Max Fried dominated on the mound, producing his first career complete-game shutout as the Atlanta Braves blanked the lowly Baltimore Orioles 3-0 in MLB.
Fried was the star of the show on Friday, allowing four hits in his first nine-inning complete game to fuel the Braves, who matched a modern-era, single-season franchise record following their 11th consecutive road victory.
The Braves pitcher needed just 90 pitches in the Maddux – which describes a pitcher tossing a complete-game shutout in fewer than 100 pitches, with Shelby Miller (94 pitches in 2015) the last Atlanta pitcher to achieve the feat.
According to Stats Perform, only three Braves pitchers have tossed a nine-inning shutout on 90 pitches or fewer since 1988 – Greg Maddux (five times), Tom Glavine and Fried (both once).
Travis d'Arnaud launched a two-run homer, while Braves team-mate Jorge Soler also went deep in Baltimore.
Royals hit homers for fun
The Kansas City Royals defeated the Chicago Cubs 6-2. Salvador Perez hit two of Kansas City's five home runs in the victory. It was the first time the Royals have ever hit five solo home runs in a game, according to Stats Perform. It was also the first time Kansas City have ever had three homers hit by a catcher in a game.
World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers prevailed 3-2 against the New York Mets to extend their winning streak to eight games.
The New York Yankees also stayed hot, winning their season-high eighth straight game by blitzing the Minnesota Twins 10-2. Luke Voit was inspirational again with a homer, four hits and four RBIs.
Bryce Homer crunched a two-run homer as the Philadelphia Phillies snapped a four-game losing streak via a 4-3 win at the San Diego Padres.
Sorry Orioles
Another day and another defeat for the Orioles. Baltimore have now lost by two-plus runs in 16 straight games – the longest streak by any team since the 1876 Cincinnati Red Stockings (18), according to Stats Perform.
The Toronto Blue Jays' hopes of reaching the playoffs took another hit following a 4-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers. Toronto have now lost six of their last seven games.
Anderson lifts White Sox
Tim Anderson was behind the Chicago White Sox's 7-5 victory at the Tampa Bay Rays. He hit a game-tying homer in the ninth inning before delivering the tie-breaking RBI single in the 11th.
Friday's results
Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 San Diego Padres
Kansas City Royals 6-2 Chicago Cubs
Atlanta Braves 3-0 Baltimore Orioles
New York Yankees 10-2 Minnesota Twins
Detroit Tigers 4-1 Toronto Blue Jays
Cleveland Indians 9-1 Los Angeles Angels
Chicago White Sox 7-5 Tampa Bay Rays
Cincinnati Reds 5-3 Miami Marlins
Boston Red Sox 6-0 Texas Rangers
Houston Astros 12-3 Seattle Mariners
Washington Nationals 4-1 Milwaukee Brewers
Pittsburgh Pirates 4-0 St Louis Cardinals
Colorado Rockies 9-4 Arizona Diamondbacks
Oakland Athletics 4-1 San Francisco Giants
Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 New York Mets
Giants at Athletics
The Giants (78-44) and Athletics (70-53) will continue their battle in Oakland on Saturday, with Kevin Gausman and Sean Manaea the respective starters.
Foden: De Bruyne the best in the Premier League
Phil Foden hailed Manchester City team-mate Kevin De Bruyne as the Premier League's best player after the pair both netted in the 4-0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion.
De Bruyne opened the scoring in Thursday's contest at Amex Stadium before Foden took over with a couple of goals of his own before half-time.
Julian Alvarez rounded off the scoring just after the hour in a one-sided contest as an Erling Haaland-less City moved to within a point of leaders Arsenal with a game in hand.
Belgium international De Bruyne now has four goals and six assists in just 13 league appearances for City this season.
Speaking to Sky Sports News after the win over Brighton, Foden said: "I think when he is at it, he is the best player in the Premier League."
Foden's first goal came via a deflected free-kick that he himself won, although replays showed he slipped rather than being fouled.
The England international doubled his personal tally with a composed finish after Brighton were caught in possession at the back.
Asked about playing more centrally, Foden said: "I have always said that I see myself there. This year I have moved inside and it has helped me massively.
"I enjoy it in the middle. It's where I want to be. At the moment, I am just enjoying my football and playing with freedom."
De Bruyne had earlier opened the scoring with a brilliant opener - his first headed goal for City in the Premier League - as City made it 30 games unbeaten in normal time across all competitions.
Alvarez then went on to round off the scoring in a game that not only saw the reigning champions close the gap on Arsenal, but also narrow the goal difference margin to eight.
"It was a good game," De Bruyne said. "I think we played really good in the first half and every game is a lot of pressure. All we can do is prepare as we did today and win the game that is in front of us.
"We just want to win game-by-game and push for the title. We don't get ahead of ourselves. Now the next game is coming quickly. Try to recover and we go again."
