Category: Baseball

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ Ke’Bryan Hayes is a slick-fielding third baseman who has been a Gold Glove runner-up. Lately, his offense has been catching up, as the visiting New York Mets are discovering.

Even as every Pittsburgh starter had a hit in a 14-7 blowout of the Mets on Friday, Hayes stood out. He was 5-for-5, tying a career high for hits in a game, with four RBIs and three runs scored.

Hayes has an eight-game hitting streak, with two homers, three doubles and 11 RBIs. He has raised his batting average in that span from .216 to .266.

“Coming off that A’s series, and refueling on an off day (Thursday), we just wanted to be aggressive and swing the bats,” Hayes told AT&T Sportsnet.

The 26-year-old Hayes said he has been “just getting myself in a better position to hit the ball, then being aggressive and trusting my athleticism. At the end of the day, having more confidence.”

The Pirates ended a two-game losing streak, with both defeats coming in blowout fashion against the worst team in baseball, the Oakland Athletics.

The Mets had no such luck in erasing memories of recent games. Friday’s lopsided loss — they trailed 14-2 entering the ninth — extended their losing streak to a season-worst seven games.

New York was just swept by the Braves, and Mets manager Buck Showalter was asked if his team had a hangover effect.

“Looked like it,” Showalter said. “Didn’t pitch well, and that usually does a lot of it. And made (two) errors. It is what it is.”

The flavor of the games during the Mets’ losing streak has been all over the place, with them being outscored 51-31 in the eight games.

Both teams got discouraging injury news Friday.

Mets slugger Pete Alonso went on the 10-day injured list because of a bone bruise and sprain of his left wrist, where he got hit by a pitch Wednesday. He’s expected to be out three-to-four weeks, if not longer.

Things were even worse for Pittsburgh. Starter Vince Velasquez had season-ending elbow surgery after going on the injury list, trying to come back, and then going on the IL again.

On Saturday, New York right-hander Kodai Senga (5-3, 3.75 ERA) is expected to start opposite Pittsburgh right-hander Johan Oviedo (3-4, 4.29).

Senga, who has never faced the Pirates, might be happy to get onto a different schedule.

His last time out, Sunday against Toronto, Senga was pitching on four days’ rest for the first time. He gave up four runs and four hits in 2 2/3 innings, with five walks and three strikeouts. He did not get a decision.

Senga, who pitched weekly in Japan, said through an interpreter that he felt fine physically, but “there were a lot of times when their lineup would be taking a lot of my off-speed offerings.”

Oviedo seemed headed to victory his last time out, on Monday against Oakland, after giving up three runs, two earned, in seven innings, but he ended up without a decision in a seesaw game won by the Athletics 5-4.

Against the Mets, Oviedo has taken some lumps. He is 0-2 with a 10.24 ERA in three career starts covering just 9 2/3 innings.

–Field Level Media

An accomplished front-end starter will go against a pitcher who has the ability to get there one day when the Philadelphia Phillies play host to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday.

Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola (5-4, 4.30 ERA) will oppose against Dodgers rookie right-hander Bobby Miller (2-0, 1.06) when the teams meet in the middle game of a three-game series. The Phillies have won six straight games.

Philadelphia took the series opener 5-4 in dramatic fashion on Friday when Kyle Schwarber hit a game-ending home run with two outs in the ninth inning. Schwarber reached base four times, adding a triple and two walks in addition to his 17th homer.

Nola has been far from his best this season, one year after he went 11-13 with a 3.25 ERA and had an major-league-best 8.10 strikeout-to-walk ratio while finishing fourth in the National League Cy Young Award race.

He is coming off a dominating start against the Detroit Tigers on Monday, when he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before giving up a three-run home run to Nick Maton following a walk and an error.

It was the fourth time Nola has taken a no-hitter into the seventh inning in his career. He struck out 12, walked three and yielded just the three unearned runs on one hit in seven innings.

