Rodon is almost perfect
Carlos Rodon threw the majors’ second no-hitter of the season Wednesday night, losing his bid for a perfect game on a hit batter in the ninth inning, and the Chicago White Sox cruised to an 8-0 victory over the Cleveland Indians.
Rodon threw 75 of his 114 pitches for strikes. The No. 3 pick in the 2014 amateur draft out of North Carolina State struck out seven in his first career shutout and second complete game.
Rodon was perfect before he plunked Roberto Perez on his back foot with an 0-2 slider with one out in the ninth.
The left-hander regained his composure in time to strike out Yu Chang looking and retire Jordan Luplow on a sharp grounder to third.
Blue Jays 5, Yankees 4 — Bo Bichette matched slugger Aaron Judge in the power department and got to take the final trot.
Bichette homered twice, including a game-ending drive leading off the ninth inning that lifted the Toronto Blue Jays over the New York Yankees.
Bichette drove a pitch from Chad Green (0-2) the opposite way to right-center field as Toronto took two of three.
Royals 6, Angels 1 — Salvador Pérez homered and doubled to cap off an impressive series, leading Brad Keller and the Kansas City Royals over the Los Angeles Angels.
A day after picking off David Fletcher at third base to end a 3-2 win, Pérez drove in two runs.
Rangers 5, Rays 1 — Nate Lowe hit a solo homer and Texas rookie Kohei Arihara got his first major league victory, pitching into the sixth inning as the Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Rays.
Arihara (1-1) allowed two singles and a double over 5 2/3 scoreless innings in his third start since signing with the Rangers after six seasons with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Japan’s Pacific League.
National League
Nationals 6, Cardinals 0 — Joe Ross pitched six sharp innings and the Washington Nationals threw their first regular-season shutout at Busch Stadium, blanking the St. Louis Cardinals.
Ross (1-0) improved to 3-0 in four career starts against the Cardinals. He allowed four hits, struck out five and walked one.
Brewers 7, Cubs 0 — Corbin Burnes struck out 10 in six dominant innings and also delivered a two-run single for his first career RBIs as the Brewers defeated the Cubs.
Burnes allowed just two hits to continue his sizzling start to the season.
Giants 3, Reds 0 — Johnny Cueto pitched neatly into the sixth inning before exiting with a tight lat muscle, and the Giants finished off Cincinnati.
Cueto (2-0) removed himself from the game after fanning Nick Castellanos for the second out in the sixth.
Pirates 5, Padres 1 — Gregory Polanco homered and the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the San Diego Padres, beating Joe Musgrove in his first start since throwing the first no-hitter in franchise history.