DJ Herz was masterful in his third career start, striking out 13 and allowing one hit over six stellar innings to lead the Washington Nationals to a 4-0 win over the Miami Marlins on Saturday.
Herz, a 23-year-old left-hander who made his major league debut on June 4, struck out eight of the first 10 batters and his total was the second-highest by a rookie for the Nationals since the team moved to Washington for 2005, surpassed only by Stephen Strasburg’s 14 in his debut on June 8, 2010.
Herz did not make it out of the fifth inning in his first two starts but didn’t allow a runner in this one until Jake Burger’s leadoff single in the fifth. He struck out the side in the third and sixth innings and was lifted after throwing 84 pitches.
He joins Strasburg as the only pitchers in major league history to strike out at least 13 without a walk in one of their first three career outings.
Herz also is just the third pitcher since 1988 to fan at least 13 on fewer than 85 pitches. The others are Clayton Kerhsaw (2022) and Greg Maddux (2000).
Dylan Floro, Hunter Harvey and Kyle Finnegan finished the four-hitter to seal Washington’s seventh win in eight games.
The Marlins lost their fourth straight and dropped to 2-10 in June.
Yamamoto leaves early in Dodgers’ loss
Seth Lugo became the second 10-game winner in the majors and MJ Melendez hit a grand slam after Yoshinobu Yamamoto exited early in the Kansas City Royals’ 7-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Yamamoto left after two innings due to triceps tendinitis following two scoreless innings. This is Yamamoto’s first year in the majors after he signed a record $325 million, 12-year contract in December.
He had thrown over 100 pitches in four consecutive starts entering Saturday and his scheduled start on Thursday against Texas was pushed back for extra rest.
Lugo limited the Dodgers to two runs and six hits in six innings to join Philadelphia’s Ranger Suarez as the only 10-game winners in the majors.
The Royals got all the offence they needed in the sixth to erase a 2-1 deficit. Vinnie Pasquantino, Nelson Velazquez and Freddy Fermin all drew one-out walks off Blake Treinen, who struck out pinch-hitter Adam Frazier before Melendez connected on the 12th pitch of his at-bat for his first career grand slam.
Santander powers Orioles past Phillies
Anthony Santander hit a pair of home runs and drove in four to back Grayson Rodriguez’s strong start as the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-2 in a matchup of two of baseball’s top teams.
Santander hit a tying solo homer in the fourth inning and his two-run blast in the eighth extended the lead to 5-2. He also added a sixth-inning sacrifice fly.
Santander leads the majors with eight home runs in June.
Rodriguez allowed two runs on seven hits over seven innings with one walk and six strikeouts to win his third straight start.
Edmundo Sosa hit a solo homer for the NL-best Phillies, who have lost three of four.
MLB: Rangers' Scherzer wins in return
Max Scherzer allowed one hit over five scoreless innings in a triumphant return to the mound as the Texas Rangers earned a 4-0 win over the sputtering Kansas City Royals on Sunday to complete a three-game series sweep.
Scherzer retired 15 of the 16 batters he faced in a dominant delayed season debut. The three-time Cy Young Award winner was making his first appearance in a major league game since last year's World Series after recovering from back surgery and a nerve issue in his right arm.
The 39-year-old set down the first 13 Kansas City hitters before surrendering a ground-rule double to MJ Melendez with one out in the fifth inning.
Leody Taveras led Texas offensively by going 2 for 4 and delivering a two-run single as the Rangers scored three times in the fourth inning to break a 0-0 deadlock.
Adolis Garcia led off the inning by drawing a walk against Alec Marsh and Nathaniel Lowe followed with an infield single to put two on for Wyatt Langford, who drilled a double to center to plate Garcia with the game's first run.
Marsh got the next two hitters out but couldn't retire Taveras, who blooped a ball into left field that fell in to extend Texas' lead to 3-0.
The Royals managed just two hits on the day and lost for the 11th time in 14 games. Jose Urena relieved Scherzer and gave up one hit over the final four innings to record his first save of the season and close out the Rangers' fourth straight win.
Josh Smith accounted for Texas' final run with a solo homer in the seventh inning.
Marsh (5-5) worked 5 2/3 innings and allowed three runs on eight hits.