“I thought he was good all night,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said after Nola showed slightly improved velocity. “He lost the zone a couple of times, but I thought his stuff was really good. The velocity was good. The curveball was good — except the one to Maton. But I thought he was really good.”

Nola has pitched well in spurts this season, like his April 28 start against the Houston Astros when he looked more like his former self by giving up one run on three hits over eight innings. However, he followed that by allowing four runs in 6 1/3 innings on the road against the Dodgers in a no-decision on May 3. Philadelphia lost that game 10-6.

In eight career starts against the Dodgers, Nola is 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 46 2/3 innings.

Miller made his major league debut for the Dodgers on May 23 and has logged just three career starts. He has looked impressive in the early going, not allowing more than one run in any outing.

Miller is coming off a six-inning no-decision against the New York Yankees on Sunday when he did not allow a run, gave up just one hit and had seven strikeouts. Both of his walks came in the first inning on a day when he threw 86 pitches.

“How much do I want to push him in his (seventh) start this year?” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, adding in Miller’s four starts at Triple-A Oklahoma City. “Knowing the fact that we’ve got a lot of baseball left, that played into the calculus.”

Blessed with a 100 mph fastball, Miller looks every bit the first-round draft pick he was, selected by the Dodgers in 2020.

“I felt great,” Miller said. “I definitely felt like I could’ve gone longer, but that first inning, get rid of those two walks and I’d be going into the seventh.”

Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman hit back-to-back home runs for the Dodgers in the seventh inning on Friday. Los Angeles has lost three of four games during the current road trip, with all three losses coming in walk-off fashion.

–Field Level Media

After appreciating his excellent big-league debut, the Cincinnati Reds will see what rookie pitcher Andrew Abbott can do for an encore.

Abbott (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will face the host Cardinals on Saturday in the middle game of a three-game series. He threw six scoreless innings on one hit and four walks during a 2-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday.

“It probably took him until the second or third to really settle in, and once he did that, he was really in command the rest of the game and used all his pitches,” Reds manager David Bell said.

Abbott threw first-pitch strikes to 16 of the 23 batters he faced. He kept the Brewers off balance with a four-pitch mix, and he reached 95 mph with his fastball while striking out six batters.

“I felt really good, honestly, too,” Abbott said. “I had another day of rest because I was supposed to go Sunday (for Triple-A Louisville). Just seeing the crowd, taking it all in, stuff definitely gets your adrenaline pumping so you throw a little bit harder than normal.”

The Cardinals opened the series with a 7-4 victory Friday night for their second straight victory. The Reds lost their second straight game.

St. Louis will start Miles Mikolas (4-2, 3.74 ERA), who has allowed three runs or fewer in 10 straight starts and two earned runs or fewer in seven of them.

Mikolas took a 2-1 loss at Pittsburgh in his last start. He allowed the two runs on 10 hits in five innings but fell victim to his team’s recent power outage.

“Once we right the ship, we have to hope we’re not too far back,” Mikolas said. “Hate to rely on another 17-game winning streak to get into the playoffs. That’s always a possibility with players of this caliber. For the people out there getting upset — that’s understandable. I wouldn’t count us out.

“It’s time to see who wants it, who wants to step up and be a leader and start getting the job done.”

Mikolas won his previous start against the Reds 2-1 at Cincinnati on May 25. He blanked the Reds for seven innings on five hits while striking out five and walking nobody.

He is 4-5 with a 5.02 ERA in 17 career appearances against the Reds, including 15 starts.

The Reds adjusted their pitching staff for this series. They recalled Ricky Karcher and Joel Kuhnel from Triple-A Louisville, optioned Eduardo Salazar to Louisville, and put Graham Ashcraft (left calf contusion) on the 15-day injured list.

“I want to see how (Karcher) does here because he has major league stuff,” Bell said. “Sometimes certain players will step up at this level and just be better here.”

Cincinnati is also expected to activate outfielder TJ Friedl (left hamstring strain) in time for Saturday’s game.

The Cardinals activated outfielder Dylan Carlson from the injured list as expected Friday and optioned Juan Yepez to Triple-A Memphis. Carlson was 0-for-2 with two walks in the opener.

