BALTIMORE (AP) — Corbin Burnes scattered nine hits over seven innings, rookie Heston Kjerstad homered and drove in three runs and the Baltimore Orioles pummeled the struggling Texas Rangers 11-2 on Thursday night.
Cedric Mullins, Adley Rutschman and Colton Cowser also went deep for the Orioles, who built an 8-1 lead in the fourth inning against Jon Gray (3-4) and coasted to their second straight victory following a five-game skid.
Adolis Garcia homered for the defending World Series champion Rangers, who have lost four in a row to fall seven games below .500 (37-44). Texas has dropped seven consecutive road games and eight successive road series openers.
This four-game series that concludes Sunday is a rematch of the 2023 AL Division Series, in which the Rangers pulled off a three-game sweep. Although Orioles manager Brandon Hyde conceded that a regular-season series in June isn’t quite the same as the playoffs, he acknowledged that “those three losses stayed with us for a while.”
The Orioles appear on course to return to the playoffs, having reached the midway point of the season at 51-30. This game showcased their most notable strength: power. Kjerstad hit a two-run drive to deep center in the third to make it 6-1, Mullins connected for the second time in two nights for an 8-1 lead and Rutschman added a solo shot in the seventh against Jonathan Hernández.
CUBS 5, GIANTS 3, 10 INNINGS
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Ian Happ homered in the 10th inning, Nico Hoerner had three hits and also went deep, and Chicago snapped a four-game skid with a win over San Francisco.
Happ homered to center off Luke Jackson (4-2) with automatic runner Cody Bellinger on base.
Héctor Neris (7-2) struck out two in a scoreless ninth inning for the win, and Porter Hodge worked around a first-and-second, no-outs jam in the 10th to complete his first save opportunity.
The Giants trailed 3-0 going into the sixth, when Jorge Soler’s two-out ground-rule double highlighted a three-run inning. San Francisco hadn’t advanced a runner past second before that.
Hoerner hit a two-run homer to left off Jordan Hicks in the third. The Cubs extended their lead later in the inning on Seiya Suzuki’s RBI triple.
Hicks gave up three runs in five innings in which he struck out seven and walked two.
TWINS 13, DIAMONDBACKS 6
PHOENIX (AP) — Byron Buxton had a three-run homer among his three hits and Minnesota beat Arizona.
Twins shortstop Carlos Correa left the game in the seventh inning after being hit by a pitch on the right wrist by Bryce Jarvis. X-rays were negative and the team listed him as day-to-day.
Correa was on base five times, with a single, two walks, catcher’s interference and a hit by pitch. Buxton, who hit his seventh homer of the season, also scored three times as the Twins scored all 13 of their runs between the second and fifth innings. Minnesota took two of three in the series and has won four of its last five.
Arizona trailed 11-0 before scoring four runs off David Festa, who was making his major-league debut for Minnesota. Ketel Marte hit his 17th homer, tying Christian Walker for the team lead.
Festa got plenty of run support and the win. He lasted five innings, giving up seven hits and five runs, walking gone and striking out two.
WHITE SOX 1, BRAVES 0
CHICAGO (AP) — Luis Robert Jr. homered in the first inning and five Chicago pitchers combined on a three-hitter as they beat Chris Sale and Atlanta.
Sale (10-3) struck out a season-high 11 in seven innings against his original team. The 35-year-old lefty allowed four hits and walked one in a fourth straight solid start. He was touched up only when Robert connected on a low-inside slider for his eighth home run.
Chicago ended a four-game slide and won for just the second time in nine games. The White Sox have the worst record in the majors at 22-61.
Atlanta has lost two in a row and three of four.
In the makeup of an April 3 rainout, Robert entered batting just .190 but ended an 11-game drought without a home run. He had 38 homers and 80 RBIs during a breakout All-Star season in 2023, but missed nearly two months this year with a right hip flexor strain sustained in Kansas City on April 5.
BLUE JAYS 9, YANKEES 2
TORONTO (AP) — George Springer had three hits, including a pair of three-run home runs, José Berríos pitched seven strong innings and Toronto beat slumping New York, handing them their season-worst fourth straight loss and ninth in 11 games.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. added a solo home run, his 11th, as Toronto won its second straight after losing the previous seven.
Berríos (7-6) went 0-3 in three starts against New York last season. He allowed two runs on two hits, walked three and struck out a season-best eight.
The Yankees opened June with five straight wins, capping an eight-game streak. They are 7-12 since.
New York sluggers Juan Soto and Aaron Judge finished 0 for 7 with four strikeouts. Earlier Thursday, Judge was named a starter for the July 16 All-Star Game.
Trent Grisham hit a two-run home run for the Yankees, who had been one of four teams not to lose four straight this season. Cleveland, Milwaukee and Philadelphia have yet to lose four in a row.
MARLINS 7, PHILLIES 4
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bryce Harper limped off the field with an apparent hamstring injury after making the final out for Philadelphia in their loss to Miami.
Hustling down the line as he tried to beat out a grounder to the right side, Harper reached for his left hamstring after crossing first base and hobbled toward the dugout. He will undergo imaging Friday.
Jake Burger hit a go-ahead solo homer for Miami in the eighth after Bryan De La Cruz tied the score at 3 with a three-run double in the seventh.
Burger sent a first-pitch slider from reliever Jeff Hoffman (3-1) into the left-field seats to snap a 4-all tie, then added an RBI single in the ninth to make it 7-4.
De La Cruz cleared the bases in a four-run seventh with a double off reliever Matt Strahm, who allowed multiple runs in an appearance for the first time since opening day.
Josh Bell followed with an RBI double of his own to give the Marlins a 4-3 lead. It was the 200th double of his career. Bell has 48 RBIs in 62 career games against Philadelphia.
ROYALS 2, GUARDIANS 1
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kyle Isbel and Maikel Garcia hit back-to-back triples to start a sixth-inning rally, and Vinnie Pasquantino delivered the go-ahead sacrifice fly that sent Kansas City to a win over AL Central-leading Cleveland.
Sam Long (2-1) earned the win in relief, wiggling his way out of Michael Wacha’s jam in the sixth and then retiring the side in the seventh. John Schreiber handled the eighth before James McArthur worked a perfect ninth for his 14th save.
Ben Lively (7-4) got some help against one of his former teams from a Cleveland defense that turned a pair of double plays to wipe away leadoff singles. The right-hander wound up allowing two runs on six hits and a walk over six innings.
Wacha permitted one run on seven hits and two walks over 5 1/3 innings while striking out six.
Royals manager Matt Quatraro was ejected by third base umpire Tripp Gibson for arguing a call during the fifth inning.
REDS 11, CARDINALS 4
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jonathan India had two hits to extend his hitting streak to nine games, Spencer Steer homered and Cincinnati beat St. Louis.
India had his sixth straight multi-hit game. He had reached safely in 11 consecutive at-bats before finally being retired Wednesday.
Reds starter Andrew Abbott (7-6) was the winner, allowing two runs on two hits and six walks in five innings. Cincinnati won for the second time in six games.
Miles Mikolas (6-7) lasted 4 1/3 innings, allowing at least one run in each inning he pitched in. He gave up a career-high 10 runs, nine of them earned, on 12 hits and a walk.
Noelvi Marte, in his first game back for the Reds after serving an 80-game suspension for banned substances, had three hits, scored three runs and drove in another.
Elly De La Cruz had three hits and stole his major league-leading 38th base. Steer, Will Benson and Stuart Fairchild also had multi-hit games as the Reds scored double-digit runs for the seventh time this season.