Kyle Walker assisted the De Bruyne and Alvarez goals - the first time the defender has set up two goals in a single Premier League game in what was his 390th appearance in the competition.
Reflecting on his rare headed goal, De Bruyne said: "It doesn't happen too much. Kyle gave a good cross and I think the only way I could reach it is by jumping to it. I will take it but it's not something I am good at."
City have rather ominously won four Premier League games in a row and travel to strugglers Nottingham Forest next up at the weekend, knowing victory in their remaining five games will secure an unprecedented fourth straight title.
"I trust my team. All respect to Liverpool and Arsenal, they are amazing," De Bruyne added. "Arsenal are doing what they need to do and we are also needing to do it. Work hard and be humble enough to keep pushing."
MLB: Ohtani has career-high 3 doubles in Dodgers' 20-hit attack
Shohei Ohtani had a career-high three doubles and the Los Angeles Dodgers collected 20 hits in an 11-2 rout of the Washington Nationals on Wednesday.
Ohtani went 3 for 6 with RBI doubles in the eighth and ninth innings. He leads the majors in batting average (.371), slugging (.695), OPS (1.128), extra-base hits (21) and doubles (14).
Mookie Betts and Will Smith each had four hits and rookie Andy Pages homered as the Dodgers won their third straight following a three-game skid.
Landon Knack earned his first win in his second career start, allowing two runs and three hits in six innings. He retired his last 13 batters and struck out five.
Nick Senzel homered for the Nationals, who didn’t have a baserunner after the second inning.
Trout hits MLB-leading 10th home run in loss
Mike Trout became the first player in the majors to reach 10 home runs this season, but Gunnar Henderson had three hits and three RBIs as the Baltimore Orioles held off the Los Angeles Angels, 6-5.
Trout got the Angels on the board with a solo shot off starter Dean Kremer in the sixth inning. This is the third time in the past seven seasons that Trout has been the first in MLB to reach double digits in homers.
Los Angeles rallied back from a 6-0 deficit and had the tying run on first in the ninth, but Jo Adell was caught stealing to end the game.
Henderson homered for the second straight game and added a two-run single in Baltimore’s four-run sixth. He is 9 for 20 in the past five games and 18 for 40 with five home runs and 11 RBIs in his last 10 games, helping the Orioles win eight.
Kremer struck out 10 over 5 2/3 innings and allowed two runs and three hits for his first win of the season.
Surging Braves win in 10 innings
Michael Harris II doubled home Ronald Acuna Jr. in the 10th inning and the red-hot Atlanta Braves topped the Miami Marlins, 4-3, after blowing a two-run lead in the ninth.
The Marlins scored twice in the ninth off Braves closer Raisel Iglesias to tie it but failed to score in the top of the 10th.
Harris led off the bottom half with a single to center to score the winning run and send Atlanta to its ninth win in 10 games.
Harris went 3 for 5 and Marcell Ozuna had three hits and two RBIs, giving him an MLB-best 29.
The Marlins were swept for the third time this season and dropped to an NL-worst 6-20.
Liverpool line up Feyenoord coach Slot as Klopp replacement
Arne Slot appears to be at the front of the queue to replace Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager.
Klopp confirmed in January that he would be leaving the Reds at the end of the season.
Xabi Alonso, who has led Bayer Leverkusen to their first Bundesliga title, was swiftly established as a leading candidate to take the helm at Anfield, where he starred as a player for the Reds between 2004 and 2009.
The 42-year-old, however, is staying put in Germany, and Liverpool's search for Klopp's successor has taken them to Feyenoord's door.
Slot has been previously linked to jobs in the Premier League. Leeds United wanted to appoint him last season before their relegation to the Championship, while he was targeted by Tottenham before they appointed Ange Postecoglou.
The Dutchman intimated when linked with Spurs: "A normal next step would be to go abroad and I've always said that the best league in the world is the Premier League."
Ideally, Liverpool will be aiming for a coach who can come close to replicating Klopp's style of play, and in particular has a flair for working with and developing young players.
Slot has enjoyed fantastic success in Rotterdam. He became Feyenoord head coach in December 2022, after leaving AZ, and went on to win the Eredivisie title in 2022-23, having reached the Europa League final in the previous season.
The 45-year-old has a 64.4 per cent win record from 146 games in charge, winning 94, drawing 29 and losing just 23.
His Feyenoord team have scored 329 goals, an average of 2.2 per match, conceding 147 in return. Slot's points per game is a hugely impressive 2.13.
Feyenoord are, though, set to relinquish their Eredivisie crown, as they trail leaders PSV by nine points. They have, however, won the KNVB Cup this term.
As there is no break clause in the Dutchman's contract, it has been reported that a compensation fee in the region of €10million (£8.5m) could prise him away from Feyenoord.
Sporting CP boss Ruben Amorim is another coach who has been heavily linked with the Liverpool job, albeit he is reportedly in talks with West Ham.
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