“Never a good time to get injured. Glad the process is over,” Carlson told Bally Sports Midwest. “It’s a long, tedious process. Just put that behind me, keep moving forward and get back to playing some baseball.”

–Field Level Media

Only three teams in the American League have a worse record than the Chicago White Sox.

However, the White Sox are confident a recent hot stretch — and a spate of exciting wins at home — represents who they really are as the summer approaches.

The White Sox will try to continue their surge on Saturday afternoon when they play host to the Miami Marlins in the middle game of a three-game interleague series.

Michael Kopech (3-5, 4.33 ERA) is scheduled to start for the White Sox against Sandy Alcantara (2-5, 5.07) in a battle of right-handers.

The White Sox earned another walk-off win on Friday in the series opener, when Luis Robert Jr. laced the game-winning single in the ninth inning of a 2-1 victory.

The win was the sixth in seven games for the White Sox. Chicago is 21-15 since May 1, the best record in the division and the fourth-best mark in the American League.

The White Sox are also showing a flair for the dramatic at home.

Chicago’s past three home games ended with walk-off victories, and all three came in vastly different ways. Yoan Moncada scored on a wild pitch in the 10th inning of a 2-1 win over Detroit on June 3, one day before Jake Burger hit a ninth-inning grand slam to vault the hosts to a 6-2 win over the Tigers.

The White Sox’s six walk-off wins this season are the most in the majors.

“We’ve been on a good stretch lately,” said Chicago’s Dylan Cease, who allowed one run over six innings on Friday. “We’ve played really well in all facets of the game. When we play like that, we’re going to be very hard to beat.”

The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for the Marlins, who came within a victory of matching their longest winning stretch of the past 10 years.

Miami will try to start another streak behind Alcantara, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner who is enduring a rough season. Alcantara allowed five runs — all in the third inning — over seven innings and didn’t factor into the decision as the Marlins beat the Oakland Athletics 7-5 on Sunday.

Outside of the third inning, Alcantara faced the minimum. He retired the first six batters he faced on 13 pitches and erased his only subsequent baserunner — Ramon Laureano, who singled leading off the sixth — by inducing a double-play grounder.

Alcantara struck out seven and walked none. It was just the third time this season he didn’t walk a batter.

“Other than that (the third inning), he pitched really good,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “After the first two innings, I thought he was going to throw a complete game on 90 pitches, the way he was throwing.”

Alcantara has never opposed the White Sox.

Kopech didn’t factor into the decision on Sunday, when he gave up two runs over seven innings in Chicago’s win over the Tigers. He has never faced the Marlins.

–Field Level Media

The Rockies started their season with two wins against the host San Diego Padres, but that was the last time Colorado looked comfortable against any of its National League West rivals.

The Padres came back and won the final two games of the opening series, and the Rockies have now dropped eight in a row and 14 of 15 against division opposition.

San Diego beat Colorado 9-6 on Friday in the opener of a three-game series at Denver.

The teams will go at it again in a matinee on Saturday. The Padres will send Ryan Weathers (1-4, 5.09 ERA) to the mound to face Kyle Freeland (4-7, 4.06) in a matchup of left-handers.

Weathers is 0-1 with a 9.69 ERA in his four career appearances (three starts) against the Rockies, all of which came in his rookie year of 2021.

On Friday, Colorado got its first look at Fernando Tatis Jr. since the 2021 season, and he came through with a home run and a double, but it was the hot-hitting Juan Soto who got things going for the Padres.

Soto followed up a career-best, five-hit game on Wednesday with a single that sparked a three-run first inning. The Padres, already a potent lineup, got Xander Bogaerts back after he missed four games due to a wrist injury.

Bogaerts said the time off helped him get close to full health.

“I’ve felt better every day since I came out of the game (on June 3),” said Bogaerts, who went 2-for-5 with two runs on Friday. “I feel good to play.”

