Jacob deGrom pitched three perfect innings before exiting with right shoulder soreness, but the Mets’ bullpen finished the job as New York earned a 6-3 victory over the visiting Chicago Cubs on Wednesday.
Seven New York pitchers combined on a three-hitter, and the Mets will look to complete a four-game series sweep Thursday.
deGrom got eight strikeouts while retiring all nine hitters he faced on 51 pitches. In the third inning, he appeared to grimace while throwing a pitch to Eric Sogard. When the Mets batted in the bottom half of the third, Sean Reid-Foley began warming up.
The Mets held a 3-0 lead when Reid-Foley (2-0) replaced deGrom to start the fourth inning. deGrom was also lifted early during his last start on Friday due to right flexor tendinitis.
Giants 13, Diamondbacks 7
Arizona tied the major league record for consecutive road defeats with its 22nd, falling victim to a barrage of home runs by San Francisco. The Diamondbacks matched the 1943 Philadelphia Athletics and 1963 New York Mets for the dubious distinction.
Asdrubal Cabrera homered for Arizona, and Ketel Marte and Pavin Smith drove in two runs apiece. The Diamondbacks have dropped 13 games in a row overall.
Buster Posey, Steven Duggar, Lamonte Wade Jr., Wilmer Flores and Brandon Belt homered for the Giants. Anthony DeSclafani (7-2) went five innings and surrendered two runs (one earned) on five hits with five strikeouts. He walked one and struck out five.
Phillies 2, Dodgers 0
Rhys Hoskins ended a long dry spell with a home run and Zack Wheeler pitched six scoreless innings as Philadelphia avoided a three-game sweep with a victory at Los Angeles.
Hoskins ended an 0-for-33 slump with a first-inning home run against Clayton Kershaw as the Phillies won for just the second time in their past seven road games.
Wheeler (5-3) worked his way around five hits and four walks while striking out six. Kershaw (8-6) allowed two runs on eight hits over six innings with a walk and nine strikeouts.
Twins 7, Mariners 2
Nelson Cruz hit a three-run homer in his former home ballpark to lead visiting Minnesota to a victory over Seattle. Ryan Jeffers added a solo shot for the Twins, who snapped a three-game losing streak.
Twins rookie Bailey Ober pitched four scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks while striking out six. Left-hander Caleb Thielbar (1-0) pitched two innings in relief, giving up one run, to earn the victory.
Mariners starter Justus Sheffield (5-6) allowed seven runs on 10 hits in five innings, with two walks and four strikeouts.
Indians 8, Orioles 7
Jose Ramirez homered and had three RBIs, and surging Cleveland held on, extending Baltimore’s franchise-record road losing streak to 18 games.
Ramirez went deep in the first and delivered a two-run single during a five-run third for the Indians, who have won the first three of the four-game set. Aaron Civale (10-2) took over the major league lead in wins despite allowing five runs and nine hits over a season-low five innings. He walked two and struck out two.
Ryan Mountcastle homered for one of his three hits and posted four RBIs for Baltimore, which has dropped seven straight overall. Trey Mancini also had three hits and three runs. Orioles starter Keegan Akin (0-2) yielded eight runs, eight hits, walked three and struck out seven over 5 2/3 innings.
Yankees 3, Blue Jays 2
Gary Sanchez hit a two-run pinch-hit home run in the seventh inning, and New York held off Toronto at Buffalo.
Gerrit Cole (8-3) allowed two runs, four hits and one walk in eight innings for the Yankees, who have won the first two games of the three-game series.
Aroldis Chapman pitched into and out of a jam in the ninth to earn his 14th save. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led off with a single, and Teoscar Hernandez followed with a double. Randal Grichuk struck out, and Guerrero was caught off third on pinch hitter Santiago Espinal’s grounder to Chapman for the second out. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. then lined out to center to end the game.
Astros 8, Rangers 4
Chas McCormick and Jose Altuve slugged two home runs apiece and Houston capped a two-game series sweep of visiting Texas.
The Astros bashed a season-high six home runs, four off Rangers right-hander Jordan Lyles, en route to their 12th victory in 16 games. Martin Maldonado and Myles Straw also went deep for Houston. Alex Bregman departed with a left quad strain prior to the second inning.
Eli White homered twice for Texas to become the second player in club history to post his first two home runs in the same game, joining Carlos Pena (2001). Texas dropped to 0-6 at Minute Maid Park this season and has lost 19 of its past 20 road games.
