MLB Roundup: Jays’ Chris Bassitt Shuts out Braves

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Chris Bassitt (40) throws a pitch against the Atlanta Braves during the ninth inning at Rogers Centre in Toronto on May 12, 2023. Nick Turchiaro/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters

Chris Bassitt pitched his second career shutout as the Toronto Blue Jays blanked the visiting Atlanta Braves 3–0 on Friday night in the opener of a three-game series.

George Springer delivered the tiebreaking single in the fifth inning, and Daulton Varsho homered in the eighth for Toronto, which improved to 10–3 at home. The complete-game shutout was the first for Toronto since Mark Buehrle blanked the Washington Nationals on June 3, 2015.

Bassitt (5–2) allowed two hits and two walks and struck out eight while outdueling Atlanta fireballer Spencer Strider. Bassitt threw 103 pitches while winning his fourth consecutive decision and extending his scoreless streak to 20 innings.

Strider (4–1) struck out 12 in 6 2/3 innings to raise his season count to a major-league-high 79 in just 46 2/3 frames. He was charged with two runs and gave up five hits and one walk.

Yankees 6, Rays 5

Anthony Rizzo’s second home run of the night was a go-ahead, two-run shot with one out in the eighth inning to lift host New York over Tampa Bay.

Aaron Judge drew a walk against Kevin Kelly and Tampa Bay brought in Jason Adam (0–1). Rizzo then hit Adam’s first-pitch changeup over the right field wall to give the Yankees their second lead of the game. It was Rizzo’s 22nd career multi-homer game and second this season.

Rizzo’s go-ahead homer occurred after Michael King allowed Josh Lowe’s three-run homer, which turned a 4–2 deficit into a 5–4 lead for the Rays in the top of the eighth. Randy Arozarena and Jose Siri homered off Gerrit Cole in the opening two innings. Rizzo homered in the first and Anthony Volpe went deep in the fifth to knot it 2–2.

New York Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo (48) celebrates with teammates after defeating the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York, on May 12, 2023. Vincent Carchietta/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters

Mariners 9, Tigers 2

Julio Rodriguez drove in four runs, including a two-run single that highlighted a five-run second inning, and visiting Seattle rolled to victory over Detroit.

Rodriguez had three hits, adding a two-run, opposite field home run in the ninth. Ty France supplied two hits, two runs and an RBI for Seattle. Winning pitcher Marco Gonzales (3–0) lasted six innings, giving up two runs and five hits. He walked one and struck out two.

Detroit starter Matthew Boyd (2–3) was charged with six runs (five earned) in 1 1/3 innings. He allowed five hits and four walks.

Cardinals 8, Red Sox 6

Pinch hitter Nolan Gorman hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning to help visiting St. Louis upend Boston. St. Louis trailed 6–5 entering the ninth but scored three runs off Kenley Jansen (1–1).

Ryan Helsley (1–2) earned the win for pitching two scoreless innings. He struck out four. Nolan Arenado went 4–for–5 with a homer while Willson Contreras also went deep for the Cardinals.

James Paxton struck out nine and gave up two runs in five innings during his Red Sox debut. It was his first major league game since April 6, 2021, as he missed more than two years due to Tommy John surgery and a hamstring injury.

Reds 7, Marlins 4

Jake Fraley homered twice—including a go-ahead, three-run shot in the ninth inning—to lead visiting Cincinnati to a win over Miami.

Fraley went 2–for–4 with three runs and four RBIs. It was his first career multi-homer game, and he doubled his dinger output for the season from two to four.

Marlins right-hander Eury Perez made his major league debut, allowing four hits, two walks and two runs in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out seven. Like Perez, Reds starter Graham Ashcraft got a no-decision. In 5 2/3 innings, Ashcraft allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits, walked two and struck out three.

Orioles 6, Pirates 3

Cedric Mullins hit for the cycle and drove in three runs to lead Baltimore to a victory over visiting Pittsburgh.

Ryan Mountcastle and Adley Rutschman had two hits each for the Orioles, who have won three straight. In the eighth, Mullins batted with two outs and runners on first and third and lifted a fly ball to right for his fifth homer of the season, completing his first career cycle and making it 6–2. It was the seventh cycle in Orioles history.

Bryan Baker (3–0) pitched 1 1/3 innings with two strikeouts for the win. Starter Kyle Bradish went six innings, allowing an unearned run on three hits. Pittsburgh starter Johan Oviedo allowed one run on four hits over five innings. He walked five and fanned three.

Angels 5, Guardians 4

Brandon Drury hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly to cap a two-run, ninth-inning rally that lifted visiting Los Angeles over Cleveland in the opener of a three-game series.

After Cleveland’s Josh Naylor broke a 3–3 tie in the eighth with a solo homer, Mike Trout doubled to lead off the ninth and advanced to third on Anthony Rendon’s one-out single. Trout scored when Andres Gimenez’s throw home was off after Hunter Renfroe’s chopper. Drury then sent a ball to center, allowing pinch runner Brent Phillips to score the winning run.

Drury, Zach Neto and Gio Urshela had RBIs for the Angels, who won for just the second time in six games. Amed Rosario and Gimenez each had three hits for the Guardians, who are 3–4 on their nine-game homestand. Emmanuel Clase (1–3) endured his fourth blown save and took the loss.

Mets 3, Nationals 2

Francisco Lindor rapped a bases-clearing single with two outs in the sixth inning as New York rallied past host Washington.

