Wet weather results in 6 postponements
White Sox extend slide of Red Sox
All-Star aces Max Scherzer, Shane Bieber and Gerrit Cole all got early showers Friday.
So did many other players after six games were rained out, the most Major League Baseball postponements in a day because of inclement weather since 2018.
Wrigley Field, Yankee Stadium and Camden Yards were among the ballparks where games were wiped out. And there’s no guarantee the rain will go away this weekend, either.
The last time there were a half-dozen games called off because of weather was April 15, 2018, when snow, sleet, wind and rain conspired to close ballparks. Those were the most since Sept. 12, 2008, when there also were six — Hurricane Ike battering the Gulf Coast contributed to those postponements.
Heavy rain in the East Coast and out in Ohio and Illinois dampened this weekend’s schedule.
The rainouts: Kansas City at Baltimore, Texas at the New York Yankees, Toronto at Cleveland, Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicago Cubs, New York Mets at Philadelphia and Pittsburgh at Cincinnati.
Teams playing division rivals pushed back makeup dates until late this summer, with the Pirates and Reds rescheduling for July and the Mets and Phillies until August.
Bieber and the Guardians will try to host Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Blue Jays in a traditional doubleheader Saturday. Cleveland has had four home games called off by inclement weather this season and this will be its third doubleheader at Progressive Field.
Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw is expected to pitch Saturday in a split doubleheader against the Cubs. It’s supposed to be clear but cool at Wrigley for those games.
The Royals-Orioles and Rangers-Yankees games are scheduled to be made up as part of doubleheaders Sunday. But it’s still shaky on whether those two series will be played to completion — rain is in the forecast Saturday in Baltimore and New York
WHITE SOX 4, RED SOX 2: In Boston, Luis Robert hit a tworun homer over the Green Monster and Vince Velasquez halted a rough road stretch by pitching five solid innings to lead Chicago past struggling Boston for its fourth straight victory.
Tim Anderson had three singles, and Reese McGuire and José Abreu each contributed a sacrifice fly for the defending AL Central champions (12-13), who moved a step closer to .500 after an eight-game losing streak last month.
Jackie Bradley Jr. had an RBI double for Boston (10-17), which has lost 12 of 16.
Velasquez (2-2) held Boston’s slumbering offense to three hits and a run. Liam Hendricks struck out three in the ninth for his eighth save.
BREWERS 6, BRAVES 3: In Atlanta, Eric Lauer allowed one earned run, Christian Yelich’s infield single was the big hit in a four-run sixth inning and four Milwaukee pitches combined for a three-hitter in a win over Atlanta.
The NL Central-leading Brewers have won four straight and nine of 10.
Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr. opened the fourth with a 450foot homer to center field — his first since returning from knee surgery. Dansby Swanson added an eighth-inning homer for Atlanta.
Lauer (3-0) gave up two runs, one earned, on two hits and three walks with eight strikeouts in 6⅓ innings. Josh Hader pitched the ninth for his 11th save.
TWINS 2, ATHLETICS 1: In Minneapolis, Byron Buxton hit his ninth home run of the season and Jose Miranda connected for the first homer of his career, backing another sharp start by rookie Josh Winder and sending Minnesota over Oakland.
Twins reliever Emilio Pagán escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the ninth inning and sent the A’s to their seventh straight loss.
Making just his second major league start, Winder (2-0) allowed three hits and one unearned run in six innings while striking out eight and walking none.
ASTROS 3, TIGERS 2: In Houston, Chas McCormick and Martín Maldonado hit consecutive homers and Luis Garcia worked seven strong innings as Houston stretched its winning streak to a season-high five games with a victory over Detroit.
McCormick’s two-run homer to center in the second inning put the Astros up 2-1. Maldonado followed with a solo shot that just cleared the wall in right field.
Garcia (2-1) had his best outing of the season, allowing two runs, one earned, on two hits. He struck out nine, matching his career high. Rafael Montero retired the three batters he faced in the ninth for his third save.
ANGELS 3, NATIONALS 0: In Anaheim, Calif., Mike Trout hit a two-run double and Jhonathan Díaz pitched five strong innings in his first start of the season, leading Los Angeles past Washington.
Shohei Ohtani also drove in a run for the Angels in their third straight victory and 10th in 13 games. Four relievers combined to finish the Angels’ fifth shutout of the season and second in a row.
The Nationals managed four hits while getting shut out for the second time this season. They’ve lost three straight and 12 of 15.
DIAMONDBACKS 4, ROCKIES 1: In Phoenix, Merrill Kelly came within one out of his first complete game, Daulton Varsho and David Peralta hit home runs in the eighth inning and Arizona beat Colorado for its fourth straight win.
It was tied at 1 in the eighth when Varsho hit a high 98 mph fastball from Carlos Estévez over the right-field wall. Two batters later, Peralta added a two-run drive that pushed the D-backs ahead 4-1.
Kelly (3-1) needed 106 pitches to navigate his 8⅔ innings, giving up one run on seven hits and two walks while striking out eight.