Brad Miller recorded a three-homer game for the first time in his career as the Philadelphia Phillies crushed the Chicago Cubs 8-0 at Wrigley Field in the MLB on Thursday.
The Cubs, who snapped their 11-game losing run with Wednesday's 8-3 win over the Phillies, returned to their recent form woes.
Chicago failed to score on the night, with Phillies pitcher Zach Eflin having five strikeouts across six innings but Miller played a major role in his 14th career multi-home run game.
Miller hit a home run in the third inning to left field. In the fifth inning, he hit another from Adbert Alzolay over the wall.
The 31-year-old hitter saved his best for last with a monster into the old Wrigley Field scoreboard at right field in the seventh inning, wearing a third Phillies home-run sombrero to salute. Miller only had six homers for the season coming into the game.
Garcia lifts Brewers to victory
Avisail Garcia hit a two-run homer at the bottom of the eighth inning to earn the Milwaukee Brewers a 5-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds. The Brewers are now 53-36, while Garcia has 16 home runs this season.
The Los Angeles Dodgers drove in five runs in the fifth inning on their way to a 6-1 road win over the Miami Marlins to round out their series.
Logan Gilbert sent down eight strikeouts across seven innings as the Seattle Mariners won 4-0 over the New York Yankees.
Nats blow 8-0 lead
The Washington Nationals blew an 8-0 lead against the San Diego Padres, losing 9-8 in a walk off. Star pitcher Max Scherzer saw seven runs in the fourth inning before leaving the game as their 8-0 lead disintegrated. Among those was Daniel Camarena's spectacular grand slam, making him the first relief pitcher to achieve that since 1985.
Indians walk-off win
Franmil Reyes secured a 7-4 walk-off win for the Cleveland Indians with a three-run home run. The deep center-field bomb was Reyes' second career walk-off homer and it also ended Cleveland's nine-game losing stretch.
Thursday's results
Los Angeles Dodgers 6-1 Miami Marlins
Oakland Athletics 2-1 Houston Astros
Colorado Rockies 9-3 Arizona Diamondbacks
Seattle Mariners 4-0 New York Yankees
Cleveland Indians 7-4 Kansas City Royals
Philadelphia Phillies 8-0 Chicago Cubs
Minnesota Twins 5-3 Detroit Tigers
Milwaukee Brewers 5-3 Cincinnati Reds
San Diego Padres 9-8 Washington Nationals
Angels at Mariners
There's a full 15-game fixture on Friday, headlined by Shohei Ohtani's in-form Los Angeles Angels (44-42) making the trip to face the Seattle Mariners (46-42) in an American League West match-up.
Mets’ Alonso to IL with sprained wrist, out 3-to-4 weeks
The New York Mets will be without first baseman and Major League home run leader Pete Alonso for the next few weeks due to a wrist injury.
Alonso was placed on the injured list Friday with a sprained left wrist and bone bruise. He will be re-evaluated in three or four weeks.
Alonso suffered the injury when he was hit by a 97-mph fastball during Wednesday's game against the Atlanta Braves.
While X-rays showed no fractures, further testing revealed the injuries that will keep the Mets’ best slugger out for the next month.
The Mets entered play Friday with a 30-33 record and in fourth place in the National League East. They will now be without Alonso, who leads the majors with 22 home runs this season.
The news of Alonso’s absence comes while the Mets are mired in a season-long six-game losing streak.
The Mets called up infielder Luis Guillorme to take Alonso’s roster spot, while duties at first base are expected to be handled by Mark Vientos and Mark Canha.
Alonso is batting .231 this season with an .872 OPS, while his 49 RBIs are the most in the NL.
Since he made his debut in 2019, Alonso has hit 168 home runs and driven in 429 runs, both MLB highs over that span.
Astros place MLB RBI leader Yordan Alvarez on injured list
The Houston Astros will be without one of baseball's best hitters for the foreseeable future after placing slugger Yordan Alvarez on the 10-day injured list with right oblique discomfort.
The Astros announced the move on Friday and said Alvarez will head back to Houston for further evaluation.
A timetable for a return won't be made until after he's evaluated, though Astros second baseman Jose Altuve suffered a mild oblique injury while swinging a bat on June 2 and ended up missing only four games.
It's possible Houston believes Alvarez's injury is more serious, however, seeing as the team already placed him on the injured list. The recovery time for oblique strains is typically four-to-six weeks.
Alvarez exited Thursday's 3-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays after experiencing discomfort in his right oblique during his at-bat in the first inning.
He said he initially felt soreness in the oblique on his final swing in the batting cage before the game.
Alvarez ended up grounding out on his first-inning at-bat, ending a 19-game on-base streak in which he slashed .246/.383/.646 with eight home runs, 16 RBIs and 18 runs.
Alvarez leads the majors with 55 RBIs and his 17 home runs trail only New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge's 19 for the most in the AL.
Since the start of the 2021 season, Alvarez's 87 home runs are seventh in MLB.
The 25-year-old won the AL Rookie of the Year in 2019 and made his first All-Star Game last season after hitting 37 home runs - the most ever by a left-handed hitter in Houston franchise history.
Thursday's setback was the third straight loss for the Astros, dropping them to 36-27 - five games behind the first-place Texas Rangers in the AL West.
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.
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