Kershaw back on injured list
The Los Angeles Dodgers placed lefthander Clayton Kershaw on the injured list, one day after he left a start with lower back pain.
The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner was warming up before the fifth inning of a victory over San Francisco on Thursday when he winced and pointed to the Dodgers’ dugout. He later walked off the field with a trainer.
Kershaw, a nine-time All-Star, is 7-3 with a 2.64 ERA and 88 strikeouts in 85‚ innings. The 34-yearold was previously on the injured list this season with inflammation in a pelvic joint.
Also Friday, the Dodgers activated utilityman Chris Taylor, who had missed a month with a fractured left foot. He’s batting .238 with six homers and 27 RBIs in 74 games.
DeJong lifts Cardinals
Paul DeJong hit a two-run double with two outs in the eighth inning, lifting the Cardinals over the Yankees, 4-3, in Matt Carpenter’s return to St. Louis.
Carpenter drew a standing ovation in his first visit back to the city where he played 11 seasons, then had two hits. Aaron Judge and Josh Donaldson also had two hits, and Donaldson drove in two while New York built a 3-2 lead.
The Cardinals erased that in the eighth. Nolan Arenado hit a oneout single, and Tyler O’Nell worked a two-out walk on a full count.
DeJong, playing his sixth game since being recalled from Triple A, doubled to right against All-Star Clay Holmes (5-3) to score both runners. Andre Pallente (5-4) threw four scoreless innings.
Rays set walk record
Brandon Lowe hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the eighth inning for the Rays, who walked a franchise-record 13 times while rallying to beat the Tigers, 5-3, in Detroit. The Rays had walked 12 times in an 11-inning win over the Marlins on June 19, 2010.
Three of the walks came in Tampa Bay’s three-run eighth. The Rays trailed 3-0 after two innings before coming back to win their third-straight game.
The Tigers led 3-2 going into the eighth before Joe Jimenez (3-1) walked the first two batters —Tampa Bay’s 11th and 12th walks — and Lowe followed with a two-run double.
Mancini strikes twice
Trey Mancini hit two home runs, including his first career grand slam, and drove in five runs, leading the Astros over the Guardians, 9-3, in Cleveland after manager Dusty Baker tested positive for COVID-19 prior to the game.
Mancini, acquired from Baltimore on Monday to bolster Houston’s already dynamic lineup, hit a solo homer in the second and capped the Astros’ five-run third with a blast that cleared the 19foot wall in left field. He has homered three times in four games with Houston.
Houston has won seven straight at Progressive Field and has outscored Cleveland in the first two games of this series, 15-3.
Kremer wins duel
Dean Kremer pitched impressively into the seventh inning and Félix Bautista held on through a dicey ninth to lift the Orioles to a 1-0 home win over the Pirates.
Ramón Urias singled home the game’s only run in the sixth after the Orioles squandered several chances earlier in the game.
Kremer (4-3) allowed four hits and struck out two. He escaped a first-and-third, one-out jam in the second when Cal Mitchell bounced into a double play. Then Kremer didn’t allow a baserunner for the next four innings.
Cincinnati’s Greene out
Cincinnati’s depleted pitching staff took another hit when rookie Hunter Greene was placed on the 15-day injured list with a strained right shoulder. The righty, who turns 23 on Saturday, seemed to be turning the corner in his young career over the last month, posting a 2.70 ERA his last four starts with 29 strikeouts and eight walks over 23 innings . . . Star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. will begin a Double A rehab assignment either Saturday or Sunday, San Diego manager Bob Melvin said. Tatis took batting practice with the Padres at Dodger Stadium on Friday afternoon and then left for Texas. Tatis has been sidelined since having surgery in mid-March on his fractured left wrist. Tatis will play shortstop, center field, and spend time as the designated hitter . . . Willson Contreras hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning, Justin Steele matched a career high with 10 strikeouts, and the Cubs beat the Marlins, 2-1, in Chicago. Contreras and Ian Happ got warm receptions in their first home game since Tuesday’s trade deadline passed with neither All-Star getting dealt . . . Colorado claimed Dinelson Lamet off waivers. Lamet was part of the package Milwaukee received Monday in the trade that sent fourtime All-Star closer Josh Hader to the Padres. The Brewers designated Lamet for assignment.