young homered and doubled while Abrams added a single and scored twice. Littell (3-4) yielded two runs on five hits without a walk. Andrew Alvarez allowed two runs over four innings to earn his first career save.
The Mets’ Juan Soto hit two home runs against his former team, giving him three in the past two games. Zach Thornton (0-1) started in his major league debut and gave up four runs on four hits in 4 1/3 innings.
Red Sox 4, Royals 3
Jarren Duran hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh inning off reliever Steven Cruz (0-2), and Boston completed a three-game road sweep of scuffling Kansas City.
Connelly Early (4-2) allowed three runs on two homers plus four other hits over 6 1/3 innings for the Red Sox. Aroldis Chapman worked around a leadoff single in the ninth inning to post his 12th save.
Royals starter Michael Wacha allowed two runs (one earned) in six innings, leaving with the lead. Kansas City got homers from Salvador Perez and Elias Diaz but still lost for the ninth time in 10 games.
Diamondbacks 6, Giants 3
Ketel Marte had three hits and scored three times, Geraldo Perdomo capped a three-run fifth inning with a two-run double and Arizona completed a three-game sweep of San Francisco in Phoenix.
Merrill Kelly (4-3) pitched six effective innings, allowing three runs and eight hits. Four relievers combined for three hitless innings the rest of the way as the Diamondbacks won their season-best-tying fourth game in a row. Marte homered in the third inning.
Tyler Mahle (1-6) was charged with all six Arizona runs on eight hits in five innings. Casey Schmitt went deep for the Giants.
Blue Jays 2, Yankees 1
Trey Yesavage pitched six stellar innings of two-hit ball to outduel Cam Schlittler, and Toronto pushed across two runs in the seventh to beat host New York after losing a pair of one-run games to start the four-game series.
After pitching 5 1/3 hitless innings against the Yankees in Game 2 of their American League Division Series last October in Toronto, Yesavage (2-1) allowed two hits and struck out eight. He struck out Aaron Judge three times. Judge fanned four times and is 1-for-11 in the series with seven strikeouts.
Schlittler (6-2) allowed two runs on eight hits in six-plus innings. He issued a bases-loaded walk to Andres Gimenez in the seventh, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. followed with a sacrifice fly off Jake Bird.
Athletics 6, Angels 5 (10 innings)
Tyler Soderstrom drove in three runs, including the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th inning, as the Athletics rallied for a victory over Los Angeles in Anaheim, Calif.
Jeff McNeil hit a tying homer in the ninth inning for the A’s. Nick Kurtz extended his on-base streak to 43 games with two walks and an RBI single. Scott Barlow (1-0) pitched one inning of hitless relief, and Hogan Harris got out of a bases-loaded jam in the 10th to garner his fourth save.
Jo Adell homered and doubled and Jorge Soler and Lowe also homered for the Angels, who took their eighth defeat in nine games. Chase Silseth (1-1) allowed Soderstrom’s decisive hit.
