Christian Walker continued his Dodger Stadium rampage with two more home runs and Joc Pederson added a blast against his former team to lead the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 9-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night.
Walker went deep in his first two at-bats for his 18th and 19th home runs in 42 career games at the ballpark. He has homered in five straight games at the third-oldest park in the majors, tying the longest single-season streak at Dodger Stadium with Pederson, who did it in 2015 with Los Angeles.
Walker hit five home runs in the three-game series, and he has nine this season against the Dodgers and 22 overall.
Pederson and Walker went back-to-back with two outs in the first inning off rookie Landon Knack. Pederson walked with two outs in the third and Walker followed with a two-run shot to extend Arizona's lead to 4-0.
Justin Martinez struck out five over three scoreless innings for the win.
Gabriel Moreno had three hits, including a two-run double in the ninth, as the Diamondbacks won for the fourth time in five games.
Dodgers' stars Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman struck out three times each.
Reds sweep struggling Yankees
Nick Martini, Jonathan India and Spencer Steer homered to back Frankie Montas' triumphant return to Yankee Stadium as the Cincinnati Reds defeated reeling New York 8-4 to complete a three-game sweep.
Steer's three-run shot in the fifth inning off Marcus Stroman extended Cincinnati's lead to 5-0, and Jake Fraley made it 8-2 with a bases-loaded triple in the seventh.
The Reds became the first NL team to sweep a regular-season interleague series in the Bronx.
Montas took a shutout into the fifth and allowed two runs, four hits and three walks in five-plus innings to end a four-start winless streak. He struggled to a 6.35 ERA in eight starts with the Yankees in 2022.
Ben Rice hit his first career home run, Austin Well also went deep and Juan Soto added his 21st of the season for the Yankees, who have lost 13 of 17 and 14 of 19 after a 49-21 start.
Irvin, Nationals 1-hit Mets
Jake Irvin pitched one-hit ball over a career-high eight innings and Jesse Winker hit a pinch-hit home run to lift the Washington Nationals to a 1-0 victory over the New York Mets.
Irvin struck out eight, walked one and threw 99 pitches. He gave up his only hit on Jeff McNeil's third-inning single.
Derek Law pitched a perfect ninth for his first save of the season.
Winker hit a curveball from reliever Adrian Houser 407 feet to right-center field for his fifth career pinch-hit home run and his 10th of any kind this season.
Jose Quintana nearly matched Irvin, allowing four hits over seven scoreless innings.
Washington won their second straight and sent New York to their seventh shutout of the season.
Devers delivers as Red Sox extend Yankees’ woes
Rafael Devers hit home runs in the seventh and ninth innings, Kutter Crawford needed just 68 pitches to get through seven innings and the Boston Red Sox beat the New York Yankees 3-0 on Sunday.
New York managed just four hits and were handed a 15th loss in their last 20 games.
The Red Sox, meanwhile, have fought their way back into contention in a competitive AL East by winning 16 of their last 22 games.
Devers, whose seventh-inning solo shot off Luis Gil broke a scoreless tie, has hit seven home runs in his last 11 games and is batting .405 over that stretch.
Boston’s other run came on an eighth-inning homer by Ceddanne Rafaela.
Crawford was efficient in collecting his third win in his last four starts, throwing 54 of his 68 pitches for strikes.
New York’s offence wasted a quality start from Gil, who allowed four hits and one run in 6 2/3 innings while striking out nine.
Three of the Yankees’ four hits came from batters in the seventh, eighth and ninth spots in the order.
Braves bash 4 HRs to back Lopez
Reynaldo Lopez pitched six scoreless innings, and the Atlanta Braves hit four home runs en route to a 6-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Playing for his fourth team in two seasons, Lopez improved to 7-2 and lowered his ERA to 1.71.
The Braves jumped on Phillies starting pitcher Michael Mercado early, with Jarred Kelenic, Matt Olson and Adam Duvall each homering in the second inning to build a 5-0 lead.
Eli White added an insurance run by hitting a solo shot in the sixth inning.
The Phillies had five hits – including Alec Bohm’s 30th double of the season – and three walks but were 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position.
Atlanta took two of three in the series but still trail Philadelphia by eight games in the NL East.
Guardians top Giants to continue home dominance
Bo Naylor launched a pinch-hit, three-run homer in the sixth inning to take the lead, and the Cleveland Guardians beat the San Francisco Giants 5-4 to continue their dominant play at Progressive Field.
The win gave the Guardians a league-leading 30-11 home record, and Cleveland are yet to lose a series at home this season.
Naylor’s clutch home run came with two outs and after falling behind in the count, 0-2. After working the count, Naylor sent a 2-2 pitch over the right-field wall for his first career pinch-hit home run.
