Braves shut out Phillies 6-0 for series win

ATLANTA (AP) — Reynaldo López threw six strong innings and the Atlanta Braves hit four homers in a 6-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday.

López (7-2) lowered his league-leading ERA to 1.71, allowing just two hits and walking three with six strikeouts.

Adam Duvall, Jarred Kelenic and Matt Olson all homered in a five-run second inning off Phillies rookie Michael Mercado, and Eli White added a solo homer in the sixth inning.

Mercado (1-1), making just his second career start, didn’t get out of the second inning, lasting just 1 2/3 innings and allowing five runs, five hits and three walks.

Kelenic was 1-for-3 with three RBIs and Duval was 3-for-4 with a double and a single to go along with his home run. White, who entered the game 0-for-7 since being called up from Triple-A Gwinnett, was 2-for-3 with two runs scored.

The Braves have taken two of three in the first two series of the season between the NL East rivals. The teams have seven regular-season games to play. The Phillies have eliminated the Braves in the playoffs the past two postseasons.

TIGERS 5, REDS 1

CINCINNATI (AP) — Tarik Skubal struck out a career-high 13 in seven innings, Zach McKinstry hit a two-run homer and Detroit swept a series for the first time since late May, beating Cincinnati.

Skubal (10-3) was sharp, mixing a fastball in the upper-90s with a changeup to keep Reds hitters on their heels. He allowed just three hits and walked no one. Cincinnati’s only run came on a seventh-inning groundout.

McKinstry drove in Detroit’s first run with a base hit in the fourth inning off Reds starter Graham Ashcraft (5-5) before his two-run blast to right field in the eighth off Alexis Diaz, the usually reliable Cincinnati closer.

Colt Keith had two hits and RBI, and Gio Urshela had three hits for the Tigers.

Ashcraft allowed a run and six hits with two strikeouts and three walks through 4 2/3 innings.

Detroit beat the Reds 5-4 on Friday and 5-3 on Saturday.

GUARDIANS 5, GIANTS 4

CLEVELAND (AP) — Bo Naylor had a pinch-hit, three-run homer in the sixth inning to give Cleveland a win over San Francisco and another home series win for the AL Central leaders.

Stepping in for Austin Hedges, Naylor connected with two outs off Sean Hjelle (3-3) as the Guardians improved to 30-11 at Progressive Field — the majors’ best home mark — and 11-0-1 in series at home.

With the Giants leading 3-2, Andrés Giménez and Tyler Freeman singled with two outs, and Naylor connected on a 2-2 pitch for his first career pinch-hit homer.

As Naylor rounded the bases, his brother, Josh, came on to the track outside Cleveland dugout to cheer.

Cade Smith (4-1) worked the sixth, and Tim Herrin and Hunter Gaddis an inning each. Cleveland closer — and expected All-Star reserve — Emmanuel Clase gave up a run before notching his league-leading 27th save.

CARDINALS 8, NATIONALS 3

WASHINGTON (AP) — Willson Contreras hit his second homer of the series and St. Louis defeated Washington.

Contreras hit a line drive 395-foot homer off Nationals reliever Derek Law in the seventh. He also singled and scored twice with three RBIs. The two-run shot was his ninth of the season and third homer in the past five days.

Nolan Gorman added a single, double and two RBIs. Gorman has enjoyed his stay in D.C. this weekend, going seven for his last 11 after a 6-for-69 (.087) slump from June 12-July 4. He has reached base safely in 46 of his last 50 games.

Nolan Arenado has also had a great series against the Nationals. The veteran third baseman had a two-run single in the three-run fifth inning. He has seven hits in the series.

The Cardinals have won five of their last seven and have the best record in the National League since May 12 at 32-18 (.640).

TWINS 3, ASTROS 2

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Christian Vázquez led off the ninth inning with a home run to give Minnesota Twins a victory over Houston.

Vázquez, who had two hits and drove in all three Twins runs, hit a sinker from Josh Hader (3-5) high and deep to left field for his fourth homer of the season.

Jhoan Duran (4-3) pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn the win.

The Twins have taken two of three games in each of their last five series, while the Astros wrapped up a 10-game road trip 6-4.

Astros starter Spencer Arrighetti gave up two earned runs and struck out six in five innings.

METS 3, PIRATES 2

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Francisco Lindor hit a two-run single with two outs in the ninth inning against Ardolis Chapman for his third hit of the game, rallying New York to a win over Pittsburgh.

