Shohei Ohtani became the first major league player to exceed 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season during the most spectacular game of a history-making career for the Los Angeles Dodgers star, going deep three times and swiping two bags in a 20-4 rout of the Miami Marlins on Thursday.

Ohtani hit his 49th homer in the sixth inning, his 50th in the seventh and his 51st in the ninth. He finished 6 for 6 with a franchise-record 10 RBIs while becoming the first big league player to hit three homers and steal two bases in a game.

The Japanese superstar reached the second deck in right-center on two of his three homers at LoanDepot Park. In the sixth inning, he launched a 1-1 slider from George Soriano 438 feet for his 49th.

Ohtani hit his 50th homer in the seventh inning, an opposite-field, two-run shot to left against Marlins reliever Mike Baumann. Then, in the ninth, his 51st travelled 440 feet to right-center, a three-run shot against Marlins second baseman Vidal Brujan, who came in to pitch with the game out of hand.

Ohtani took care of the stolen bases earlier in the game, swiping his 50th in the first and his 51st in the second. He has been successful on his last 28 stolen base attempts.

He led off the game with a double against Edward Cabrera and swiped third on the front end of a double steal with Freddie Freeman, who reached on a walk.

Ohtani finished 6 for 6 with two doubles and four runs scored, falling a triple shy of the cycle.

He reached the milestone in his 150th game. Ohtani was already the sixth player in major league history and the fastest ever to reach 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in a season, needing just 126 games.

Oakland's José Canseco became the first 40-40 player in 1988 and has been joined by San Francisco's Barry Bonds in 1996, Seattle's Alex Rodriguez in 1998, Washington's Alfonso Soriano in 1996, Atlanta's Ronald Acuña Jr. in 2023.

Lost in Ohtani’s historic game was the Dodgers clinching a playoff spot for the 12th straight season and extending their NL West lead over idle San Diego to four games.

Jake Burger, Griffin Conine and Nick Fortes homered for the Marlins, who dropped to 56-96.

Guardians secure postseason berth

Andrés Giménez singled home José Ramírez from second base in the 10th inning and the Cleveland Guardians clinched a playoff berth in dramatic fashion, beating the Minnesota Twins 3-2 on Thursday.

With Ramírez on second as the automatic runner, Minnesota reliever Caleb Thielbar struck out Josh Naylor and the Twins walked Lane Thomas intentionally to face Giménez.

Cleveland's second baseman then hit a 3-2 pitch into right to easily score Ramírez.

As the All-Star third baseman rounded third, Cleveland's dugout emptied onto the field in celebration as the Guardians posted their MLB-leading 42nd comeback win and second straight in extra innings.

The Guardians are the second AL team to qualify for the postseason, following the New York Yankees, who locked up a spot Wednesday night.

The Twins threatened in the 10th, loading the bases with one out against Eli Morgan. But the right-hander got out of the jam by retiring Carlos Correa on a foul pop and Byron Buxton on a liner to right.

Cleveland's bullpen, which has carried the team all season, combined for 5 2/3 hitless innings.

Rookie Kyle Manzardo homered for the Guardians, who lowered the magic number to clinch the AL Central title to three.

The Twins fell into a tie with Detroit for the final AL wild card. The Twins own the tiebreaker.

Sale wins MLB-best 18th as Braves roll

Matt Olson hit two of Atlanta's six home runs, Chris Sale cruised to his major league-leading 18th win and the Braves cruised to a 15-3 rout of the Cincinnati Reds.

The Braves became the first team in major league history to hit four three-run homers in a game.

Along with his career-best win total, Sale (18-3) also leads the majors in ERA (2.38) and strikeouts (225).

The left-hander pitched five innings, allowing two runs and five hits with two walks and six strikeouts. It was the 18th consecutive game in which he allowed two runs or fewer.

Olson hit his 27th home run and second of the series leading off the second inning. Ramon Laureano hit a three-run homer in the third off rookie Julian Aguiar.

Marcell Ozuna doubled in a run in the fifth after Aguiar hit Michael Harris II and Jorge Soler to lead off the inning. Olson greeted Yosver Zuleta with his second homer of the game. It was his fourth multi-homer game of the season and 25th of his career.

Harris hit the Braves' sixth home run with two on in the ninth off Brandon Leibrandt.

The San Diego Padres were one strike away from padding their lead atop the NL wild-card standings.

The Detroit Tigers' Parker Meadows changed that with one swing of the bat.