Lopez fans 14 in eight scoreless innings in Twins' win
Pablo Lopez also came through with a masterful pitching performance Sunday, as the Minnesota ace struck out 14 Oakland Athletics hitters over eight shutout innings in the Twins' 3-0 win.
Lopez (7-6) retired the first 17 Oakland hitters before Lawrence Butler broke up the perfect-game bid with a clean single with two out in the sixth inning. The 2023 All-Star yielded just one other hit and a walk while matching a career high for strikeouts.
Byron Buxton supplied the offence for Minnesota, which took two of three games in the series, by going 2 for 3 with a homer and two runs batted in.
Buxton's solo homer off Hogan Harris in the second inning staked the Twins to a 1-0 lead. Harris held Minnesota scoreless over the next four innings, but ran into trouble in the seventh.
Carlos Santana and Willi Castro began the inning with back-to-back singles before Buxton chased Harris with a run-scoring double. Castro then scored the Twins' final run on a fielder's choice off the bat of Kyle Farmer.
Harris (1-1) was charged with all three Minnesota runs while giving up five hits in six-plus innings.
Griffin Jax relieved Lopez to start the ninth and struck out two more A's hitters to wrap up Minnesota's eighth win in 11 games.
Valdez's gem gives Astros sweep of Orioles
Framber Valdez shut down the Baltimore Orioles' potent lineup over seven strong innings to lead the surging Houston Astros to an 8-1 win and a three-game series sweep of one of the American League's top teams.
Valdez (6-5) scattered six hits and struck out seven while permitting one run to help Houston to a fifth consecutive win. The defending AL West champions are now two games under .500 (38-40) for the first time since losing their first two contests of the season.
The Astros also received plenty of offence to become just the second team to sweep a three-game series from Baltimore this season. Yainer Diaz and Jeremy Pena each had three hits and three RBIs, Alex Bregman went 4 for 4 with two runs scored and Jose Altuve homered among his two hits.
Houston wasted no time getting on the board, as Altuve launched Orioles' starter Albert Suarez's first pitch of the game over the left field wall to ignite a four-run opening inning.
Bregman followed with a double and scored on Diaz's one-out single before Pena stroked a run-scoring double to quickly put Houston up 3-0. Mauricio Dubon then plated Pena with a single to cap the big inning.
The Astros tacked on another run off Suarez in the fourth when Cesar Salazar singled, took third on another Bregman double and scored on Diaz's sacrifice fly.
Suarez (3-2) was tagged for five runs and 10 hits in five innings of work.
Jordan Westburg homered off Valdez in the top of the sixth for Baltimore's only run, but the Astros would score twice more in the bottom of the inning to pad the margin.
Bregman and Diaz each reached on singles before Pena drove in both with a double that increased the lead to 7-1.
Altuve singled in the eighth and later scored Houston's final run on Diaz's second sac fly of the game.
MLB: Judge hits MLB-best 28th HR as Yankees lose Stanton in win
Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 28th home run and Marcus Stroman pitched into the seventh inning as the New York Yankees avoided a fourth straight loss with an 8-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday night.
Marcell Ozuna opened the scoring with a home run off Stroman in the first inning, but Judge answered in the bottom half with a two-run shot - his 10th in the last 19 games.
Judge grounded into a double play in the third to make it 3-1, and he drew a bases-loaded walk in the sixth for his MLB-leading 70th RBI.
Stroman limited the Braves to a solo homer before allowing two runs in the seventh. He gave up three runs and three hits in 6 2/3 innings with two walks and six strikeouts to win for the fifth time in six decisions.
Trent Grisham also homered and Juan Soto reached base four times on a single and three walks to help the Yankees avoid their longest losing streak of the season.
New York’s Giancarlo Stanton left due to left hamstring tightness. He doubled in the fourth and winced when he rounded third on Gleyber Torres’ double. Grisham pinch hit for Stanton leading off the sixth and the Yankees said the oft-injured slugger will have imaging Sunday.
Travis d’Arnaud went deep for the Braves, who lost for the second time in nine games.
Ohtani goes deep again in rout
Shohei Ohtani continued his torrid home run pace with a two-run shot and Tyler Glasnow struck out 10 over seven innings to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 7-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels for a split of the Freeway Series.
