Kingham flirts with perfection in debut for Pirates
NATIONAL LEAGUE PIRATES 5, CARDINALS 0
PITTSBURGH — Nick Kingham carried a perfect game into the seventh inning in his major league debut to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 5-0 over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.
Kingham, 26, a rookie righthander, retired 20 consecutive batters before Paul DeJong singled down the left-field line with two outs in the seventh. He finished with 1 hit and 9 strikeouts on 98 pitches (72 strikes) after being recalled from Class AAA Indianapolis earlier in the day.
Elias Diaz went 3-for-4 with 3 singles and 2 RBI as the Pirates won their fifth consecutive game and completed a three-game sweep of the Cardinals.
Right-hander Luke Weaver (2-2) took the loss after allowing 4 runs on 6 hits with 6 strikeouts in 51/3 innings.
Diaz singled down the right-field line, scoring Starling Marte and Josh Bell for a 2-0 lead. Right-handed reliever Jordan Hicks replaced Weaver before Colin Moran extended the Pirates’ lead to 3-0 with an RBI single to center that drove in Corey Dickerson from third.
Hicks hit Adam Frazier with the bases loaded, giving Pittsburgh a 4-0 lead after six, and David Freese had a pinch-hit RBI single in the eighth to make it 5-0.
Pittsburgh selected Kingham in the fourth round of the 2010 draft out of Sierra Vista High School in Las Vegas. He underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2015, causing him to miss most of the 2015 and 2016 seasons.
MARLINS 3, ROCKIES 0 Left-hander Caleb Smith allowed two hits in seven innings for his first career victory, and host Miami won the rubber game of its low-scoring series with Colorado.
Sunday’s games NATIONAL LEAGUE
Miami 3, Colorado 0 Atlanta 10, Philadelphia 1 Pittsburgh 5, St. Louis 0 Washington 3, Arizona 1 Chicago Cubs 2, Milwaukee 0 NY Mets 14, San Diego 2 San Francisco 4, LA Dodgers 2
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Baltimore 5, Detroit 3
Boston 4, Tampa Bay 3 Toronto 7, Texas 2
Seattle 10, Cleveland 4 Cincinnati 8, Minnesota 2 Houston 8, Oakland 4 Kansas City 5, Chicago White Sox 4 NY Yankees 2, LA Angels 1
INTERLEAGUE
Cincinnati 8, Minnesota 2
NATIONALS 3, DIAMONDBACKS 1 Gio Gonzalez struck out eight over seven strong innings, Matt Wieters and Michael A. Taylor homered and Washington beat visiting Arizona.
BRAVES 10, PHILLIES 1 Ronald Acuna Jr. doubled twice and reached base four times to cap a successful first week in the majors, and Atlanta cruised to victory over host Philadelphia.
CUBS 2, BREWERS 0 Tyler Chatwood pitched seven sparkling innings and helped himself with an RBI single, leading Chicago to a victory over visiting Milwaukee and a sweep of the four-game series between NL Central rivals.
METS 14, PADRES 2 Adrian Gonzalez homered, doubled and drove in five runs against his former team, and Zack Wheeler struck out nine in five innings for New York, which overwhelmed host San Diego.
GIANTS 4, DODGERS 2 Evan Longoria hit a three-run home run in the first inning and Ty Blach made the early lead stand up, pitching San Francisco past visiting Los Angeles.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
ORIOLES 5, TIGERS 3 Substitute starter Pedro Alvarez hit two home runs, Trey Mancini had a solo shot and host Baltimore beat Detroit for its first home series victory of the season.
RED SOX 4, RAYS 3 Sandy Leon hit an opposite-field, go-ahead RBI single inside the third-base bag with two outs in the eighth inning against Rays’ closer Alex Colome, lifting Boston to a victory over
visiting Tampa Bay.
BLUE JAYS 7, RANGERS 2 Kevin Pillar homered for the third time in two games, J.A. Happ pitched seven innings to win his fourth consecutive decision and host Toronto beat Texas to avoid a three-game sweep. MARINERS 10, INDIANS 4 Ryon Healy hit two home runs and had four RBI, Robinson Cano and Mitch Haniger also homered, and visiting Seattle defeated Cleveland. ASTROS 8, ATHLETICS 4 Gerrit Cole worked into the seventh inning and struck out 12, George Springer and Jose Altuve each drove in two runs, and host Houston beat Oakland. ROYALS 5, WHITE SOX 4 Cheslor Cuthbert homered twice and drove in four runs as Kansas City won consecutive games for the first time this season, defeating visiting Chicago. YANKEES 2, ANGELS 1 Gary Sanchez hit a two-run home run, CC Sabathia pitched seven more effective innings and New York beat host Los Angeles for its ninth consecutive victory.
INTERLEAGUE
REDS 8, TWINS 2 Tyler Mahle pitched into the seventh inning in another impressive start, Jose Peraza had three hits and Adam Duvall homered, leading Cincinnati past host Minnesota.