Naylor’s older brother Josh, who was named to his first All-Star team on Sunday, had an RBI single in the fourth.
Josh Naylor will be joined at the All-Star Game by teammates Jose Ramirez, Steven Kwan, David Fry and Emmanuel Clase. Cleveland’s five selections were the most of any American League team.
Pirates rookie Skenes, 7 Phillies highlight All-Star selections
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes reached another milestone in his meteoric rise Sunday, when MLB announced the rookie sensation was selected as an All-Star less than two months after his big-league debut.
Skenes, 22, has used his 100-mph fastball to dazzle fans and frustrate hitters, just 10 starts into his MLB career.
The 2023 top overall draft pick is 5-0 with a 2.12 ERA and has 78 strikeouts in 59 1/3 innings pitched.
The Philadelphia Phillies had a league-high and franchise-record seven players selected to the All-Star Game, which will be played on July 16 at Globe Life Field in Texas.
The Phillies will send pitchers Zack Wheeler, Ranger Suarez, Jeff Hoffman and Matt Strahm to the Midsummer Classic. Position players Bryce Harper, Trea Turner and Alec Bohm were voted by fans as starters, although Harper remains on the injured list with a left hamstring strain.
The Los Angeles Dodgers had six players selected, including injured shortstop Mookie Betts, who got the nod for the eighth straight season. Freddy Freeman was named an All-Star for the sixth year in a row (eight total selections), while Shohei Ohtani will make his fourth consecutive appearance.
The Cleveland Guardians had five players named to the All-Star roster, the most in the American League. Jose Ramirez and MLB batting leader Steven Kwan were voted in by the fans and will be joined by Emmanuel Clase, David Fry and Josh Naylor.
This year’s game will feature 32 players who are first-time All-Stars. San Diego Padres outfielder Jurickson Profar got the nod for the first time during his 11th MLB season.
Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez and Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve were each selected for the ninth time, the most of any player on this year’s rosters.
MLB: Rice hits 3 homers, drives in 7 as Yankees rout rival Red Sox
Ben Rice became the first Yankees rookie to hit three home runs in a game and had a career-high seven RBIs in New York’s 14-4 drubbing of the Boston Red Sox on Saturday.
Rice led off the bottom of the first with a long homer off Josh Winckowski, added a three-run shot off Chase Anderson during a seven-run fifth and took Anderson deep again in the seventh for another three-run blast.
Rice entered the game with one home run in his first 46 major league at-bats.
The Yankees snapped a four-game losing streak and won for just the fourth time in 16 games.
The 14-hit attack bailed out Gerrit Cole, who allowed seven hits and four runs over 4 1/3 innings with eight strikeouts and two walks.
Rafael Devers homered off Cole and had an RBI single in the third for his 1,000th career hit.
Boston was bidding for a season-high sixth straight win.
Twins’ Miranda ties record with hits in 12 straight at-bats
Jose Miranda tied a major league record with hits in 12 consecutive plate appearances and the Minnesota Twins got home runs from Byron Buxton and Brooks Lee in a 9-3 victory over the Houston Astros.
Miranda entered with the team record of hits in 10 straight at-bats and was hit by a pitch in his first plate appearance. He then singled in his first two official at-bats to match the MLB record set by the Chicago Cubs’ Johnny King (1902) and matched by Boston’s Pinky Higgins (1938) and Detroit’s Walt Dropo (1952).
Miranda’s streak ended in the sixth inning on a routine flyout to left field.
Willi Castro added three hits for the Twins, who have won seven of 10.
Every Minnesota starter had at least one hit by the fourth inning. Lee hit a two-run homer for the first of his major league career in the third to put the Twins up 7-1.
Jon Singleton belted a three-run homer for Houston, which lost for only the third time in 16 games.
Wood’s big day powers Nationals to rout
Top prospect James Wood hit his first major league home run and drove in a career-high five runs to lead the Washington Nationals to a 14-6 rout of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Wood hit a 383-foot, three-run opposite field homer in the second inning to put the Nationals ahead 7-0. He added a two-run double in the third for his fifth RBI, tied for second all-time for a Washington rookie. Danny Espinosa had six RBIs on Sept. 6, 201.
Wood has reached based in all six games as a National, tied with Ian Desmond (2009) for second overall in club history.
The homer and double were his first extra-base hits at the major league level.
Keibert Ruiz and CJ Abrams also homered for Washington, which scored a season high in runs on 15 hits with three homers and four doubles to win for the third time in four games.
Lance Lynn was rocked for a career worst 11 runs and nine hits in 2 2/3 innings.
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