Nick Gonzales hit a two-run single in the eighth off Edwin Díaz (3-1) to give Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead, but the Mets rebounded and again reached .500 at 44-44.

Chapman (1-4) walked Francisco Alvarez leading off the ninth and gave up Harrison Bader’s single. Chapman threw called third strikes past Mark Vientos and Luis Torrens, threw a wild pitch and walked Jose Iglesias.

Lindor pulled a 1-1 slider into left field to reach for the fourth time on an afternoon that included two singles, a double and a walk. Chapman blew a save for the third time in six chances and threw 40 pitches, his most since 42 for Cincinnati on Sept. 15, 2015.

Díaz (3-1) pitched a perfect ninth. He replaced Dedniel Núñez with two on and two outs in the eighth, walked pinch-hitter Joshua Palacios and allowed Gonzales’s single on a first-pitch slider for his fifth blown save in 13 chances. Díaz got a save Saturday in his first appearance after a 10-game suspension for using a banned foreign grip.

MARLINS 7, WHITE SOX 4

MIAMI (AP) — Jake Burger hit a game-winning three-run homer and Miami scored four times in the ninth to beat Chicago.

Down to their last strike, the Marlins tied it on Josh Bell’s RBI double off White Sox closer Michael Kopech (2-8). Chicago left fielder Tommy Pham tracked down Bell’s drive but mistimed his leap at the wall that scored Vidal Brujan from third.

Jesús Sánchez was intentionally walked before Burger connected with a 431-foot blast for Miami’s ninth walk-off win of the season.

Brujan drew a leadoff walk to start the ninth. Nick Fortes then advanced Brujan with a sacrifice bunt toward the first base area which Kopech fielded and tagged him out. But Brujan continued sprinting and reached third.

The White Sox dropped to a major league worst 26-66.

J.T. Chargois (1-0) pitched the ninth for the win.

RANGERS 13, RAYS 2

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Wyatt Langford and Jonah Heim matched career highs with four hits, Corey Seager had a three-run homer and Texas batted around twice in a rout of Tampa Bay that finished a three-game sweep.

Texas matched its season high with 19 hits, sending nine batters to the plate in both the fourth and fifth innings.

Nathan Eovaldi (6-3) allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings, improving to 5-0 with a .166 opponents’ batting average at home.

Defending World Series champion Texas has won eight of its last 10 home games and is 24-21 at Globe Life Field but 18-27 on the road.

Tampa Bay was swept in a three-game series for the first time this season, getting outscored 20-5.

Langford had an RBI double in the first inning, singled to start a six-run fourth and three-run fifth, then singled again in the eighth.

CUBS 5, ANGELS 0

CHICAGO (AP) — Hayden Wesneski threw 6 1/3 innings, Michael Busch hit a two-run home run and Chicago shut out Los Angeles.

Wesneski (3-5) allowed a single to the second batter he faced, then retired the next 18 Angels to help Chicago win a series for the first time in five tries. He allowed a hit, walk and two strikeouts.

Relievers Porter Hodge, Luke Little and Héctor Neris finished the three-hit shutout and Miguel Amaya added a pair of hits and an RBI for Chicago.

José Soriano (4-7) gave up three runs and six hits while striking out three and walking one in five innings.

Amaya and Nico Hoerner drove in runs in the third to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead and Amaya scored again in the fifth on a double play grounder. Busch gave the bullpen some insurance in the seventh after sending Matt Moore’s pitch into right field for his 11th homer of the season.

ROYALS 10, ROCKIES 1

DENVER (AP) — Maikel Garcia, MJ Melendez and Bobby Witt Jr. homered, Brady Singer won for the first time on the road this season and Kansas City beat Colorado to end a three-game losing streak.

Garcia’s three-run homer capped a four-run second inning off right-hander Tanner Gordon (0-1), who was making his major league debut. Garcia homered for first time since May 17, a span of 183 at-bats. He was six homer this season.

Melendez homered in the seventh, and Witt hit his 15th to cap a three-hit day in a three-run ninth.

Singer (5-5) gave one run and six hits — all singles — and stuck out seven in seven innings for his first road victory since Aug. 8, 2023, in Boston. He is 1-2 with a 3.24 ERA in eight road starts this season.

Nolan Jones hit run-scoring single to break Singer’s shutout with two outs in the seventh inning, but Singer retired Aaron Schunk on a fly to deep left field to preserve a 5-1 lead.

