Ranger Suarez struck out 10 to become the majors’ first nine-game winner and the red-hot Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Texas Rangers 5-2 on Tuesday.

Suarez allowed one run on five hits over seven innings with two walks. Since a no-decision in his first start of the season, the left-hander is 9-0 with a 1.36 ERA in his last nine starts.

Suarez is the first pitcher to go undefeated with a sub-1.50 ERA and at least 65 strikeouts over his first 10 appearances of a season.

Jeff Hoffman gave up Corey Seager’s home run in the eighth but Matt Strahm retired Nathaniel Lowe on a sharp line drive to left with two runners on to end the inning and preserve Philadelphia’s 3-2 lead.

Jose Alvarado pitched the ninth for his ninth save.

Bryce Harper hit his 11th home run and Alec Bohm drove in a pair of runs – his NL-best 44th - as the Phillies won for the ninth time in 11 games to improve the best record in the majors to 35-14.

The Rangers have lost eight of 10 to drop under .500 (24-25) for the first time this season.

Witt leads streaking Royals

Bobby Witt Jr. hit a pair of home runs and drove in six runs as the Kansas City Royals extended their winning streak to five with a 10-3 rout of the Detroit Tigers.

Witt hit a 468-foot, three-run homer in the second inning off Casey Mize and added a solo shot leading off the sixth. He also had an RBI single in the first and a sacrifice fly in the third.

Kansas City had six extra-base hits and has at least one in all 50 games this season, one game shy of the franchise record set in 1978.

Maikel Garcia tied a career high with four hits and scored three runs. He extended his hitting streak to nine games.

Guardians edge Mets to stay hot

Jose Ramirez homered and drove in three runs and the Cleveland Guardians held on for their fifth straight victory, 7-6 over the New York Mets.

David Fry added his first career pinch-hit home run as the Guardians won their sixth in a row at home and improved the majors’ fourth-best record to 32-17.

Ramirez has driven in 34 runs in his last 34 games to take over the American League lead with 44.

Jeff McNeil and Starling Marte hit two-run homers and Mark Vientos had a solo blast for the Mets, who have lost the first two games of the series to drop to 3-9 since May 10.

Nick Sandlin got two outs in the fifth in relief of starter Xzavion Curry for the win and Emmanuel Clase worked the ninth for his MLB-best 15th save in 18 chances.

Bobby Witt homered to cap a nine-run first inning and finished with four hits, two home runs and five RBIs as the Kansas City Royals routed the Houston Astros 12-3 for their seventh consecutive victory on Thursday.

Vinnie Pasquantino added three hits and three RBIs and Maikel Garcia knocked in two runs for the Royals, who completed a perfect seven-game homestand. It’s just the third time in franchise history they’ve played at least seven games on a homestand without a loss. The other two came in 1988 and 1985.

Kansas City sent 15 men to the plate in the first inning and tied a club record with 11 hits. The Royals batted around in an inning for the second straight game.

Hunter Brown recorded just two outs and allowed nine runs and 11 hits.

Houston gave up 24 runs in the final two games of the series and dropped to 4-10. It is the Astros’ worst 14-game start since also opening 4-10 in 2013.

Sears, Athletics 1-hit Rangers

JP Sears pitched no-hit ball into the seventh inning and the Oakland Athletics combined on a 1-hitter in a 1-0 win over the Texas Rangers.

Sears allowed leadoff walks in the first, second and fifth innings before Adolis Garcia ended his no-hit bid with a one-out single in the seventh on an 0-2 pitch.

Sears struck out five, including 2023 World Series MVP Corey Seager three times.

Austin Adams got the final two outs of the seventh and Lucas Erceg and Mason Miller each worked one inning to finish the one-hitter.

Cowser hits 2 homers as Orioles sweep

Rookie Colton Cowser capped a stellar series with his first two career home runs and four RBIs as the Baltimore Orioles rallied for a 9-4 win in 10 innings to complete a three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox.

Gunnar Henderson opened the 10th with a two-run homer off Isaiah Campbell and Cedric Mullins singled home a run before Cowser drilled a 3-0 pitch over the wall in right field for a three-run shot.

Cowser, who hit his first career homer in the fifth inning, went 6 for 13 with two home runs and 10 RBIs in the three-game set.

Orioles prospect Jackson Holliday scored two runs but went 0 for 4 for the second straight game.

