Mets hit 3 homers, Verlander earns first victory in nearly six weeks
NEW YORK » Justin Verlander pitched seven steady innings for his first victory in nearly six weeks and slumping rookie Francisco Álvarez hit the first of three quick homers that powered the New York Mets past the San Francisco Giants 4-1 on Saturday.
Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor launched back-to-back shots as the Mets went deep three times in a span of four batters against Anthony DeSclafani (4-8) in the third.
Verlander (3-4), 40, gave up five hits, struck out six and didn’t allow an earned run for his 248th victory and first since May 21 against Cleveland.
The only run the Giants scored came on Thairo Estrada’s double-play grounder in the seventh following a throwing error by first baseman Pete Alonso — his second in two days.
BRAVES 7, MARLINS 0 » Ronald Acuña and Ozzie Albies homered as part of a six-run first inning to lead Atlanta as Miami’s Luis Arraez, the major league batting leader, saw his average dip to .388.
Charlie Morton (8-6) struck out five in 5.2 innings and scattered four hits and one walk in winning his third consecutive start. Kirby Yates, Nick Anderson, Ben Heller, and Joe Jiménez completed the shutout for the Braves out of the bullpen.
Marlins rookie Eury Pérez (5-4) lasted just a third of an inning, giving up six runs and seven hits.
CARDINALS 11, YANKEES 4 » Paul Goldschmidt hit a go-ahead, three-run homer off Luis Severino in a fiverun third and Jack Flaherty pitched six shutout innings as St. Louis beat New York in the opener of a doubleheader that was stopped for a total of 2 hours, 37 minutes due to rain.
Goldschmidt had four RBIs and Nolan Gorman also homered for St. Louis, which reached double-digit runs for the first time since May 21.
Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson then made his big league mound debut and got three straight outs, throwing 11 pitches ranging from 82-86 mph.
PADRES 12, REDS 5 » Juan Soto hit a tiebreaking, threerun homer in the sixth inning, Manny Machado followed three pitches later with the first of his two home runs and San Diego stopped a six-game losing streak.
Soto had four RBIs and Machado and Fernando Tatis three each for the Padres, who have not lost seven in a row since Sept. 24 to Oct. 1, 2021.
Michael Wacha (8-2), pitching on his 32nd birthday, won his third straight decision. Wacha allowed one run and five hits in five innings in his first outing since June 19, after missing a turn because of shoulder discomfort.
Rafael Devers hit his 20th home run, Justin Turner homered and scored three times as Boston spoiled Canada Day celebrations in Toronto.
Right fielder Alex Verdugo threw out Bo Bichette at home plate for the final out of the game after Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit an RBI single off Red Sox closer Kenley
RED SOX 7, BLUE JAYS 6 »
Jansen. George Springer scored on the play, but Bichette was tagged out by catcher Connor Wong. Toronto’s challenge was unsuccessful.
TWINS 1, ORIOLES 0 » Bailey Ober allowed two hits over seven innings, Joey Gallo homered and Minnesota extended Baltimore’s losing streak to a season-high four games.
Ober (5-4) gave up a second-inning single to Gunnar Henderson, hit Ryan O’Hearn in the fourth and yielded a single to Anthony Santander in the seventh. Those were the only runners to reach base. as the right-hander struck out eight and did not allow a runner past first.
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Tyler Wade slid into home with the winning run after second baseman Elvis Andrus misplayed a 10th-inning grounder, giving Oakland a victory over Chicago.
With Wade on second as the automatic runner, former A’s pitcher Kendall Graveman (3-4) got the first two outs of the 10th. JJ Bleday hit a routine grounder to Andrus. The ball bounced off the second baseman’s glove, and he retrieved the ball and threw too late to first as Bleday slid
across the base. Wade kept on running and slid across the plate to beat the throw from first baseman Gavin Sheets. BREWERS 11, PIRATES 8 » Corbin Burnes carried a perfect game into the sixth inning, Christian Yelich hit his 10th home run and Milwaukee survived a late rally to end Pittsburgh’s four-game winning streak.
Burnes (6-5) retired the first 15 batters he faced before walking Jared Triolo leading off the sixth. A walk and a hit batter loaded the bases with two outs and Jack Suwinski ended Burnes’ shot at a no-hitter with a clean two-run single to right field.
McClanahan goes on IL
SEATTLE » Shane McClanahan was put on the 15-day injured list by the Tampa Bay Rays, a day after the 26-year-old left-hander came out of his second straight start due to midback tightness.
McClanahan, 11-1 with a 2.53 ERA, left a June 22 outing against Kansas City after 3.2 innings and Friday’s start against Seattle after three innings. His IL stint will run through the All-Star break.