While San Diego is humming, the Rockies are scuffling. Colorado has dropped five straight and nine of the past 11 while wearing out the bullpen. It showed Thursday when Pierce Johnson coughed up a one-run lead in the ninth in a 6-4 loss to the San Francisco Giants, and it cost the Denver native his role as the closer.

Johnson was given the ninth-inning job when Daniel Bard was away from the team to deal with anxiety. Johnson converted his first 11 save opportunities but has blown his past two.

“We’re going to take a step back with Pierce, move him earlier in the game,” Colorado manager Bud Black said before the Friday game. “We’ll see how each and every game plays out.

“When Daniel went on the injured list in spring training, we had to move on the fly. We felt the best option at that time was Pierce, and Pierce delivered.”

The bullpen overall has been forced into heavy innings, and Friday didn’t help. Starter Austin Gomber got lit up early and was out of the game after four-plus innings.

Colorado hopes to get a strong outing from Freeland, who will face the Padres for the second time this season. He tossed six scoreless innings in the second game of the season to get the win. Freeland has faced San Diego 21 times in his career, 19 of those starts, going 7-6 with a 4.40 ERA.

Freeland is coming off a hard-luck loss at Kansas City on Sunday, when he gave up just two runs in seven-plus innings.

–Field Level Media

Ke’Bryan Hayes was 5 for 5 with four RBIs Friday in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 14-7 drubbing of the visiting New York Mets.

Every starter for the Pirates had a hit. Carlos Santana and Jack Suwinski homered, Austin Hedges added a two-run double and Josh Palacios had two RBI singles. Pittsburgh starter Rich Hill (6-5) allowed two runs and seven hits in seven innings.

Francisco Lindor homered, Luis Guillorme added an RBI double and Mark Vientos and Francisco Alvarez had RBI singles for the Mets, who have lost a season-worst seven straight.

New York starter Tylor Megill (5-4) gave up nine runs, seven earned, and eight hits in 3 2/3 innings.

Guardians 10, Astros 9 (14 innings)

Will Brennan hit a walk-off double in the 14th inning after Tyler Freeman doubled in the tying run, and host Cleveland handed Houston its fourth straight loss.

Houston moved ahead on Kyle Tucker’s RBI single off Xzavion Curry (3-0) in the top of the 14th inning. In the bottom half, Freeman hit a leadoff double off Seth Martinez (1-2) to score automatic runner Josh Naylor, and Brennan’s one-out double gave the Guardians their third straight win.

Jose Abreu hit a three-run homer and Jeremy Pena had four hits for the Astros, who went 6-for-28 with runners in scoring position, leaving 14 men on base.

Rays 8, Rangers 3

Isaac Paredes hit two homers and drove in a career-high six runs and Tyler Glasnow pitched six strong innings to lead Tampa Bay past Texas in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Paredes finished 3-for-4 with an RBI double in the first, a three-run homer in the third and a two-run shot in the sixth to lead the Rays to their seventh straight win.

The Rays’ offensive outburst was more than enough for Glasnow (1-0), who allowed only a run on one hit to go along with six strikeouts and three walks.

Twins 3, Blue Jays 2 (10 innings)

Michael A. Taylor hit a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning to go with his two-run homer in the fifth and visiting Minnesota defeated Toronto.

Royce Lewis added a career-best four hits for the Twins, who ended their five-game losing streak. The Blue Jays had their three-game win streak stopped, although they have still won seven of their last nine.

Minnesota right-hander Sonny Gray allowed one run, five hits and two walks with five strikeouts in five innings. Toronto left-hander Yusei Kikuchi also lasted five innings, allowing two runs and four hits with one walk while striking out four.

Phillies 5, Dodgers 4

Kyle Schwarber hit a game-ending home run with two outs in the ninth inning as host Philadelphia extended its winning streak to a season-best six games by beating Los Angeles.

Schwarber reached base four times, adding a triple and two walks, and finished off the victory with his 17th homer of the season by going deep against Dodgers left-hander Caleb Ferguson (3-2).

