Category: Major League Baseball (MLB)

Domingo German allowed only a homer to Rafael Devers in six solid innings as the host New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 3-1 on Saturday night.

Gleyber Torres homered in the fourth and Willie Calhoun hit a tiebreaking homer in the sixth as the Yankees beat the Red Sox for the seventh time in the past eight home meetings. Kyle Higashioka added an RBI single in the seventh.

German (4-3) allowed one run on six hits for his third career win over the Red Sox and first since Aug. 3, 2019.

Devers homered for the second straight night after ending a 16-game homerless drought on Friday. It was Devers’ 21st career homer against the Yankees since making his debut in 2017.

Before the homer, German retired Devers twice with a runner on base. In the first, German stranded Justin Turner at first by fanning Devers. Two innings later, Turner was stranded at third when left fielder Jake Bauers made a leaping catch of a Devers drive while crashing into the left-field fence.

Wandy Peralta also retired Devers with men on base to end the seventh.

Peralta walked Masataka Yoshida on the 14th pitch after eight straight foul balls and issued a free pass to Turner. He prevented the Red Sox from scoring when Devers grounded out.

Tommy Kahnle stranded a runner in a scoreless eighth and Clay Holmes allowed a single to Alex Verdugo in the ninth before getting his eighth save in 10 chances. Holmes kept Devers in the on-deck circle by retiring Turner to end it.

After Boston starter Tanner Houck (3-6) retired the first nine hitters on 42 pitches, Torres hit the first offering of the fourth into the right-field seats for his 11th homer. New York held its lead until Devers opened the sixth onto the netting above Monument Park in center field.

The tie lasted until Calhoun hit a 1-2 splitter to right for his fifth homer in the sixth inning.

Houck allowed two runs on three hits in six innings. He struck out six, walked one and fell to 0-6 over his past eight starts.

–Field Level Media

Kyle Hendricks took a no-hitter two outs into the eighth inning, Christopher Morel drove in three runs with a home run and a single and the Chicago Cubs made it two straight over the host San Francisco Giants with a 4-0 triumph Saturday night.

Hendricks was aiming for the Cubs’ first no-hitter since a four-man combined effort on June 24, 2021. Hendricks (1-2) had allowed just one baserunner — a Michael Conforto walk with one out in the second inning — before Mitch Haniger lashed a double off the left field fence on a full count with the right-hander just four outs away from history.

Cubs left fielder Ian Happ seemed to have a shot at catching the ball, which barely reached the fence, but after a long run elected to play the carom rather than make a potentially dangerous lunge for the hit near the barrier.

Hendricks retired Brent Sabol on a flyout to Happ to preserve the shutout, and Julian Merryweather completed the Cubs’ seventh shutout of the year with a 1-2-3 ninth.

The 2021 Cubs no-hitter was thrown by Zach Davies, Ryan Tepera, Andrew Chafin and Craig Kimbrel in a 4-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The last Cub to throw a solo no-hitter was Alec Mills against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sept. 13, 2020.

Hendricks was making just his fourth start of the season after having suffered a capsular tear in his right shoulder last July. He struck out three in his eight innings.

Matt Mervis provided Hendricks with an early lead with a leadoff home run in the third inning off Giants bulk-innings reliever Jakob Junis. It was Mervis’ third homer of the season.

Morel did the rest of the Cubs’ offensive damage, beginning when he led off the fourth against Junis with his 10th homer of the season to make it 2-0.

The Cubs then doubled their advantage — and completed the game’s scoring — with a two-run fifth. Morel drove in the runs with a two-out single, plating Nick Madrigal, who had walked, and Mike Tauchman, who had doubled.

After opener John Brebbia had thrown two hitless innings, Junis (3-3) took the loss for the Giants, charged with all four Cubs runs on five hits in 2 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out five.

Sean Manaea relieved Junis after Morel’s hit in the fifth and held the Cubs hitless the rest of the way, striking out five in 4 1/3 innings.

The Cubs outhit the Giants 5-1 in a game that featured four extra-base hits — the homers by Mervis and Morel, and the doubles by Tauchman and Haniger.