Down 3-0 with two outs and two strikes in the top of the ninth inning, Meadows hit a grand slam to stun the Padres and send the Tigers to a thrilling 4-3 win on Thursday.

Parker hit a 101 mph four-seam fastball off Robert Suarez that travelled 361 feet and landed just over the short left-field fence in San Diego.

San Diego (80-62) lost for the first time in four games and its lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks shrunk to just one-half game for the NL's top wild-card spot.

Jurickson Profar and Xander Bogaerts each homered for the Padres, who end the regular season with a three-game series at Arizona.

Meadows' homer was just his sixth of the season and lifted the Tigers (71-70) back over .500 and within five games of the Royals for the AL's final wild-card spot.

Braves lose, now tied for final NL wild card spot

The Atlanta Braves suffered a 3-1 loss to the last-place Colorado Rockies to drop into a tie for the league's final wild-card berth with the idle New York Mets.

Atlanta and New York have identical 76-64 records with 22 games remaining.

The Braves, who got their lone run on Ramón Laureano's RBI single in the first inning, managed just five hits with Orlando Arcia's second inning-double the only one going for extra bases in the finale with the Rockies (52-89).

Colorado's Michael Toglia and Ezequiel Tovar each hit solo homers off Atlanta starting pitcher Reynaldo Lopez, who gave up three other hits while striking out 11 without a walk in his six innings of work.

Rockies starter Austin Gomber went eight innings, yielding a run and five hits without issuing a walk while striking out six.

Phillies push winning streak to five

The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Miami Marlins 5-2 to extend their winning streak to five games and increase their lead atop the NL East to eight games.

Bryson Stott hit an RBI single in the first inning and a long solo homer during Philadelphia's four-run sixth inning.

Kody Clemens knocked in a pair of runs with a double in the sixth and later came around to score on a wild pitch.

Ranger Suarez gave up three hits over five scoreless innings for the Phillies (84-56), who have won 10 of 12.

The Marlins (52-88) scored their first run in the seventh on an RBI single by Jesús Sánchez and plated their final run an inning later on a throwing error by Clemens.

Jackson Merrill hit another tying home run and Luis Arraez drove in three runs, including the go-ahead run in the 10th, to lift the San Diego Padres to their season-high-tying seventh straight win, 9-8 over the Miami Marlins on Saturday.

David Peralta had three hits and Jake Cronenworth drove in two runs for the Padres, who have won 16 of 18 overall and 17 of 21 on the road.

With automatic runner Tyler Wade at second, Ha-Seong Kim opened the 10th with a walk. Both runners moved up on Kyle Higashioka's sacrifice before Arraez's soft grounder to first put the Padres ahead.

Tanner Scott got the final three outs for his 19th save and first as a member of the Padres, who acquired him from the Marlins at the trade deadline.

San Diego trailed 7-3 after Miami's six-run sixth but got two runs back in the seventh and Merrill followed Xander Bogaerts' leadoff walk in the eighth with his 17th home run and fifth in 10 games to tie it.

Four of those home runs lifted the Padres into a tie, with three coming in the ninth inning.

Jake Burger and Vidal Brujan homered for the Marlins, who have lost three straight and nine of 13.

McCarthy hits two homers in Diamondbacks' rout of Phillies

Jake McCarthy hit a pair of two-run homers and All-Star Ketel Marte also went deep before leaving with an ankle injury as the red-hot Arizona Diamondbacks rolled to an 11-1 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Corbin Carroll also homered for the Diamondbacks, who have won 14 of 17 to move into a wild-card spot and remain 3 ½ games behind the NL West-leading Dodgers.

Marte exited in the fourth inning after he was knocked on his back covering second by Garrett Stubbs' head-first slide. Marte fell to the ground in pain and eventually left the field under his own power with a trainer.

Arizona starter Zac Gallen also departed early after moving awkwardly in attempting to field a ground ball in the fifth inning. There was no immediate word on his injury, but the ace right-hander missed a month earlier this season with a right hamstring injury.

McCarthy had his first career multi-home run game.

Marte homered in the first off Aaron Nola to reach 30 for the second time in his career. He hit 32 homers in 2019.

Hoskins homers in Brewers' 1-0 win

Rhys Hoskins homered in the 8th inning and rookie Tobias Myers and two relievers combined on a three-hitter as the Milwaukee Brewers won their fifth in a row, 1-0 over the Cincinnati Reds.

Hoskins took reliever Tony Santillan deep for his 20th home run, giving him a 14-game hitting streak.

