Rays blank their Florida neighbors
Inside-the-park HR sparks Tampa Bay
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Kevin Kiermaier hit Pablo López’s first pitch for an insidethe-park home run and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Miami Marlins 4-0 on Tuesday night.
Harold Ramirez and Ji-Man Choi also homered off López, who had given up only two home runs in eight preceding starts.
Shane McClanahan (4-2) pitched six innings for the Rays, striking out nine.
Kiermaier hit a line drive that center fielder Jesús Sánchez dove forward to attempt to catch. The ball skipped past Sánchez and rolled to the wall as Kiermaier circled the bases, scoring when catcher Jacob Stallings couldn’t control the relay throw in time.
“It’s a fun way to start off the game,” Kiermaier said. “You never know what to expect in a baseball game, and the first pitch of the game for us is an inside-the-parker. And since we have the best pitcher in the league, that’s all we needed. One run.”
It was the sixth homer of the year for Kiermaier, who is 13 for 24 with three homers in five straight multi-hit games.
DODGERS 9, NATIONALS 4: In Washington, Mookie Betts homered twice on a night he was originally supposed to have off, and Los Angeles beat the Nationals.
Betts smacked a three-run homer off former Dodgers prospect Josiah Gray and hit solo shot off Victor Arano for his 21st career multi-homer game and his second of the season.
Chris Taylor and Trea Turner also homered for Los Angeles, which has won nine of 10. At 29-13, Los Angeles owns the best record in the National League.
Washington has dropped seven of its last nine and is a majorleague worst 5-17 at home.
Dodgers starter Walker Buehler (6-1) allowed three runs in six innings, retiring 15 of the last 17 batters he faced. He yielded six hits and struck out three.
YANKEES 7, ORIOLES 6, 10 innings: In New York, Jose Trevino hit a game-ending single in the 11th inning and the Yankees overcame injuries to two AllStars to end their first threegame skid of the season, beating Baltimore.
Trevino hit his second homer of the season earlier in the game and also had a tying single in the seventh.
He raised his arms as he rounded first, then was swarmed near second base by teammates. The first-year Yankee, acquired just before opening day as a glove-first catcher, put his hands on his head and looked around Yankee Stadium in apparent disbelief.
The former Texas Ranger cried during a postgame interview on the field, which he began by directing sympathies to victims of a shooting Tuesday that killed 19 children in a Texas elementary school. The 29-year-old is from Corpus Christi.
“My thoughts and prayers to everybody in Texas,” he said.
TWINS 2, TIGERS 0: In Minneapolis, Sonny Gray compiled a season-high 10 strikeouts over seven sharp innings, carrying Minnesota past Detroit for the Twins’ sixth straight victory.
The Twins, who are 23-8 since April 21, have won each of the last four games with Gray on the mound after he returned from a strained hamstring.
ASTROS 7, GUARDIANS 3: In Houston, Framber Valdez pitched seven strong innings and Kyle Tucker led the offense with a three-run homer to help the Astros beat Cleveland.
Valdez (4-2) allowed seven hits and three runs in seven innings, collecting his third straight win and allowing the Astros to bounce back after dropping the series opener 6-1.
José Ramírez gave Cleveland an early lead when he homered for the second straight game with a solo shot in the first inning. The Astros went on top with a two-run double by Alex Bregman in the third before Tucker broke the game open with his home run off Zach Plesac (1-4) that made it 7-1 in the fifth.
BRAVES 6, PHILLIES 5: In Atlanta, William Contreras singled home Ronald Acuña Jr. in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Braves a victory over Philadelphia.
Bryce Harper put Philadelphia ahead 5-4 in the top of the ninth with a two-run homer off closer Kenley Jansen (3-0). Harper finished with four RBIs. But the Braves rallied back, taking advantage of a costly error by center fielder Roman Quinn.
RED SOX 16, WHITE SOX 3: In Chicago, Trevor Story and Christian Vazquez each hit a three-run home run and drove in four runs as Boston set season highs in runs and hits in a win over the White Sox.
The Red Sox extended their winning streak to six games.
CUBS 11, REDS 4: In Cincinnati, Frank Schwindel homered twice in a game for the first time in his career, Marcus Stroman recovered from a rough start to pitch five effective innings, and Chicago rolled past the Reds.
Schwindel has three homers in the first two games of Chicago’s four-game series at Cincinnati.
ROCKIES 2, PIRATES 1, 10 innings: In Pittsburgh, Connor Joe singled home the tie-breaking run in the top of the 10th inning and Colorado slipped past the Pirates.
With one out, Joe grounded his hit up the middle off David Bednar (1-1), scoring automatic runner Sam Hilliard from second base.
Joe ran his on-base streak to 21 games, and Jose Iglesias had two hits for the Rockies.
BLUE JAYS 8, CARDINALS 1: In St. Louis, Danny Jansen hit a three-run homer and a solo shot, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. also went deep and Toronto beat the Cardinals.
Kevin Gausman (4-3) threw six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts and no walks. He allowed four hits and beat the Cardinals for the first time in eight appearances.
Toronto split the two-game series and ended the Cardinals’ winning streak at four.
ANGELS 5, RANGERS 3: In Anaheim, Calif., Noah Syndergaard allowed one run over eight strong innings of four-hit ball in his longest appearance since returning from elbow surgery, and Jared Walsh homered in Los Angeles’ victory over Texas.
Luis Rengifo and Tyler Wade had RBI singles during a fourrun fourth inning for the Angels, who have won three straight following a four-game skid that began with three losses in Texas last week.
DIAMONDBACKS 8, ROYALS 6: In Phoenix, Pavin Smith and pinch-hitter Jordan Luplow homered in a five-run sixth inning as Arizona beat Kansas City.
Daulton Varsho and David Peralta also homered for the Diamondbacks, who have won five of their last six and have 15 homers in that stretch.