–Field Level Media

Jose Abreu homered in the first inning for the second straight game and drove in three runs as the visiting Houston Astros snapped a season-high, four-game losing streak with a 6-4 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Saturday.

J.P France (2-1) allowed three runs on seven hits over 6 2/3 innings. Bryan Abreu followed and Ryan Pressly allowed an unearned run in the ninth before securing his 12th save in 14 opportunities.

Cleveland grounded into three double plays and had its three-game winning streak snapped. Josh Naylor went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and extended his hitting streak to a career-high 10 games.

Houston recorded a season-high six stolen bases and jumped on Cleveland starter Triston McKenzie (0-1) for three runs in the first inning.

Abreu, who hit a three-run homer in the first inning of Friday’s loss to the Guardians, delivered a two-run blast in the first inning. The Astros led 5-3 before adding an insurance run on Abreu’s RBI single in the ninth.

Abreu’s homer came after Jose Altuve doubled with one out and scored on Alex Bregman’s single to left field.

The Guardians responded in the bottom of the first when Naylor’s sacrifice fly scored Amed Rosario, who doubled with one out and moved to third on Jose Ramirez’s single.

McKenzie ran into trouble again in the fourth inning, when Corey Julks drew a leadoff walk and scored on Jake Meyers’ double to left field. Mauricio Dubon added a run-scoring single with one out to put the Astros ahead 5-1.

McKenzie was lifted after giving up five runs on seven hits over five innings. He walked three and struck out five.

Cleveland cut the deficit to 5-3 with two runs in the seventh inning.

France was relieved by Abreu after allowing Ramirez’s RBI single, and Naylor followed with a run-scoring single. Abreu struck out Josh Bell with two runners on to end the inning.

France recorded career highs in walks (six) and pitches (105) while striking out six batters.

Cleveland pushed a run across in the ninth when Steven Kwan scored on Naylor’s sacrifice fly.

–Field Level Media

The Los Angeles Dodgers placed right-hander Shelby Miller on the bereavement list on Saturday.

The Dodgers recalled right-hander Andre Jackson from Triple-A Oklahoma City in a corresponding move.

Miller, 32, is 1-0 with a 2.57 ERA in 24 relief appearances this season. Miller struck out three in two scoreless innings during Friday night’s 5-4 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Miller, who is with his eighth team, is 39-58 with a 4.15 ERA in 191 games (132 starts). He is in his first season with Los Angeles.

Jackson, 26, has a 6.62 ERA and two saves in seven games with the Dodgers this season. He pitched three shutout innings to record the save in Saturday’s 9-0 win over the Phillies. Overall, he is 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA and four saves in 14 games with Los Angeles over the past three seasons.

–Field Level Media

Sunday’s game between the Houston Astros and Guardians in Cleveland has been moved up to 12:40 p.m. ET due to forecast of heavy rain.

The contest was originally slated to start at 1:40 p.m.

Prior to Saturday’s contest, the Astros placed right-hander Ryne Stanek on the bereavement/family medical emergency list. The 31-year-old is 2-1 with a 4.57 ERA in 23 relief appearances this season.

The Guardians optioned right-hander James Karinchak to Triple-A Columbus and recalled left-hander Tim Herrin from the same affiliate. Karinchak, 27, is 2-4 with a 3.90 ERA in 32 appearances this season, while the 26-year-old Herrin was 1-0 with a 7.45 ERA in nine relief outings with Cleveland earlier this season.

–Field Level Media

Corey Seager had a career day by going 5-for-5, including a two-run home run, and the Texas Rangers went on to an 8-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Nathan Eovaldi earned the win despite seeing his scoreless innings streak end.

The Rays saw their seven-game winning streak come to an end, while the Rangers have now won 15 of their last 20.

The Rangers jumped out to a 6-0 lead by scoring three runs in both the second and fourth innings. Seager played a key role in both innings, driving in two runs with a double in the second and two more with a home run in the fourth.

The Rays pulled starter Taj Bradley just before Seager’s at-bat in the fourth, but the pitching change didn’t pay off as Seager turned on a first-pitch fastball from Rays left-hander Jalen Beeks.

