Arenado homers to help give Cardinals 4-2 win over Astros

Nolan Arenado homered, Alec Burleson added an RBI double to back up a solid start by Miles Mikolas and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros 4-2 on Wednesday.

Burleson’s hit made it 3-0 in the fifth inning and Arenado added an insurance run in the sixth after the Astros got within 1 in the bottom of the fifth.

Mikolas (4-6) allowed five hits and two runs in six innings for the win. Ryan Helsley pitched a perfect ninth for his 20th save.

Yainer Diaz homered for a third straight game and Trey Cabbage hit his first home run of the season, but the Astros were unable to complete the series sweep on a day when top hitters Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman sat out with injuries.

RED SOX 9, BRAVES 0

BOSTON (AP) — Nick Pivetta combined with two relievers for a one-hit shutout and Rafael Devers hit two homers and drove in three runs as Boston beat Atlanta.

Pivetta (3-4) worked seven innings and allowed Atlanta’s only hit — a leadoff single by Austin Riley in the fourth inning. The 31-year-old right-hander struck out nine and finished one strikeout shy of his season high, against the Seattle Mariners on March 29.

Devers hit a solo home run in the second inning and a two-run shot in the seventh for the 17th multi-homer game of his career and first since July 14, 2023, against the Chicago Cubs. He has 13 homers this season.

Jarren Duran hit a solo homer in the eighth inning, his fourth of the season. Duran, Rob Refsnyder, Tyler O’Neill and Dominic Smith each had two hits as Boston improved to 31-31 with its fifth win in 12 games.

PHILLIES 2, BREWERS 0

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Aaron Nola tossed two-hit ball over seven shutout innings and Nick Castellanos hit a two-run homer to send Philadelphia off to London with the best record in the National League after a win over Milwaukee.

The Phillies completed the three-game sweep of the NL Central leaders and improved to 44-19 overall as they head overseas for a weekend set against the New York Mets.

Nola (8-2) struck out five, walked none and has almost seemed like a bargain this season for the NL East leaders after signing a $172 million, seven-year contract in the offseason.

Jeff Hoffman tossed a scoreless eighth and José Alvarado worked the ninth for his 11th save.

REDS 12, ROCKIES 7

DENVER (AP) — Jonathan India hit his fourth career grand slam to cap a two-out, six-run rally in the ninth inning and Cincinnati beat Colorado to sweep the three-game series.

Spencer Steer began the comeback with a two-run homer off Jalen Beeks (2-3), who hit TJ Friedl with a pitch leading off the ninth. After two singles and a walk loaded the bases, India blasted a pitch from Angel Chivilli for his second slam this season.

Friedl and Jeimer Candelario also went deep, Elly De La Cruz had three hits and Fernando Cruz (3-5) pitched an inning in relief for Cincinnati, which has won four straight.

Elias Díaz hit a go-ahead homer in the fifth to put Colorado ahead 5-4. He added a run-scoring single and Brendan Rodgers had a sacrifice fly in the seventh. Díaz and Rodgers had three RBIs each for the Rockies.

Charlie Blackmon had three hits for Colorado, which has dropped five in a row.

GIANTS 9, DIAMONDBACKS 3

PHOENIX (AP) — Wilmer Flores’ grand slam highlighted a six-run outburst in the third inning and San Francisco snapped a six-game losing streak with a win over Arizona.

Heliot Ramos added a two-run homer in the third off Jordan Montgomery (3-4), whose ERA rose to 6.80 in his ninth start since signing with the Diamondbacks late in spring training.

Ramos reached base six times with two hits and four walks. Flores, who had one home run in 50 games entering Wednesday, added a sacrifice fly in the ninth for his fifth RBI, and Jorge Soler homered in the eighth off Brandon Hughes as the Giants moved into third place in the NL West, a half-game ahead of the Diamondbacks.

Montgomery threw 61 pitches, 33 strikes, in two-plus innings. The 31-year-old left-hander faced seven batters in the third inning and didn’t record an out, allowing six earned runs and seven hits. He walked three and struck out one. Montgomery and reliever Logan Allen combined to throw 53 pitches in the third.