Teoscar Hernandez hit two of the Seattle Mariners’ franchise record-tying seven home runs in a 15-2 drubbing of the Kansas City Royals.

Hernandez hit a grand slam as part of a seven-run third inning and belted a 446-foot shot off infielder Matt Duffy in the eighth.

Josh Rojas, Mike Ford, Julio Rodriguez, Cal Raleigh and Cade Marlowe also homered as the Mariners improved to 10-1 in their last 11 games and remained tied with Texas atop the AL West.

Seattle hit seven home runs in a game for the fifth time, also done in 2002, 1999, 1996 and 1985.

Logan Gilbert didn’t need all the offense as he limited the Royals to one run and two hits in seven innings. He walked one and struck out seven to win his sixth straight decision.

The Mariners broke open the game with three home runs and seven run off 15-game loser Jordan Lyles in the third inning.

Rojas led off with a home run, Hernandez connected for his third career grand slam and Ford’s two-run blast made it 7-0.

Rodgriguez’s fifth-inning solo homer made him just the second player in history with at least 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in his first two seasons.

The other is Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr., who totaled 67 homers and 53 steals over his first two seasons in 2018 and 2019.

Reds get help from balk to cool Diamondbacks

TJ Friedl scored the go-ahead run in the 11th inning on a balk and the Cincinnati Reds pulled out a wild 8-7 win to end the Arizona Diamondbacks’ six-game winning streak.

Arizona trailed 7-4 in the 10th but rallied for three runs, helped by an error from Reds second baseman Matt McLain. Christian Walker’s sacrifice fly tied it at 7.

Cincinnati closer Alexis Diaz suffered just his second blown save of the season, though all three runs were unearned.

Arizona’s Paul Sewald failed to protect a 4-2 lead in the ninth, as Tyler Stephenson doubled home a run before Friedl singled and McLain knocked in the tying run with a soft groundout.

Brewers edge Padres for seventh straight win

William Contreras delivered a two-run double in a five-run fifth inning as the Milwaukee Brewers held off the San Diego Padres, 5-4 for their seventh consecutive victory.

Mark Canha, Brice Turang and Andruw Monasterio opened the fifth with three straight singles.

With one run already home, the Brewers pulled off a double steal and an errant throw by catcher Luis Campusano produced another run. After Christian Yelich walked, Contreras doubled down the left-field line to make it 4-1.

Freddy Peralta struck out nine in 5 1/3 innings and allowed two runs to improve to 5-0 in five starts this month.

Superstar duo Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout made their presence felt on Sunday as they hit back-to-back home runs in the Los Angeles Angels' 4-3 home win against the Kansas City Royals.

Despite coming into the contest with the second-worst record in the majors (4-16), the Royals struck first through an opening-inning home run from young outfielder M.J. Melendez.

The Angels tied things up before the end of the first inning after Trout's double put Taylor Ward on third base, setting up Ohtani for the sacrifice fly.

Neither team scored in the next four frames as Angels starter Reid Detmers and Royals pitcher Jordan Lyles kept things tight, but the runs started to flow again in the sixth.

Vinnie Pasquantino gave Kansas City a 2-1 lead with his solo home run, signalling the end of Detmers' day, before Lyles had a rotten finish to his six innings.

Lyles threw a total of nine pitches in the sixth. The very first was hit 376 feet to left-field by lead-off batter Ward, before Trout followed with a 389-foot blast to center field three pitches later. Ohtani made it three in a row five pitches after that, launching a curveball 415 feet to center for the biggest of the bunch.

Top Royals youngster Bobby Witt Jr tried to drag his side back into it with his own solo homer an inning later, but Carlos Estevez was able to secure his third save of the season to pull the Angels' record even at 11-11.

It was the fifth home run of the season for both Ohtani and Trout, leaving them tied for 17th on the major league leaderboard.

Gausman guts the Yankees

Toronto Blue Jays ace Kevin Gausman pitched his best start of the young season in a 5-1 road victory over the New York Yankees.

Gausman made it through seven complete innings in 103 pitches, allowing only three hits and no walks to go with 11 strikeouts. The Yankees' only run would come from a consolation solo shot from Anthony Rizzo in the ninth inning.

For the Blue Jays, 24-year-old franchise star Vladimir Guerrero Jr connected on his fifth home run of the season, opening the scoring with a two-run bomb in the sixth inning. His batting average of .341 is eighth-highest in the majors, and his 29 total hits is tied for the sixth-most.