Myers allowed three hits over 7 1/3 innings and struck out a career-high nine. Seven of his strikeouts were against the first three batters in the Reds order; Jonathan India, Elly De La Cruz and Tyler Stephenson.

Joel Payamps got the final two outs of the eighth for the win and Devin Williams struck out the side in the ninth for his first save of the season.

Cincinnati's Nick Martinez gave up one hit and struck out seven in a season-high seven innings.

Milwaukee (67-49) moved a season-high 18 games over .500.

Matt Wallner hit a go-ahead three-run homer and Minnesota’s bullpen pitched four perfect innings as the Twins completed a doubleheader sweep of the reeling Cleveland Guardians with a 6-3 win on Friday night.

In the first game, Bailey Ober pitched six shutout innings and Carlos Santana and Ryan Jeffers each hit solo home runs to give the Twins a 4-2 victory.

The Twins’ seventh win in nine tries moved them within 1 ½ games of the Guardians, who have lost a season-high seven in a row.

That's the closest defending division champion Minnesota has been since May 13 to Cleveland, which has held first place for all but seven days in April.

The Guardians, who hadn't lost more than three games in a row all season until this skid started last weekend, went hitless against relievers Cole Sands, Caleb Thielbar and Trevor Richards after tagging Twins starter Louie Varland for eight hits and three runs in 4 2/3 innings.

Richards recorded his first save, after Jhoan Duran notched his 16th save in the opener by striking out the side in the ninth inning.

Sizzling Padres rally past Marlins

Manny Machado highlighted a four-run 10th with a two-run double and drove in three runs as the red-hot San Diego Padres rallied for their sixth straight win, 6-2 over the Miami Marlins.

The Padres trailed 2-0 entering the eighth but Jurickson Profar doubled with one out and scored on Machado’s double. Jackson Merrill, who finished with three hits, led off the ninth with a 400-foot homer to center, his 16th to tie it.

Machado’s double off Brett De Geus scored former Marlin Luis Arraez, who had singled, and Jake Cronenworth. Tyler Wade broke the 2-2 tie when he beat the throw home on a Cronenworth grounder to shortstop Xavier Edwards.

Martin Perez allowed two runs on three hits over seven innings and Bryan Hoeing and Jason Adam each worked a hitless inning before Tanner Scott worked the 10th against his former team.

San Diego has won 15 of its last 17 games and is 2 ½ games behind the NL West-leading Dodgers.

Jake Burger and Jonah Bride hit back-to-back homers in the fourth for the last-place Marlins, who have lost eight of 12.

Diamondbacks win on Del Castillo’s walk-off homer

Adrian Del Castillo hit a walk-off home run in the ninth inning for his first career blast to lift the surging Arizona Diamondbacks to a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Phillies rallied from a 2-0 deficit, tying it in the eighth on a two-out RBI double from Johan Rojas that scored Nick Castellanos from first.

That set up Del Castillo's ninth-inning heroics. He jumped all over a 97 mph fastball from Jeff Hoffman, launching it deep into the right-field seats for his first big league homer. Del Castillo was called up this week after starting catcher Gabriel Moreno went down with a groin injury in Cleveland.

Arizona has won 13 of 16 to strengthen its hold on an NL wild-card spot.

Kyle Schwarber hit another leadoff home run and All-Star Matt Strahm struck out Shohei Ohtani in a key spot as the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3 for their major league-leading 60th win on Wednesday night. 

The Phillies have won the first two games of this three-game series between division leaders. At 60-32, only the 1976 team (88 games) reached the 60-win mark faster in a season in franchise history.

Philadelphia won without All-Star slugger Bryce Harper, who sat out with a bruised left hand after he returned for Tureday’s10-1 win following a nine-game absence. Harper was hurt at an unspecified point, through he clearly grabbed his hand and hunched over in pain on a second-inning chopper by Miguel Rojas.

Strahm entered with one out in the seventh and the Phillies holding a 4-2 lead. With runners at the corners, he struck out Ohtani and retired Teoscar Hernandez on a fly out to escape the jam.

The Dodgers scored a run in the eighth on Rojas’ RBI single, but Jeff Hoffman tossed a scoreless ninth for his ninth save.

Schwarber’s homer off Gavin Stone was his 39th career leadoff homer and 18th overall this season.

Valdez pitches Astros past Marlins

Framber Valdez struck out a season-high 10 over seven stellar innings and rookie Joey Loperfido homered and tripled to propel the Houston Astros to their eighth straight home win, 9-1 over the Miami Marlins.

Valdez allowed six hits – all singles – and walked one to win his third straight decision.

