KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Bobby Witt Jr. had four hits, including two home runs, and five RBIs and the Kansas City Royals used a nine-run first inning to defeat the Houston Astros 13-3 Thursday to complete a three-game sweep and extend their winning streak to seven games.
Vinnie Pasquantino, who came into Wednesday’s game hitting .108 with no RBIs, was 3-for-5 with three RBIs and now is hitting .222 with eight RBIs.
The Royals completed a perfect seven-game homestand against the White Sox and Astros. It’s just the third time in franchise history they’ve played at least seven games on a homestand without a loss. The other two: seven games in 1988 and eight games in 1985, the year they won their first World Series.
Brady Singer (2-0) allowed one run and five hits in five innings.
Hunter Brown (0-2) got only two outs, but allowed nine runs and 11 hits.
The Royals sent 15 men to the plate in the first inning, tying a club record with 11 hits in the inning (also set in 1986 and 2006). It was the second straight game they’ve batted around in an inning, sending 11 men to the plate in a seven-run inning Wednesday night.
METS 16, BRAVES 4
DJ Stewart hit a two-run homer in New York’s four-run third inning and pinch-hitter Tyrone Taylor hit a ninth-inning grand slam to cap the rout as the Mets beat Atlanta.
Jose Quintana (1-1) gave up three runs in 5 1/3 innings. Jeff McNeil drove in three runs with two hits in the best game of the season for the Mets’ bats. New York set season highs for runs and with 16 hits.
Stewart’s homer, which gave the Mets a 7-0 lead, was his second of the series. The designated hitter had no hits this season before hitting a two-run homer in the Mets’ 8-7 win in the series opener on Monday night.
Infielder Luis Guillorme gave up the grand slam to Taylor in his first appearance with the Braves. Guillorme was used as a pitcher for the first time since appearances on the mound for the Mets in the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
New York won two of three games in the rain-shortened series and four of six games on the road trip.
ATHLETICS 1, RANGERS 0
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — JP Sears carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and combined with three relievers on a one-hitter, Seth Brown homered to supply the game’s only run and Oakland beat Texas.
Sears (1-1) allowed leadoff walks in the first, second and fifth innings before Adolis García ended the no-hit bid by lining a one-out single to left field in the seventh on an 0-2 sweeper. The 28-year-old left-hander was was then pulled after throwing 88 pitches. He struck out five, including 2023 World Series MVP Corey Seager three times.
After García’s single, Austin Adams hit Jonah Heim with a pitch. Pinch-hitter Jared Walsh then hit a blooper between the mound and second base. Second baseman Zack Galof slid while attempting to make the catch, but dropped the ball. Adams picked up the ball and threw to third base to force García for the second out. Third baseman Abraham Toro then threw to second, forcing Heim and completing a bizarre inning-ending double play.
Adams and Luca Erceg didn’t allow hits in their relief stints and Mason Miller pitched a perfect ninth for his second save.
It was the second time this week that Texas was hitless until the sixth inning. Houston’s Ronel Blanco threw 5 2/3 no-hit innings in the Astros’ 3-1 win on Sunday night.
PHILLIES 5, PIRATES 1
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Ranger Suárez struck out eight over six shutout innings, Brandon Marsh and Bryson Stott hit two-run homers and Alec Bohm also went deep to lead Philadelphia past Pittsburgh.
The Phillies won the opener of a season-high, 10-game homestand that included four with the Pirates, and three games each against the Colorado Rockies and Chicago White Sox.
Bohm — who had no homers this season after hitting 20 last season — socked his first off Pirates starter Jared Jones over the outstretched glove of centerfielder Michael A. Taylor for the 1-0 lead.
Marsh hit a two-run homer — after a brief review overturned a double call — in the inning that chased Jones. Stott also hit his first homer of the season, a two-run shot later in the inning off reliever Colin Holderman for a 5-0 lead.
ORIOLES 9, RED SOX 4, 10 INNINGS
BOSTON (AP) — Colton Cowser hit the first two homers of his career, including a three-run shot in the 10th inning, and Baltimore rallied past Boston to complete a three-game sweep of their AL East rivals.
Gunnar Henderson opened the Orioles’ six-run 10th with a two-run homer against Isaiah Campbell (0-1), scoring automatic runner Jackson Holliday.
The 20-year-old Holliday, baseball’s top-rated prospect who made his big league debut a night earlier, scored two runs but went 0-for-4 for the second straight game.
Cowser, another Orioles prospect who struggled during a brief stint in the majors last season, drove in 10 runs in the series.
A night after the Orioles rallied from a 5-0 deficit to win 7-5, they fell behind 2-0 before coming back, thanks in part to some shaky defense by the Red Sox.
Boston led 2-1 when Holliday reached on an error by third baseman Pablo Reyes leading off the eighth. With one out, Adley Rutschman hit what appeared to be an inning-ending double-play grounder, but the Orioles challenged the call, and after a review, Holliday was ruled safe at second because shortstop David Hamilton missed the bag while making the turn.