Yoshida stars for the Red Sox

AL Rookie of the Year contender and top international signing from the offseason Masataka Yoshida was the star of the show in the Boston Red Sox's 12-5 come-from-behind victory against the Milwaukee Brewers.

After signing a five-year, $90million free agent deal to come over from Japan's Orix Buffaloes, the 29-year-old Yoshida had his first game-changing performance for his new team, becoming the first Red Sox player since David Ortiz in 2008 to hit two home runs in the same inning.

The left-fielder, who starred for Japan in March's World Baseball Classic, hit a solo home run early in the eighth inning to give the Red Sox a 5-4 lead, and eight batters later he stepped up again and hit a 407-foot grand slam to make it 12-4. Brewers third baseman Brian Anderson also hit two home runs of his own.

The Tampa Bay Rays tied the record for the most consecutive games with a home run to start a season as they went deep three times in Friday's 8-7 home win against the Chicago White Sox.

With the win, the Rays improved their MLB-leading record to 17-3, having hit at least one homer in each game to tie the 2019 Seattle Mariners for the record.

Home fans did not have to wait long for the action to heat up, as Josh Lowe connected on a two-run double in the first inning, before Harold Ramirez followed him with a two-run homer as the very next batter to take a 4-0 lead.

The White Sox came storming back with three runs in the second inning – from three RBI singles – and another three runs in the third, courtesy of two bases-loaded walks and a wild pitch.

An Eloy Jimenez solo home run put Chicago up 7-4 in the fourth inning, and while the Rays got one run back in the bottom of the fourth, they left their comeback until the very end.

Christian Bethancourt's lead-off home run in the bottom of the ninth cut the margin to 7-6, and after a Yandy Diaz single, Brandon Lowe stepped up and hit a walk-off home run.

It was the second blown save of the season for Reynaldo Lopez, failing to get a single out in the ninth, while Diaz, Lowe, Ramirez and Bethancourt all finished with two hits each for the Rays.

Smyly finishes six outs from perfection

Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Drew Smyly pitched seven perfect innings before allowing his first baserunner in a 13-0 domination of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Smyly dismissed the first 21 Dodgers batters in order, before his bid for a perfect game was broken up in the eighth inning when Smyly tried to field a ball dribbling down the third-base line, but his catcher Yan Gomes crashed into him in his own effort to field it.

He ended up striking out 10 in his seven-and-two-thirds innings, allowing one run and no walks, while Nico Hoerner starred at the plate with four RBIs to go with his four-for-five day. 

Patrick Wisdom was one of five Cubs with multiple hits, including his ninth home run of the season to draw level with New York Mets slugger Pete Alonso for the league's most.

Ohtani dominates the Royals

Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani put together his best pitching performance of the season as he struck out 11 batters in a 2-0 win over the visiting Kansas City Royals.

With three-time AL MVP Mike Trout not suiting up, the Angels knew they had to keep the Royals' scoring down, and the combination of Ohtani (seven innings, two hits, two walks), Carlos Estevez (one inning) and closer Jose Quijada (one inning) restricted Kansas City to three hits for the game.

The only runs of the contest were produced by veteran catcher Chad Wallach in his first game of the season, connecting on a two-run homer with his first at-bat of 2023.

The win pulls the Angels' record even at 10-10, while Ohtani lowered his ERA to 0.64 from his 28 innings, and the Royals fell to an equal MLB-worst 4-16.

Hours after finishing the 2022 season with a 65-97 record, the Kansas City Royals fired manager Mike Matheny and pitching coach Cal Eldred on Wednesday, announcing the move on Twitter.  

The Royals had picked up Matheny’s 2023 option during spring training but reversed course after a last-place finish in the American League Central.  

Matheny managed the Royals for three seasons, finishing with a record of 165-218 (.431 winning percentage). Only the Baltimore Orioles (.416) and Texas Rangers (.389) have had worse records in the AL over that span.  

Kansas City are now tasked with rebuilding its entire leadership structure after firing longtime president of baseball operations Dayton Moore last month.  

The Royals have not had a winning season since their 2015 World Series championship.

Aaron Judge blasted two home runs to move another few steps closer to history as the New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 7-6 on Tuesday.

The Yankees outfielder delivered his 56th blast in the sixth inning, taking another over the Green Monster in the eighth inning for his 57th of the season.

