MLB round-up: Yankees blast A's in Aaron Judge's return
The Yankees welcomed Aaron Judge back from the 10-game injured list due to a strained right hip and saw him go 0-for-3 with two RBIs and a run. Judge scored during New York's five-run third off Oakland starter Drew Rucinski (0-3) as the Yankees have scored 24 runs in their past three games.
Judge drove in the tying run when his hard grounder went off third baseman Jace Peterson's glove and Jose Trevino scored in the third inning. Judge then lifted a sacrifice fly in the eighth to round out the scoring. After Judge's RBI fielder's choice in the third, Anthony Rizzo, Torres and Harrison Bader followed with RBI singles. Jake Bauers capped the inning by lifting a sacrifice fly, and he later hit a two-run homer in the seventh.
New York's Clarke Schmidt (1-3) allowed two runs on five hits in a career-high six innings for his first career win as a starting pitcher. Jordan Diaz homered in three straight at-bats for the A's. He hit solo shots in the fourth off Schmidt and seventh off Albert Abreu before connecting for a two-run drive off Greg Weissert in the eighth.
Giants 4, Nationals 1
Casey Schmitt homered in his major league debut, Logan Webb scattered nine hits over seven innings and San Francisco evened a three-game series with visiting Washington by posting a victory.
Mitch Haniger's two-run double in the first inning gave the Giants a lead they never relinquished en route to their fifth win in the past seven games. Schmitt launched a 420-foot bomb to centre field in his second look at Nationals starter Patrick Corbin (1-5), extending the Giants' lead to 3-0 in the fourth.
Webb (3-5) took a shutout into the sixth before a double by Joey Meneses and single by Dominic Smith got the visitors within 3-1. But the Giants ace escaped a two-on, one-out jam. Webb allowed one run and one walk while striking out seven.
Astros 3, Angels 1
Framber Valdez went eight strong innings and Martin Maldonado hit a two-run home run against his former team as Houston earned a victory over Los Angeles in Anaheim, Calif., handing Shohei Ohtani his first loss of the season in the process.
Valdez (3-4) gave up one run on three hits over 99 pitches with no walks and 12 strikeouts to end a two-start losing streak. Ohtani (4-1) gave up three runs on six hits over seven innings with two walks and seven strikeouts for the Angels as he took the loss for the first time since his final start of the 2022 season.
Ohtani's strikeout of Jeremy Pena in the second inning was the Japanese star's 502nd career whiff on the mound. With Babe Ruth's career strikeout total at 501 - according to MLB's official statistics - Ohtani now is the all-time leader in strikeouts by a player with at least 100 career home runs. Los Angeles rookie Zach Neto hit his first career home run.
Guardians 2, Tigers 0
Amed Rosario had four hits and an RBI to help Cleveland to a win against visiting Detroit in the second game of a three-game series.
Cleveland starter Shane Bieber (3-1) threw six shutout innings. He scattered seven hits, struck out a season-high nine and walked one. Tigers starter Michael Lorenzen (1-2) allowed one run and five hits over seven innings. Akil Baddoo and Spencer Torkelson each had three hits for the Tigers, who had won six of seven.
Steven Kwan led off the bottom of the first with a double for the second straight game. He took third on a single by Rosario and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jose Ramirez for a 1-0 lead. Will Brennan led off the eighth with his second hit of the game, stole second and came home on a triple by Rosario to make it 2-0.
Orioles 4, Rays 2
Adley Rutschman hit a two-run homer to back 5 2/3 strong innings by rookie Grayson Rodriguez to lead Baltimore past visiting Tampa Bay.
Ryan Mountcastle went 2-for-4 with a run for the Orioles, who ended a season-high, three-game losing streak. Rodriguez (2-0) limited the Rays to two runs, both on solo homers. Felix Bautista threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings for his eighth save.
Taylor Walls and Wander Franco went deep for the Rays. Zach Eflin (4-1) yielded four runs on seven hits in six innings.
Rockies 10, Pirates 1
Jurickson Profar homered twice and Ryan McMahon hit a two-run triple as visiting Colorado clobbered Pittsburgh.
Charlie Blackmon and Randal Grichuk each added an RBI single for the Rockies, who have won seven of their past nine games. Colorado starter Connor Seabold (1-0) gave up one run and three hits in five innings, with three strikeouts and three walks, for his first major league win.
Pittsburgh starter Luis Ortiz (0-1), just called up to make his 2023 debut, allowed five runs - only two of them earned - and seven hits in five innings, with one walk and one strikeout. Andrew McCutchen hit an RBI single for the Pirates, who have lost eight of nine.
Reds 7, Mets 6
Jonathan India doubled and drove in three runs while TJ Friedl contributed a key two-run triple as Cincinnati held off a late charge from visiting New York for the Reds' second win in three games despite nearly blowing a 7-1 lead.
Alexis Diaz worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth and retired the side in order in the ninth for his seventh save in as many chances. Rookie Francisco Alvarez homered twice, and Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso also went deep for the Mets, who have dropped 12 of 15 to fall a season-worst two games below .500. Alonso is tied for the major league lead with 12 homers.
