CHICAGO (AP) — Ian Happ had two doubles and an RBI, Seiya Suzuki also doubled twice and the Chicago Cubs blanked the slumping Philadelphia Phillies 4-0 on Friday.
Jon Berti added two hits and drove in a run as NL Central-leading Chicago won its third straight and for the fifth time in six games. Nico Hoerner and Pete Crow-Armstrong had RBIs in a game that started 2 hours10 minutes late because of rain.
J.T. Realmuto had two of the Phillies’ five hits has they dropped their fifth straight on a cold, windy afternoon at Wrigley Field.
Colin Rea (1-0) limited Philadelphia to three hits over five scoreless innings for the win. Rae struck out seven while walking two in his longest outing this season.
NATIONALS 5, METS 4
WASHINGTON (AP) — James Wood’s RBI single with two out in the ninth inning scored CJ Abrams from first base and Washington rallied to beat the Mets, ending New York’s seven-game winning streak.
Dylan Crews had three hits for Washington, which won for the fifth time in seven games and turned the third triple play since the franchise moved to Washington in 2005 in the fourth inning.
Matt Vientos drove in three runs for New York.
With the Nationals trailing 4-3 entering the ninth, Crews tripled off Ryne Stanek (0-1) and scored on José Tena’s single against a drawn-in infield. After a pair of fielder’s choice grounders, Wood poked a single up the middle off A.J. Minter, just under the glove of second baseman Jeff McNeil. Abrams never slowed as the ball dribbled into center and beat the throw to score the winning run.
Jorge López (2-0) pitched a scoreless ninth for Washington.
BLUE JAYS 4, YANKEES 2
NEW YORK (AP) — Alejandro Kirk hit a go-ahead two-run double in the ninth inning off Yankees closer Devin Williams and Toronto beat New York, snapping a five-game losing streak.
Williams (0-2), who has an 11.25 ERA in his first 10 appearances, failed to retire a batter and blew his first save in five chances.
After allowing a leadoff single to George Springer and hitting Andrés Giménez, Kirk lifted a 1-0 change-up over the had of center fielder Trent Grisham and Williams was pulled by manager Aaron Boone.
Kirk’s big hit came after he threw out Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Cody Bellinger at second on stolen base attempts in the sixth.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered in the sixth and Addison Barger added an RBI single in the ninth off Mark Leiter Jr. to give the Blue Jays a 4-2 lead.
Austin Wells hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead. Oswaldo Cabrera hit a tying single in the seventh, but the Yankees stranded two in the seventh. New York stranded 11 runners and were 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position.
ROYALS 2, ASTROS 0
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Seth Lugo threw eight scoreless innings as Kansas City defeated Houston.
The Royals have now won five straight games after snapping a six-game losing streak.
Coming off a double-header on Thursday, the Royals needed Lugo to go deep in the game, and he delivered. Lugo (2-3) yielded three hits with a walk and eight strikeouts. Lucas Erceg, who got his first save, pitched a 1-2-3 ninth.
Hayden Wesneski (1-2) took the loss, allowing two runs on eight hits in five-plus innings.
Bobby Witt had three hits for Kansas City.
TWINS 11, ANGELS 4
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Trevor Larnach homered, doubled and drove in four runs on Friday as Minnesota defeated Los Angeles.
Byron Buxton had a home run and a triple with three RBIs and Mickey Gasper was 2 for 2 with a double and two RBIs for the Twins, who have won three of four.
Pablo López (2-1), making his first start since April 8 after recovering from a strained hamstring, give up two runs on five hits with two walks and six strikeouts over five innings.
Mike Trout and Logan O’Hoppe homered for the Angels, who lost for the third time in four games.
Kyle Hendricks (0-3) gave up seven runs on just three hits over three-plus innings. He also walked five and hit two batter while striking out three.
CARDINALS 3, BREWERS 2
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Matthew Liberatore pitched six-plus solid innings, and Brendan Donovan had a pair of singles and drove in a run to help St. Louis beat Milwaukee.
Liberatore (2-2) allowed two runs, one earned, on five hits with four strikeouts. He has completed six innings in all five of his starts this season.
Ryan Helsley pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his fourth save.
Lars Nootbaar drove in Masyn Winn with a single to right in the bottom of the fifth inning and later scored on Donovan’s single to left field to give St. Louis a 3-0 lead.
RAYS 1, PADRES 0
SAN DIEGO (AP) —Shane Baz pitched seven strong innings and Yandy Díaz hit a sacrifice fly for Tampa Bay, who beat San Diego to hand the Padres their fifth loss in seven games.
Baz (3-0) allowed just four singles while striking out six and walking one for the Rays, who won their third straight.
The Padres suffered consecutive shutouts for the first time this season.
San Diego’s Gavin Sheets reached with one out in the ninth when catcher Ben Rortvedt couldn’t hold on to strike three for a passed ball. But the game ended when right fielder Kameron Misner made a diving catch of Oscar Gonzalez’s sinking liner and doubled pinch-runner Mason McCoy off first. The Padres challenged both outs, but the calls were upheld.
REDS 8, ROCKIES 7
DENVER (AP) — Spencer Steer hit a two-run homer and Cincinnati's fourth lead of the night held up for a victory over Colorado.