Loperfido hit a two-run homer to highlight a four-run second off Bryan Hoeing and had his first career triple in the fourth.

Yainer Diaz had three hits and three RBIs for the Astros (48-44), who have won eight of 11 to match a season high at four games over .500.

Perez’s home runs help Royals sweep

Salvador Perez homered in both games and MJ Melendez hit a solo shot in the nightcap as the Kansas City Royals beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-5 for a sweep of their day-night doubleheader.

Garrett Hampson had two-run double to back a strong start by Alec Marsh in the Royals’ 6-4 victory in the early game.

Kyle Isbel homered in the second game and James McArthur pitched the ninth for his second save of the day and 17th of the season.

Kansas City notched its 50th and 51st wins of the season after it totaled just 56 victories all last season.

Nolan Arenado, Alec Burleson and Paul Goldschmidt homered in the opener for the Cardinals, while Lars Nootbaar went deep in the nightcap. St. Louis entered the day having won four of five.

Ranger Suarez continued his stellar start with seven scoreless innings and was backed by home runs from Nick Castellanos and Johan Rojas in the Philadelphia Phillies’ 8-2 win over the Miami Marlins on Friday.

Suarez allowed three hits with nine strikeouts and two walks to become the first seven-game winner in the majors. His 1.50 ERA is the second lowest in MLB.

Rojas and J.T. Realmuto each had three of Philadelphia’s 15 hits, while Bryce Harper had two with an RBI double.

The major league-leading Phillies have won 12 of their last 14 games.

Castellanos took Trevor Rogers deep in the second inning and Rojas added an RBI single later in the inning. He homered off reliever Eli Villalobos in the seventh to make it 7-0.

The Marlins dropped to 10-30 on the season and 1-6 since trading second baseman Luis Arraez to San Diego.

Arraez lifts Padres with walk-off hit

Luis Arraez singled home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the San Diego Padres a 2-1 victory, ending the Los Angeles Dodgers’ seven-game winning streak.

Playing his first home game since he was acquired from Miami last Saturday, Arraez lined a single to center to score pinch-runner Tyler Wade with one out.

Padres starter Michael King struck out 11 and held the Dodgers to just two hits in seven scoreless innings.

Counterpart Tyler Glasnow was nearly as good, yielding his only hit over seven innings on Luis Campusano’s third-inning home run and striking out 10 for the third time in four outings.

The Padres have won seven of nine to move back over .500 (21-20).

Twins defeat Blue Jays to stay hot

Carlos Santana homered to snap a fifth-inning tie and Joe Ryan pitched one-run ball over seven innings to lead the surging Minnesota Twins to a 3-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Carlos Correa had two hits and two runs to help the Twins win for the 16th time in 18 games.

Ryan limited the Blue Jays to one hit without a walk and struck out seven for his first victory in three starts. Jhoan Duran worked the eighth and Griffin Jax pitched the ninth for his fifth save.

Santan’s home run off Yusei Kikuchi gave Minnesota at least one in 18 consecutive games in Toronto, extending the second-longest such streak in team history.

Isaiah Kiner-Falefa had a home run among his three hits as Toronto lost for the sixth time in eight games.

Gavin Stone continued the Dodgers’ run of strong starts and was backed by Teoscar Hernandez’s two-run homer as Los Angeles won their seventh straight game, triumphing 3-1 over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday.

Hernandez drove in all three runs for the Dodgers, who completed a 6-0 homestand and have won 14 of their last 16 games.

Stone limited the Marlins to one run on six hits with four strikeouts and no walks. Five of the Dodgers’ starters during the homestand went at least six innings and posted a 2.33 ERA with 31 strikeouts and four walks.

Michael Grove pitched the eighth and Daniel Hudson worked a perfect ninth for his second save.

Hernandez’s RBI single marked the fourth consecutive game that Los Angeles scored in the first inning.

Bryan De La Cruz homered for the second straight game as Miami finished a 1-5 road trip.

Blue Jays cool Phillies

Kevin Kiermaier and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. each had three hits and Chris Bassitt pitched into the seventh inning as the Toronto Blue Jays snapped the Philadelphia Phillies’ seven-game winning streak, 5-3.

Philadelphia had an 11-game home winning streak stopped, one off the franchise-record 12 straight victories at Citizens Bank Park, which opened in 2004. The Phillies won 16 consecutive home games at Veterans Stadium in 1977 and 1991.

Bassitt allowed two runs and three hits over 6 1/3 innings with two walks and six strikeouts. Jordan Romano gave up a run in the ninth but retired Kody Clemens and Whit Merrifield with the tying runs on base.