Trea Turner had two hits with an RBI against his former team as Philadelphia followed a walk-off win Thursday against Detroit with another in Friday’s series opener. Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman hit back-to-back home runs for the Dodgers while Los Angeles lost for the fifth time in its last six games — three by walk-off hits.

Braves 3, Nationals 2

Orlando Arcia provided the dramatics for the second straight night, this time driving in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning to complete a two-run rally and give Atlanta a victory over visiting Washington.

The victory extended Atlanta’s winning streak to six games, the last four by coming from behind. Arcia, who hit the game-tying solo homer on Thursday in the ninth inning of a 13-10, 10-inning win over the New York Mets, singled off the glove of shortstop CJ Abrams to score Eddie Rosario with the go-ahead run.

Washington has lost five in a row. Nationals starter Josiah Gray pitched five innings and allowed one run on two hits, four walks and six strikeouts — lowering his road ERA to 2.36.

Cardinals 7, Reds 4

Jordan Montgomery threw six scoreless innings to earn his first victory since April 8 as St. Louis defeated visiting Cincinnati.

Montgomery (3-7) struck out six and allowed just three hits and one walk. Giovanny Gallegos got the final four outs to earn his eighth save. Nolan Arenado, Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman hit two-run homers as the Cardinals won their second straight.

Reds starter Ben Lively (3-4) allowed seven runs on 10 hits in 6 2/3 innings. Stuart Fairchild had two hits and two RBIs for Cincinnati.

White Sox 2, Marlins 1

Luis Robert Jr. delivered a walk-off single in the ninth inning for Chicago, which continued surging with a win over visiting Miami for its best-in-the-majors sixth walk-off win this season.

The White Sox earned their sixth win in seven games, while the Marlins saw their six-game winning streak, a season-high, come to an end.

Liam Hendriks (2-0), making his fifth appearance since returning from cancer treatment, recorded the win by tossing a perfect top of the ninth. Yasmani Grandal homered in the second inning and finished with three hits for the White Sox. Joey Wendle hit a homer for the Marlins, who were limited to four hits.

Diamondbacks 11, Tigers 6

Corbin Carroll homered twice, including a grand slam, and Arizona overpowered slumping Detroit.

Carroll’s grand slam capped a seven-run seventh. Emmanuel Rivera had two hits, scored three runs and knocked in another, while Geraldo Perdomo supplied two hits and drove in two runs. Arizona starter Merrill Kelly (8-3) gave up three runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings.

Jake Rogers homered twice for the Tigers, who have lost seven straight. Zack Short added two RBIs and Javier Baez chipped in a solo shot. Detroit starter Michael Lorenzen (2-3) was charged with six runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings.

Red Sox 3, Yankees 2

Rafael Devers hit another home run off Gerrit Cole, Kenley Jansen worked out of a jam in the ninth inning and visiting Boston hung on for a victory over New York in the first meeting of the season between the longtime rivals.

Triston Casas had two hits and an RBI and Enrique Hernandez homered as the Red Sox ended a six-game losing streak at Yankee Stadium and won for the sixth time in their past 18 games overall.

Josh Donaldson homered for the Yankees, who lost for the third time in four games and dropped to 1-19 when scoring two runs or fewer this season. Cole (7-1) allowed two runs on seven hits in six innings for his first loss since his final regular-season start of last season. Cole struck out six and walked one.

Orioles 3, Royals 2

Austin Hays homered and doubled and starting pitcher Tyler Wells worked into the seventh inning as host Baltimore edged Kansas City in the opener of a three-game series.

Gunnar Henderson rapped three singles and scored a run for the Orioles, who have won back-to-back games for the first time since May 24-25. Wells (5-2) gave up two runs on five hits 6 2/3 innings. Felix Bautista pitched a perfect ninth with two strikeouts for his 17th save.

Starter Daniel Lynch (0-2) allowed Hays’ homer on his first pitch of the game. In six innings, he gave up three runs on eight hits and a walk. He struck out four. The Royals have lost four games in a row and seven of their last eight.