Judge remains on pace for 65 home runs this season, which would break Roger Maris' American League (AL) and Yankees single-season record of 61 set in 1961. The pair of solo blasts comes after Judge went without a homer across five games.

The 30-year-old also has 10 multi-homer games this season which is one short of the AL record held by Hank Greenberg from 1938.

"I'm out of adjectives," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "Just really impressive what he did."

Gerrit Cole, who came into the game with a 7.13 career ERA as a Yankee at Fenway Park, had 10 strikeouts across six innings.

Xander Bogaerts blasted Cole for a game-tying solo home run in sixth inning, before the game went to extras where Gleyber Torres had a go-ahead three-run double.

Trout misses out on eight-game HR streak

Three-time AL MVP Mike Trout fell one game short of tying the majors record for homering in consecutive games, going 0-for-3 in the Los Angeles Angels' 3-1 loss to the Cleveland Guardians.

Trout, who walked on four pitches in his second at-bat, lined out to center on a 3-2 cutter from left-hander reliever Kirk McCarty.

The 10-time All-Star's streak ends at seven games, falling one shy of the record of eight held by Dale Long (1956), Don Mattingly (1987) and Ken Griffey Jr (1993).

Twins pair fall agonisingly short in no-no-bid

Minnesota Twins' pair Joe Ryan and Jovani Moran doubled up but fell agonisingly two outs short in their no-hitter bid in a 6-3 win over the Kansas City Royals.

Rookie Ryan was pulled after seven innings and 106 pitches, with the Twins crowd booing that call, before Moran got through the eighth and attempted to close it out, only to lose the no-no bid with Bobby Witt's RBI double.

The failed bid means there have five no-hit bids lost in the ninth inning this season, which is the most since 2017.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are the first National League team in 100 years to win 12 consecutive games by multiple runs after they hammered the Kansas City Royals 13-3 away from home on Saturday.

Fans were still finding their seats when Dodgers lead-off hitter Mookie Betts opened the scoring from the fifth pitch of the game, connecting on a 421-foot home run.

It was the first of five runs from the Los Angeles side in the opening frame, with Max Muncy, Justin Turner and Gavin Lux also driving in runs.

Dodgers catcher Will Smith added another couple of tallies with a two-run homer an inning later to establish a 7-0 lead early, and after the Royals snatched two runs back through a Michael Massey triple later in the second, Lux homered in the third and Muncy homered in the fourth to open up a 10-2 buffer.

Cody Bellinger and Joey Gallo gave Dodgers fans who stuck around for the ninth inning a treat, with another two home runs putting the icing on the cake.

Muncy finished with four hits and four RBIs, while Betts went three-for-four at the plate and both Smith and Lux picked up a pair of hits.

Starting on the mound for Los Angeles, Andrew Heaney made it through three innings before he was forced to leave the game early, suffering a contusion in his throwing forearm.

The last National League team to match the Dodgers' feat were the 1922 Pittsburgh Pirates, who had their 13-game multi-run winning streak snapped exactly 100 years ago to the day.

DeGrom dominates the Phillies

New York Mets ace and arguably the best pitcher in all of baseball Jacob deGrom looked at the peak of his powers in his third start of the season, holding the Philadelphia Phillies scoreless through six innings in a 1-0 win.

DeGrom retired 18 of the 20 batters he faced, striking out 10 and making it through his six innings in an efficient 76 pitches. 

The game's only run came in the first inning, with Pete Alonso's base hit scoring Starling Marte, as Phillies starter Aaron Nola also pitched beautifully, going eight full innings with eight strikeouts, allowing one run from four hits and a walk.

Kiner-Falefa the unlikely Yankees hero

The New York Yankees will have a chance to win their three-game series away from home against the Boston Red Sox tomorrow after coming back to win 3-2.

After dropping the first game of their slate 3-2 in extra innings yesterday, the Yankees were in danger of losing their fourth series in a row when they trailed 2-0, before Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit a two-run shot in the fifth inning for his first home run of the season.

With the scores still tied at 2-2 in the last frame, Kiner-Falefa came through again as he was able to bunt for a hit while bringing home Andrew Benintendi from third base. From his 103 games this season, it is only the second time he has collected three RBIs.

The San Diego Padres have made a key addition after trading in All-Star closer Josh Hader from the Milwaukee Brewers ahead of Tuesday's MLB Trade Deadline.

The addition of 28-year-old left-hander Hader is a major boost for the Padres, who have struggled in late-inning situations this season.