The Blue Jays used five hits to score three runs in the sixth inning. Bo Bichette and Davis Schneider had run-scoring singles before Kiermaier’s hit scored Bichette.

Ozuna hits 2 home runs to back Sale

Red-hot Marcell Ozuna hit a pair of home runs and Chris Sale struck out 10 to beat his former team in the Atlanta Braves’ 5-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

Ozuna’s second two-homer game of the season raised his major league-leading totals to 12 home runs and 38 RBIs, to go with a .315 batting average.

Orlando Arcia also went deep for the Braves, who won their second straight following a three-game skid.

Sale, who pitched for Boston from 2018-23, scattered six hits over six innings with one walk to win on his fourth consecutive start. He recorded his 82nd career game with at least 10 strikeouts.

Shohei Ohtani's major league-leading 11th home run of the season helped make Walker Buehler's return to the mound a winning one for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who posted a 6-3 victory over the Miami Marlins on Monday.

The Dodgers homered four times in all to take the opener of this three-game series and extend their winning streak to five games. Ohtani and James Outman delivered two-run blasts, while Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernandez had solo shots for the reigning National League West champions.

Making his first MLB start since June 2022 after recovering from the second Tommy John surgery of his career, Buehler did not factor in the decision while allowing three runs on six hits with four strikeouts in four innings.

Buehler's return began in a rocky way, as Jazz Chisholm Jr. opened the game with a single before stealing second and scoring on Bryan De La Cruz's base hit. De La Cruz later scored on Jesus Sanchez's single for a 2-0 Miami lead.

The Dodgers quickly pulled even, as Ohtani followed a lead-off walk to Mookie Betts in the bottom of the first with his fourth homer in three games. Two pitches later, Freeman connected off Miami starter Roddery Munoz to put Los Angeles in front.

Nick Gordon's solo homer off Buehler in the second tied the score once again, but Outman sent Los Angeles back ahead in the bottom of the inning with his blast to center that followed a walk to Gavin Lux.

Hernandez's ninth homer of the season increased the lead to 6-3 in the third, and relievers Ryan Yarbrough, Blake Treinen and Alex Vesia combined for five scoreless innings to protect Los Angeles' advantage.

Chisholm and Sanchez each had two hits for the Marlins. Munoz allowed all six Los Angeles runs in 4 2/3 innings of work.

Wheeler, Harper help scorching Phillies finish sweep of Giants

Zack Wheeler struck out 11 over seven innings, Bryce Harper belted a three-run homer for a second consecutive game, and the torrid Philadelphia Phillies completed a four-game sweep of the San Francisco Giants with a 6-1 victory.

Wheeler allowed one unearned run and four hits in a dominant effort that gave Philadelphia its sixth straight win and 10th in a row at home. The Phillies have now won 10 of their last 11 overall and improved to 17-3 since April 15.

The Phillies did have one streak end, however, as Alec Bohm went 0 for 4 to end a run of 18 straight games with at least one hit.

Giants starter Mason Black, making his major league debut, kept the Phillies off the board until the rookie issued back-to-back walks in the fourth inning and gave up a run-scoring single to Whit Merrifield.

Black ran into greater trouble in the fifth, as Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto began Philadelphia's half of the inning with singles before Harper launched a pitch into the left field seats for a 4-0 lead.

The Giants got their only run in the sixth when Thairo Estrada reached on an error, moved to third on LaMonte Wade Jr.'s single and scored on Wilmer Flores's sacrifice fly.

Schwarber capped the scoring with a solo homer off reliever Tyler Rogers in the eighth.

Black lasted 4 1/3 innings and permitted five runs on eight hits while walking three. 

Twins bounce back, win series opener against Mariners

Simeon Woods Richardson allowed just one hit over six scoreless innings for the Minnesota Twins, who scored twice in the seventh inning to earn a 3-1 win over the Seattle Mariners to open a four-game series.

Carlos Correa went 2 for 4 with an RBI double to help Minnesota get back on track following Sunday's 9-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox, which ended the Twins' 12-game winning streak.

Seattle's Luis Castillo held the Twins to one run through six innings, but was touched for two in the seventh as Minnesota broke a 1-1 tie.

Castillo walked Max Kepler to start the Twins' half of the inning and Correa followed with his second double of the night to put two on. Correa advanced to third on a fielder's choice grounder as Kepler was thrown out at the plate, then scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly from Christian Vasquez.

