Walker leads Mets over sloppy Nats

Taijuan Walker stood astride Juan Soto after tagging him out during a collision at third base that the Washington Nationals slugger felt was more violent than it needed to be.

Walker and the New York Mets are punishing the NL East.

Walker pitched seven innings of no-fuss, scoreless ball, and the Mets remained unbeaten in 10 series this season, cruising past the sloppy Nationals 4-1 on Thursday.

The burly right-hander tagged Soto at third after the Nationals’ best hitter made an elementary baserunning gaffe, getting himself into a rundown after Josh Bell hit a grounder to the left side. Soto slid into Walker’s forearm a few feet in front of the bag and argued for an obstruction call, but Walker already had the ball when Soto got there.

Mark Canha went 3 for 4 with a homer and three RBIs for the first-place Mets, who took two of three from the last-place Nationals. New York has won nine series and split one, and hasn’t lost two straight games in a month.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Astros 11-5, Twins 3-0: Luis Garcia and three relievers combined on a seven-hitter, Yordan Alvarez homered twice and Jeremy Pena capped a big day with three hits as Houston extended its winning streak to 10 games and completed a three-game sweep at Minnesota. Before the regularly scheduled game, the teams completed a game suspended after three innings on Wednesday night due to severe weather.

Athletics 5, Tigers 3: Seth Brown hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the eighth off Michael Fulmer following Jed Lowrie’s walk, sending host Detroit to its ninth loss in 10 games.

INTERLEAGUE

Orioles 3, Cardinals 2: Rylan Bannon became just the third Baltimore player since 2000 to get a hit on the first pitch of his big league career, Jorge Mateo and Anthony Bemboom homered off Steven Matz (3-3) as the Orioles won at St. Louis.

ELSEWHERE

Padres: San Diego is talking with Robinson Cano, the eight-time AllStar second baseman who was designated for assignment by the Mets last week and released over the weekend to serve as a left-handed option off the bench.