Sears, three A’s relievers unite to one-hit Rangers
JP Sears carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and combined with three relievers on a one-hitter, Seth Brown homered, and the Athletics beat the Rangers, 1-0, Thursday at Arlington, Texas.
Sears (1-1) allowed leadoff walks in the first, second, and fifth innings before Adolis García ended the no-hit bid by lining a one-out single to left field in the seventh on an 0-2 sweeper. The 28-year-old lefthander was then pulled after throwing 88 pitches. He struck out five, including 2023 World Series MVP Corey Seager three times.
Sears said he realized he had a nohitter in the fourth or fifth inning.
After García’s single, Austin Adams hit Jonah Heim with a pitch. Jared Walsh then hit a blooper. Second baseman Zack Gelof slid to make the catch, but dropped the ball. Adams picked up the ball and threw to third for the second out. Abraham Toro then threw to second, forcing Heim and completing a bizarre inning-ending double play.
Adams and Lucas Erceg didn’t allow any hits, and Mason Miller pitched a perfect ninth for the save.
The Rangers’ Jon Gray (0-1) gave up two singles plus Brown’s homer and walked one with nine strikeouts.
A’s rookie catcher Kyle McCann singled in the third for his first hit.
Witt propels Royals
Bobby Witt Jr. had four hits, including two home runs, and five RBIs and the Royals used a nine-run first inning to defeat the visiting Astros, 13-3, to complete a three-game sweep and extend their winning streak to seven.
Vinnie Pasquantino, who went into Wednesday’s game hitting .108 with no RBIs, was 3 for 5 with three RBIs and is hitting .222 with eight RBIs.
The Royals completed a perfect seven-game homestand against the White Sox and Astros. It’s just the third time in franchise history Kansas City has played at least seven games on a homestand without a loss.
Brady Singer (2-0) allowed one run and five hits in five innings.
Hunter Brown (0-2), who got two outs, allowed nine runs and 11 hits.
The Royals sent 15 men to the plate in the first, tying a club record with 11 hits in the inning.
Homers aid Mets in rout
DJ Stewart hit a two-run homer in New York’s four-run third inning and pinch hitter Tyrone Taylor hit a ninthinning grand slam to cap things as the Mets beat the Braves, 16-4, in Atlanta.
Jose Quintana (1-1) gave up three runs in 5‚ innings. Jeff McNeil drove in three with two hits as New York set season highs for runs and hits (16).
Quintana did not allow a hit until Matt Olson lined a triple off the rightfield wall with two out in the fourth.
Righthander Allan Winans (0-1) allowed seven runs, six earned, in five innings.
Mets lefthander Tyler Jay, the sixth overall pick in the 2015 draft who was making his major league debut, gave up a run in the eighth on Adam Duvall’s infield single.
Phillies power way to win
Brandon Marsh and Bryson Stott hit two-run homers and Alec Bohm added a solo shot to prove manager Rob Thomson prophetic that his slumping homer-happy team would start going deep as the host Phillies beat the Pirates, 5-1.
Ranger Suárez (2-0) struck out eight over six shutout innings to help the Phillies win the opener of a seasonhigh, 10-game homestand.
Bohm — who had no homers this season after hitting 20 last season — socked his first off Jared Jones for the 1-0 lead. It was the Phillies’ first extrabase hit in 91 plate appearances.