HOUSTON (AP) — Framber Valdez pitched seven solid innings and Jeremy Peña and Yainer Diaz had three RBIs apiece to give the Houston Astros a 8-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday and complete a three-game sweep.
It’s just the second time the Orioles have been swept this season after losing three in a row to the Cardinals from May 20-22.
Valdez (6-5) allowed six hits and a run with seven strikeouts in seven innings to bounce back after consecutive losses.
Jose Altuve hit a leadoff homer as the Astros jumped on Albert Suárez (3-2) for four runs in the first. Alex Bregman had a season-high four hits for Houston, which extended its winning streak to five games.
Jordan Westburg homered for a second straight game to extend Baltimore’s franchise-record streak of games with a home run to 22. But the Orioles couldn’t do much else offensively as they managed just one run for a second straight game.
PHILLIES 4, DIAMONDBACKS 1
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Cristopher Sánchez tossed seven scoreless innings a day after receiving a new contract, Bryce Harper doubled and singled, and NL-best Philadelphia beat Arizona.
David Dahl hit a two-run single, and Bryson Stott and Nick Castellanos also had RBIs for the Phillies. Philadelphia took two of three in the series that was a rematch of last season’s NL Championship Series, won by Arizona.
Ketel Marte hit an RBI single in the ninth for the Diamondbacks, who managed just six hits.
Philadelphia entered Sunday with a seven-game lead over Atlanta in the NL East. The Diamondbacks began play nine games back of the Dodgers in the NL West but in the thick of the wild-card race.
The first pitch of 11:36 a.m. marked the earliest start to a game at Citizens Bank Park, which opened in 2004.
Sánchez (5-3) struck out four, walked none and allowed only three singles. He signed a new four-year, $22.5 million contract for 2025-28 on Saturday.
BRAVES 3, YANKEES 1
NEW YORK (AP) — Max Fried shut down New York for five innings before tiring on a blistering afternoon, Jarred Kelenic drove in two runs and Atlanta got the victory for their eighth win in 10 games following a five-game losing streak.
Fried (7-3) allowed three singles in the first five innings, then gave up three hits in the sixth that included Anthony Volpe’s RBI double. Fried improved to 4-1 in his last six starts, giving up six hits in six innings with four strikeouts and no walks.
He mixed 25 fastballs, 19 sinkers, 18 curveballs, 14 changeups, six sweepers, four cutters and one slider.
Atlanta won two of three from the Yankees, who lost their third straight series after dropping two of three against both Boston and Baltimore.
New York put slugger Giancarlo Stanton on the injured list, a day after he strained his left hamstring. The Yankees have lost six of their last eight games.
RAYS 3, PIRATES 1
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Yandy Díaz hit a home run off the first pitch from Paul Skenes on Sunday before leading off a two-run eighth inning with a single, sparking a win for Tampa Bay over Pittsburgh.
Díaz opened the first inning by driving Skenes’ near 100 mph first-pitch fastball off the right-field foul pole. He was 3-for-4 with two hits off Skenes, stretching his hit streak to 16 games.
Colin Holderman (3-1) replaced Skenes for the eighth, giving up the single to Díaz followed by another from Josh Lowe. José Caballero, running for Díaz, scored on Randy Arozarena’s sacrifice fly to put the Rays ahead 2-1 before Richie Palacios added another run with an RBI single.
Kevin Kelly (2-0) got the final two outs of the seventh for the Rays, who took two of three from the Pirates. Pete Fairbanks retired the side in order with one strikeout in the ninth inning for his 11th save.
Skenes, a 22-year-old right-hander drafted first overall by Pittsburgh in 2023, struck out eight and allowed one run and six hits with one walk in a season-high seven innings. He has 61 strikeouts in his first eight appearances in the majors, the seventh most since at least 1901 and the most since Masahiro Tanaka (66) in 2014.
TIGERS 11, WHITE SOX 2
DETROIT (AP) — Colt Keith and Akil Baddoo homered in a five-run first inning and Riley Greene cleared the fences in a four-run second, lifting Detroit to a win over Chicago.
The Tigers scored more runs in two at-bats on Matt Vierling’s leadoff triple and Keith’s two-run homer than in any of the previous six games, and they were just getting warmed up in the series-winning rout.
Baddoo’s two-run homer capped the five-run first inning and Greene followed with a three-run shot in the second to put Detroit ahead 9-0.
