CINCINNATI (AP) — Blake Snell pitched his first career no-hitter on Friday night, striking out 10 as the San Francisco Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-0.
The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner walked three and threw 114 pitches, 78 for strikes, in his first complete game in 202 major league starts.
The 31-year-old Snell sailed into the ninth inning, striking out Santiago Espinal and inducing a soft come-backer from leadoff man Jonathan India. Then came Elly De La Cruz, who ripped Snell’s first pitch, a 97.8-mph fastball, to the right-center field gap, but right-fielder Mike Yastrzemski ran it down and leaped to make the catch. Snell’s teammates mobbed him.
Snell was especially effective against the top of Cincinnati’s order, striking out India three times, and De La Cruz and Spencer Steer twice each.
Snell recorded the 18th no-hitter in Giants’ franchise history and the third in the majors this season. Houston’s Ronal Blanco no-hit Toronto on April 1, and San Diego’s Dylan Cease pitched a no-hitter against Washington on July 25.
Casey Schmitt and Tyler Fitzgerald homered for the Giants on Friday.
CUBS 6, CARDINALS 3
CHICAGO (AP) — Christian Bethancourt and Michael Busch homered in a five-run second inning and Chicago spoiled St. Louis’ debut of new acquisition Erick Fedde with a victory.
Tyson Miller (3-1), the first of four relievers, earned the victory and Héctor Neris picked up his 15th save as Chicago won its third straight game against its NL Central rivals.
The Cubs’ big inning came against Fedde (7-5), who was acquired earlier in the week from the White Sox in a three-team trade. The 31-year-old right-hander gave up the first five runs and six hits and finished with four strikeouts in five innings.
Rookie Pete Crow-Armstrong added an RBI single in the second before Bethancourt hit a three-run homer to right-center field. Busch followed a batter later with a solo shot.
Seiya Suzuki scored from second in the eighth inning after Kyle Leahy’s errant pickoff throw dribbled into center field.
ROYALS 9, TIGERS 2
DETROIT (AP) — Salvador Perez had three hits, including a home run, and Kansas City won their fifth straight by routing Tarik Skubal and Detroit.
Cole Ragans (8-7) held the Tigers to two runs on two hits in 5 2/3 innings. He walked four and struck out six.
Skubal (12-4) allowed a season-worst five runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings. Skubal, who struck out eight, is 2-9 against the Royals with a 5.05 ERA in 14 games, 12 of them starts.
The Royals chased Skubal in a six-run seventh inning that included nine straight hits, two stolen bases and a wild pitch.
The Tigers, who have been outscored 34-7 during a five-game losing streak, took a 2-0 lead on Justyn-Henry Malloy’s first-inning homer, but Perez led off the second with a homer off the bricks behind the stands in left-center field to make it 2-1.
Perez scored from first on Hunter Renfroe’s double in the fourth, and Paul DeJong made it 3-2 with a sacrifice fly on his 31st birthday to score Renfroe.
BRAVES 5, MARLINS 3
ATLANTA (AP) — Marcell Ozuna hit a tie-breaking sacrifice fly in the eighth inning and Atlanta rallied for a win over Miami Marlins.
The Braves, who lead the NL wild card race, have won six of seven.
Aaron Bummer (3-2) picked up the win in relief of rookie Spencer Schwellenbach, and Joe Jiménez earned his third save of the season.
Orlando Arcia was 2 for 3 with two RBIs and a home run, his fourth in six games. He has a career-high 13-game hitting streak.
The Braves trailed 3-2 entering the eighth inning before scoring three runs off Miami’s Calvin Faucher (2-3). Newly acquired Jorge Soler had a game-tying RBI single, knocking in Jarred Kelenic. An Austin Riley double advanced pinch runner Ramón Laureano to third, and Ozuna drove him home with a drive to the warning track. Arcia’s RBI single provided an insurance run.
BREWERS 8, NATIONALS 3
WASHINGTON (AP) — William Contreras hit a 439-foot homer, Blake Perkins delivered a go-ahead two-run single, and Milwaukee cruised to a win over Washington.
Contreras’ 12th homer of the year left the park at 108 mph, well up the center field berm at Nationals Park. The All-Star’s last homer came against the Nationals on July 14 in Milwaukee.
Pinch-hitter Perkins, a 2015 second-round selection by the Nationals, connected on a 0-2 fastball off reliever Robert Garcia with two outs in the sixth to break a 3-3 deadlock. Perkins finished 2 for 2 with two RBIs.
Rhys Hoskins and Garrett Mitchell combined for two doubles and three RBIs in support of veteran right-hander Frankie Montas (5-8), who won his debut with the Brewers.
CJ Abrams got the Nationals going with a two-run shot over the right-center field wall in the third inning that traveled 396 feet with a 102.2 mph exit velocity. It was one of few big hits allowed by Montas, who was Milwaukee’s 17th different starter this season, the most in the major leagues and tying a franchise record set by the 1969 Seattle Pilots.
DIAMONDBACKS 9, PIRATES 8
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Josh Bell homered from both sides of the plate in his Arizona debut, Ketel Marte also hit two home runs and they beat Pittsburgh after blowing a five-run lead.
Acquired Tuesday from the Miami Marlins for cash considerations, Bell tied at 7 with two outs in the seventh with his second home run of the night, hammering Aroldis Chapman’s slider 370 feet to right.
