Verlander stifles Mets for 10th win
Dodgers salvage finale at Colorado
NEW YORK — Justin Verlander pitched two-hit ball for eight innings, Jason Castro lined a two-run homer in the ninth and the Houston Astros beat the Mets 2-0 Wednesday to send New York to its first three-game losing streak this season.
Verlander (10-3) became the majors’ first 10-game winner, striking out six and walking one. Ryan Pressly pitched a perfect ninth for his 16th save in 19 chances.
New York’s Taijuan Walker allowed four hits in a season-high 7 1/3 innings. He was removed after 27 batters — he has not faced a hitter four times in a game since 2017 — and Edwin Díaz relieved.
In the deciding ninth inning, Kyle Tucker singled off Drew Smith (1-2) leading off, and with two outs Castro drove a slider into the right-field seats.
DODGERS 8, ROCKIES 4: In Denver, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith and Cody Bellinger homered, and Los Angeles took advantage of Germán Márquez’s struggles and early injury exit to beat Colorado.
Trea Turner added a two-run double and Julio Urías pitched into the sixth inning as the Dodgers avoided a three-game sweep against their surprising nemesis. The last-place Rockies had been 4-1 against the NL West leaders.
Márquez (4-6) left with an apparent injury to his throwing hand with one out in the fourth after allowing five runs and five hits, including Freeman’s 446foot solo drive to center in the first that extended his hitting streak to 13 games.
Smith hit his 12th homer, a two-run shot off Jhoulys Chacín in the fifth, to make it 7-1.
GUARDIANS 7, TWINS 6: In Cleveland, Josh Naylor hit a tworun homer with two outs in the 10th inning, completing a fourrun rally that gave Cleveland a victory over Minnesota.
Amed Rosario began the comeback with a one-out double off closer Emilio Pagán that scored automatic runner Richie Palacios, prompting the Twins to bring in Jharel Cotton (2-2).
A passed ball by Ryan Jeffers scored Steven Kwan, and Cotton retired José Ramírez before Naylor drove his first game-ending homer onto the left field porch.
RED SOX 6, BLUE JAYS 5 (10): In Toronto, J.D. Martinez drove in the tie-breaking run when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the 10th inning as Boston beat Toronto, avoiding a three-game sweep.
Alex Verdugo hit a two-run homer and had four RBIs, and Franchy Cordero had four hits as Boston won for the third time in 10 meetings with Toronto this season.
PIRATES 8, NATIONALS 7: In Washington, Bryan Reynolds hit a career-high three homers and drove in six runs, leading Pittsburgh to the win.
Reynolds hit a two-run homer in the first inning, a solo drive in the sixth and in the seventh hit a three-run homer that put the Pirates up 8-6.
PADRES 4, DIAMONDBACKS 0: In Phoenix, Mike Clevinger outpitched Madison Bumgarner by throwing one-hit ball for six innings in his longest outing of the year, leading San Diego over Arizona.
Jake Cronenworth broke out of a 0-for-26 skid with two doubles and a single, driving in two runs and scoring once.
Clevinger (2-0) struck out six and walked one.
YANKEES 5, ATHLETICS 3: In New York, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton homered to fuel the Yankees’ major leaguebest 24th comeback victory.
The Yankees completed a threegame sweep of baseball’s worst team and improved to 56-20, matching the 2001 Mariners and 1998 Yankees for baseball’s best 76-game start since 1930.
New York’s Jameson Taillon (9-1) worked five innings, and Clay Holmes pitched the ninth for his 14th save.
BRAVES 4, PHILLIES 1: In Philadelphia, Adam Duvall homered, Kyle Wright tossed seven sharp innings and Atlanta kept rolling this month, beating Philadelphia.
The Braves improved to 21-5 in June, matching the team record for most wins in a calendar month since the club moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta in 1966. They’ll try to set a new mark when they go for a three-game sweep Thursday night.
BREWERS 5, RAYS 3: In St. Petersburg, Fla., Rowdy Tellez hit two home runs and Milwaukee center fielder Jonathan Davis made a spectacular catch, sending the Brewers to the win.
Tellez hit his 15th homer, a tiebreaking solo drive in the eighth inning against Calvin Faucher (1-2). The ball struck the outer C-ring of the catwalk at Tropicana Field.
Brad Boxberger (2-1) got the victory, and Josh Hader earned his 24th save.
MARLINS 4, CARDINALS 3: In St. Louis, Avisaíl García hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning and Sandy Alcantara pitched a complete game, lifting the Miami to a victory over St. Louis.
With two outs, García hit the first pitch he saw from Ryan Helsley (3-1 ) 411 feet over the wall in center field for his fifth homer. Jesús Sánchez, who walked to begin the inning, also scored.
TIGERS 3, GIANTS 2: In San Francisco, Eric Haase hit a tworun homer to break a 1-all tie in the sixth inning as Detroit held on to beat San Francisco.
It was Haase’s fifth home run of the season and his second in the last three games.
Miguel Cabrera also drove in a run for the Tigers, who improved their league-worst road record to 11-23 and split the two-game series.
MARINERS 9, ORIOLES 3: In Seattle, Julio Rodríguez hit his 12th home run of the season as part of Seattle’s six-run fourth inning, and the Mariners beat Baltimore for their seventh win in nine games.
The Mariners took two of three from Baltimore and continued a stretch of good baseball after a 5-1 road trip last week.
ROYALS 2, RANGERS 1: In Kansas City, Mo., Zack Greinke (2-4) pitched six innings of onerun ball in his 500th career start, helping the Royals avoid a threegame sweep.
Kansas City’s Kyle Isbel provided the winning cushion with his second home run in as many games.
CUBS 8, REDS 3: In Chicago, Willson Contreras homered, Christopher Morel also went deep and nailed a runner at the plate with a terrific throw from center field as Chicago beat Cincinnati.
The Cubs’ Nico Hoerner extended his hitting streak to seven games, matching a career high, when he smacked a two-run double in the fourth.
He finished 1 for 3 after five consecutive multi-hit games.