Benches clear in Milwaukee’s rout of Baltimore

INTERLEAGUE

BREWERS 11, ORIOLES 1

BALTIMORE — Freddy Peralta struck out 11 in six outstanding innings, and the Milwaukee Brewers hit three home runs in an 11-1 rout of the Baltimore Orioles that included a bench-clearing incident in the sixth inning Friday night.

Gary Sanchez, Willy Adames and William Contreras went deep for the National League-leading Brewers (9-3), who have scored 47 runs in their last five games. They scored three runs each in the second, fifth and sixth innings to take the series opener.

“It was amazing,” Adames said. “They had a really good approach today at the plate and put up a lot of good at-bats, and the results were there when we needed it.”

Intrigue built for the matchup when Milwaukee traded ace Corbin Burnes to the Orioles for left-hander DL Hall and infielder Joey Oritz just before spring training. Hall pitches today and Burnes takes the mound Sunday.

Ortiz had his first big league three-hit game Friday. That included an RBI triple in the second — shortly after Sanchez opened the scoring with a two-run home run — and a run-scoring single in the ninth.

The other big draw of this series was the “Jackson vs. Jackson” match- up of two top prospects. That didn’t amount to much in Friday’s opener. Baltimore’s Jackson Holliday, the game’s top-ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline, struck out in all three of his plate appearances. Milwaukee’s Jackson Chourio, ranked No. 2, went 0 for 6 with three strikeouts of his own.

Holliday was making his home debut for the Orioles, with a crowd of 32,205 on hand. Fans gave him a standing ovation before each atbat — and many remained standing while he was at the plate — but the infielder is struggling at the start of his career. He’s 0 for 11 with seven strikeouts in three games.

Benches and bullpens cleared — although no real fighting took place — after Orioles catcher James McCann (Arkansas Razorbacks) came face to face with Adames as he came to bat in the sixth. It wasn’t clear what the dispute was about, and the main participants didn’t give much info afterward.

“Some stuff happened in the game and some people misunderstand,” Adames said. “And that’s what hap- pens I guess.”

McCann was every bit as vague. “Something happened on the field. We took care of it,” McCann said.

“It wasn’t between me and Adames,” McCann also said. “Something else was going on.”

Peralta (2-0) allowed five hits, including Colton Cowser’s home run in the fourth. He did not walk a batter.

Tyler Wells (0-2) yielded four runs and six hits in four innings. RAYS 2, GIANTS 1 Jacob Waguespack and five relievers combined on a six-hitter and Tampa Bay beat San Francisco. Waguespack gave up 1 run and 4 hits over 4 innings in his first start since Sept. 25, 2019, and fourth appearance this season. Garrett Cleavinger (2-0) followed with 1 2/3 scoreless innings.

ROCKIES 12, BLUE JAYS 4 Ryan Feltner (1-1) pitched five innings for his first win of the season and Colorado had 20 hits in a rout of Toronto. Ryan McMahon had four of those hits for the Rockies, who won north of the border for the first time after nine consecutive defeats in Canada. The Rockies hadn’t reached 20 hits since 2022 and not since 2013 in a road game.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

BRAVES 8, MARLINS 1 Max Fried pitched six solid innings and Marcell Ozuna homered to lead Atlanta to a win over Miami in their series opener. Fried (1-0) entered with an 18.00 ERA after a pair of rough starts to open the season, but limited the Marlins to four hits while striking out four and walking one. The 30-year old lefthander was replaced by Pierce Johnson after giving up back-to-back hits in the seventh.

PIRATES 5, PHILLIES 2 Bailey Falter (1-0) allowed one run over five innings to beat his former team, leading Pittsburgh over Philadelphia as Phillies star Bryce Harper broke out of an 0-for-18 slide with two hits. David Bednar pitched a perfect ninth for his second save in five chances.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

ANGELS 7, RED SOX 0 Reid Detmers (3-0) allowed three hits over 6 1/3 innings with seven strikeouts and Taylor Ward matched a season high with three RBI to lead Los Angeles over Boston. The Angels sent seven batters to the plate in the first inning, scoring three runs (one earned) against Boston right-hander Tanner Houck (2-1). RANGERS 12, ASTROS 8 Jonah Heim homered and drove in four runs, and Texas beat Houston to drop the Astros seven games under .500 for the first time in eight years. Evan Carter added three hits as the Rangers built a 12-3 lead by the sixth inning. Houston fell to 4-11.

TIGERS 8, TWINS 2 Mark Canha hit a home run in first inning, Tarik Skubal pitched five scoreless innings and Detroit went on to beat Minnesota.