METS 9, NATIONALS 1

WASHINGTON (AP) — Luis Torrens hit two homers in a game for the second time in his career and Francisco Lindor added a solo shot as the New York Mets completed a three-game sweep of Washington.

The Mets batted around in the sixth inning, sending 10 men to the plate, scoring six times on seven hits, including two home runs and two doubles. They now head to London after winning five of their last seven.

Torrens launched his first homer of the season, a 398-foot shot to right-center field off Nationals starter Patrick Corbin (1-7) in the third to put the Mets in the lead, 1-0. It was Torrens’ first homer since Oct. 5, 2022, with the Mariners against Detroit.

The veteran catcher’s second home run came in the sixth inning on a 1-2 Corbin sinker that traveled 404 feet. Lindor followed with 428-foot homer, his 10th of the season. It was the second time the Mets hit back-to-back home runs since May 24 against the Giants.

RAYS 5, MARLINS 3

MIAMI (AP) — Isaac Paredes doubled twice and drove in three runs and Tampa Bay beat Miami Marlins to sweep their two-game series.

Brandon Lowe had two hits and an RBI for the Rays, who have won 23 of 26 against Miami since the start of 2019.

Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena walked twice and singled in his first three plate appearances, extending his on base streak to eight after reaching five times Tuesday. The string ended when Arozarena popped out to second to end the seventh.

The Marlins dropped to an NL worst 21-41. They have started June with four straight losses after going 14-13 in May.

YANKEES 9, TWINS 5

NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge drove in five runs, Carlos Rodón retired his first 16 batters and the New York Yankees matched their longest winning streak of the season at seven by beating Minnesota.

New York has won 18 of 22 games and is tied with Philadelphia for the best record in the major leagues at 44-19.

Backed by a four-run first inning, Rodón (8-2) won his career-best sixth straight start. He didn’t allow a hit until Carlos Santana drove a fastball into the right-field seats in the sixth.

Judge put the Yankees ahead with an RBI groundout against Chris Paddack (4-3), hit a three-run triple off Diego Castillo in a four-run fifth as New York opened an 8-0 lead and had a bases loaded walk against Josh Staumont in the sixth. Judge has 54 RBIs and moved one ahead of Juan Soto for the team lead. Only Cleveland’s José Ramírez (58) has more.

Minnesota’s Royce Lewis homered in the seventh off Dennis Santana on his 25th birthday, a day after Lewis went deep in his return from a strained right quadriceps that sidelined him for 58 games. Lewis became the first player in franchise history to homer in his first three games of a season.

BLUE JAYS 3, ORIOLES 2

TORONTO (AP) — Isiah Kiner-Falefa drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning and Toronto beat Baltimore.

Justin Turner singled off Craig Kimbrel (0-2) to begin the ninth, his third hit of the game.

Cavan Biggio ran for Turner, advanced to second base on Kimbrel’s errant pick-off throw before moving to third on a fly ball and scoring on Kiner-Falefa’s base hit to right field. Kiner-Falefa had two hits and two RBIs.

Yimi García (2-0) worked one inning for the win.

Anthony Santander homered for the Orioles, opening the scoring with a 436-foot leadoff homer in the second, his 12th. The second-deck drive came off Blue Jays right-hander José Berríos.

PIRATES 10, DODGERS 6

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Paul Skenes struck out eight over five innings, Aroldis Chapman threw the fastest pitch in the majors this season and Pittsburgh beat Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Skenes (3-0) allowed three runs on six hits, including a two-run shot by Ohtani in the third. The 22-year-old rookie also struck out the Los Angeles superstar with a 100 mph fastball in the first inning, one of 28 pitches thrown by Skenes and Chapman that reached triple digits.

Chapman had five pitches of at least 103 mph during the seventh inning, including a 104 mph heater to Teoscar Hernandez that Hernandez managed to foul off.

Nick Gonzales tied a career high with four RBIs for the Pirates. Edward Olivares and Ke’Bryan Hayes had two hits and drove in a run for Pittsburgh, which used a big second inning against James Paxton (5-1) to take control before holding on late.

Ohtani had two hits for the Dodgers. Andy Pages hit his sixth home run of the season and Jason Heyward doubled three times, but Los Angeles lost for 10th time in its last 15 games against Pittsburgh.