Max Scherzer has started life with the Los Angeles Dodgers in style, tossing down 10 strikeouts in their 7-5 victory over the Houston Astros in MLB on Wednesday.
Scherzer joined the Dodgers from the Washington Nationals upon last week's MLB Trade Deadline.
The 37-year-old right-hander had 10 K's across seven innings, only allowing five hits and two runs.
Scherzer becomes the seventh pitcher to strike out 10 or more players in their first Dodgers start since the franchise moved to Los Angeles.
The pitcher's display fuelled the 52,724 fans at Dodger Stadium, sparked after striking out Jose Altuve on four pitches.
"The crowd was definitely into it and you can feed off that, you definitely get some adrenaline from that," Scherzer said.
"To go out there and pitch well and to have the fans ask for a curtain call for me, I've never had that happen, so that's a cool moment and something I'll never forget."
Baez stars for Mets, Gausman finds form
Javier Baez dazzled in the New York Mets' 5-3 win over the Miami Marlins that ended their three-game losing run. Baez hit a solo homer in the eighth but also completed an incredible second-inning slide for home plate.
San Francisco Giants pitcher Kevin Gausman re-captured some form as he sent down eight strikeouts across six innings as they triumphed 7-1 over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Two-way star Shohei Ohtani always elicits a lot of excitement but he had no at-bat impact yet tossed down six strikeouts across six innings, allowing only one earned run, in the Los Angeles Angels' 2-1 win over the Texas Rangers.
New recruits Adam Duvall, Jorge Soler and Joc Pederson all delivered for the Atlanta Braves, with the former pair homering and the latter with a double in their 7-4 victory over the St Louis Cardinals.
Bryce Harper starred again with his 17th home run of the season as the Philadelphia Phillies won 9-5 over the Washington Nationals.
Mejia tough shift for Indians
The Cleveland Indians had mounted a good run in the American League Central but their 8-6 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays leaves them 52-53, having lost three of their past four games. They were not helped after trailing 8-0 after three innings as Jean Carlos Mejia allowed seven hits and eight earned runs early.
Rizzo makes Yankees history
Anthony Rizzo hit his third New York Yankees home run to become the first player with RBI in each of his first six games in their long franchise history as they won 10-3 over the Baltimore Orioles. The Yankees have been around since 1903.
Wednesday's results
Cincinnati Reds 6-5 Minnesota Twins
Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 Seattle Mariners
Milwaukee Brewers 4-2 Pittsburgh Pirates
Oakland Athletics 5-4 San Diego Padres
Philadelphia Phillies 9-5 Washington Nationals
New York Yankees 10-3 Baltimore Orioles
Toronto Blue Jays 8-6 Cleveland Indians
Boston Red Sox 4-1 Detroit Tigers
New York Mets 5-3 Miami Marlins
Los Angeles Angels 2-1 Texas Rangers
Kansas City Royals 9-1 Chicago White Sox
Atlanta Braves 7-4 St Louis Cardinals
Chicago Cubs 3-2 Colorado Rockies
San Francisco Giants 7-1 Arizona Diamondbacks
Los Angeles Dodgers 7-5 Houston Astros
Mariners at Yankees
Rizzo will look to continue his hot form for the Yankees (58-49) when they host the Seattle Mariners (58-51) in the first of their four-game series.
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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