After Gavin Lux led off the bottom of the third against Zach Plesac with a home run, Cavan Biggio singled before Ohtani launched a 459-foot blast to right to put the Dodgers up 3-0.
Ohtani homered in his third straight game and has six in his last seven games to increase his NL-best total to 23.
Glasnow gave up two runs – one earned – and two hits without a walk in his second straight excellent outing.
The Dodgers have won 11 of the last 12 meetings with the Angels.
Kwan continues surge in Guardians’ win
Red-hot Steven Kwan homered and Jose Ramirez and Bo Naylor added two-run shots as the Cleveland Guardians handled the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-3.
Kwan went 2 for 4 with a double to raise his average to .390 but he doesn’t have enough at-bats to qualify as the major league batting leader after he missed several weeks with a hamstring injury.
Since returning to the lineup on May 31, Kwan is batting .468 (29 for 62) with three home runs, 11 RBIs and 17 runs in 16 games. He had a 14-game hitting streak snapped Friday.
Cleveland (48-26) hit all three homers off Jose Berrios to win its fourth straight and move a season-best 22 games over .500.
Toronto has dropped five in a row, matching its longest skid of the season.
MLB: Sale beats Yankees as surging Braves pound Rodon
Chris Sale became the third in the majors to reach 10 wins and Ozzie Albies, Matt Olson and Austin Riley homered off Carlos Rodon as the surging Atlanta Braves rolled to an 8-1 rout of the New York Yankees on Friday night.
Sale allowed one hit and one run over five innings with three walks and eight strikeouts to join Philadelphia’s Ranger Suarez and Kansas City’s Seth Lugo as 10-game winners.
Four relievers finished up the three-hitter.
The Braves built a 2-0 lead on Rodon’s first two pitches as Jarred Kelenic singled before Albies homered to left.
Riley added his seventh home run later in the inning for a 3-0 lead. He finished 2 for 3 with two walks and has 12 hits in his last 22 at-bats, including four homers and four doubles.
Kelenic singled home a run in the second and Ramon Laureano doubled home another run in the third. Olson’s two-run blast in the fourth made it 7-1 and an error by left fielder Jahmai Jones allowed the eighth run to score.
Atlanta has won four in a row and seven of its last eight games.
Rodon, who also was bidding for his 10th victory, was tagged for season highs of eight runs and 11 hits in 3 2/3 innings. He lost his second straight start following a personal seven-game winning streak.
The Yankees have lost three straight and five of six after winning 12 of 15.
Ohtani homers against former team in loss
Shohei Ohtani hit a two-run homer in his first game against his former team, but Taylor Ward singled home the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th inning to lift the Los Angeles Angels to a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Nolan Schanuel sacrificed automatic runner Jo Adell to third to open the 10th. Evan Phillips then retired Luis Rengifo on a groundout with Adell holding, but Ward followed with a single to left to give the Angels their first lead of the game.
Ohtani’s two-run blast off reliever Matt Moore in the fifth opened the scoring. It was his National League-leading 22nd homer of the season and seventh in the last 11 games.
He finished 2 for 3 with two RBIs and two walks in his first game against the Angels, the team he spent his first six major league seasons with before signing a 10-year contract with the Dodgers in December.
The Angels tied it in the next inning when Zach Neto was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and an RBI groundout from Mickey Moniak.
Mets hammer Imanaga, Cubs
J.D. Martinez, Francisco Alvarez and Brandon Nimmo homered against Shota Imanaga to power the New York Mets to an 11-1 drubbing of the Chicago Cubs.
Francisco Lindor had three hits and two runs and Jose Iglesias added four hits and three RBIs to help the Mets win for the eighth time in nine games.
They are 12-3 in their last 15 games and averaging 6.6 runs during that stretch.
Imanaga was roughed up for 10 runs and 11 hits in three-plus innings after he pitched seven innings of three-hit ball in a 1-0 win over the Mets on May 1. His ERA ballooned from 1.89 to 2.96 following the shortest outing of his rookie season.
Jose Quintana allowed one unearned run and four hits over 6 1/3 innings while striking out eight in his second straight win.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
