The red-hot Atlanta Braves have now won 10 of their past 11 games after defeating the Houston Astros 6-2 on Friday, with their top-three batters combining for seven hits.
After two scoreless innings to begin the game, the Braves' big-three delivered, with singles to Ronald Acuna Jr and Dansby Swanson followed by a three-run home run to National League MVP candidate Austin Riley.
It was Riley's 31st dinger of the season, which ties him for third in the majors, and his 267 total bases trails only New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge (285).
The Astros fought back in the fifth inning as Kyle Tucker launched a 445-foot solo moon shot, and Jose Altuve delivered an RBI single later in the same frame to cut the margin to 3-2.
But an inning later the Braves re-established their dominance, as Swanson came through with a two-run double, and Matt Olson's sacrifice fly made it 6-2.
The Atlanta bullpen was flawless after coming in to relieve Kyle Wright, who was credited with his 15th win of the season for giving up two runs in six complete innings, striking out seven.
In relief, Collin McHugh and Kenley Jansen combined to allow just one hit and no walks from the final three innings, striking out five of the 10 batters they faced.
The Braves own the third-best record in the National League at 74-47, five-and-a-half games back from the New York Mets (77-43) and nine games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (81-36).
Yankees cold streak continues
The New York Yankees have not won a series since July, and they will not win their current slate against the Toronto Blue Jays after dropping the first two of the four-game series, getting shut out 4-0 on Friday.
Blue Jays ace Kevin Gausman was at the top of his game, making it through seven complete innings while only allowing four hits and one walk, striking out seven.
The most significant swing of the bat came from Teoscar Hernandez, who sent Jameson Taillon's pitch 421 feet over the center-field wall in the fourth inning, while Vladimir Guerrero Jr became the youngest in Blue Jays history to reach 500 hits.
McKenzie strikes out 14 in Guardians win
The Cleveland Guardians may be unearthing their ace of the future as 25-year-old starter Triston McKenzie struck out 14 batters in his side's 5-2 win against the Chicago White Sox.
McKenzie, standing at six-foot-five, has the seventh-best WHIP (walks and hits per inning) in the majors, and has now struck out at least six batters in four of his past six starts, including an eight-inning, 12-strikeout, shut-out performance against the Detroit Tigers last month.
With the bat, Cleveland's most valuable player Jose Ramirez hit his 23rd home run of the season, and rookie Steven Kwan collected an RBI triple to raise his batting average to over .300 for the season.
Yankees slugger Judge goes back on injured list
The New York Yankees will be without slugger Aaron Judge for at least the next 10 days, with the superstar going back on the injured list with a contusion and sprained ligament in his right big toe.
An MRI on Tuesday showed Judge has no break or fracture in his toe, but a sprain will keep him sidelined until at least mid-June.
The 2022 AL MVP sustained the injury while making a highlight-reel catch against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday. He knocked open the door of the visiting bullpen while making the catch and slammed his toe against the concrete at the bottom of the wall.
This is the second time this season that Judge will spend time on the injured list after a right hip strain forced him to miss two weeks in late April/early May.
Judge is putting together another stellar season, batting .291 with an AL-best 19 home runs and 40 RBIs in 49 games.
Blue Jays send struggling Alek Manoah to minors
The 2022 season could not have gone much better for Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Alek Manoah.
The 2023 season, meanwhile, could not have started much worse for the struggling right-hander.
The Blue Jays sent Manoah to the rookie-level Florida Complex League on Tuesday, one day after he managed to get just one out in an 11-4 loss to the Houston Astros.
The 25-year-old has been a major disappointment this season after finishing third in AL Cy Young Award balloting in 2022 and earning a selection to the All-Star Game.
Through 58 innings and 13 starts this year, Manoah has surrendered 45 runs - 10 fewer runs than he permitted all of 2022 in 196 2/3 innings.
He's 1-7 with a 6.36 ERA this year after going 16-7 with a 2.24 ERA in 31 starts last season. As a rookie in 2021, he was 9-2 with a 3.22 ERA in 20 starts.
Among the 96 players in the majors with at least 50 innings pitched this season, Manoah's ERA is the ninth highest while his 1.90 WHIP is second worst.
This is after he compiled the fourth-lowest ERA and 10th-lowest WHIP (0.99), among all qualifying MLB pitchers in 2022.
His latest outing was the shortest out of 64 career starts.
Manoah faced nine Astros and got just one out, allowing six runs and seven hits - including a grand slam - while walking one.
He'll now be working at one of the lowest minor league levels.
Reds call up highly touted prospect Elly De La Cruz
The future is now for the Cincinnati Reds.
Elly De La Cruz will make his highly anticipated major league debut after the Reds called up the touted prospect ahead of Tuesday's series opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
With the lethal combination of power and speed, the 21-year-old shortstop is ranked as Baseball America's third-best prospect, and has been crushing the ball in the minors.
In 38 games this season for Triple-A Louisville, Cruz slashed .297/.398/.633 with 12 home runs, 11 doubles and 11 stolen bases. He's also driven in 36 runs and scored 38.
This came after he hit .304 with 28 homers and stole 47 bases in 120 games last year for Class A Dayton and Double-A Chattanooga.
Signed as a teenager by Cincinnati out of the Dominican Republic, the tall middle infielder has drawn comparisons to Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz.
De La Cruz joins a Reds team that has won three in a row to improve to 27-33, and is surprisingly in the mix in the pedestrian NL Central, sitting 5 /1/2 games behind the first-place Pirates.
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