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    Friday, April 26, 2024

    Major League Baseball roundup

    Arizona shortstop Nick Ahmed, left, tags out Washington's Bryce Harper in a rundown between first and second base during the sixth inning of Saturday's game in Phoenix. Washington won, 2-1. (Ross D. Franklin/AP Photo)

    Nationals 2, Diamondbacks 1

    With its star-studded lineup and pitching staff, Washington can win in a variety of ways.

    Saturday belonged to Stephen Strasburg.

    The ace right-hander struck out nine in 6 2/3 innings, and the Nationals beat Arizona for their third straight victory against the NL West leaders.

    Strasburg (5-3) allowed one run and five hits in Washington’s sixth win in seven games. The Nationals stranded 11 baserunners, but Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon each drove in a run.

    Sammy Solis and Shawn Kelley each got two outs before Ryan Madson finished the five-hitter for his third save. Manager Dave Martinez said he wanted to stay away from late-inning relievers Brandon Kintzler and Sean Doolittle, and Strasburg and company delivered.

    “It’s just trusting the process and it’s a roller coaster of a season,” Strasburg said. “I think it’s just important for us to stick together when we do play these types of games and leave it all out on the field. Sometimes it’s going to work out and sometimes it’s not.”

    Arizona dropped its season-high fourth consecutive game. The Diamondbacks also lost a series for the first time after opening with 10 wins and two ties.

    “We were very proud of that. It means we came out of the gates ready to play baseball once the spring was over and it has put us in that position right now,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “I know it’s a great story and something fun to follow, but I knew that something like this was probably going to happen before the year was over. Time to start a new streak.”

    Harper’s ringing double into the right-field corner drove in Trea Turner in the second, and the Nationals loaded the bases with one out against Troy Scribner (0-1). But Scribner struck out Andrew Stevenson and Michael A. Taylor to end the inning.

    The Diamondbacks tied it at 1 with a two-out rally in the third against Strasburg, who battled mechanical issues early in the game. Paul Goldschmidt walked and scored on A.J. Pollock’s double.

    Washington reclaimed the lead in the fourth, loading the bases off Scribner again. Rendon’s fielder’s choice drove in Pedro Severino before Scribner was removed from the game.

    Scribner, called up Saturday from Triple-A for the start, allowed four hits and walked six in 3 2/3 innings. He also struck out four.

    The Nationals put runners on the corners with one out in the fifth, but were unable to add to their lead. Severino’s bunt was hard enough to allow reliever T.J. McFarland to throw out Howie Kendrick at home plate, and Strasburg struck out.

    McFarland threw three scoreless innings.

    In the sixth, Harper was caught stealing and Turner was thrown out at home plate on Rendon’s sharp grounder to shortstop. Then Matt Adams had a hit taken away on Steven Souza Jr.’s running catch in right field.

    “We had 10 runners left on base the first five innings,” Martinez said. “Luckily our bullpen was phenomenal.”

    Taylor ran into the wall at the 413-foot sign to flag down Pollock’s deep fly ball in the bottom of the sixth.

    “That’s a good team over there. Good pitching staff and a great lineup, so to come in here and win three ballgames, that’s huge,” Harper said.

    Souza emphatically tossed his bat after a called third strike to end the eighth inning, and was ejected by home plate umpire Doug Eddings. Souza proceeded to argue with Eddings for much of the break before the top of the ninth. It was his first career ejection.

    “I was tossing my bat to either walk or go to right field and the bat stuck to my hand a little bit,” Souza said. “The next thing, I was ejected from the ballgame.”

    “I really pride myself on not crossing the line with umpires. I have never cursed at an umpire, disrespected an umpire and if I even got close I walked away because I know how hard the job is,” Souza added.

    Astros 6, Rangers 1

    Charlie Morton struck out a career-high 14 in seven innings and Evan Gattis, Brian McCann and Carlos Correa homered, leading Houston to a win over Texas.

    Morton (5-0) yielded four hits and a run while lowering his ERA to 2.03. He also extended his career-long winning streak to eight games dating to last season.

    McCann made it 2-1 Astros with a solo drive in the fourth. Gattis added another solo shot in the fifth, and Correa’s two-run homer extended Houston’s lead to 5-1 in the eighth.

    Texas starter Doug Fister (1-4) allowed four hits and three runs in 6 1/3 innings for his fourth straight loss.