Athletics 5, Brewers 2

Ramon Laureano rapped a two-run triple for one of his two hits to lead Oakland to a series-opening win at Milwaukee, giving the major-league-worst Athletics a third consecutive win for the first time this season.

Oakland reliever Luis Medina (1-5) pitched five innings for the win, surrendering two runs on three hits. Trevor May struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save.

Brewers starter Adrian Houser (2-2) allowed five runs on six hits in four-plus innings. Owen Miller had two hits and a stolen base for Milwaukee.

Padres 9, Rockies 6

Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado homered and had two hits each, Brandon Dixon, Trent Grisham and Gary Sanchez also went deep, and San Diego beat Colorado in Denver.

Jake Cronenworth had three hits and Juan Soto and Xander Bogaerts had two hits apiece for San Diego, which has won two games in a row for the first time since May 25-26. Padres starter Yu Darvish (5-4) allowed four runs on five hits and four walks while striking out six in 5 1/3 innings. Josh Hader pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his 14th save.

Mike Moustakas homered among his two hits and Randal Grichuk and Ryan McMahon also had two hits each for Colorado. The Rockies have lost five straight.

Angels 5, Mariners 4

Shohei Ohtani gave up three runs in five innings on the mound and finished a triple shy of the cycle at the plate, and a two-run homer by Mickey Moniak propelled Los Angeles to a victory over Seattle in Anaheim, Calif.

Los Angeles posted its fifth consecutive win, while Seattle lost for the fifth time in six games. Ohtani matched a season high with five walks while allowing three hits and striking out six. He hit a two-run homer in the third inning, and his pitching duties ended with the score 3-3.

Moniak broke the tie while facing Mariners starter Luis Castillo (4-4) with one on and two outs in the sixth. The Angels right fielder smashed a 97 mph fastball over the fence in right-center for his fifth homer of the year and a 5-3 lead.

Cubs 3, Giants 2

Pinch hitter Nico Hoerner delivered a go-ahead, two-run single in a three-run seventh inning and Chicago opened a three-game road series with a victory over San Francisco.

Marcus Stroman (7-4) won his fifth straight start as the Cubs snapped a four-game losing streak. Stroman gave up two runs on six hits and four walks, and he struck out five. Seiya Suzuki had three hits and Tucker Barnhart drove in Chicago’s other run.

Joc Pederson had four hits and an RBI, and Thairo Estrada doubled in a run. Anthony DeSclafani (4-6) took the loss, charged with two runs on three hits. He walked four and struck out two. The Giants saw their three-game winning streak end.

–Field Level Media

Corbin Carroll continued to enhance his Rookie of the Year campaign in his first game at Detroit.

The Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder smashed two homers, including his first career grand slam, in an 11-6 victory over the Tigers on Friday.

Carroll, who also doubled, will try to display his power stroke once again in the second game of the series on Saturday afternoon.

Carroll has 10 hits, including four homers, in Arizona’s past four games. He has scored eight runs and driven in eight during that span. Overall, he has 13 homers, 32 RBIs and 45 runs this season.

“I won’t say I woke up this morning and predicted this,” Carroll said during a postgame TV interview. “It’s just a testament to all our hitting coaches and just continuing to grind away every day.”

Detroit will look to snap a seven-game losing streak on Saturday.

The Tigers’ scheduled starter, Matthew Boyd (3-4, 5.57 ERA), hasn’t been going deep into games, but he is coming off his best outing of the season. He held the Chicago White Sox to one run and three hits in five innings on Sunday. Boyd didn’t issue a walk while striking out a season-high nine batters.

Tigers manager A.J. Hinch took out the veteran left-hander after 82 pitches.

“I wouldn’t say I knew it was coming, but I trust A.J.,” Boyd said. “A.J. always has a move. There’s always a reason behind his methods, and our bullpen has been so solid. It makes complete sense.

“As a starter and a competitor, you always want to stay in the game. You always want to fight to stay in, but I don’t question A.J. He puts our team in the best position to win day in and day out.”

