Royals rout Astros, win seventh straight
Mets pound Braves; Orioles topple Red Sox
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Bobby Witt Jr. had four hits, including two home runs, and five RBIs and the Kansas City Royals used a nine-run first inning to defeat the Houston Astros 13-3 Thursday to complete a threegame sweep and extend their winning streak to seven games.
Vinnie Pasquantino, who came into Wednesday’s game hitting .108 with no RBIs, was 3-for-5 with three RBIs and now 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 they’ve played at least seven games on a homestand without a loss. The other two: seven games in 1988 and eight games in 1985, the year they won their first World Series.
Brady Singer (2-0) allowed one run and five hits in five innings.
Hunter Brown (0-2) got only two outs, but allowed nine runs and 11 hits. The Royals sent 15 men to the plate in the first inning, tying a club record with 11 hits in the inning (also set in 1986 and 2006).
It was the second straight game they’ve batted around in an inning, sending 11 men to the plate in a seven-run inning Wednesday night.
METS 16, BRAVES 4: In Atlanta, DJ Stewart hit a two-run homer in New York’s four-run third inning and pinch-hitter Tyrone Taylor hit a ninth-inning grand slam to cap the rout as the Mets beat the Braves.
Jose Quintana (1-1) gave up three runs in 5 1/3 innings. Jeff McNeil drove in three runs with two hits. New York set season highs for runs and with 16 hits.
Stewart’s homer, which gave the Mets a 7-0 lead, was his second of the series. The designated hitter had no
hits this season before hitting a tworun homer in the Mets’ 8-7 win in the series opener on Monday night.
Infielder Luis Guillorme gave up the grand slam to Taylor in his first appearance with the Braves
ATHLETICS 1, RANGERS 0: In Arlington, Texas, JP Sears carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and combined with three relievers on a one-hitter, Seth Brown homered to supply the game’s only run and Oakland beat 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 left-hander was was then pulled after throwing 88 pitches. He struck out five, including 2023 World Series MVP Corey Seager three times.
Adams and Luca Erceg didn’t allow hits in their relief stints and Mason Miller pitched a perfect ninth for his second save.
It was the second time this week that Texas was hitless until the sixth inning. Houston’s Ronel Blanco
threw 5 2/3 no-hit innings in the Astros’ 3-1 win on Sunday night.
PHILLIES 5, PIRATES 1: In Philadelphia, 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 Phillies beat Pittsburgh.
“The slug will come,” Marsh said. “With the lineup we have, it’s just a matter of time.”
Ranger Suárez (2-0) struck out eight over six shutout innings to help the Phillies win the opener of a season-high, 10-game homestand.
ORIOLES 9, RED SOX 4, 10 INNINGS: In Boston, Colton Cowser hit the first two homers of his career, including a three-run shot in the 10th inning, and Baltimore rallied past the Red Sox to complete a three-game sweep of their AL East rivals.
Gunnar Henderson opened the Orioles’ six-run 10th with a two-run homer against Isaiah Campbell (0-1), scoring automatic runner Jackson Holliday. Cowser drove in 10 runs in the series.