    Braves 10, Marlins 5

    Freddie Freeman connected twice for Atlanta, and Jose Bautista atoned for a costly error with his first homer of the season.

    The Braves broke a 5-all tie in the eighth inning, when Marlins relievers issued three consecutive walks — each on a 3-2 pitch, and the last two with the bases loaded.

    Bautista, who joined the Braves on May 4, made his first error when he bobbled Brian Anderson’s two-out grounder to third in the fifth. One run scored on the play, and Derek Dietrich followed with a three-run double to put Miami ahead 5-4.

    All four runs in the inning were unearned, but Bautista tied the game leading off the next inning with the 332nd homer of his career.

    A.J. Minter (1-0) retired one batter in the seventh for his first career win. Drew Steckenrider (1-1) got the loss.

    Padres 2, Cardinals 1 (13)

    Eric Hosmer hit an RBI double with no outs in the 13th inning to give San Diego a victory against St. Louis.

    Hosmer, the Padres’ $144 million man, drove the first pitch from Mike Mayers down the right field line and after a few strides, tossed his batting helmet aside in celebration.

    John Brebbia (1-0) had thrown two perfect innings for the Cardinals before walking A.J. Ellis to open the 13th. Ellis was replaced by pinch-runner Jordan Lyles, a starting pitcher, who advanced to second on a passed ball. Travis Jankowski walked, and the Cardinals brought on Mayers to face Hosmer.

    Adam Cimber (2-1) pitched a perfect 13th for the win.

    Reds 5, Dodgers 3

    Scott Schebler hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the fifth inning to lead Cincinnati past Los Angeles for its fifth straight win.

    Schebler's homer to left field off Dodgers reliever J.T. Chargois (1-2) in the Reds' four-run fifth was his fourth of the season and first since April 28. Venditte, who pitched both lefty and righty against the Reds, allowed a hit and struck out one while getting four outs in his first big league game since 2016, when he was with Seattle.

    Homer Bailey (1-5) allowed three runs and 10 hits to win for the first time this season. Jared Hughes got five outs for the save.

    Cody Bellinger homered for the Dodgers, his first since May 1.

    Twins 5, Angels 3 (11)

    Eddie Rosario scored from first on Mitch Garver's double in the 11th, lifting Minnesota over Los Angeles.

    After Jefry Marte grounded out to Trevor Hildenberger (1-0) with the bases loaded to end the 10th, Rosario came all the way around on Garver's grounder down the third-base line to put the Twins back in front. Rosario had singled on a groundball past Noe Ramirez (1-2). Garver then scored from second on Gregorio Petit's single to center.

    Fernando Rodney earned his seventh save, getting Zack Cozart to fly out to left to end the game after walking Rene Rivera with two outs.

    Pirates 6, Giants 5

    Gregory Polanco and Francisco Cervelli homered, and Pittsburgh took advantage of a sloppy inning by former closer Tony Watson to slip by San Francisco for its fifth straight victory.

    Watson (1-2), an All-Star for Pittsburgh during his six-plus seasons with the club, loaded the bases in the eighth, and then gave the Pirates the lead when he hit former teammate Jordy Mercer to force in Josh Bell.

    Felipe Vazquez (2-0), who took over as Pirates closer when Watson faltered last season, got the final five outs after Pittsburgh blew a two-run lead earlier in the night.

    Former Pirates star Andrew McCutchen went 2 for 5 to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. Longoria and Alen Hanson homered in San Francisco's sixth straight loss.

    The Giants’ Jeff Samardzija allowed five runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings as his ERA rose to 6.94.

    Pittsburgh starter Chad Kuhl recovered from a shaky start to pitch six innings, giving up three runs and six hits with four walks and six strikeouts.

    Rockies 4, Brewers 0

    Kyle Freeland pitched effectively into the seventh inning, Trevor Story homered twice and Colorado snapped a three-game losing streak.

    Freeland (3-4) gave up four hits, struck out six and walked four in 6 1/3 innings.

    Story put together his first multihomer game of the season, hitting both off Brent Suter (2-3), who pitched a day ahead of his scheduled start after Chase Anderson was scratched because of a stomach illness.

    Orioles 6, Rays 3, Game 1

    Rays 10, Orioles 3, Game 2

    Brad Miller and C.J. Cron homered off former teammate Alex Cobb, and the Rays stopped a five-game slide by splitting a doubleheader.

