Tampa Bay’s Brandon Lowe drove in the only run with a late homer to lead the Rays — the major league’s only unbeaten club — to their 10th consecutive win, beating the Boston Red Sox 1-0 on Monday night in St. Petersburg, Fla.
In the eighth inning, Lowe, who went 1-for-3 with a walk, stroked a one-out, 96-mph middle-in fastball from Chris Martin (0-1) to right-center field for the game-winning shot. Lowe’s heroics came on the 10th pitch of the at-bat.
One of five pitchers who combined on the three-hit shutout, reliever Josh Fleming crafted four shutout innings, striking out five and yielding one hit after entering in the third. Colin Poche (1-0), the Rays’ fourth pitcher, got the win with a scoreless eighth, which was Boston’s only inning putting runners in scoring position. Closer Pete Fairbanks pitched a perfect ninth for his first save as Rays pitching recorded its third consecutive shutout.
Boston starter Nick Pivetta spun five scoreless innings before turning the duties over to the bullpen. After outscoring the opposition 75-18 through the first nine victories, Tampa Bay’s high-powered offense mustered just three hits and two walks against the right-hander.
Rangers 11, Royals 2
Adolis Garcia hit a grand slam in a seven-run sixth inning, Andrew Heaney broke a strikeout record set by Nolan Ryan and Texas rolled to a victory over Kansas City in Arlington, Texas.
The Rangers fell behind 1-0 early as Royals leadoff man Bobby Witt Jr. scored on an error in the first inning. After that, though, the night belonged to the Rangers. Heaney (1-1) settled in, striking out the final two batters of the first inning, which started a stretch of nine straight strikeouts to set a club record and tie an American League mark. Heaney finished with 10 total strikeouts on the night.
Heaney broke Ryan’s franchise single-game record when he fanned Vinnie Pasquantino for his eighth straight strikeout. Ryan whiffed seven in a row in 1991 against the then-California Angels. Texas extended its lead to 4-1 in the fourth on a solo homer by catcher Jonah Heim. The Rangers then broke it open in the sixth, highlighted by Garcia’s grand slam off Royals reliever Jose Cuas.
Braves 5, Reds 4 (10 innings)
Sean Murphy had three hits, including a two-run homer in the 10th inning, to help Atlanta beat visiting Cincinnati and end a three-game losing streak.
The Reds erased a two-run deficit in the ninth inning and Jonathan India drove in a run in the top of the 10th to give Cincinnati a 4-3 lead. Murphy then hit the first pitch he saw from Derek Law (0-2) for a two-run homer, his first with the Braves. Murphy also had two doubles and drove in three runs.
Braves starter Bryce Elder put together his second straight scoreless start, allowing six hits with seven strikeouts and one walk in 6 1/3 innings, before A.J. Minter blew the save. Reds starter Graham Ashcraft allowed two runs on six hits in six innings with seven strikeouts and three walks.
Cubs 3, Mariners 2 (10 innings)
Nico Hoerner’s third single of the night came in walk-off fashion in the 10th inning, and Chicago overcame blowing a late lead to beat visiting Seattle.
Down 2-1 with one out in the ninth, Seattle’s Jarred Kelenic — who came on as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning — sent a drive over the right field wall against Chicago reliever Michael Fulmer to tie the game. The Mariners failed to score with the bases loaded against the Cubs’ Keegan Thompson (1-0) in the 10th.
In the Chicago half of the 10th, automatic runner Nick Madrigal stole third base and Hoerner drove a pitch from Matt Brash (0-1) into right field for his first career walk-off. Eric Hosmer added two hits with an RBI and Cody Bellinger had a run-scoring double for the Cubs.
White Sox 4, Twins 3
Hanser Alberto hit a three-run homer and Chicago overcame three errors and two unearned runs to edge Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Yasmani Grandal went 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run, and Andrew Vaughn also doubled for Chicago. White Sox starter Dylan Cease (2-0) allowed three runs (one earned) on three hits over five innings to pick up the win. He walked two and struck out six.