Seager had singles in the first, sixth and eighth innings. He scored in the sixth on a two-out double by Adolis Garcia as the Rangers got some much-needed cushion late.

The Rays rallied back with a four-run fourth, highlighted by a three-run homer by Francisco Mejia, who sent a 1-0 cutter from Eovaldi into the right field seats.

Eovaldi’s scoreless innings streak ended at 20 1/3 innings. In his previous seven starts combined, Eovaldi allowed four runs total.

Eovaldi (9-2) rebounded with scoreless innings in the fifth and sixth, as well as recording the first out of the seventh, to earn the victory. He allowed four runs on seven hits with three walks and six strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings.

Eovaldi exited the seventh with two runners on. Rangers reliever Josh Sborz inherited those runners and eventually found himself facing a bases-loaded, two-out situation. With the Rays having the potential game-tying run at the plate, Sborz ended the threat by inducing a groundout by Isaac Paredes.

Sborz struck out the side in the eighth, and Will Smith closed it out with a scoreless ninth.

Bradley (4-3) took the loss after his shortest outing of the season, allowing five runs (four earned) on four hits with four walks and four strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings.

–Field Level Media

Marcell Ozuna and Ronald Acuna Jr. hit two-run homers in the second inning and the host Atlanta Braves rolled to a 6-4 win over the Washington Nationals on Saturday to extend their winning streak to seven games.

Atlanta improved to 4-1 against Washington this season. The Nationals have lost six in a row.

Ozuna’s homer, his 13th, went 426 feet to left-center field and scored Travis d’Arnaud, who had walked. After Kevin Pillar’s double, Acuna connected with a curveball, sending it 413 feet to right center for his 13th homer. Both long balls came off starter MacKenzie Gore.

Acuna went 3-for-4 with two doubles, two runs and three RBIs. He is hitting .364 (8-for-22) on the current homestand.

Atlanta starter Jared Shuster (3-2) pitched five-plus innings and allowed three runs on eight hits. He did not walk a batter nor record a strikeout.

Jesse Chavez pitched two scoreless innings, striking out three, and Joe Jimenez worked a scoreless eighth. A.J. Minter surrendered a homer to Stone Garrett to open the ninth but came back to retire the next three batters and earn his ninth save.

Gore (3-5) settled down after the decisive second and pitched five innings. He allowed five runs on four hits, with one walk and three strikeouts.

The Nationals got one run in the first inning when Lane Thomas tripled and scored on Luis Garcia’s sacrifice fly.

The Braves tied it in the bottom of the first. Acuna doubled and came around to score on Austin Riley’s sacrifice fly.

Washington closed the margin to 5-3 by scoring twice in the fifth. Michael Chavis and Ildemaro Vargas singled, and both were able to score when Thomas doubled to left field.

Atlanta got another run in the seventh when Pillar singled, stole second and scored on Acuna’s double.

Chad Kuhl and Jordan Weems combined to allow one run in three innings of relief for Washington.

–Field Level Media

Aledmys Diaz had three hits on Saturday, including the game-winning single in the 10th inning, as the visiting Oakland Athletics edged the Milwaukee Brewers, 2-1.

Diaz drove in automatic runner Tony Kemp with a single to center off Milwaukee reliever Joel Payamps to give the A’s the lead in the top of the 10th.

Oakland left-hander Sam Long, with automatic runner Victor Caratini on second, pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the 10th for his first save.

By taking the first two games of this three-game series, the Athletics have won a season-high four games in a row. They have also won three of their last four series. It was only the fourth series win of the season for Oakland, the worst team in the major leagues.

The game started as a duel between Oakland’s Paul Blackburn and Milwaukee’s Julio Teheran, two right-handed starting pitchers with plenty of major league experience.

Teheran, a two-time All-Star and 12-year veteran, was making his fourth start for the Brewers. Teheran worked through the seventh, allowing six hits with one walk. He struck out six and threw 98 pitches, both season highs.

Blackburn, a seven-year veteran, scattered just four singles, walked one and struck out five over six innings before A’s manager Mark Kotsay turned the game over to the bullpen with a 1-0 lead. But neither Teheran nor Blackburn would factor in the decision.