Hader is the 2022 league leader in saves, with 29 from 31 save opportunities this season, although he has career-worst 4.24 ERA which dipped to 12 during July.

The deal sees left-handed reliever Taylor Rogers, left-handed pitching prospect Robert Gasser, right-hander Dinelson Lamet and outfielder Esteury Ruiz sent to the Brewers.

"Josh Hader is one of the best closers in the league," Padres general manager A.J. Preller said.

"He's been there, done that, pitched in big spots, big playoff games. He's got elite stuff."

Hader, who has been with the Brewers since 2017, joins the Padres who have a 57-46 record to sit second in the National League West this season.

"Thank you for the support throughout my career," Hader wrote on Instagram. "Y'all have been great to me. The people, the energy, the love! There will always be a special place in my heart for MKE."

In other moves, the New York Yankees added right-handed starting pitcher Frankie Montas and closer Lou Trivino from the Oakland Athletics, along with reliever Scott Effross from the Chicago Cubs.

The Yankees, who have a 69-34 record, had previously brought in All-Star outfielder Andrew Benintendi from the Kansas City Royals.

The Houston Astros acquired first baseman Trey Mancini from the Baltimore Orioles along with catcher Christian Vazquez from the Boston Red Sox.

According to reports, outfielder Tommy Pham is set to join the Red Sox from the Cincinnati Reds.

The Kansas City Royals avoided a series sweep on Sunday with a 8-6 come-from-behind win on the road against the New York Yankees, with a pair of late home runs turning the tide.

Both starting pitchers finished with mediocre figures, but they were both spotless early, holding the game scoreless through the first four innings. The fifth inning was a different story, with the sides combining for seven runs. 

The Royals struck first as Nick Pratto came through with a two-run, bases loaded single, before Maikel Garcia followed him with an RBI double, and they capped off a four-run frame with an RBI groundout from Whit Merrifield.

But the best team in baseball this season answered right back, with Kyle Higashioka batting in a run with his single, before D.J. LeMahieu brought him home with a homer to the short porch at right-field. 

Later in the seventh inning, with Aaron Judge and Aaron Hicks on base, Anthony Rizzo shot the Yankees into a 6-4 lead with the longest hit in the game up to that point, a 418-foot home run over the right-field wall.

Kansas City's Hunter Dozier topped that the next inning with a 420-foot shot to left-field, trimming the margin to 6-5 and setting up an exciting finish.

Needing three outs to secure the win, the Yankees brought in elite relief pitcher Clay Holmes for the save, but it did not go to plan.

Holmes got the first out, but then issued a five-pitch walk to Merrifield, before hitting Bobby Witt Jr with a pitch to put runners on first and second with Salvador Perez at the plate.

Perez had been swinging a hot bat as of late with three home runs in his past seven games, and he added one more with a monstrous 441-foot nuke to center-field, jumping ahead 8-6 in the final frame.

Instead of handing the ball to a new closer, the Royals let Taylor Clarke head back out for his second inning to finish the job.

Yankees superstar Aaron Judge finished hit-less, but he contributed with two walks and a run.

The win is only the Royals' second from their past 12 meetings with the Yankees.

Austin Riley walks it off for the Braves

A quality pitching duel broke out in the Atlanta Braves' 1-0 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks, with Austin Riley batting home the first run of the game in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Braves ace pitcher Max Fried allowed four hits and two walks with five strikeouts in his seven scoreless innings, while Arizona's Merrill Kelly was slightly better, conceding three hits and two walks to go with eight strikeouts over the same stretch of innings.

The Braves had five hits in the game, and two of them were by Riley, who has quickly established himself as a realistic NL MVP candidate. 

Riley is fourth in the league in home runs (29), and second in total bases (239) – trailing only Aaron Judge.

Alvarez plays the hero in Houston

Speaking of players having unbelievable under-the-radar seasons, Houston Astros star Yordan Alvarez continued what is arguably the best hitting season in the majors with the winner in his side's 3-2 victory against the Seattle Mariners.

He went zero-for-four in regulation, but with scores tied in extra innings he came through with a clutch hit to drive in the winning run.

Alvarez leads the league in on-base percentage (.417) and trails only Judge in slugging percentage (.670 compared to Judge's .671).

Aaron Judge became the second-fastest player to ever hit 200 career home runs as he connected on his 42nd of the season in the New York Yankees' 8-2 home victory against the Kansas City Royals.