Hinch’s motivation was Boyd’s difficulty when going through a batting order for the third time.

“I was going to make sure Matthew was going to finish the game in a good place,” Hinch said.

Rookie Ryne Nelson (2-3, 5.40 ERA) will start for the Diamondbacks on Saturday. The right-hander gave up three runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings against the Atlanta Braves on June 3. He also walked four without recording a strikeout.

Nelson has walked 22 batters and struck out only 37 in 61 2/3 innings. The 25-year-old Nevada native, who relies mainly on his fastball and slider, has notched more than four strikeouts only once in 12 starts.

“I just think the secondary stuff hasn’t been as consistent as Nelly probably wants it,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said.

Detroit outfielder/designated hitter Kerry Carpenter was activated off the injured list on Friday, and he gave the Tigers an offensive boost with two hits and a run. He had been sidelined since late April due to a sprained right shoulder.

“Carp is a big part of what we’re trying to do, especially bringing balance to the lineup and some power,” Hinch said. “We need as much offensive boost as we can get based on the last couple of series. But it doesn’t need to all go on his shoulders. We need more than just Carp to get going.”

Jake Rogers hit two solo homers and Javier Baez also went deep for the Tigers, who still couldn’t match Arizona’s firepower.

–Field Level Media

After ending their five-game losing streak, the visiting Minnesota Twins have a chance to take their three-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday afternoon.

The Twins continued to struggle on offense while winning the series opener 3-2 in 10 innings on Friday night, but their pitching remained solid.

Michael A. Taylor drove in all three runs for Minnesota with a two-run home run in the fifth inning and a sacrifice fly in the 10th. The Twins caught a break when Ryan Jeffers was able to score on Taylor’s fly, as catcher Alejandro Kirk failed to hold on to the ball on the throw from left fielder Whit Merrifield.

Taylor has homered in back-to-back games.

“He’s been so valuable for us,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “There’s no way around it.”

Royce Lewis had a career-best four hits for the Twins, who had scored seven runs in their previous six games combined.

The 10th inning would not have been possible if Minnesota reliever Jhoan Duran had not pitched out of a jam in the ninth, when Toronto had runners at second and third with no outs. Duran also pitched the 10th.

After being swept in three games by the host Tampa Bay Rays, the Twins entered Friday with their record below .500 for the first time this season.

“Everybody feels amazing,” Duran said after the win against the Blue Jays. “We had a bad series in Tampa. Winning here in the first game, that’s good.”

Duran trimmed his ERA to 1.44.

“He made a lot of things happen today,” Baldelli said. “Just a heck of an outing from him.”

Blue Jays manager John Schneider said, “Our bullpen was good and the defense was solid. We just didn’t really get that hit when we needed to.”

Toronto center fielder Kevin Kiermaier (wrist) was used only as a pinch runner.

Minnesota second baseman Jorge Polanco (hamstring) did not play and was scheduled to undergo an MRI exam.

The Twins are scheduled to start right-hander Joe Ryan (7-3, 2.76 ERA) on Saturday. He will be opposing Toronto for the first time in his career.

With struggling right-hander Alek Manoah optioned to the rookie-level Florida Complex League this week, Toronto is expected to give the Saturday start to right-hander Bowden Francis, who was promoted from Triple-A Buffalo to replace Manoah.

Francis could either start or come in after a reliever who is used as an opener. In five minor league outings between Class-A Dunedin and Triple-A Buffalo this year, he was 0-2 with a 2.89 ERA. Francis has made one previous major league appearance, on April 27, 2022, when he threw a scoreless two-thirds of an inning against the Boston Red Sox.

The Blue Jays had won seven of their previous eight games, including the last three of a four-game set against the visiting Houston Astros to start the week, before dropping the opener to the Twins.

Toronto reinstated right-hander Mitch White from the 60-day injured list on Friday and designated right-hander Anthony Bass for assignment. White had been sidelined all season due to right elbow inflammation.