Only five teams (including the 2024 Chicago White Sox and 2022 Reds, who both started 3-22) have had fewer wins through the first 25 games of an MLB season than the Rockies (4-21).
The Reds took a 1-0 lead in the first off starter Kyle Freeland. Elly De La Cruz singled with two outs and scored on a base hit by Noelvi Marte.
Adael Amador drew a bases-loaded walk off Reds starter Andrew Abbott to pull the Rockies even in the second.
De La Cruz led off the third with an infield hit, took third on a double by Hays and scored on a groundout from Marte. Steer — 1-for-19 against left-handers entering play — homered to left to make it 4-1.
Jordan Beck led off the bottom half with the first of his two solo shots . Michael Toglia tied it at 4-4 on a two-out ground-rule double with the bases loaded.
BRAVES 8, DIAMONDBACKS 2
PHOENIX (AP) — Chris Sale won for the first time this season and Atlanta beat Arizona.
Austin Riley and Eli White each drove in two runs for the Braves, who have won six of their last seven. It was the Braves’ first victory against a National League West team this season after starting the season 0-7 at San Diego and Los Angeles.
Sale (1-2) threw 104 pitches over five innings, but he pitched out of trouble and only gave up a run. The 2024 NL Cy Young Award winner allowed five hits, with two walks and four strikeouts and lowered his ERA from 6.17 to 5.40.
White drove in the first run for the Braves in their three-run second with a double off Zac Gallen (1-4). White started in right field after his three-run homer in the eighth inning of a 4-1 win against St. Louis on Wednesday.
Gallen (1-4) went five innings for the Diamondbacks, allowing three runs and five hits. He threw 103 pitches. Atlanta scored three times off Yilber Díaz in the eighth with Ozzie Albies, White and Riley driving in runs.
MARLINS 8, MARINERS 4
SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle starter Logan Gilbert left with right forearm tightness after throwing three perfect innings, and second baseman Dylan Moore made a two-out error that led to six unearned runs as Miami beat the Mariners.
Gilbert left with a 1-0 lead after Moore, the AL player of the week, homered off Cal Quantrill (2-2) in the second inning, his sixth longball of the season.
Disaster struck for Seattle with two outs in the fifth and emergency reliever Casey Lawrence (1-1) on the mound when Moore couldn’t handle a grounder by Matt Mervis with a runner on first. Liam Hicks and Javier Sanoja followed with RBI singles, and Xavier Edwards singled in a pair. Jesús Sánchez capped the rally with his first homer this season, a two-run shot that made it 6-1.
The Mariners closed within 6-4 in the sixth on a three-run homer by Jorge Polanco — his fifth.
Quantrill allowed four runs on five hits in 5 2/3. Jesus Tinoco got four outs and Calvin Faucher and Ronny Henriquez each pitched a scoreless inning to close it out.
Lawrence allowed eight runs — two earned — on 10 hits in five innings.
PIRATES 3, DODGERS 0
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Paul Skenes pitched 6 1/3 innings of five-hit ball with a season-high nine strikeouts, winning his duel with Yoshinobu Yamamoto and leading Pittsburgh to a victory over slumping Los Angeles.
Emmanuel Valdez, Oneil Cruz and Ke’Bryan Hayes drove in runs for the Pirates, who have won three of four on their Southern California trip after Skenes came out on top in this tantalizing mound matchup.
Skenes (3-2), an Orange County native, won in the Los Angeles metroplex for the first time while his family and friends watched from a Dodger Stadium suite.
Pittsburgh’s 22-year-old ace allowed just one runner to reach third while throwing a career-high 108 pitches, and he retired Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts three times apiece.
Yamamoto (3-2) labored through five innings, yielding five hits, four walks and three runs — just one earned. He had allowed only one unearned run over 19 innings in his previous three starts combined.
ATHLETICS 6, WHITE SOX 5
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Jacob Wilson homered and drove in three runs, Brent Rooker had a go-ahead double in the seventh and Mason Miller gave up a two-run homer to Brooks Baldwin in the ninth before retiring the next three hitters to help the Athletics beat Chicago.
The White Sox grabbed a 1-0 lead in the fifth. Matt Thaiss drew a one-out walk off Athletics starter Luis Severino and scored after singles by Lenyn Sosa and Miguel Vargas.
The Athletics tied it in their half off Sean Burke (1-4) on a leadoff home run by Wilson — his third. Burke entered after opener Tyler Gilbert struck out two in a scoreless first.
Severino allowed three runs on six hits in six innings with seven strikeouts. Justin Sterner (1-0) retired four batters for the win and Miller got his eighth save.
Sean Burke (1-4) yielded four runs — three earned — on five hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings.
RANGERS 2, GIANTS 0
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Nathan Eovaldi and three relievers combined on an a four-hitter in Texas' victory over San Francisco.
Wyatt Langford had three hits and an RBI to help the Rangers win in manager Bruce Bochy’s return to Oracle Park.
Eovaldi (2-2) allowed three hits and had seven strikeouts with one walk in his 300th career game in the majors while outdueling three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander. The walk was just the third allowed by Eovaldi in 36 2/3 innings this season.
Chris Martin retired four batters, Robert Garcia set down three and Luke Jackson worked the ninth for his eighth save.
The Associated Press