Judge's moment came in the second inning, but it was not his side's first home run of the night after D.J. LeMahieu blasted a 410-footer to center-field as the Yankees' first batter of the game.

After All-Star catcher Jose Trevino got on base, Judge took one opposite-field to put the Yankees 4-0 up. He reached his 200th home run in his 671st career game – 13 games slower than former Philadelphia Phillies slugger Ryan Howard.

That was not all Judge would do in this contest, getting on base four times as he finished with a pair of hits and a pair of walks. He now has 10 more home runs than second-placed Kyle Schwarber (32).

On the mound, Nestor Cortes put in a strong showing to be credited with the win, giving up two runs in five innings, striking out five. 

After a clean Aroldis Chapman inning in relief, Clarke Schmidt then came in for a three-inning save, striking out five batters and throwing 52 pitches.

Twins stars go deep against Padres

Both Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa hit home runs in the Minnesota Twins' 7-4 win on the road against the San Diego Padres.

Stars on both sides were swinging a heavy bat, with Padres MVP candidate Manny Machado opening the scoring with his own solo shot in the third inning.

But the Twins had all the answers, as Buxton destroyed a baseball 434 feet over the left-field wall an inning later, before Correa kick-started his side's five-run eighth frame with his own two-run homer.

Shohei puts on a show

The Los Angeles Angels rallied back late to defeat the Texas Rangers 9-7, headlined by reigning AL MVP Shohei Ohtani's 22nd home run of the season.

The superstar designated hitter – who has also pitched the sixth most strikeouts in all of baseball this season (146 in 17 starts) – connected on a 424-foot, three-run home run to center-field in the third inning to give the Angels a 3-2 lead. Only 15 players have hit more home runs this campaign.

Texas fought back in the middle innings through home runs to Marcus Semien and Meibrys Viloria, but the Angels scored five in the eighth inning to steal the result.

Aaron Judge's magical season continued on Friday night as he blasted another two home runs to help the New York Yankees defeat the Kansas City Royals 11-5 at Yankee Stadium.

New York got off to a perfect start in the first inning thanks to a 422-foot Anthony Rizzo solo homer, before Judge connected on his own monstrous 449-foot nuke in the third inning to make it 3-0.

It was smooth sailing for Yankees ace Gerrit Cole on the mound through four innings, but he struggled mightily in the fifth, giving up five runs after a three-run homer to Salvador Perez. Cole finished with five earned runs and nine strikeouts from his six innings of work.

The Royals' 5-3 lead would hold until the eighth inning, when newly acquired Andrew Benintendi trimmed the margin by one with his RBI infield single, before Aaron Hicks was gifted a bases-loaded walk to tie the game at 5-5.

Their damage in the eighth inning was far from done, with Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Jose Trevino driving in a run each, bringing Judge to the plate with bases loaded.

The American League MVP co-favourite took full advantage, crushing a grand slam to bring his RBI tally for the day up to six, putting a bow on the win.

His home runs were his 40th and 41st of the season – nine clear of second-placed Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber (32).

Mets get to Alcantara

Arguably the best pitcher in all of baseball this year, Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara, had his worst start of the season as his side went down 6-4 at home against the New York Mets.

The NL Cy Young award favourite was clearly off from the beginning, needing 53 pitches to get through the first two innings, allowing four hits, three walks and three runs in the process. 

With the game tied at 4-4 in the eighth inning, it was Mets lead-off hitter Brandon Nimmo who was the hero with a two-run home run, which proved to be the difference.

Alvarez stays hot for Houston

Yordan Alvarez may not have the home run total of Aaron Judge, but the Houston Astros All-Star has been statistically the best hitter in all of baseball this season, showing his talent in an 11-1 drubbing of the Seattle Mariners.

He got on-base from all five of his at-bats, finishing three-for-three at the plate with two walks, including his 30th home run of the season – third-most in the majors.

Incredibly, he leads the league in both on-base percentage (.423) and slugging percentage (.687).

The Philadelphia Phillies rode a strong starting pitching performance from Zack Wheeler to an 8-4 road victory against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday.

All nine Phillies batters finished with at least one hit – racking up 15 total hits as a team – and it got started in the first inning as Darick Hall made it a 2-0 game with his two-run triple. Nick Castellanos then drove in Hall with a base hit to make it 3-0 in the opening frame.

