Mets’ DeGrom returns, lowers ERA vs. Braves
Jacob deGrom pitched one-hit ball over five scoreless innings as the Mets beat the Atlanta Braves 4-2 Monday in a doubleheader opener.
Ian Anderson (5-3) allowed three hits in 5 1/3 innings as the Braves won the nightcap 1-0 and he became the first native New Yorker to beat the Mets and Yankees in New York in the same season.
DeGrom (7-2) didn’t allow a hit in the seven-inning opener until Mets outfielders misplayed a fifthinning fly ball into a ground-rule double.
Jeff McNeil came off the injured list and singled as a pinch-hitter for deGrom during the fifth, then scored on Dominic Smith’s threerun double.
Seth Lugo and Edwin Díaz finished the two-hitter, with Díaz getting his 15th save.
Kyle Muller (0-1) pitched one-hit ball over four innings in his first big league start.
DeGrom was cleared to start the opener after dealing with right shoulder soreness. DeGrom was pulled after three innings Wednesday against the Chicago Cubs with the discomfort in his right shoulder. An MRI showed no damage to deGrom’s shoulder. DeGrom threw a bullpen Saturday and felt good, setting up the two-time NL Cy Young Award winner to pitch on his normal four days of rest.
In the second game, Ronald Acuña Jr. hit his 20th homer. Braves closer Will Smith loaded the bases in the seventh but escaped for his 14th save.
ASTROS 10, ORIOLES 2 >> Jake Odorizzi and the Houston bullpen took a bid for a combined no-hitter into the eighth inning, eventually settling for a victory over the Baltimore Orioles that marked the Astros’ eighth straight win.
Maikel Franco hit a two-run homer with one out in the eighth off Brandon Bielak, breaking up the no-hitter. Odorizzi and reliever Cristian Javier held the Orioles without a hit through seven.
The start of the game was delayed by rain for an hour, and there was also a 41-minute rain delay during the top of the eighth.
Bielak came on to pitch the bottom of the eighth for Houston. After he hit Austin Hays in the back of the helmet with a breaking ball Franco sent a drive to deep center field.
Stevie Wilkerson followed with a single up the middle, and the Orioles finished with two hits.
Houston was looking to pitch the seventh no-hitter in the majors this season. That would have matched 1990, 1991, 2012 and 2015 for the most since 1900, one shy of the record eight in 1884 — the first season overhand pitching was allowed. RANGERS 8, ATHLETICS 3 >> Andy Ibañez and Jose Trevino hit threerun homers, Kyle Gibson (5-0) allowed two runs and five over 5 1/3 innings and Texas ended a sixgame losing streak.
A’s shortstop Elvis Andrus went 0 for 4 is his return to Texas, which traded him to Oakland just before spring training.
Ibañez hit his first major league homer as part of a five-run first against Frankie Montas (7-7). Trevino went deep in the sixth for an 8-2 lead.
INDIANS 4, CUBS 0 >> Bobby Bradley and Josh Naylor homered, helping the Cleveland Indians overcome the loss of Aaron Civale, who exited with two outs in the fifth because of a right middle finger injury. The right-hander leads the major leagues with 10 wins.
Bryan Shaw (2-2) got four outs as Cleveland moved within two games of the idle White Sox for the top spot in the AL Central.
Chicago lost for the sixth time in eight games. DIAMONDBACKS 5, BREWERS 1 Merrill Kelly pitched seven effective innings, Ketel Marte had two hits and the Arizona Diamondbacks snapped a 17-game losing streak by beating the Milwaukee Brewers 5-1. The win was a long time coming for Arizona, which has plunged to the bottom of the standings in the NL West and has the worst record in the majors at 21-53. It was the first win for the Diamondbacks since they beat the Mets 6-5 in 10 innings on June.
The 17-game skid was two shy of the longest during the wildcard era, by the Kansas City Royals in 2005.