AROUND THE HORN

■ Phillies: Two-time National League MVP Bryce Harper was a late scratch from the lineup prior to Wednesday night’s home game against the Giants due to right forearm soreness. The news came hours after the slumping Phillies learned second baseman Jean Segura would be sidelined for up to three months. Harper has been the team’s designated hitter after being diagnosed with a small UCL tear in his right elbow, which he hurt on a throw from right field in April. The 29-yearold had a platelet-rich plasma injection in his injured right elbow on May 15 and then missed the next five games to recover. He has been back in the lineup since, and was in manager Joe Girardi’s original lineup for the final contest of the three-game series against the Giants. Harper, who last played in the field on April 16, is batting .303 with 10 homers and 32 RBIs in 45 games. The Phillies entered Wednesday’s play having lost five in a row and 12 of 16. They’ll try to make up ground without Segura, one of their most reliable defensive players and consistent hitters, batting .275. He will have surgery as early as Friday and miss 10 to 12 weeks.

■ Mets: Tomás Nido went 4-for-4 with three RBIs at the bottom of the batting order, Carlos Carrasco combined with three relievers on a second consecutive shutout and the Mets beat the Nationals 5-0 to finish a perfect six-game homestand. Francisco Lindor extended his RBI streak to 10 games, matching Hall of Famer Mike Piazza for the second-longest in franchise history. The Mets (35-17) began the day with a 10 ½-game lead in the NL East, tied with the 1971 Giants for the largest in NL history entering June. Carrasco (6-1) matched his career high with five walks and pitched out of trouble all afternoon against the last-place Nats. He needed 95 pitches to get through five innings but stranded eight runners.

■ Astros: Justin Verlander took a no-hitter into the seventh, Yordan Álvarez cleared the bases with a go-ahead double in the ninth and the Astros beat the A’s 5-4 to complete a threegame sweep. Elvis Andrus broke up Verlander’s no-hit bid with an RBI double in the seventh that tied the game at 1. Christian Bethancourt followed with a two-run HR his first drive since 2016, to give the A’s a 3-1 lead. The visiting Astros responded with four runs in the ninth, keyed by Álvarez’s three-run double. Aledmys Díaz and Alex Bregman also drove in runs for the Astros, who won their fourth in a row. The 39-year-old Verlander came within seven outs of his fourth career no-hitter, which would have tied Sandy Koufax for secondmost in MLB history behind only Nolan Ryan’s seven. He also lost a no-hitter in the eighth against the Twins on May 10, a sign the two-time Cy Young Award winner is back in prime form following Tommy John surgery that sidelined him for all of the 2021 season. Verlander finished with six strikeouts in seven innings, allowing three earned runs on two hits for a no-decision.

■ Marlins: Rookie RHP Edward Cabrera took a no-hitter into the sixth and struck out nine in earning his first big league win, Jazz Chisholm Jr. homered and drove in four, and the Marlins had 21 hits in routing the host Rockies 14-1 in the first game of a doubleheader. The second game ended too late for this edition. Cabrera, a 24-yearold from the Dominican Republic, used a fastball topping out at 99 mph with a slider and changeup to baffle the Rockies’ lineup. He allowed one hit over six innings, overcoming four walks and two hit batters in the Marlins’ second win in seven games.