MLB Roundup: Rays Drop Second Straight to Jays After 13–0 Start

Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter Vladimir Guerrero Jr. celebrates hitting a single against the Tampa Bay Rays during the seventh inning at Rogers Centre in Toronto on April 15, 2023. John E. Sokolowski/USA TODAY Sports via Field Level Media

Left-hander Yusei Kikuchi struck out nine over six innings, and Toronto defeated visiting Tampa Bay 5–2 Saturday.

The Rays entered the series having won their first 13 games of the season, tying a modern baseball record for best start (since 1900). Toronto has now won the first two games of the three-game set and sits three games back in the divisional race. Kikuchi (2–0) allowed one run, four hits and one walk.

Taylor Walls hit a solo homer for Tampa Bay, and Wander Franco had three hits.

Josh Lowe and Manuel Margot led off the ninth with singles against Jordan Romano. Brandon Lowe blooped a one-out single to load the bases. Romano got the final two outs on a strikeout and a comebacker to earn his sixth save of the season.

Yankees 6, Twins 1

Domingo German was checked out three times by umpires for possible sticky substances, retired the first 16 hitters he faced and pitched 6 1/3 outstanding innings as New York beat visiting Minnesota in an event-filled game.

At the end of the third, German (1–1) had his hands examined and umpires checked his glove. German was examined before throwing a pitch in the fourth and was allowed to continue. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli was ejected by crew chief James Hoye following an animated discussion with umpires.

German, who struck out 10 of the first 15 hitters, also was checked out coming off the mound after the sixth. German allowed one run on three hits and set a career high by striking out 11 batters, five days after walking five and getting no strikeouts in Cleveland. Jose Miranda had an RBI double to bring home Minnesota’s only run.

Padres 10, Brewers 3

Jake Cronenworth hit a pair of two-run homers and finished with six RBIs as San Diego defeated visiting Milwaukee to end a three-game losing streak.

Cronenworth’s first homer off Brewers starter Freddy Peralta broke a 3–3 tie in the fifth. Cronenworth’s second homer, a 410-foot line drive to center off Hoby Milner, capped a three-run seventh. It was the first multi-homer game of Cronenworth’s career.

Steven Wilson (1–0) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Seth Lugo to earn his first win of the season. Lugo gave up three runs on eight hits and a walk, with five strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings. Peralta (2–1) took the loss, giving up five runs on nine hits and a walk with five strikeouts in five innings.

Tigers 7, Giants 6 (11 Innings)

Pinch hitter Miguel Cabrera bounced an RBI single through a drawn-in infield, giving host Detroit a victory over San Francisco.

Automatic runner Spencer Torkelson moved to third on a wild pitch before Cabrera’s single off Taylor Rogers (0–2). Javy Baez had two hits, two RBIs and a run for Detroit, which rallied from a five-run deficit to win its third straight game. Kerry Carpenter added a solo homer and winning pitcher Chasen Shreve (1–1) pitched an inning of scoreless relief.

J.D. Davis homered and drove in three runs and Blake Sabol added a two-run homer for the Giants.

White Sox 7, Orioles 6 (10 Innings)

Yasmani Grandal drove in a run with a 10th-inning double and pinch runner Seby Zavala scored on Oscar Colas’ game-winning single as Chicago edged visiting Baltimore.

Jake Burger homered and drove in three runs for the White Sox, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Grandal had three hits, and Andrew Vaughn, Andrew Benintendi, Elvis Andrus and Burger all had two hits for Chicago.

Adley Rutschman’s fielder’s choice grounder in the top of the 10th inning gave the Orioles a brief lead.

Pirates 6, Cardinals 3 (10 Innings)

Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning as Pittsburgh defeated host St. Louis.

Rodolfo Castro went 3–for–5 with two RBIs for the Pirates, who have won eight of their last 12 games. Ke'Bryan Hayes and Connor Joe each went 2–for–4 with two runs and an RBI.

Cardinals starter Steven Matz allowed two runs on three hits and five walks in 5 2/3 innings. Jordan Hicks (0–1), the fourth Cardinals pitcher, allowed three runs (two earned) to take the loss.

Guardians 6, Nationals 4

Third baseman Jose Ramirez broke a 4–4 tie in the fifth inning with a massive homer and visiting Cleveland beat Washington in the second game of a three-game series.

The game was delayed 1 hour, 40 minutes by thunderstorms and showers in Washington, but the Nationals came out swinging in the bottom of the first, scoring three runs off Cleveland right-hander Zach Plesac (1–0) as the weather cleared up.

The Guardians tied the game in the top of the fourth and grabbed the lead in the fifth when Ramirez blasted his first homer of the year—a towering 420-foot shot over the right field bullpens into the second deck.

Mets 3, Athletics 2

Pete Alonso and Mark Canha hit home runs, Brandon Nimmo broke a seventh-inning tie with an RBI double and visiting New York made it two straight wins over Oakland.

After A’s starter Shintaro Fujinami (0–3) had taken a 2–1 lead into the seventh inning, it took the Mets just four pitches to tie the game when Canha smacked his second homer of the season. Fujinami then issued his second walk of the game to Daniel Vogelbach, before Trevor May came on to record two outs just after pinch runner Tim Locastro stole second. Nimmo then lashed a double down the right field line, easily plating the eventual game-winning run that extended New York’s winning streak to three games.

The A’s did all their scoring in the second. A single by Ramon Laureano and a double by Aledmys Diaz set the stage for an RBI infield out by Conner Capel and a two-out, run-scoring single by Esteury Ruiz.