Twins starter Kenta Maeda (0-2), making his second start after missing the entire 2022 season following Tommy John surgery, gave up four runs on eight hits over six innings. Trevor Larnach had an RBI single.
Guardians 3, Yankees 2
Shane Bieber allowed two runs over seven innings and Josh Naylor hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the seventh to lift host Cleveland over New York.
The Guardians mustered just four hits — three doubles by Mike Zunino and one single by Myles Straw — but drew nine walks, while Bieber (1-0) shut down the Yankees after giving up a pair of first-inning runs.
Torres went 2-for-3 with a double, a triple, a walk and a run for New York, but no other Yankee had more than one hit. Reliever Ian Hamilton (0-1), who gave up the decisive run in the seventh, allowed a hit with three strikeouts and three walks over two innings.
Orioles 5, Athletics 1
Adley Rutschman went deep for the second straight game, and Baltimore posted four of its runs on homers to beat visiting Oakland.
Ryan Mountcastle drilled a two-run homer in the first inning and Austin Hays added a solo shot in the sixth. Orioles starter Kyle Gibson (3-0) gave up one run and five hits in 6 1/3 innings. Two of his three walks came in the first inning, and he struck out four.
The Athletics lost their fifth game in a row, but unlike back-to-back 11-0 losses during the weekend at Tampa Bay, they were competitive in this one. Oakland finished with eight hits, including two by Jace Peterson.
Astros 8, Pirates 2
Yordan Alvarez had three of Houston’s 13 hits in a win over host Pittsburgh.
Framber Valdez (1-1) had the Pirates off balance for seven innings, allowing two runs on three hits with five walks and five strikeouts, and Mauricio Dubon singled three times, extending his hitting streak to six games in the opener of a three-game series.
Roansy Contreras (1-1) allowed seven runs, matching a career high, on nine hits with four walks, and the Pirates went to the bullpen after just 3 1/3 innings. Alvarez drove in two runs to boost his major-league-leading RBI total to 16, plating a pair in the second inning with a single. Ji Man Choi connected for his first home run of the season for the Pirates.
Phillies 15, Marlins 3
Alec Bohm homered, singled twice and drove in six runs to lift host Philadelphia to a resounding victory over Miami.
Bohm’s six RBIs tied his career high. Brandon Marsh added a home run among his three hits with three RBIs. Jake Cave hit a solo homer and double while Nick Castellanos added three hits and three RBIs. Trea Turner had three singles and an RBI.
Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara (1-1), the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, struggled through four-plus innings, as he allowed 10 hits and nine runs to go along with four strikeouts and one walk. Yuli Gurriel hit a solo home run off McKinley Moore in the seventh inning to finally put the Marlins on the board, though they trailed 13-1. A wild pitch by Andrew Vasquez and an RBI single by Cooper closed the Marlins within 13-3, but that was the closest they would get.
Mets 5, Padres 0
Max Scherzer grinded through five innings and combined with four relievers on a two-hitter for host New York, which beat San Diego in the opener of a three-game series.
Jeff McNeil and Francisco Lindor each had two-run doubles for the Mets, who have won three of their last four. The Padres had their three-game winning streak snapped.
Scherzer surrendered 25 foul balls and walked three but gave up just one hit — a clean single to Ha-Seong Kim with one out in the fifth — and struck out six. Padres starter Yu Darvish (0-1) gave up the five runs on six hits and one walk while striking out five over 6 1/3 innings.
Rockies 7, Cardinals 4
Alan Trejo had three hits, Elehuris Montero and Ezequiel Tovar each had two and Colorado beat St. Louis.
Rockies starter German Marquez (2-1) left after five innings with an apparent injury to his pitching arm. Paul Goldschmidt had two hits for St. Louis, which has dropped six of its last seven.
Cardinals starter Steven Matz (0-2) allowed six runs on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings.
–Field Level Media