DIAMONDBACKS 9, PADRES 1

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Eugenio Suárez hit a tiebreaking two-run homer with two outs in the seventh inning and a bases-clearing double in the ninth in Arizona’s victory over San Diego.

Arizona improved to .500 at 45-45, winning the final two games of the series after dropping the opener. The went 4-2 on their trip, also rebounding from an opening loss to take the final two in Los Angeles.

Suárez tied his career high with the five RBIs and had three hits. The 11-year veteran was acquired from Seattle in November.

Corbin Carroll hit a leadoff homer for the defending NL champion Diamondbacks, who have won or split nine of their last 11 series.

Ryne Nelson (6-6) and three relievers combined on a four-hitter.

ORIOLES 6, ATHLETICS 3

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Heston Kjerstad hit a three-run homer, Grayson Rodriguez had eight strikeouts in six innings and Baltimore beat the Oakland.

Kjerstad’s center field shot put the Orioles ahead 4-0 in the first. Anthony Santander hit his 23rd homer of the season earlier in the inning to start the two-out rally off A’s starter Mitch Spence (5-5). Kjerstad also reached in the third on an error by A’s center fielder JJ Bleday, who dropped a fly ball for an error. Santander scored the Orioles’ fifth run on the play.

Rodriguez (11-3) has won six of his past seven starts. He allowed three runs in six innings, and struck out eight or more for the fifth time this season to lead the club.

The A’s scored twice in the sixth on Tyler Soderstrom’s RBI double and Shea Langeliers’ sacrifice fly. They cut the deficit to 5-3 in the seventh, but Gunnar Henderson drove in an insurance in the ninth for the Orioles with an RBI single.

Craig Kimbrel earned his 23rd save of the season in front of an announced crowd of 14,524 at the Coliseum.

BREWERS 9, DODGERS 2

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Christian Yelich and Blake Perkins both homered, had three hits and drove in three runs as Milwaukee beat Los Angeles to snap a seven-game losing streak at Dodger Stadium.

Eric Haase had a two-run homer in the fifth inning for the Brewers, who avoided a sweep in the weekend matchup of National League division leaders and are one of three teams in the majors not to have a losing streak of at least four games this season.

Yelich started the scoring with a two-run homer in the fourth inning off Dodgers’ starter Justin Wrobleski (0-1), who was making his major league debut. It was the second straight game Yelich had gone deep to center. He added an RBI double in the ninth inning.

Yelich, voted in as one of the NL’s starting outfielders for the July 16 All-Star Game, batted .393 (11 for 28) with three homers and five RBIs during the Brewers’ six-game road trip.

Perkins had a solo shot in the seventh inning and then drove in two runs when his base hit with the bases loaded just got by Dodgers’ third baseman Kiké Hernández and into left field.

BLUE JAYS 5, MARINERS 4, 10 INNINGS

SEATTLE (AP) — Daulton Varsho drove in the go-ahead with an RBI single in the top of the 10th inning, as Toronto beat Seattle.

Varsho’s base-hit off Mariners reliever Collin Snider (0-1) with two outs drove in automatic runner Vladimir Guerrero Jr. from second base and sent the Blue Jays to a series victory over the Mariners, who have now dropped six consecutive series.

Chad Green (2-1) got the win. Génesis Cabrera pitched the 10th for his second save.

Mariners center fielder Victor Robles got the scoring started with a leadoff solo homer off Blue Jays starter José Berríos in the third, but Toronto tied it in the fourth when Bo Bichette led off with a ground-rule double against Kirby, and scored on a one-out sacrifice fly from Alejandro Kirk.

Mitch Garver put Seattle back ahead in the fifth with a three-run homer, his 12th of the season, but George Springer tied the game back up with a three-run blast in the seventh off Mariners reliever Ryne Stanek.

RED SOX 3, YANKEES 0

NEW YORK (AP) — Rafael Devers homered off rookie Luis Gil in the seventh inning and connected again in the ninth, leading Boston over the Yankees and sending New York to its 15th loss in 20 games.

Devers put Boston ahead on a 98.8 mph fastball from Gil (9-5), lifting the ball to the opposite field and into the first row of the left-field seats. He carried his bat up the first-base line before dropping it and completing a slow home run trot. Devers added his 21st home run of the season in the ninth off Michael Tonkin.

Devers has 16 homers at Yankee Stadium and 28 against New York.

Rookie Ceddanne Rafael homered in the eighth off Luke Weaver.

Boston has won six of seven and 16 of 22, improving to 14-1 on Sundays.