Tigers’ Castro makes his first homer count
Contreras has double, grand slam in first inning of Cubs’ romp
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Harold Castro hit his first home run of the year with two outs in the ninth inning, a tiebreaking shot that sent the Detroit Tigers past the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 on Monday night for their season-best fourth straight victory.
Castro connected off Andrew Kittredge (3-1) for his first long ball since going deep in consecutive games against Oakland in early September last year. He had three home runs in 2021.
Michael Fulmer (2-2) got the win in relief and Gregory Soto pitched the ninth for his sixth save in seven tries.
Jonathan Schoop hit a two-run homer that put Tigers rookie Alex Faedo in position for his first major league win, but Brett Phillips helped the Rays erase their 2-0 deficit with a home run in the sixth and a leadoff double against Fulmer in the eighth. Phillips scored on Wander Franco’s sacrifice fly to tie it.
Faedo, a first-round draft choice in 2017 who did not pitch in 2020 or 2021 because of the pandemic and Tommy John surgery, tossed 5 ⅔ innings in his third career start. He gave up one run and four hits, striking out four.
Schoop hit his third homer off Rays starter Corey Kluber, giving Detroit a 2-0 lead after Miguel Cabrera’s leadoff single in the fourth.
CUBS 9, PIRATES 0: In Chicago, Willson Contreras led off with a double and became a rare leadoff hitter with a first-inning grand slam as the Cubs burst to an eightrun lead and beat Pittsburgh.
Contreras became the 10th leadoff hitter since 1901 with a firstinning slam, the first since Houston’s George Springer off Kansas City’s Edinson Vólquez on June 24, 2016. The slam was the 100th homer of Contreras’ career, making him the third Cubs catcher to reach that mark along with Gabby Hartnett and Jody Davis.
Wade Miley (1-0) retired his first 14 batters before Michael Chavis lined a single to left and ended a 13-inning hitless streak for Pittsburgh batters.
YANKEES 6, ORIOLES 2: In Baltimore, Luis Severino allowed one hit in six innings, and Jose Trevino became the first New York catcher with a home run this year when he hit a three-run drive in the fourth to lift the surging Yankees over the Orioles.
Josh Donaldson and Anthony Rizzo added back-to-back solo homers in the ninth for the Yankees,
who won for the 19th time in 22 games. New York (26-9) is off to one of the best 35-game starts in franchise history. Only the 1939 and 1928 teams, at 28-7, were better at this point.
Anthony Santander homered twice for Baltimore’s only runs. Former New Mexico State standout Kyle Bradish (1-2) allowed four runs and eight hits in 4⅓ innings in his fourth career start. He walked three and struck out six.
BREWERS 1, BRAVES 0: In Milwaukee, Freddy Peralta dominated over seven innings, Hunter Renfroe scored on a wild pitch and the Brewers two-hit Atlanta.
Peralta (3-1) gave up two hits and a walk while striking out 10 and retiring his final 11 batters. It was the sixth time in Peralta’s career that he struck out 10 or more batters. He recorded his 500th career strikeout in the seventh when he retired Marcell Ozuna on a called third strike.
The Brewers improved to 11-4 at home, the best mark in the National League.
BLUE JAYS 6, MARINERS 2: In Toronto, Yusei Kikuchi allowed one hit over six shutout innings against his former team, Bo Bichette and Matt Chapman backed the left-hander with home runs Toronto beat Seattle.
Kikuchi (2-1) walked three and struck out six. Bichette and Chapman homered off Chris Flexen (1-6), who lost his fourth straight decision.
MARLINS 8, NATIONALS 2: In Miami, Sandy Alcantara retired his last 20 batters, pitching threehit ball over eight innings to lead Miami over Washington and give the Marlins just their fourth win in 15 games.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Bryan De La Cruz had three hits each, and Avisaíl García homered for the Marlins, who had 16 hits and matched their second-highest total this season.
Alcantara (3-2) struck out five, walked one and hit a pair of batters.
RANGERS 7, ANGELS 4: In Arlington, Texas, Eli White had the first and last of five Texas hits during a six-run first inning off Noah Syndergaard, and the Rangers beat Los Angeles.
Jon Gray won his home debut despite allowing Shohei Ohtani’s RBI double off the base of the center-field wall in a three-run first. The Rangers’ immediate response knocked out Syndergaard, a local high school standout, after two-third of an inning. Syndergaard (3-2) allowed six runs (four earned) four hits and two walks.
WHITE SOX 5, ROYALS 3, 10 INNINGS: In Kansas City, Mo., Luis Robert hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning after Johnny Cueto’s impressive Chicago debut, and the White Sox beat Kansas City.
Yasmani Grandal also had a two-run shot for the White Sox. The 36-year-old Cueto pitched six shutout innings in his first major league start this season. He allowed just two hits and two walks, striking out seven.
RED SOX 6, ASTROS 3: In Boston, Trevor Story homered to tie the game in the seventh inning and Xander Bogaerts hit a tworun shot in the eighth to propel Boston past Houston.
Astros starter Jake Odorizzi left on a stretcher in the fifth inning with a leg injury. J.D. Martinez and Kiké Hernandez had two hits apiece for Boston, which has won three of four.
Hector Neris (1-2) gave up three runs on three hits and a walk in the eighth.
GIANTS 7, ROCKIES 6: In Denver, Curt Casali hit two home runs, Mike Yastrzemski delivered a go-ahead homer in the top of the ninth and San Francisco pulled out a win over Colorado.
Ryan McMahon homered for the Rockies, who lost for the 11th straight time to the Giants dating to Aug. 15, 2021. It’s San Francisco’s longest win streak ever against the Rockies and matches an 11-game streak against the Houston Astros from Sept. 22, 1964 to May 22, 1965, according to Stats, LLC.
TWINS 3, ATHLETICS 1: In Oakland, Calif., Gary Sanchez homered, Royce Lewis scored twice and Minnesota beat the Athletics.
Lewis started a pair of rallies against Zach Logue (2-2) by doubling in the third inning and walking to lead off the fifth. Lewis came around to score on RBI singles by Jorge Polanco and Byron Buxton to give Minnesota a 2-1 lead.