Wheeler never gave the Pirates a chance to fight back into the contest, holding the home side scoreless until late in the seventh inning. He finished with two earned runs from three hits and three walks, striking out eight.

After Alec Bohm's base hit to make it 4-0 in the second inning, there was a lull in the action until Kyle Schwarber made his presence known in the sixth frame.

With two runners on base, Schwarber connected on his 32nd home run of the season, trailing only Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees.

The Pirates rallied hard in the last inning, scoring five runs from four hits off Jeurys Familia, but there was not much to cheer about up until that point, except for an exciting showing from rookie Cal Mitchell.

Mitchell delivered the only runs for his side in the first eight innings with his towering 414-foot, two-run homer to center-field off Wheeler. He finished three-for-four at the plate, also adding a pair of singles.

Judge does it again for the Yankees

Aaron Judge won the New York Yankees another game off his bat as he blasted the game-winning, walk-off home run to defeat the Kansas City Royals 1-0 at home.

Both sides pitched beautifully, with Royals starter Brady Singer giving up just one hit while striking out 10 in seven innings, while Yankees starter Jameson Taillon struck out eight batters in six scoreless frames.

The home run was Judge's league-leading 39th of the season – seven more than any other player.

Angels blow another Ohtani gem

The Los Angeles Angels wasted another terrific starting pitching performance from two-way All-Star Shohei Ohtani, going down 2-0 at home to the Texas Rangers.

Ohtani struck out 11 batters in six innings, giving up two runs from eight hits in his 10th quality start (meaning at least six innings pitched and three or fewer earned runs) of the season. He now has 145 strikeouts for the season – the sixth most in the majors, and the five players ahead of him have all started at least two more contests.

Only Atlanta Braves rookie Spencer Strider (13.4) has a higher strikeouts-per-nine-innings stat than Ohtani's 13.1.

The New York Yankees have acquired outfielder Andrew Benintendi from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for three minor leaguers.

New York has been looking for an outfield bat with Giancarlo Stanton going on the injured list recently and Joey Gallo continuing his season-long struggles.

Benintendi, a first-time All-Star this season, was among the better rental bats available and is a free agent after this season. He is batting .321 with three home runs and 39 RBIs in 92 games for the Royals.

The left-handed hitting Benintendi spent his first five seasons with the Boston Red Sox before he was traded to Kansas City in February 2021.

He was one of 10 players that were unable to play in Kansas City’s recent series in Toronto because he is unvaccinated. The Yankees have three games remaining in Toronto this season.

The Yankees own the best record in the majors at 66-33 but have lost 12 of their past 20 games.

The Kansas City Royals overcame the absences of 10 unvaccinated players beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 on the road on Thursday night.

Foreign nationals who are not vaccinated against Covid-19 are not allowed to enter Canada, while unvaccinated MLB players are not among the limited exemptions that also require a 14-day quarantine.

Many teams have been affected by the restrictions this season, but the Royals had a far bigger contingent than other MLB teams to this point, with a subsequent slew of promotions from the minor leagues to compensate.

Double-A callup Angel Zerpa pitched five innings to claim his first win as a starter in the major leagues, allowing only four hits despite only striking out two batters over 73 pitches.

With 2022 All-Star Andrew Benintendi unavailable, Bobby Witt Jr. hit the tie-breaking home run off Kevin Gausman in the fifth inning, before Nate Eaton added another in the closing frame.

Carrasco helps keep Cubs to zero

Carlos Carrasco was again in impressive form for the New York Mets, as they claimed an 8-0 win over the Chicago Cubs.

Carrasco allowed only one runner to advance past first base in six solid innings, striking out six and allowing five hits over 90 pitches, before Trevor Williams closed out the final three innings for his first save in the major leagues.

Brandon Nimmo and Pete Alonso scored home runs in the sixth and eighth innings respectively to cap off the win, maintaining the Mets' 2.5 game lead over the Atlanta Braves in the National League East, while moving to within three games of the NL-leading Los Angeles Dodgers.

Pena propels Astros to win in Anaheim

Jeremy Pena drove in the game-winning run for the Houston Astros as they went into an extra inning, defeating the Los Angeles Angels 3-2.

The Astros effectively had to do it without eight-time All-Star selection Jose Altuve, who exited the game with a bruised left leg after he was hit with Reid Detmers' first pitch of the game.

Houston moved to within 3.5 games of the American League-leading New York Yankees, extending their record for the season to 58-30.