Before the game, the Mets scratched scheduled starter Max Scherzer due to neck spasms. David Peterson (1-5) was recalled to make a spot start. Cincinnati starter Luke Weaver (1-2) allowed three solo homers, running his total to eight over four starts.
Phillies 8, Blue Jays 4
Nick Castellanos hit a home run, double and single and drove in two runs to lift host Philadelphia past Toronto, ending the Blue Jays' three-game winning streak.
Brandon Marsh added a two-run double and Alec Bohm had two hits for the Phillies, while starter Aaron Nola (3-2) gave up five hits and two runs with six strikeouts and two walks in six innings.
Bo Bichette homered, doubled and knocked in two runs for the Blue Jays. Blue Jays starter Alek Manoah (1-3) tossed 4 2/3 innings and allowed four hits and three runs with one strikeout and four walks.
Braves 9, Red Sox 3
Charlie Morton pitched six strong innings and Sean Murphy drove in four runs to lift Atlanta to a win over visiting Boston in the opener of a two-game series.
Atlanta has won three straight and improved to 6-4 in interleague games. Morton (4-3) allowed two runs on five hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. He improved his career record against the Red Sox to 8-1.
Boston starter Nick Pivetta (2-3) pitched four innings and allowed a season-high seven runs on eight hits with three walks and two strikeouts. His career record dropped to 6-4 against Atlanta.
Dodgers 6, Brewers 2
Los Angeles pounded out three homers and the bullpen covered eight innings after starter Noah Syndergaard exited with an injury to preserve a victory over host Milwaukee.
Syndergaard had a cut on his right index finger and left after a 20-pitch scoreless first inning. Justin Bruihl (1-0), the second of seven relievers, got the victory with 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Evan Phillips retired the only batter he faced for his sixth save.
Miguel Vargas had a two-run homer and Mookie Betts and Will Smith had solo homers for the Dodgers. The Brewers got solo homers from Rowdy Tellez, his 10th, and Victor Caratini, his second, off Shelby Miller in the seventh.
Padres 6, Twins 1
San Diego snapped a tie by scoring two unearned runs in the top of the seventh without the benefit of a hit, then broke the game open on Manny Machado's three-run, ninth-inning homer to defeat Minnesota in the opener of a three-game series in Minneapolis.
The Twins made three errors in the seventh - two on bad throws by catcher Christian Vazquez - and reliever Griffin Jax issued two walks to allow San Diego to break a 1-1 deadlock.
Padres starter Michael Wacha (3-1) got credit for the win. Jax (1-4) took the loss on the two unearned runs.
Cardinals 6, Cubs 4
Paul DeJong hit a tiebreaking, ninth-inning homer and Nolan Gorman and Lars Nootbaar also went deep as St. Louis won its third straight game, beating host Chicago.
Chicago's Javier Assad (0-2) threw five scoreless innings of relief before DeJong drove a pitch well into the left-field bleachers to break a 4-4 tie. DeJong, who went to high school in Antioch, Ill., finished 2-for-3 with a walk to raise his average to .350.
Dansby Swanson had a homer, two doubles and three RBIs while Christopher Morel also homered in his season debut for the Cubs, who have dropped three straight and nine of 12. Chicago twice left the bases loaded without scoring and was on the wrong end of four double plays.
White Sox 4, Royals 2
Andrew Vaughn smacked a two-run homer and Lucas Giolito won for the first time in three weeks as Chicago picked up a win over host Kansas City.
Giolito (2-2) struck out a season-high nine over six innings, allowing two runs on five hits while walking two.
Chicago failed to get a ball out of the infield as Jordan Lyles (0-6) retired the first 11 batters he faced before Luis Robert Jr. ripped his eighth homer of the season 430 feet to left, tying the game at 1-1 in the fourth.
Mariners 5, Rangers 0
George Kirby tossed seven shutout innings and Ty France delivered a two-run single to help Seattle beat visiting Texas.
Tom Murphy added a two-run homer as Seattle won for the seventh time in its past nine games. France and Murphy each had two hits for the Mariners. Kirby (4-2) matched his career high of nine strikeouts while winning for the fourth time in his past five starts. He gave up six hits and didn't walk anyone.
The Rangers have tallied just two runs in the first two matchups in the three-game series after scoring 58 runs over their previous six games. Texas prevailed 2-1 in Monday's series opener. The Rangers' Andrew Heaney (2-3) gave up four runs (three earned) and four hits in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out seven and walked two.
Marlins 6, Diamondbacks 2
Jorge Soler drove in five runs on two home runs, Jesus Luzardo pitched six strong innings and Miami defeated Arizona in Phoenix.
Soler hit his first homer of the night 468 feet to left-centre field off Arizona starter Brandon Pfaadt, driving in Jon Berti and Jazz Chisholm Jr. The deep blast followed a Luis Arraez RBI single in the first, giving Miami an early 4-0 lead that proved to be more than enough for Luzardo.
Luzardo (3-2) allowed just one run on seven hits and struck out five while walking two. All six Miami runs were credited to Pfaadt (0-1), who came into Tuesday's contest with a 13.50 ERA after allowing seven runs in his only other appearance.