The A’s took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fifth when Jace Peterson singled to left and, with one out, advanced to third on a hit-and-run single by Diaz through the hole and into right field. Peterson scored from third when JJ Bleday beat out a potential inning-ending double play.

But William Contreras tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the eighth with a two-out, pinch-hit home run to straightaway center field off A’s lefty Richard Lovelady. Contreras’ homer was estimated at 440 feet.

Shintaro Fujinami (3-6) got the win with a scoreless ninth inning. Payamps fell to 2-1 on the season with the loss.

–Field Level Media

Cole Irvin pitched 5 1/3 strong innings for his first victory of the season as the Baltimore Orioles beat the visiting Kansas City Royals 6-1 on Saturday.

Anthony Santander doubled twice and scored two runs and Gunnar Henderson and Adam Frazier each homered for the Orioles, who have their first three-game winning streak in almost a month.

Irvin (1-2), who is in his first season in Baltimore’s organization, was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk to make the start. He allowed one run on six hits without a walk, striking out five.

The Orioles then used four relievers to win their first home series in the last four such situations. Kansas City’s offensive woes continued as it stranded nine runners on base.

Royals starter Brady Singer (4-5), who had won his previous two decisions, worked 4 1/3 innings and allowed four runs on six hits and three walks. Edward Olivares had three hits, but Kansas City lost its fifth consecutive game.

Santander ended up 3-for-4 for his first multi-hit outing in nine games, while Henderson and Ryan O’Hearn both had two hits.

Santander’s double and O’Hearn’s single drove in first-inning runs for the Orioles. Henderson hit a solo homer for his eighth long ball of the season in the second.

Olivares doubled to lead off the fifth and scored on Freddy Fermin’s single to put the Royals on the board.

The Orioles re-established the three-run cushion in the fifth with Santander doubling and scoring on Austin Hays’ one-out single.

Frazier’s seventh homer of the year was a two-run shot in the eighth off Scott Barlow, who was the only one of four Kansas City relievers charged with runs.

Both teams were without their regular first basemen because of injuries or illness as Kansas City’s Vinnie Pasquantino, who went on the injury list with a shoulder injury, and Baltimore’s Ryan Mountcastle missed the game.

–Field Level Media

Mark Canha drove in three runs Saturday, including a tiebreaking two-run double in the seventh, as the visiting New York Mets snapped a seven-game losing streak by beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-1.

Francisco Alvarez homered and Brandon Nimmo added an RBI single for the Mets, whose losing streak had been their longest of the season.

New York starter Kodai Senga (6-3) gave up one unearned run and two hits, both singles, in seven innings, with six strikeouts and four walks.

Ji Hwan Bae had an RBI fielder’s choice for the Pirates, who have lost three of four.

Pittsburgh starter Johan Oviedo (3-5) allowed two runs and four hits in 6 1/3 innings, with five strikeouts and two walks.

Pittsburgh designated hitter Andrew McCutchen entered the game with 1,999 hits but didn’t reach the milestone. He flied out to center, walked, struck out and grounded out.

In the second, Tommy Pham doubled to left-center. He went to third on Luis Guillorme’s flyout. After Canha struck out, Nimmo singled to left to drive in Pham for a 1-0 Mets lead.

In the fourth, Jack Suwinski drew a one-out walk. Ke’Bryan Hayes grounded into what looked to be a double play, but Guillorme dropped the ball at second base, and his fielding error allowed Hayes to reach and Suwinski to go to third. Bae’s grounder went into right off the glove of second baseman Jeff McNeil. The fielder’s choice and fielding error allowed Suwinski to score to tie it 1-1.

Starling Marte led off the seventh with an infield single. He stole second as Brett Baty struck out. Dauri Moreta relieved Oviedo. He struck out Pham and intentionally walked Guillorme. Canha followed with a double to the wall in right-center, sending both runners home for a 3-1 New York lead.

Alvarez led off the eighth with his 12th homer, to left, to increase the edge to 4-1.

Canha added an RBI double to right-center in the ninth against Angel Perdomo after Pham singled to center and stole second.

–Field Level Media