The Tigers chased Jonathan Cannon (1-2) after they opened the second inning with three straight singles, including Keith’s run-scoring, opposite-field hit. The rookie right hander gave up eight runs — five earned — on seven hits in 42 pitchers over one-plus innings.
Cannon was rough up by a team that had scored a total of five runs in its previous six games, providing another lesson for the prized prospect.
MARLINS 6, MARINERS 4
MIAMI (AP) — Nick Gordon and Jesús Sánchez homered and Miami beat Seattle.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. had two hits and an RBI for the Marlins, who clinched the three-game series against the AL West-leading Mariners.
A.J. Puk (1-8) relieved Marlins starter Kyle Tyler to start the fifth and threw two perfect innings. Tyler allowed two runs and three hits over the first four frames.
The Mariners got to within 6-4 on Ryan Bliss’ RBI groundout off Huascar Brazoban and J.P. Crawford’s run-scoring single against Andrew Nardi in the seventh.
Marlins closer Tanner Scott allowed a leadoff single to Mitch Garver and walked Cal Raleigh in the ninth. Bliss flied out to medium center and Crawford struck out before Dylan Moore singled to right and loaded the bases. Miami second baseman Otto López leaped and caught Julio Rodriguez’s line drive for the final out and Scott’s ninth save.
RED SOX 4, ROYALS 0
CINCINNATI (AP) — Connor Wong and Rob Refsnyder each hit two-run homers as Boston took the series from Cincinnati with a victory.
Boston improved to 24-16 on the road, fourth-best in the majors. The Red Sox have won seven of eight and are now a season-best six games over .500.
Jarren Duran led off for Boston and went 3 for 5 with a double and two RBIs.
It was a bullpen day for the Red Sox who used eight pitchers. Zack Kelly who threw six pitches while earning the victory on Saturday, started and tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings with three strikeouts. Greg Weissert (3-1) was credited with the victory.
Wong extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a two-run home run in the fourth inning off Reds starter Nick Lodolo to put the Red Sox ahead 2-0. Lodolo (8-3) took the loss for Cincinnati.
Refsnyder’s two-run homer, his third of the season, came in the sixth off Brent Suter to lift Boston to a 7-1 lead.
RANGERS 4, ROYALS 0
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer retired 15 of the 16 batters he faced over five scoreless innings in his season debut, rookie Wyatt Langford extended his RBI streak to five games and Texas beat Kansas City to complete a three-game series sweep.
José Ureña pitched the final four innings for his first save and extended the Rangers’ consecutive scoreless innings pitched streak to a season-high 22, their longest since 23 in a row in September 2016.
Josh Smith homered for the Rangers (37-40), who matched their season high by winning their fourth game in a row. It was the first three-game sweep of the season for the reigning World Series champions.
The Royals ended a 2-7 road trip, though at 42-37 overall, they have 20 wins more than at the same point last season. They were shut out for the fourth time this season, including three on the trip that ended with being held scoreless the last two games in Texas.
Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro missed the series finale to tend to a personal manner, so bench coach Paul Hoover managed the game.
CARDINALS 5, GIANTS 3
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Sonny Gray allowed one hit over seven innings and Alec Burleson drove in two runs and St. Louis completed a three-game sweep with a win over San Francisco.
Brendan Donovan and Matt Carpenter also drove in runs for the Cardinals, who have won five of seven.
St. Louis swept the three-game series, which began in Birmingham, Alabama, on Thursday night with the tribute to the Negro Leagues.
Patrick Bailey homered for San Francisco, which has dropped five in a row.
Gray (9-4) retired the first 20 hitters he faced. He struck out eight and did not walk a batter. He threw 80 pitches, 57 for strikes and lowered his ERA to 2.81.
Bailey hit a no-doubt drive over the wall in right to break up the no-hit bid with two outs in the seventh. Gray bounced back to strike out Jorge Soler to end the inning.
GUARDIANS 6, BLUE JAYS 5
CLEVELAND (AP) — Steven Kwan and Josh Naylor hit solo homers as AL Central-leading Cleveland scored five straight runs in the third and fourth innings, helping them beat Toronto.
Cleveland won its fifth straight and is a season-high 23 games over .500. The Guardians and rookie manager Stephen Vogt have the best home record in the majors at 26-9 and extended their divisional lead to eight games over Minnesota.
