Taillon shackles Rockies in 7-2 win
PITTSBURGH—Jameson Taillon pitched five scoreless innings in his return from treatments for testicular cancer and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Colorado Rockies 7-2 on Monday night.
Taillon (3-1) allowed five hits, walked two and struck out five. The 25-year-old had surgery May 8, four days after losing to the Reds at Cincinnati, then made three rehab starts in the minor leagues.
Josh Harrison hit a two-run home run, his eighth, in the first inning off Kyle Freeland (7-4). Harrison, David Freese and Jose Osuna each had two hits for the Pirates.
Freeland, a rookie, lost for the first time in seven road starts by giving up five runs (four earned) and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings. Freeland failed to pitch the past the sixth inning for just the second time in his last 10 starts and allowed a home run in a sixth consecutive outing.
METS 6, CUBS 1
NEW YORK—Jacob deGrom pitched a five-hitter, Asdrubal Cabrera atoned for an embarrassing error by lining two home runs and turning four double plays, and the Mets beat the Cubs.
DeGrom (5-3) threw the Mets’ first complete game of the season as New York won its fourth in a row.
Still under .500 but getting healthier, the Mets started a key two-week stretch where they face 14 straight games against teams that reached the NL playoffs last year.
The Cubs dropped to 31-32 with their ninth straight road loss—the World Series champions haven’t won away from Wrigley Field in a month during their worst road skid since 2012.
Mets star outfielder Yoenis Cespedes left the game because of a sore left heel. He went 1 for 3 before being pulled. On Saturday, Cespedes hit a grand slam at Atlanta in his return from a six-week stint on the disabled list. He had been out with a strained left hamstring, and also had been nagged by trouble with his quadriceps.
John Lackey (4-7) fell to 0-4 in five starts.
BRAVES 11, NATIONALS 10
WASHINGTON—Tyler Flowers hit a go-ahead three-run home run off Matt Albers in the ninth inning and the Braves came from three runs down to beat the Nationals 11-10 and snap a three-game skid.
Flowers had been hitless in his first four at-bats before he took Albers’ fastball to the opposite field and into the Nationals bullpen.
Matt Adams hit a pair of homers, including one of starter Stephen Strasburg. The Nationals’ ace gave up six runs and three homers. Adams’ second homer, a solo shot, was the first of five runs scored against a Nationals bullpen that blew its 11th save and second during a four-game losing streak.
Albers (2-1) allowed the final three runs in the ninth after entering to work out of an eighth-inning jam.
Atlanta’s bullpen allowed two runs over 5 and 2/3 innings. Jason Motte (1-0) pitched a scoreless eighth and Jim Johnson allowed a run but completed the ninth for his 13th save.