Geraldo Perdomo, after fouling a ball off the inside of his right knee, drove a sweeper from Colin Holderman (3-3) to the gap in right-center for a go-ahead double in the eighth.
Marte then hit his second homer of the game and 26th of the season in the ninth off an 0-1 cutter from Dennis Santana.
Justin Martínez (5-2) struck out the side with one walk in the eighth for the victory.
GUARDIANS 8, ORIOLES 4
CLEVELAND (AP) — Josh Naylor had three hits and drove in two runs, Austin Hedges had two RBIs and MLB-leading Cleveland scored eight consecutive runs in beating Baltimore for their fifth straight win.
The Guardians own the best record in baseball at 67-42 and lead the American League Central by six games over the Kansas City Royals. They have won the first two games of the series by an 18-7 margin over the Orioles, who fell behind the Yankees in the AL East standings.
Hedges also scored from second base on José Ramírez’s sacrifice fly in the sixth inning when Steven Kwan was caught in a rundown, but successfully made his way back to first. Brayan Rocchio initially came home on the play that put Cleveland up 8-1.
Cade Smith (6-1) retired all five batters he faced in relief for the victory. The Guardians also have the best home record in the majors at 35-15.
Colton Cowser and Jackson Holliday each had RBI singles in a three-run seventh for Baltimore. Cowser extended his hitting streak to 15 games and fellow rookie Holliday had his first two-hit performance.
TWINS 10, WHITE SOX 2
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Royce Lewis homered and had a season-high four RBIs and Minnesota sent Chicago to their 18th straight loss, romping to a victory.
The futility streak is the longest in the majors since Baltimore lost 19 straight in August 2021. Chicago had just three hits.
Willi Castro and Byron Buxton homered in a six-run eighth inning.
Miguel Vargas went deep for the White Sox.
The White Sox have been outscored 112-39 during their skid and scored three or fewer runs in 13 of 14 games since the All-Star break.
Lewis lined a two-run home run in the first and laced a two-run double to the gap in right center in the third. In the eighth, Christian Vázquez had a two-run double before Castro and Buxton each hit two-run home runs.
RED SOX 11, RANGERS 6
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Wilyer Abreu put Boston ahead to stay with an RBI single after his earlier two-run homer, Nick Sogard had a two-run single for his first big league hit and the Red Sox beat Texas.
Ceddanne Rafaela and Rafael Devers also went deep for the wild card-chasing Red Sox, who have won consecutive games for the first time since before the All-Star break. They are 5-8 in that stretch and remained two games behind Minnesota for the AL’s third wild card.
Corey Seager hit two solo homers, added a sacrifice fly and scored three of the Texas runs. Marcus Semien and Leody Taveras also had long balls.
All four Texas homers came off starter Kutter Crawford (7-8), who struck out five and walked one in 5 1/3 innings. Rangers right-hander José Ureña (3-6) allowed seven runs and eight hits pitching into the fifth.
The reigning World Series champion Rangers have lost three games in a row, and six of seven, since a five-game winning streak that got them within a game of .500 — they haven’t had a winning record since 24-23 on May 18, and have been in third place in the AL West since June 20.
ASTROS 3, RAYS 2
HOUSTON (AP) — Yusei Kikuchi shook off a rocky start to finish with 11 strikeouts in his Houston debut as they beat Tampa Bay.
Kikuchi — acquired from Toronto on Monday — allowed a double to Yandy Diaz on his second pitch and a two-run homer to Dylan Carlson on his sixth.
Carlson got his first homer in 125 at-bats this season and his first since joining the Rays in a trade from St. Louis on Tuesday.
Kikuchi quickly settled in after that, striking out his eighth batter in a row to end the fifth to tie an Astros franchise record. Justin Verlander was the last Astros pitcher to strike out eight in a row in 2022.
Kikuchi went 5 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and three hits while walking three. He fell two strikeouts shy of his season high and matched his season-low of three hits allowed.
The Astros took a 3-2 lead with two outs in the seventh after Yordan Alvarez hit a bloop single and was followed by a double from Diaz. Second baseman Christopher Morel mishandled the throw from outfielder Carlson, allowing Alvarez to score.
BLUE JAYS 8, YANKEES 5
NEW YORK (AP) — Ernie Clement had three early RBIs off faltering Marcus Stroman, and Toronto overcame Aaron Judge’s major league-leading 40th home run to beat New York and stop their five-game winning streak.
Judge’s two-run, first-inning homer off Kevin Gausman, a 477-footer drive halfway up the left-field bleachers, gave him a big league-best 101 RBIs.
He became just the fourth Yankees player with three or more 40-homer seasons, joining Babe Ruth (11), Lou Gehrig (five) and Mickey Mantle (four). The drive was the third-longest of Judge’s career and the second-longest in the major leagues this season behind Jorge Soler’s 478-footer for San Francisco at Colorado on July 21. Judge has six homers against Gausman.
New York’s Gleyber Torres did not run hard out of the batter’s box on his second-inning drive off the left-field wall, apparently thinking it was a home run, and reached only first. That cost the Yankees a run when he was thrown out at the plate trying to score on Anthony Volpe’s two-out double into the left-field corner in the second.
Torres was replaced by Oswaldo Cabrera in the fourth inning after Yankees manager Aaron Boone and Torres had a discussion on the dugout steps.
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