    In the opener, Orioles right-hander David Hess pitched six effective innings in his major league debut and Jonathan Schoop hit two home runs.

    Recalled from Triple-A Norfolk to serve as the 26th man in the single-admission doubleheader, Hess (1-0) gave up three runs and six hits. Mychal Givens worked 1 2/3 innings for his first career save.

    Tampa Bay’s Chris Archer (2-3) went seven innings, allowing six runs and seven hits — including a season-high three homers.

    In the second game, the Rays scored a run in each of the first four innings against Cobb (0-5) and led 4-1 in the sixth when a thunderstorm stopped play for 1 hour, 19 minutes.

    Baltimore ultimately cut the gap on an RBI single by Trey Mancini, who also homered in the first inning. But Tampa Bay pulled away, ending the Orioles’ season-high winning streak at four games.

    Mallex Smith had three hits and three RBIs for the Rays. Sergio Romo (1-0), the second of seven Tampa Bay pitchers, got the win.

    Tigers 4, Mariners 3, Game 1

    Mariners 9, Tigers 5, Game 2

    Robinson Cano hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning, and the Mariners slugged their way to a split of their doubleheader with the Tigers.

    Detroit won the opener 4-3, thanks in part to a terrific catch by center fielder JaCoby Jones in the ninth inning. The nightcap didn’t go nearly as well for the Tigers. Nicholas Castellanos left in the second inning because of an injured finger on his left hand, and manager Ron Gardenhire was ejected in the fifth.

    Cano and Ryon Healy homered for the Mariners in the second game, and John Hicks went deep for the Tigers. Detroit’s Jose Iglesias hit a two-run shot in the first game.

    Matthew Boyd (2-3) allowed three runs and three hits in six-plus innings for the Tigers in the opener. Detroit broke a 1-all tie in the sixth against Seattle starter Marco Gonzales (3-3). With two out and nobody on, Jones hit a hard grounder that bounced off the left leg of third baseman Kyle Seager and into foul territory for a double. Grayson Greiner followed with a single to right, and Jones scored on a very close play at the plate.

    In the second game, Healy’s two-run homer off Michael Fulmer (1-3) put Seattle up 3-2 in the fourth, and Cano made it 6-2 in the fifth with his fourth home run of the season.

    Felix Hernandez (5-3) got the win but labored through five innings, allowing five runs and eight hits.

    Cubs 8, White Sox 4

    Willson Contreras hit his third homer in two games and drove in three runs, leading the Cubs to the win at a rainy and cold Wrigley Field.

    Contreras finished with three hits as the Cubs won their fifth in a row.

    Cubs slugger Anthony Rizzo hit a three-run homer in a four-run first against James Shields (1-4) after the start was delayed 2 hours, 15 minutes. Jon Lester (2-2) allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings.

    Brandon Morrow came in with runners on second and third in the ninth after right fielder Kris Bryant dropped Trayce Thompson’s fly and got three outs for his ninth save.

    Matt Davidson hit a three-run homer in the eighth for the White Sox, who lost their seventh straight to fall to 9-27 — the worst 36-game start in franchise history.

    Indians 6, Royals 2

    Francisco Lindor homered twice and doubled twice to power Cleveland to the victory.

    Lindor also scored four times. His third career four-hit game extended the All-Star shortstop’s hitting streak to 13 games.

    Cleveland’s Michael Brantley had three hits, drove in two runs and broke a 2-all tie with an RBI double in the sixth.

    Mike Clevinger (3-0) allowed two runs in 7 2/3 innings as the Indians won for just the second time in their last seven games.

    Jon Jay and Jorge Soler each had three hits for Kansas City. Jakob Junis (4-3) allowed four runs in 5 2/3 innings.

    Tigers 4, Mariners 3

    Matthew Boyd pitched impressively until the seventh inning and JaCoby Jones made a diving catch in the ninth to help Detroit win the first game of a doubleheader.

    Jose Iglesias hit a two-run homer for the Tigers, and Grayson Greiner contributed the first two RBIs of his big league career. Boyd (2-3) allowed three runs and three hits in six-plus innings.

    Three relievers finished the game for Detroit, with Shane Greene pitching the ninth for his eighth save in 10 chances. After a one-out walk, Jones made a diving catch of Ryon Healy’s sinking liner to center field.

    Seattle’s Marco Gonzales (3-3) allowed four runs and 10 hits in six innings.

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