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• Phillies place Harper, Schwarber on injured list

  Though the Philadelphia Phillies currently hold a comfortable lead atop the National League East, they'll have to make do without two of their most important hitters for at least some period of time.

  The Phillies placed first baseman Bryce Harper and designated hitter Kyle Schwarber on the 10-day injured list Friday, one day after both were hurt in the team's 7-4 loss to the Miami Marlins.

  Harper, named to his eighth career All-Star Game as the NL's leading vote-getter prior to Thursday's contest, strained his left hamstring while running out a ground ball for the final out of the game.

  Schwarber, the 2022 NL home run champion, exited in the eighth inning after straining his left groin while making a throw from the outfield to first base.

  Both players are undergoing additional testing, though Phillies manager Rob Thomson told reporters Friday the team believes the two sluggers may be out for only 10-to-14 days and each has a chance to return before the All-Star break, which begins July 15. 

  Harper, the NL MVP in 2015 and 2021, is in the midst of another outstanding season. The 31-year-old currently ranks third in the NL with 20 home runs and fourth in runs batted in (58) to go along with a .303 batting average in 76 games. He extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a run-scoring double in the first inning of Thursday's loss.

  Schwarber, whose 110 home runs since the start of 2022 trails only New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge for the most in the majors, is hitting .250 with 17 homers, 49 runs batted in and an NL-leading 59 walks in 79 games.

  The two-time All-Star was making only his third start in the outfield this season in Thursday's game.

  Kody Clemens is expected to fill in for Harper at first base after being activated from the injured list Friday. The son of legendary pitcher Roger Clemens batted .256 with three home runs and 10 RBIs over 17 games before landing on the IL with back spasms earlier this month.

  The Phillies own MLB's best record this season at 53-28 despite injuries to other key members of the lineup. Shortstop Trea Turner missed more than six weeks with a strained hamstring before returning on June 17, while catcher J.T. Realmuto is currently sidelined after undergoing knee surgery earlier this month. 

   

   

• MLB: Phillies star Harper injures hamstring in loss

  Bryce Harper limped off the field with a hamstring injury after making the final out of the Philadelphia Phillies’ 7-4 loss to the Miami Marlins on Thursday night.

  Harper reached for his left hamstring after crossing first base and hobbled toward the dugout after grounding out to second.

  “I felt my lower hammy, just a little bit. We’re going to get an image tomorrow and see what that looks like,” Harper said. “See how I feel tomorrow and go from there.”

  Earlier in the day, the slugger was selected by fans to start at first base for the National League in the July 16 All-Star Game at Texas.

  The Phillies also lost slugger Kyle Schwarber, who exited in the ninth after experiencing left groin tightness. Schwarber, normally a designated hitter, started in left field – just his third game in the field all season.

  Jake Burger hit a go-ahead solo homer for Miami in the eighth after Bryan De La Cruz tied the score at 3 with a three-run double in the seventh.

  Burger added an RBI single in the ninth to close the scoring.

   

  Orioles slug 4 homers in rout of Rangers

  Heston Kjerstad hit one of the Orioles’ four home runs and drove in three to back Corbin Burnes’ stellar start to lead Baltimore to an 11-2 rout of the Texas Rangers in the teams’ first matchup since last season’s American League Division Series.

  Cedric Mullins, Colton Cowser and Adley Rutschman also went deep for the homer-happy Orioles, who have won two straight following a season-high five-game skid.

  Baltimore leads the majors with 136 home runs with a franchise-record 57 coming in June. Only the Atlanta Braves (61 in 20023) and the Yankees (58 in 2022) have hit more in June in major league history.

  Burnes scattered nine hits over seven innings and allowed one run in his 13th quality start this season. He joined teammate Grayson Rodriguez as nine-game winners.

  The four-game series is a rematch of the 2023 ALDS, in which the Rangers pulled off a three-game sweep.

  Jon Gray was tagged for eight runs and nine hits in five innings.

  Adolis Garcia homered for the Rangers (37-44), who lost their fourth straight overall and seventh in a row on the road.

