AROUND THE HORN

■ Astros: Yuli Gurriel went 3-for-4 with a homer, Justin Verlander pitched five scoreless innings and the Astros beat the Nationals 8-0 on Sunday in Washington. Jose Altuve, Martin Maldonado and Chas McCormick also homered for the Astros. Gurriel finished the series 8-for-12 with two homers and four RBIs. “I’m not surprised,” manager Dusty Baker said of Gurriel, who has raised his average to .248 during a five-game hitting streak. “Water seeks its own level. I wasn’t worried about Yuli. He was probably more worried about himself than I was worried about him. Yuli’s going to hit.” A day after allowing 13 runs as the Astros’ 11-game winning streak ended, Astros pitchers returned to form, tossing their fourth shutout in seven games, a four-hitter kicked off by Verlander. After taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning in his last start, Verlander (5-1) didn’t allow a hit Sunday until surrendering back-to-back singles with one out in the fifth and his team up 2-0. Baker opted to leave him in, and Verlander retired César Hernández on a popup before getting Juan Soto to ground out with his 107th pitch. “He did a great job. He battled,” Baker said. “Specifically in the fifth. He had some tough hitters up there. Boy, that was the turning point in the game. Put us in a position to come back in, take a breather and score some more.” The 39-yearold Verlander struck out five and walked three in his in his seventh start since returning from Tommy John surgery. The right-hander was making his first start of the season on four days’ rest and threw his most pitches since his no-hitter in September of 2019. “You kind of go do something new and see how you respond, see how the elbow responds,” Verlander said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets a little sore, just the first time being really stressed like that.”

■ Padres: Ha-Seong Kim had a run-scoring double to give his team the lead in a four-run 11th inning and the Padres beat the host Braves 7-3 to win the three-game series. Kim’s double to left field off Jackson Stephens (0-1) drove in Jake Cronenworth, who opened the inning as the automatic runner on second. Kim moved to third on a throwing error by SS Dansby Swanson and scored on Jurickson Profar’s grounder to second, beating Ozzie Albies’ throw to the plate. Will Myers added a two-run single in the victory. Padres acting manager Ryan Christenson said he shared a postgame text with manager Bob Melvin, who’s recovering from prostate surgery, to brag about the team’s resiliency in rallying from an early 3-0 deficit. The Braves committed three errors, leading to four unearned runs. Nabil Crismatt (2-0) had four strikeouts in two scoreless innings. The Padres won two of three games in the series.

■ Mets: RHP Tylor Megill was placed on the 15-day IL because of right biceps tendinitis, four days after he allowed eight runs over 1 ⅓ innings during a loss to the Nationals. The Mets said the 26-year-old had an MRI and will take a few days off from throwing, then be reassessed later this week. Megill is 4-2 with a 4.41 ERA in seven starts, striking out 37 and walking nine in 34 ⅔ innings. The AL Eastleading Mets already were missing ace Jacob deGrom (right scapula), catcher James McCann (broken left hamate bone) and relievers Sean Reid-Foley (Tommy John surgery) and Trevor May (right triceps inflammation).