Tim Herrin (3-0) was awarded the win with a scoreless fourth. Emmanuel Clase picked up his AL-best 24th save, retiring George Springer for the final out after putting the potential go-ahead run on base.
Rookie Spencer Horwitz belted two solo homers and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a two-run blast for Toronto, which has lost six in a row for the first time since May 19-24, 2021. The Blue Jays were swept in back-to-back series for the first time since 2019.
Kwan went 2 for 5 and is hitting .390, but is 11 plate appearances shy of qualifying for the league leaderboard. He has a .463 average since May 31.
BREWERS 6, PADRES 2
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Rookie Tobias Myers continued his terrific June by winning his fourth straight start and Blake Perkins highlighted a five-run second inning with a two-run single as NL Central-leading Milwaukee beat San Diego to avoid a four-game sweep.
Myers (5-2) held the Padres to one run and five hits in five innings, with three strikeouts and no walks. He allowed one or no earned runs for the fourth time in his June starts — all Brewers wins — and won his fifth straight decision dating to May 21.
The Brewers gave him all the support he needed by scoring five runs on six hits off Michael King (5-5) in the second.
Besides Perkins’ two-run single, Brice Turang hit an RBI triple and Sal Frelick and Tyler Black had run-scoring singles.
The Padres had their four-game winning streak snapped. It had matched their season-best streak.
TWINS 3, ATHLETICS 0
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Pablo López took a perfect game into the sixth inning and matched a career high with 14 strikeouts in eight scoreless innings as Minnesota beat Oakland in the rubber match of a three-game series.
López (7-6) limited Oakland to two singles and a walk, retiring the first 17 batters he faced before Lawrence Butler singled on a line drive to right with two outs in the sixth.
Byron Buxton homered off Hogan Harris in the second and added an RBI double in the seventh to help the Twins improve to 16-4 against the AL West. Kyle Farmer drove in a run on a fielder’s choice.
Griffin Jax pitched the ninth inning for his seventh save in nine chances for the Twins, who have won 16 of their last 19 meetings with the A’s, including six of seven this season.
Harris (1-1) allowed three runs and five hits with two walks and two strikeouts in 6-plus innings as Oakland fell to 6-17 against the AL Central.
The game was played in 2 hours, 11 minutes in front of a crowd of 18,491, the largest attendance of the season at the Oakland Coliseum.
NATIONALS 2, ROCKIES 1
DENVER (AP) — Lane Thomas doubled in the tying run and Joey Meneses singled to drive in the go-ahead run as Washington rallied in the ninth inning to beat Colorado, taking the three-game series.
Down 1-0 heading into the top of the ninth and held to one hit by starter Kyle Freeland and reliever Nick Mears, the Nationals finally broke through against reliever Jalen Beeks (4-4).
Michael Toglia homered in the second for the Rockies’ only run.
Jacob Young started the second inning by beating out an infield single. CJ Abrams reached on a fielder’s choice and went to second when Beeks uncorked a wild pitch. Thomas then lined a double to right, driving Abrams home with the tying run. Thomas stole third base ahead of Meneses’ decisive single.
Kyle Finnegan, whose pitch-clock violation in the ninth Saturday night resulted in a go-ahead bases-loaded walk in the Nationals’ 8-7 loss, allowed singles to Ryan McMahon and Brendan Rodgers before coming back to strike out Nolan Jones and Toglia around a flyout by Hunter Goodman for his 22nd save.
METS 5, CUBS 2
CHICAGO (AP) — Luis Severino tossed six shutout innings, Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo hit back-to-back homers and New York topped Chicago after closer Edwin Díaz was ejected in the ninth before throwing a pitch.
Díaz came on to try to seal the victory, but was tossed for having a foreign substance after umpires inspected his hands and glove.
Drew Smith got two outs in place of Díaz before Jake Diekman struck out pinch-hitter Patrick Wisdom for his third save for the Mets, who have won four straight series.
Severino (5-2) struck out a season-high 10 and allowed three hits for New York, which has won 10 of 13 and improved to 13-6 in June. Mark Vientos added a solo homer for the Mets.
Christopher Morel homered for Chicago, which has dropped 10 of its last 16.
Javier Assad (4-3), who has gone seven starts without a win, gave up seven hits and walked one in 4 1/3 innings.
