Bleday hits 2 HRS as A’s down Pirates
OAKLAND, Calif. — JJ Bleday hit a go-ahead home run with one out in the fifth and a two-run drive in the seventh for his first career multihomer game, leading the Oakland Athletics past the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-2. Mitch Spence (3-1) struck out two over three scoreless innings for the win in relief of starter Alex Wood. The lefthander is still winless over four starts in Oakland since joining the club as a free agent — and he is yet to pitch more than 5⅔ innings in his seven starts. Connor Joe homered in the first and singled in the fifth for the Pirates.
Tyler Nevin and Abraham Toro hit RBI singles in the second for the A’s after Shea Langeliers doubled to start the inning against Pirates righthander Mitch Keller (2-3).
The A’s, who have won three straight and five of six, drew an announced crowd of 3,876 and finished the month of April with a 13-14 record.
The Pirates lost for the eighth time in 11 games.
■ Brewers 8, Rays 2: At Milwaukee, Willy Adames hit a three-run homer in a game that included a nasty fight between the teams.
The fracas ensued after Jose Siri and Brewers reliever Abner Uribe exchanged heated words near first base in the eighth inning. Uribe threw a punch at Siri, who then took a wild swing at the pitcher as both dugouts and bullpens emptied.
■ Cardinals 2-6, Tigers 1-11: At Detroit, Wenceel Pérez hit homers from both sides of the plate for Detroit to split a doubleheader. In the first game, Jack Flaherty tied an American League record with seven straight strikeouts to start a game and struck out a career-high 14 before St. Louis rallied with a two-run ninth inning.
■ Mariners 3, Braves 2: At Seattle, Jorge Polanco’s two-run homer in the third backed Luis Castillo (3-4), who threw seven shutout innings. Seattle starting pitchers have allowed two earned runs or fewer in a franchise-record 18 consecutive games.
■ Marlins 7, Rockies 6: At Miami, Jordan Beck went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles for Colorado in his major league debut. The Rockies became the first team since 1900 to trail in each of its first 29 games.
■ Phillies 7, Angels 5: At Anaheim, Calif., Johan Rojas hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the ninth inning moments after Nick Castellanos’ tying shot. The Phillies trailed 5-3 with one out and nobody on base in the ninth.
■ Padres 6, Reds 4: At San Diego, Manny Machado hit a three-run double to back Yu Darvish (1-1), who pitched five shutout innings after returning from the injured list.
■ Rangers 7, Nationals 1: At Arlington, Texas, Josh Smith and Leody Taveras homered to back Jon Gray (1-1), who retired 22 of the last 23 batters he faced.
■ Twins 6, White Sox 5: At Chicago, Max Kepler hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the ninth inning as Minnesota won its ninth straight.
■ Royals 4, Blue Jays 1: At Toronto, Michael Massey hit a two-run home run to back Cole Ragans (2-2), who struck out nine.
■ Astros 10, Guardians 9: At Houston, pinchhitter Victor Caratini hit a two-run homer with two outs in the 10th inning.
■ Orioles 4, Yankees 2: At Baltimore, Adley Rutschman extended his hitting streak to a career-best 11 games.
■ Red Sox 4, Giants 0: At Boston, rookie Wilyer Abreu had a single, double and his first career triple.
■ Mets 4, Cubs 2: At New York, DJ Stewart hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the sixth inning.
PCL
■ Aces 10, Aviators 6: At Las Vegas Ballpark, Aaron Brooks (0-5) gave up 10 hits and seven earned runs in six innings to the Aces (13-14). Aviators shortstop Logan Davidson hit a homer, but it wasn’t enough to overcome an early deficit. Aces reliever Ian Clarkin (1-0) earned the win against the Aviators (12-15).