Lopez fans nine in row for record
MIAMI — Marlins righthander Pablo Lopez set a major league record by striking out the first nine batters to start a game, pitching Miami past the Atlanta Braves 7-4 Sunday.
A day after the Braves lost star outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. to a season-ending knee injury, their hitters had no answers for Lopez’s early dominance.
Lopez struck out Ehire Adrianza, Freddie Freeman and Ozzie Albies each swinging in the first inning. He then fanned Austin Riley, Orlando Arcia and Dansby Swanson also all swinging in the second inning.
In the third, Guillermo Heredia looked at strike three, Kevan Smith went down swinging, and Ian Anderson was called out on strikes.
The 25-year-old Lopez broke the mark of eight straight strikeouts to begin a game set by Jim Deshaies in 1986 and matched by Jacob degrom in 2014 and German Marquez in 2018.
Lopez (5-5) threw 30 of his first 35 pitches for strikes. The Venezuelan began the day with 102 strikeouts over 95 innings in 18 starts this season.
Adrianza became the first Atlanta hitter to put a ball in play when he grounded out on an 0-1 pitch to begin the fourth. Freeman doubled for the Braves’ first hit, setting up RBI singles by Albies and Arcia.
Lopez gave up three runs in six innings — after his sensational start, he didn’t strike out anyone in his final three innings.
BLUE JAYS 3, RAYS 1: Robbie Ray took a no-hitter into the seventh inning as visiting Toronto ended Tampa Bay’s six-game winning streak.
DODGERS 7, DIAMONDBACKS 4: Max Muncy slugged a three-run, walk-off homer in the ninth inning, rallying Los Angeles past visiting Arizona.
TWINS 12, TIGERS 9: Jorge Polanco hit a game-ending three-run homer in the 10th inning, and Minnesota completed a four-game sweep of visiting Detroit.
PIRATES 6, METS 5: Wilmer Difo’s tiebreaking single in the ninth inning capped Pittsburgh’s biggest comeback of the season, a rally from an early five-run deficit to win at New York.
PHILLIES 5, RED SOX 4: Ronald Torreyes hit a threerun homer as Philadelphia used six pitchers after losing its scheduled starter to COVID-19 to win at Boston.
WHITE SOX 7, ORIOLES 5: Adam Engel hit a threerun homer in the 10th inning as Chicago rolled into the All-star break with a season sweep of host Baltimore.
REDS 3, BREWERS 1: Nick Castellanos hit a tiebreaking two-run single off All-star closer Josh Hader with two outs in the ninth inning as Cincinnati won at Milwaukee.
ROCKIES 3, PADRES 1: Pinch-hitter Chris Owings hit a go-ahead home run in the seventh inning, and Colorado topped host San Diego, which lost another starting pitcher to injury. The Padres lost rookie lefthander Ryan Weathers to an apparent knee injury in the third inning.
GIANTS 3, NATIONALS 1: Kevin Gausman worked six-plus innings of one-run ball, and Curt Casali hit a three-run homer as host San Francisco completed a three-game sweep.
ANGELS 7, MARINERS 1: David Fletcher had four hits and four RBIS to extend his hitting streak to 24 games as Los Angeles won at Seattle.