Braves 9, Royals 3

Sean Murphy and Ozzie Albies both had three hits and drove in four runs as visiting Atlanta extended its winning streak to five games with a victory over Kansas City.

Murphy was 3–for–3 with two doubles, a home run, a walk, two runs and was hit by a pitch. Albies was 3–for–5 and helped put the game away with a two-out single that drove in two runs in the eighth inning. The winning pitcher was Bryce Elder (2–0), who pitched 5 1/3 innings and allowed three runs on eight hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr. was 3–for–5 with two doubles and two runs. It was his fourth straight multi-hit game. The losing pitcher was Kris Bubic (0–2), who gave up five runs on 10 hits with one walk and three strikeouts over five innings.

Red Sox 9, Angels 7

Yu Chang went 2–for–4 with a home run and the game-winning single as host Boston beat Los Angeles.

After Enrique Hernandez hit a leadoff single and two catcher’s interference calls loaded the bases to begin the eighth inning, Chang flipped the score Boston’s way with a two-run knock through the left side. Angels reliever Ryan Tepera (1–1) walked Rob Refsnyder to force in an insurance run as Boston earned its second straight win to begin the series.

Refsnyder and Rafael Devers, who homered in the first inning, had two RBIs apiece. Ryan Brasier (1–0) earned the win after a scoreless eighth inning. Kenley Jansen recorded his second save in as many days. Gio Urshela hit a first-inning grand slam and had five RBIs to lead the Angels. Mike Trout was 3–for–4 with two doubles, including the 300th of his career.

Reds 13, Phillies 0

Wil Myers homered twice, drove in five runs and played spectacular defense in support of six shutout innings from Graham Ashcraft as Cincinnati blanked visiting Philadelphia.

Myers crushed a Matt Strahm (1–1) fastball 406 feet off the facade in left field for a 1–0 Cincinnati lead in the second inning. With runners on second and third in the third, Myers hit the first pitch from reliever Andrew Bellatti to the seats in left center for a three-run homer and a 4–0 Reds advantage. Myers added an RBI double off reliever McKinley Moore in the fifth and a single off position pitcher Josh Harrison in the eighth.

On the mound, Ashcraft (2–0) was in complete control. After allowing the first two batters to reach in the first, Ashcraft settled down to retire the next three batters. He allowed four hits, struck out four and walked four. In two home starts, Ashcraft has allowed just one run on eight hits over 13 innings.

Marlins 3, Diamondbacks 2

Luis Arraez, who leads the majors in batting average, came off the bench to deliver the go-ahead RBI single in the seventh inning, powering host Miami to a win over Arizona.

The Marlins, who have won four straight games, also got a solo homer from Garrett Hampson. Tanner Scott pitched a scoreless ninth inning to give Miami its second straight series win after beating the Phillies twice earlier this week. It was Scott’s first save this season after getting 20 a year ago.

Neither starting pitcher earned a decision. Miami’s Braxton Garrett allowed four hits, one walk and one run in 5 2/3 innings. Garrett lowered his ERA from 4.70 to 3.38. Arizona’s Ryne Nelson allowed five hits, no walks and one run in six frames. He lowered his ERA from 4.91 to 3.71.

Astros 8, Rangers 2

Starter Hunter Brown matched his career high by working seven innings, and host Houston batted around in the seventh inning of its win over Texas.

Brown (2–0) limited the Rangers to two unearned runs on five hits and one walk with five strikeouts. He faced the minimum over his last three innings after recording inning-ending strikeouts of Josh Jung and Leody Taveras in the third and fourth. Marcus Semien and Adolis Garcia recorded RBI singles in the second, but Brown limited the damage with strikeouts of Nathaniel Lowe and Jung, the latter with the bases full.

The Astros broke it open with their five-run seventh, starting that rally against Rangers right-hander Ian Kennedy. Seven consecutive batters reached with one out, starting with Jake Meyers, who singled. Yordan Alvarez walked with the bases loaded to plate Meyers and Jose Abreu followed with a chopper that Rangers shortstop Josh H. Smith failed to glove. Mauricio Dubon and Alex Bregman scored to extend the Houston lead to 6–2 and, two batters later, Jeremy Pena roped a two-run double to left off Josh Sborz.

Mariners 9, Rockies 2

Julio Rodriguez hit a three-run triple and had four RBIs as Seattle won its third straight game, defeating visiting Colorado.

Eugenio Suarez added a solo homer and George Kirby (1–1) made a quality start. The right-hander allowed two runs on six hits in 6 1/3 innings, with no walks and three strikeouts.

The Rockies lost their fourth game in a row. Colorado starter Ryan Feltner (0–2) cruised through the first three innings but couldn’t make it out of the fourth.

Dodgers 2, Cubs 1

David Peralta delivered a two-run, pinch-hit single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Los Angeles a dramatic victory over visiting Chicago.

Peralta grounded the first pitch he saw from Michael Fulmer (0–1) through the right side of the infield and just past the diving attempt of Chicago second baseman Nico Hoerner. James Outman easily scored from third base and Miguel Vargas beat the throw from Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki to score from second.

Vargas had two of Los Angeles’ five hits. Shelby Miller (1–0) pitched a scoreless ninth as the Dodgers won for just the third time in eight games. Chicago took a 1–0 lead into the ninth thanks to Patrick Wisdom’s homer and Cody Bellinger, who robbed Jason Heyward of a two-run homer in the second inning.