   

  Springer’s blasts propel Blue Jays

  George Springer hit a pair of three-run homers and Jose Berrios pitched seven strong innings to lift the Toronto Blue Jays to a 9-2 win over the struggling New York Yankees.

  Springer entered batting just .196 with six home runs, two of which he hit on the first two days of the season. But the veteran outfielder drilled a 391-foot drive into the second deck in Toronto’s five-run first inning against Carlos Rodon, then added a 434-foot shot to center in the second to make it 8-0.

  Springer’s second homer was the 250th of his career and gave him 22 multihomer games.

  Vladimir Guerrero Jr. added a solo homer as Toronto won its second straight following a seven-game skid.

  The Yankees opened June with five consecutive wins, capping an eight-game streak, but are 7-12 since, including a season-worst four straight losses.

  Berrios allowed two runs on two hits with three walks and fanned a season-best eight.

• MLB: Ohtani homers again, extends RBI streak to franchise-record 10 straight

  Shohei Ohtani hit a leadoff homer for the second straight game and extended his RBI streak to a franchise-record 10 consecutive games in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 4-0 win over the lowly Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night.

  Ohtani took Erick Fedde deep on a full-count fastball for his National League-best 25th home run. It was his third leadoff homer of the season and his eighth home run in the last 10 games.

  He is batting .310 (27 for 87) with 11 homers and 23 RBIs in 23 games this month.

  Gavin Stone shut down the White Sox on four hits in his first career complete game. He struck out seven and walked none to improve to 8-1 with a 2.03 ERA in his last 11 starts.

  Los Angeles (51-31) won its fourth straight and has won eight of 10 to move a season-best 20 games over .500.

  The major league-worst White Sox (21-61) have lost seven of eight to fall 40 games under .500. They were shut out for the 12th time this season and were 1 for 21 with runners in scoring position while totalling three runs and 17 hits in the three-game series.

  Streaking Astros roll Rockies

  Spencer Arrighetti struck out a season-high 10 over seven scoreless innings and was backed by Yainer Diaz’s three hits as the Houston Astros won their season-high seventh straight, 7-1 over the Colorado Rockies.

  Arrighetti limited the Rockies to three hits and didn’t walk a batter for the first time in the longest start of his rookie season.

  Houston (40-40), which opened 7-19, reached .500 for the first time this season and is batting .320 while averaging 6.9 runs during the seven-game streak.

  The Astros broke open the game with a four-run seventh to take a 6-0 lead. Cesar Salazar had a sacrifice fly before Jose Altuve hit a soft grounder to shortstop Ezequiel Tovar and his throw home was high, allowing another run to score.

  Alex Bregman then grounded into a forceout, but a throwing error by second baseman Brendan Rogers sent another run home. Yordan Alvarez hit a ground-rule double and Diaz’s single stretched the lead to 6-0.

  The Rockies are 0-4 against the Astros this season and have dropped 11 in a row at Minute Maid Park, dating to Aug. 15, 2018.

  Orioles end skid, cool Guardians

  Cedric Mullins snapped a tie with a seventh-inning home run and Gunnar Henderson belted his 26th of the season as the Baltimore Orioles snapped the Cleveland Guardians’ seven-game winning streak with a 4-2 victory.

  Ryan O’Hearn also went deep for the Orioles, who had lost five in a row since a 17-5 pounding of the Yankees on June 20. It was their longest losing streak since May 2022.

  Mullins connected off Xzavion Curry to lead off the seventh, putting Baltimore ahead 3-2.

  Grayson Rodriguez surrendered solo home runs to Jhonkensy Noel and Gabriel Arias but not much else. He gave up three other hits over seven innings without a walk and struck out four.

  Cionel Perez pitched a perfect eighth and Craig Kimbrel struck out the side in the ninth for his 17th save and 434th of his career.

  Noel was recalled from Triple-A Columbus and became the fourth Cleveland player to homer in his first major league at-bat. The last Cleveland player to go deep in his first at-bat in the majors was Kevin Kouzmanoff in 2006.