Red Sox 10, Braves 8
Christian Arroyo hit a long, pinch-hit grand slam in the seventh inning and visiting Boston beat Atlanta to sweep a two-game interleague series.
The winning pitcher was Yacksel Rios (1-0), who retired the only batter he faced in his Boston debut. Adam Ottavino earned his fourth save despite allowing a run in the ninth. Xander Bogaerts collected three hits.
Dansby Swanson hit a three-run homer and Freddie Freeman added a solo shot for the Braves, who got three hits from Ronald Acuna Jr.
Cardinals 1, Marlins 0
Yadier Molina delivered the walk-off RBI single as St. Louis edged visiting Miami to complete a three-game sweep. The Cardinals are 6-0 against the Marlins this season with just six runs allowed.
Cardinals starting pitcher Johan Oviedo threw seven scoreless innings while allowing six hits, striking out four and walking none. Ryan Helsley (4-4) got the last four outs to earn the victory.
Sandy Alcantara (4-6) went the distance for the Marlins, who have lost 11 of their past 12 road games. Alcantara struck out seven batters, walked one and allowed six hits and an unearned run in 8 1/3 innings.
Tigers 6, Royals 5
Willi Castro’s two-run home run keyed a three-run seventh inning and visiting Detroit defeated Kansas City to complete a three-game sweep. The Royals took their straight loss and their 11th defeat in 12 games.
Tarik Skubal (4-7) picked up the win after allowing three runs on six hits in six innings. He struck out seven and walked two. Michael Fulmer gave up two runs in the ninth before finishing off his fifth save.
Royals starter Brady Singer was removed after just three innings with right posterior shoulder tightness. He allowed one run on four hits. Adalberto Mondesi and Salvador Perez homered for Kansas City.
Reds 2, Brewers 1
Tyler Mahle matched a career high with 12 strikeouts and Tucker Barnhart drove in a go-ahead run with a seventh-inning double as Cincinnati edged Milwaukee to complete a three-game sweep.
Mahle (7-2) yielded a run on three hits and two walks in six innings. Lucas Sims got four outs to record his seventh save as the Reds won their sixth straight overall and their eighth in a row on the road.
Brewers starter Freddy Peralta (6-2) gave up two runs on five hits and no walks with six strikeouts. Milwaukee was swept at home by Cincinnati for the first time since August 2009.
White Sox 8, Rays 7 (10 innings)
Yasmani Grandal delivered a walk-off single as Chicago stopped visiting Tampa Bay in the rubber match of the three-game series.
The matchup of the teams with the two best records in the American League lived up to expectations. Chicago led 7-2 after five innings before Tampa Bay chipped away and tied the game with two runs in the eighth.
Andrew Vaughn began the 10th inning as the automatic runner at second, moved to third on Jose Abreu’s groundout and scored on Grandal’s single to right field off Pete Fairbanks (1-1).
Nationals 3, Pirates 1
Josh Bell hit a two-run homer against his former team and Washington sent visiting Pittsburgh to its 10th straight loss.
Yan Gomes homered for the second straight game for the Nationals, who have won four straight and six of eight.
Paolo Espino (1-2) pitched five scoreless innings for his first major league win. The 34-year-old journeyman made the start in place of Max Scherzer, who went on the 10-day injured list Tuesday due to groin inflammation.
Athletics 8, Angels 4
Ramon Laureano returned from a 17-game absence caused by a hip injury and homered for Oakland, which completed a sweep of visiting Los Angeles.
Matt Olson had three hits, Chad Pinder had two hits after entering the game as a pinch hitter in a six-run sixth inning and Mark Canha drove in two runs for the Athletics, who won their sixth straight.
Shohei Ohtani homered into the upper deck in right for the second straight game, giving him 19 on the season for the Angels.
Rockies 8, Padres 7
Charlie Blackmon had a pinch-hit single in the bottom of the ninth to drive in Trevor Story, and Colorado beat San Diego to sweep a three-game series in Denver.
Story had two doubles and two stolen bases, Elias Diaz and C.J. Cron homered and Raimel Tapia had three hits to extend his hitting streak to 13 games for Colorado.
Fernando Tatis, Trent Grisham and Jake Cronenworth hit home runs for the Padres, who have dropped seven of their past eight games.
–Field Level Media