Minnesota put left-hander Caleb Thielbar (oblique) on IL and recalled right-hander Josh Winder from Triple-A Saint Paul. Winder made one appearance for the Twins earlier this season, and he was 3-1 with a 6.52 ERA in 11 relief outings for Saint Paul.

–Field Level Media

Pinch hitter Nico Hoerner delivered a go-ahead, two-run single in a three-run seventh inning and the Chicago Cubs opened a three-game road series with a 3-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Friday night.

Marcus Stroman won his fifth straight start for the Cubs, who snapped a four-game losing streak. The Giants saw their three-game winning streak end.

Thanks to a Thairo Estrada RBI double in the third inning, Giants starter Anthony DeSclafani took a 1-0 lead into the seventh before yielding a single to Seiya Suzuki and a walk to Ian Happ.

Giants reliever Ryan Walker came on to get Dansby Swanson on a fly ball that advanced both baserunners, then walked Matt Mervis to set the stage for Hoerner’s big hit up the middle.

After Christopher Morel drew a walk to reload the bases, Tucker Barnhart singled to center to score Mervis, making it 3-1 and producing the eventual difference-making run.

Having allowed just one run on five hits to that point, Stroman (7-4) served up a one-out double to Brandon Crawford in the last of the seventh.

Stroman retired LaMonte Wade Jr. on a grounder that advanced Crawford to third, then was pulled in favor of Mark Leiter Jr. The reliever allowed Joc Pederson’s fourth hit of the game, an infield single, to make it 3-2.

Leiter struck out Estrada to strand the potential tying run on base, then threw a 1-2-3 eighth. Adbert Alzolay came on to retire the Giants in order in the ninth for his third save.

Stroman wound up going 6 2/3 innings, during which he gave up two runs and six hits. He walked four and struck out five.

DeSclafani (4-6) took the loss, charged with two runs on three hits. He walked four and struck out two.

Hoerner finished with two hits and Suzuki had three for the Cubs.

Pederson matched a career best with his four-hit game for the Giants, who had just three other hits.

–Field Level Media

Shohei Ohtani gave up three runs in five innings on the mound and finished a triple shy of the cycle at the plate, but it was a two-run homer by Mickey Moniak that propelled the Los Angeles Angels to a 5-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday in Anaheim, Calif.

Los Angeles posted its fifth consecutive win, while Seattle lost for the fifth time in six games.

Ohtani matched a season high with five walks while allowing three hits and striking out six. He hit a two-run homer in the third inning, and his pitching duties ended with the score 3-3.

Moniak broke the tie while facing Mariners starter Luis Castillo (4-4) with one on and two outs in the sixth. The Angels right fielder got ahold of a 97 mph fastball on a 1-2 count, hitting it over the fence in right-center for his fifth homer of the year and a 5-3 lead.

The Los Angeles bullpen finished the job. Jacob Webb (1-0) threw two scoreless innings to earn the victory. Carlos Estevez gave up a solo homer to Mike Ford in the ninth but still recorded his 17th save in 17 opportunities.

Ohtani walked three batters in the first inning alone, a total he had not exceeded in 10 of his 12 starts going into Friday’s game. The Mariners got two runs in the frame, both coming in on a Jarred Kelenic home run.

The Angels pulled even in the third inning, thanks to an error by J.P. Crawford. The Seattle shortstop booted a grounder by Taylor Ward with two outs, keeping the inning alive and allowing Ohtani to come to the plate.

Ohtani got ahead in the count 1-0 because of a pitch-clock violation on Castillo, then hit Castillo’s next pitch — a changeup — over the fence in right-center to tie the game at 2-2. It was Ohtani’s team-leading 17th homer of the season.

The Angels took the lead in the fourth inning when Anthony Rendon doubled and scored on a single by Luis Rengifo.

The Mariners got even at 3-3 in the fifth inning on an RBI single by Ty France, but Ohtani escaped further damage by getting Kelenic to ground into an inning-ending double play.

–Field Level Media