Rangers pitcher Colon flirts with perfect game in Texas win
Flores homers two outs to lift New York to a win over Milwaukee
WASHINGTON: Texas right-hander Bartolo Colon made a stunning bid for a perfect game Sunday night, and though his no-hitter and shutout disappeared in the eighth inning, the Rangers at least made sure Colon’s efforts didn’t happen in a losing cause. Robinson Chirinos scorched a two-run double in the top of the 10th inning, lifting Texas to a 3-1 win over the host Houston Astros. Colon’s attempt at history ended when he missed high with a 3-1 pitch to Carlos Correa for a walk to start the eighth inning, then ceded his first hit when Josh Reddick lashed a double into the right field corner. Yuli Gurriel cashed in Correa with a sacrifice fly to center, and Marwin Gonzalez lined out to center before Rangers manager Jeff Banister hooked Colon. The 44-year-old veteran’s final line was 7 2/3 innings, one hit, one run, a walk and seven strikeouts. Houston starter Justin Verlander was nearly as brilliant as Colon. He finished with 11 strikeouts in eight innings, permitting just one hit (a Chirinos homer), one run and one walk.
METS 3, BREWERS 2
Wilmer Flores homered with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift New York to a win over visiting Milwaukee. The Mets improved to 12-2 — their best start ever-and also have won five series to open a season for the first time. The Brewers are 8-8. Flores’ third career walk-off homer made a winner out of Jeurys Familia (1-0), who threw a hitless ninth. Matt Albers (2-1) served up the homer and took the loss. Brandon Nimmo missed the cycle by a double and scored the Mets’ first two runs. Nimmo led off with a single in the first and eventually scored on Todd Frazier’s single before he homered leading off the sixth.
RED SOX 3, ORIOLES 1
Andrew Benintendi collected three hits, including the game-tying triple in the bottom of the fifth inning, as host Boston continued the best start in team history with a win over Baltimore to improve to 13-2. Benintendi fell a homer shy of the cycle and recorded his first three-hit game of the season. He reached base for the 11th straight game and reached base more than once for the ninth time in that span. J.D. Martinez scored the tiebreaking run on a wild pitch, Mitch Moreland also had three hits and Tzu-Wei Lin added insurance with a double. Dylan Bundy (0-2) allowed three runs-one earned-on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings as Baltimore lost for the fifth time in six games. Manny Machado doubled in Baltimore’s lone run in the first inning but the Orioles struck out 14 times.
ROCKIES 6, NATIONALS 5
Ian Desmond hit a solo homer with two outs in the top of the ninth to give visiting Colorado a victory over Washington. Desmond lifted his shot to center on a 3-2 pitch from Sean Doolittle (0-1), handing the Rockies their third victory in the four-game series against his former team. Adam Ottavino (3-0) earned the victory despite allowing a game-tying run on a wild pitch in the eighth. Bryce Harper hit his seventh homer of the season in the first inning and gave Washington a 1-0 lead. Anthony Rendon (sore big toe) was out of the Washington lineup for the second consecutive game. He is still considered day-to-day.
DODGERS 7, DIAMONDBACKS 2
Clayton Kershaw struck out 12 batters over seven innings and the Los Angeles offense came to life and ended their 11-game regular-season losing streak to visiting Arizona. Kershaw (1-2) picked up his first victory in four starts, while the offense finally gave him more than two runs of support in a game. It was the left-hander’s 59th career game with at least 10 strikeouts. The Dodgers’ offense worked six walks against Diamondbacks starter Zack Godley, with two of those six runners coming around to score. Another walk to Chase Utley forced home a run in the third inning. Godley (2-1), who entered as the National League’s ERA leader, gave up five runs (four earned) on five hits in just four innings. The right-hander’s ERA rose to 3.00 after he came into the game with a 0.64 mark.
Kershaw struck out 12 batters
PADRES 10, GIANTS 1
San Diego left-hander Joey Lucchesi outpitched fellow rookie starter Tyler Beede, and Christian Villanueva and Jose Pirela drove in three runs apiece as the Padres hammered host San Francisco. Lucchesi (2-0) held the Giants to one run on five hits with a career-high nine strikeouts over six innings. The 24-year-old has a 1.66 earned run average in four major league starts and has allowed only two unearned runs on 10 hits and four walks with 24 strikeouts over 17 innings in his past three starts. Villanueva put the Padres ahead with a two-run double in the third off Beede and then hit a solo homer-the third baseman’s fifth of the season- leading off the fifth against Giants left-handed reliever Josh Osich. Pirela was 3-for-5 with a double and a triple for three RBIs and three runs scored. He also stole a base.
A’S 2, MARINERS 1
Oakland second baseman Jed Lowrie hit a two-run homer as the third batter of the game and left-hander Sean Manaea pitched seven strong innings as the A’s avoided a three-game series sweep at Seattle. Lowrie hit a 3-0 pitch off Felix Hernandez for his fourth homer of the season after Marcus Semien singled with one out in the first inning for a quick 2-0 lead. Manaea and two relievers made it stand up for the A’s, who had lost four of five. Manaea (2-2) gave up two hits, one a basesempty homer by Taylor Motter, in seven innings while dropping his ERA to 1.63. He struck out four, walked two and retired the final eight he faced after Motter’s homer in the fifth inning before leaving for Ryan Buchter and Blake Treinen.
CARDINALS 3, REDS 2
Carlos Martinez fired seven shutout innings Sunday while Harrison Bader supplied a two-run homer as visiting St. Louis polished off a four-game sweep of reeling Cincinnati. Martinez (2-1) permitted two hits and four walks, but fanned 11 in his third straight quality start. Two relievers collected the final six outs, with Bud Norris working the ninth for his third save despite a leadoff homer by Adam Duvall. The Cardinals upped their record to 9-7 with their series sweep, while the Reds suffered their eighth straight loss and dropped to an MLB-worst 2-13. The Reds got the potential winning runs on base in the ninth when Tucker Barnhart bunted for a hit and Devin Mesoraco was hit by a pitch. But Norris induced a game-ending lineout from Billy Hamilton.
PHILLIES 10, RAYS 4
Philadelphia second baseman Scott Kingery had two hits and three RBIs and Aaron Altherr hit a three-run homer in a five-run eighth inning as the Phillies completed a three-game series sweep over host Tampa Bay. Maikel Franco had a two-run single in the big eighth inning and Rhys Hoskins had an RBI single and scored twice for the Phillies, who have won six in a row and eight of their last nine. Kingery, who signed a six-year, $24 million contract extension on March 25, leads major league rookies with seven doubles, nine extra-base hits and 12 RBIs. He has five doubles, two homers and all 12 RBIs in the last eight games. Denard Span had two hits, including his first homer, and two RBIs and Jesus Sucre had two hits and an RBI for the Rays, off to the worst start in franchise history at 3-12. They have lost six straight at home.
PIRATES 7, MARLINS 3
Starling Marte had a home run among his career-best five hits, and Josh Bell drove in three runs, as visiting Pittsburgh cruised past Miami as Ivan Nova delivered a solid outing. Nova (2-1) gave up three runs over 6 2/3 innings with nine strikeouts and no walks, improving to 3-0 in three career starts against the Marlins. His day ended after giving up a two-run, pinch-hit home run to Miami’s Justin Bour in the seventh inning. Corey Dickerson added two hits to extend his hitting streak to 10 games, as the National League Central Division-leading Pirates improved to 11-4 overall and 4-2 on their justcompleted road trip to Chicago and Miami. — Reuters