The Mets had struggled to score three runs, doing so just two times in their eight previous games. Five pitchers combined on a four-hitter for New York, which won for just the fourth time in its last 13 games. Starter Tylor Megill (4–2) went five innings, and Drew Smith completed four shutout innings by the relievers by getting the one batter he faced for his first save of the season.

Nationals starter MacKenzie Gore went four shutout innings, throwing 96 pitches. Andres Machado was charged with two runs and Carl Edwards Jr. (1–2) was tagged with the Mets’ third run.

Cubs 6, Twins 2

Christopher Morel clubbed a long two-run homer in the ninth inning and Drew Smyly threw six strong innings as visiting Chicago beat Minnesota in Minneapolis.

Morel provided key insurance with his opposite-field bomb into the second deck in right-center to highlight a three-run ninth. Yan Gomes delivered a tiebreaking RBI single in the seventh, Ian Happ finished with three hits and Smyly (4–1) yielded two runs and four hits as Chicago moved back to .500 with its second straight win.

The Twins, who managed just four hits and scored both of their runs in the second inning, dropped to 4–6 in May. Starter Sonny Gray allowed a run, four hits and struck out nine with a walk over 94 pitches, but he lasted just 5 1/3 innings. He maintained the major league lead with his ERA rising from 1.35 to 1.39.

Phillies 6, Rockies 3

Alex Bohm and Kyle Schwarber homered, Bryce Harper had two hits and two RBIs and Philadelphia beat Colorado in Denver.

Matt Strahm (3–3) pitched a scoreless inning of relief and Craig Kimbrel fanned three in the ninth inning to record his fourth save for Philadelphia, which has won four straight.

Ryan McMahon, Jurickson Profar and Kris Bryant had two hits each for Colorado, which had won eight of its previous 10 games. Rockies starter Austin Gomber retired the first 14 batters he faced and threw just 56 pitches through six innings. Phillies starter Taijuan Walker was nearly as sharp before Colorado got to him in the sixth inning.

Brewers 5, Royals 1

Corbin Burnes tossed six scoreless innings and Owen Miller had his first homer for his home-state team to pace host Milwaukee’s victory over Kansas City in the opener of the three-game series.

Burnes (4–2) allowed two singles, struck out seven and walked four. He retired 10 of the final 11 he faced in a 104-pitch outing. Miller, who played at nearby Ozaukee High School, about 35 miles from American Family Field, led off the third inning against Max Castillo with his first homer as a Brewer to make it 2–0. He finished a triple shy of the cycle.

Josh Taylor (0–1), the Royals’ fill-in starter, allowed an unearned run in a 25-pitch first inning but took the loss. Kansas City’s run came on the third homer of the season by Freddy Fermin in the seventh inning.

Diamondbacks 7, Giants 5

Dominic Fletcher, Arizona’s No. 9 hitter, had three hits and four RBIs in the win over San Francisco at Phoenix. The victory ended a three-game losing streak.

Fletcher’s RBI double off reliever Jakob Junis (2–2) in the sixth inning broke a 4–4 tie. A passed ball by Blake Sabol allowed another run to score. Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s RBI double with two outs in the seventh increased Arizona’s lead to 7–4. Evan Longoria also homered for the Diamondbacks.

Arizona closer Miguel Castro entered with one out in the ninth and his team leading 7–5. He struck out Thairo Estrada, but J.D. Davis followed with a double. Castro earned his second save when Joey Bart popped out to second base. Joc Pederson and Michael Conforto hit homers for the Giants.

Dodgers 4, Padres 2

Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman hit back-to-back home runs in the seventh inning to lead Los Angeles past visiting San Diego.

Betts—whose two-out, ninth-inning homer off San Diego’s Josh Hader last Sunday led to an extra-inning Los Angeles win—snapped a 2–2 tie with a 426-foot drive to left-center on a 3–1 pitch from Tim Hill (1–1). Freeman, who gave the Dodgers a 2–0 lead earlier in the game with a two-run double, then made it 4–2 with a 370-foot drive to right.

Los Angeles’ Caleb Ferguson (3–0), who came off the paternity list earlier Friday, struck out Trent Grisham with the go-ahead run on second to end the seventh. Evan Phillips worked the final 1 2/3 innings to earn his seventh save. San Diego’s runs scored on a double by Ha-Seong Kim in the top of the seventh.

Astros 5, White Sox 1

Kyle Tucker, Martin Maldonado and Mauricio Dubon delivered run-scoring doubles to back 6 2/3 strong innings from J.P. France and lift Houston over host Chicago.

In his second major league start, France (1–0) allowed one run and three hits while walking one and striking out three.

White Sox starter Michael Kopech (1–4) gave up two runs on just one hit in 4 2/3 innings, but he walked six. Yordan Alvarez homered for Chicago’s lone run.

A’s 9, Rangers 7 (10 Innings)

Brent Rooker belted a three-run, walk-off home run in the 10th inning to give Shintaro Fujinami his first major league win as Oakland countered two Texas runs with four of its own.

Adolis Garcia and Marcus Semien stroked consecutive run-scoring singles in the top of the 10th to give the Rangers a two-run lead. However, Fujinami (1–4) came on to get the final two outs.

The A’s, who snapped a five-game losing streak, started the bottom of the 10th with an RBI single from Esteury Ruiz. After JJ Bleday singled, Rooker went deep off Brock Burke (2–1) for his 11th homer of the season.