PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Zack Wheeler struck out 11 in seven innings, Bryce Harper hit a three-run homer and Kyle Schwarber added a solo shot to help the Philadelphia Phillies complete a four-game sweep of the San Francisco Giants with a 6-1 win on Monday.
The major league-leading Phillies (25-11) won their sixth straight and have won 10 of 11 and 17 of 20 to open a three-game lead over Atlanta in the NL East.
The Phillies have also won 10 straight games at Citizens Bank Park, just two wins shy of matching the team record set in 2012. Philadelphia also set a franchise record with 11 straight wins against NL West opponents.
Harper homered for the second straight game and his eighth of the season made it 4-0 against Giants rookie Mason Black (0-1). Black made his major league debut in front of his parents, younger brother, girlfriend and scores of friends and relatives who made the trip to watch him pitch against his boyhood favorite team.
The 24-year-old Black — named the seventh-best prospect in baseball, per MLB.com — was the Giants’ third-round pick in the 2021 draft out of Lehigh University. Black recorded a 1-2-3 first inning that included strikeouts of J.T. Realmuto and Harper, the latter caught looking at an 88 mph changeup.
Black gave up eight hits, five runs and three walks. He struck out four in 4 1/3 innings.
GUARDIANS 2, TIGERS 1
CLEVELAND (AP) — José Ramírez hit a solo homer in the sixth inning, breaking Hall of Famer Larry Doby’s franchise record with his 87th career go-ahead blast and lifting Cleveland to a win over Detroit.
Ramírez’s drive off starter Jack Flaherty (0-2) hit the foul pole in right field, snapping a 1-all tie that had stood since the first. The Guardians have the second-best record in the American League at 23-12.
Riley Greene homered on the first pitch of the game for Detroit, which lost its fourth straight. The shot off Triston McKenzie was Greene’s second leadoff homer of the season and the third of his three-year career.
Nick Sandlin (3-0) worked 1 1/3 innings for the win and Emmanuel Clase earned his 11th save, moving into a four-way tie for the most in the majors.
PIRATES 4, ANGELS 1
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Edward Olivares hit his first career grand slam and Mitch Keller pitched a five-hitter to lead Pittsburgh to a victory over the Los Angeles Angels.
Olivares’ slam came off Tyler Anderson in the third inning to break a scoreless tie as the Pirates went on to their third consecutive victory following a five-game losing streak. The Angels lost for the 14th time in 17 games.
The Pirates loaded the bases with no outs in the third as Andrew McCutchen and Ke’Bryan Hayes sandwiched walks around Bryan Reynolds’ double. One out later, Olivares hit a 424-foot drive into the left-field bleachers.
Keller (3-3) allowed only one run on Zach Neto’s solo shot in the fifth inning and threw 109 pitches in his second career complete game. He struck out five and walked one while getting 14 outs on ground balls in a game that lasted just 1:55.
RAYS 8, WHITE SOX 2
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Jonny DeLuca continued his hot stretch with a homer and four RBIs, and Tampa Bay beat Mike Clevinger and the Chicago White Sox for their fourth consecutive win.
DeLuca has driven in 10 runs in four games after being sidelined with a broken right hand all season.
DeLuca had a two-run single in a three-run second against Clevinger, and hit a two-run drive off Jared Shuster during a three-run fifth that made it 7-2.
Clevinger (0-1) was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte before the game, and allowed four runs, six hits and four walks without a strikeout over two-plus innings in his season debut.
Clevinger got a late start this season after finalizing a $3 million, one-year contract on April 4. He went 9-9 with a 3.77 ERA and two complete games in 24 starts with the White Sox last season before becoming a free agent.
Tommy Pham hit a two-run homer for the AL-worst White Sox (8-27), who had won two in a row and five of nine. Chicago swept a three-game home series with the Rays April 26-28.
ROYALS 3, BREWERS 2
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Michael Massey homered and Maikel Garcia singled in two runs in a three-run seventh inning as Kansas City rallied past Milwaukee.
After the Royals did next to nothing against Milwaukee starter Bryse Wilson, who allowed one hit and struck out six in six scoreless innings, they broke through in the seventh against the Brewers’ bullpen.
Massey greeted Jared Koenig (2-1) with a 412-foot homer to right-center. Koenig was lifted with one out after a walk and a hit batsman, and Garcia hit a bases-loaded single up the middle against Elvis Peguero.
Cole Ragans allowed two runs on two hits in six innings for the Royals, striking out eight. Nick Anderson (2-1) pitched a scoreless seventh. Tyler Duffey and Will Smith got through the eighth — helped by catcher Salvador Perez, who threw out Jackson Chourio trying to steal third — and Chris Stratton worked the ninth for his second save.
Gary Sánchez hit a two-run homer in the fourth for the Brewers, taking advantage of a strong southerly wind. He got a 2-1 fastball up into the air and it landed 427 feet away in the seats in left-center.
TWINS 3, MARINERS 1
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Simeon Woods Richardson struck out a career-high eight in six shutout innings of one-hit ball, and Minnesota scored twice in the seventh to beat Seattle Mariners in the opener of their four-game series.
Minnesota rebounded quickly after its 12-game winning streak was snapped Sunday with a 9-2 loss to Boston.
Woods Richardson issued just one walk. He struck out five of the first six batters he faced and had seven strikeouts through three innings. The only hit he permitted was a leadoff single by Mitch Garver in the third.
Seattle loaded the bases with nobody out in the seventh but pushed across only one run against reliever Griffin Jax (3-2). Garver’s sacrifice fly plated Jorge Polanco to tie it 1-all before Luke Raley struck out to end the threat.
Seattle starter Luis Castillo (3-5) went 6 2/3 innings and struck out seven. He allowed three runs — two earned.
