Flaherty outduels Burnes, Cards defeat Brewers
St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jack Flaherty became the major leagues’ first seven-game winner this year with a 2-0 victory over Milwaukee on Thursday as the Brewers’ Corbin Burnes extended his streak to 58 consecutive strikeouts before his first walk.
Flaherty (7-0) allowed four hits in six innings, struck out six and walked two to help the Cardinals win a three-game series that featured dominant starting pitching.
Burnes (2-3) returned from the injured list after a positive test for coronavirus, which he said left him asymptomatic. He opted against getting vaccinated for what he said were personal reasons.
In his first appearance since April 26, Burnes struck out nine among his first 14 outs, giving him 58 strikeouts and no walks this year before he walked Tommy Edman with two outs in the fifth.
Alex Reyes remained perfect in 11 save chances by striking out Tyrone Taylor to strand two runners.
Nolan Arenado’s twoout single in the first scored Edman. That marked the only time in this series that either team scored before the sixth inning.
BLUE JAYS 8, BRAVES 4 >> Bo Bichette hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the ninth inning and the Toronto Blue Jays rallied yet again to beat Atlanta 8-4 on Thursday and sweep six games from the Braves this season.
Atlanta outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. left in the seventh inning after jamming his left ankle. X-rays were negative and he has not been ruled out of the Braves’ game at Milwaukee on Friday night.
Toronto trailed 2-0 and 4-3 before its 10th comeback win this season and third of the series completed a threegame series sweep.
Danny Jansen, hitting .095, led off the ninth with a single off Will Smith (03). Marcus Semien singled, and Bichette doubled to the gap in right-center for a 6-4 lead. Bichette drove in three runs on two hits.
Cavan Biggio knocked out Smith with his second double of the game to drive in another run.
Travis Bergen (1-0) pitched a scoreless eighth. Jordan Romano struck out the side in the ninth. WHITE SOX 4, TWINS 2 >> Tim Anderson and Jake Lamb homered, Billy Hamilton made a leaping catch at the wall to end a basesloaded threat and Chicago beat Minnesota for its sixth straight win.
Lance Lynn (4-1) struck out nine in five innings for Chicago, which has won seven of eight while sweeping two straight series. Liam Hendriks retired the last five Minnesota batters for his seventh save in nine chances.
Max Kepler homered for the Twins, who have lost four straight and eight of nine to fall 10 games behind the AL Central leaders.
Michael Pineda (2-2) slowed down a White Sox offense that had scored at least nine runs in four straight games but lost after Minnesota failed to cash in on a pair of basesloaded chances. NATIONALS 5, PHILLIES 1 >> Josh Bell and Kyle Schwarber hit two-run homers in the first inning, Patrick Corbin continued his resurgence with seven solid innings and Washington beat Philadelphia to end a four-game slide.
Washington had dropped seven of eight to sink to a season-low six games under .500 before salvaging the finale of the three-game series. Philadelphia missed a chance to move four games over .500 for the first time since it was 5-1.
TIGERS 4, ROYALS 3 >> Michael Fulmer shut down Kansas City’s ninth-inning rally for his second save, and Detroit extended the Royals’ losing streak to 11 games.
RAYS 9, YANKEES 0 >> Rich Hill joined Cy Young and Nolan Ryan as the only pitchers to strike out nine against the Yankees at age 41 or older, and Tampa Bay beat coronavirus-impacted New York to avoid getting swept in a three-game series.