Pitcher Lester joins hit parade in rout
Jon Lester pitched seven scoreless innings and homered, Juan Soto went deep twice and the host Washington Nationals routed the Miami Marlins 181 on Monday.
Lester (34) hit his fourth career homer, off David Hess in the fifth, and singled for his fourth career multihit game.
“He fell behind, and I was trying to hit a heater,” Lester said. “I was guessing. I don’t know how other pitchers hit, but I’m probably the idiot that guesses along like I would pitch guys.”
Soto went 3for4 with five RBIs and three runs. He’s 10for17 with five homers and 11 RBIs since the break. Trea Turner homered and tripled and drove in four runs.
Miguel Rojas had a home run among his three hits for Miami.
Ross Detwiler (11), starting a bullpen game for Miami, was lifted with no outs in the second after allowing eight runs on seven hits, four of them home runs.
Mets 15, Reds 11: Jeff McNeil hit a tie-breaking single in the 11th inning, Kevin Pillar added a three-run homer and visiting New York went deep seven times. Michael Conforto connected twice, including a solo shot that capped a fiverun outburst in the 11th as the Mets handed Cincinnati its fourth straight loss.
Twins, White Sox split: Rookie Gavin Sheets hit a game-ending three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh, giving Chicago a 5-3 win over Minnesota in a doubleheader nightcap. The White Sox have won eight of 10. In the first game, Nelson Cruz hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth after tying it with a solo homer in the sixth as the Twins won 3-2. Red Sox 13, Blue Jays 4: In Buffalo, N.Y., Hunter Renfroe hit a grand slam, Kiké Hernandez drove in three runs with two homers and Boston beat Toronto. Jarren Duran hit his first major-league homer, Danny Santana and Rafael Devers went yard, and J.D. Martinez had four hits for the Red Sox.
Tigers 14, Rangers 0: Miguel Cabrera had five RBIs, three on a bases-loaded double in a four-run fifth inning, and host Detroit routed Texas.
Astros 4, Indians 3: Yordan Alvarez snapped an 0-for-22 slump with a two-run home run for host Houston. Cardinals 8, Cubs 3: Dylan Carlson homered and drove in four runs, and Jake Woodford pitched 52⁄3 strong innings for host St. Louis.
Orioles 6, Rays 1: Spenser Watkins struck out seven in six innings to lead Baltimore past host Tampa Bay. Padres-Braves, postponed: The game in Atlanta was postponed because of rain and will be made up as part of a doubleheader Wednesday. Briefly: Mets manager Luis Rojas was suspended for two games and fined for excessive arguing with umpires. His outburst came after Mets pitcher Taijuan Walker flicked a ball into foul territory, costing three runs Sunday. The umpire correctly ruled the ball was fair. ... The Marlins put infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. and utility man Garrett Cooper on the 10-day injured list.