Manuel Margot then greeted reliever Trent Thornton with a run-scoring single that extended the lead to 3-1.

Woods Richardson recorded a career-high eight strikeouts while yielding just a third-inning single to Mitch Garver and a walk to Cal Raleigh in the fifth. The right-hander exited with a 1-0 lead, but reliever Griffin Jax surrendered two hits and a walk in the seventh before Garver got Seattle on the board with a sac fly that plated former Twin Jorge Polanco.

The Twins had gone ahead in the fifth on back-to-back doubles from Kepler and Correa, the first hits Castillo surrendered during the game.

Castillo allowed just three hits overall in 6 2/3 innings, but did walk three and was charged with three runs - two earned - to take the loss.

 

 

 

Chris Paddack pitched two-hit ball over six scoreless innings and Edouard Julien and Ryan Jeffers each drove in two runs to lead the Minnesota Twins to their 11th straight win, 5-2 over the Boston Red Sox on Friday.

The Twins matched win streaks in 2003 and 2006 for their third-longest ever, trailing the club record of 15 straight during their last World Series championship season in 1991. They also won 12 in a row in 1980.

Paddack walked one and struck out six to win his third consecutive start. Jhoan Duran fanned two in the ninth for his second save.

The Red Sox struck out 13 times and lost their second straight following a four-game win streak.

The Twins opened the scoring in the third on Julien’s RBI single and extended to a 5-0 lead with four runs in the seventh.

A throwing error by catcher Reese McGuire scored a run, Julien walked with the bases loaded and Jeffers followed with a two-run double.

Bohm, Marsh lead surging Phillies

Alec Bohm had an RBI single to extend his hitting streak to 16 games and Brandon Marsh drove in two runs as the Philadelphia Phillies remained hot with a 4-3 win over the San Francisco Giants.

Trea Turner added a pair of hits and scored from second on a passed ball for the Phillies, who have won 14 of 17 and lead the majors with 22 victories.

Turner injured his left hamstring running the bases between third and home. He will have further tests on Saturday but said he expects to miss at least a couple of days.

Philadelphia took the lead for good with three runs in the third against Jordan Hicks on Bohm’s RBI single and Marsh’s two-run hit.

Bohm is 30 for 60 with three home runs, 10 doubles and 21 RBIs during his hitting streak.

Sears pitches Athletics to fifth straight victory

JP Sears pitched into the seventh inning and Brent Rooker hit a two-run homer to propel the surprising Oakland Athletics to their fifth consecutive win, 3-1 over the Miami Marlins.

Sears allowed four hits over 6 1/3 scoreless innings with one walk and six strikeouts. Austin Adams and Michael Kelly each got two outs before Lucas Erceg gave up one run over the final 1 1/3 innings for the save.

Oakland improved to 16-17 after it didn’t pick up its 16th win last season until June 10 in the 66th game.

After Rooker’s two-run shot in the fourth inning opened the scoring, Max Schuemann led off the fifth with a double and scored on Esteury Ruiz’s single.

The Marlins, who dropped to 9-25, are working to trade second baseman and reigning NL batting champion Luis Arrez to the San Diego Padres.

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.

Tyler Freeman and Bryan Rocchio delivered RBIs in the seventh inning and Jose Ramirez homered to lift the Cleveland Guardians to their fifth straight victory, 4-1 over the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday.

The Guardians improved the majors’ best record to 17-6, matching their best start through 23 games. Cleveland also was 17-6 in 1999 and 1966.

Ben Lively allowed one run and five hits over 6 1/3 innings in his Progressive Field debut. He walked one and struck out seven.

Scott Barlow and Hunter Gaddis got the next five outs before Emmanuel Clase struck out the side in the ninth for his seventh save.

Tanner Houck, who threw a three-hit shutout against Cleveland last week, held the Guardians scoreless through six innings before Freeman singled home Will Brennan and Rocchio’s sacrifice fly in the seventh put Cleveland ahead.

Rob Refsnyder had three hits as Boston had a three-game winning streak snapped.

Fried dominates Marlins

Max Fried pitched a three-hitter for Atlanta’s first complete game since 2022 and Adam Duvall belted a two-run homer as the surging Braves blanked the Miami Marlins for the second straight night, 5-0.

Fried didn’t walk anyone and struck out six, needing just 92 pitches to become the first Braves pitcher to complete nine innings since Bryce Elder in an 8-0 win over Washington on Sept. 26, 2022.

Fried notched his fourth career shutout and fifth career complete game as Atlanta won its eighth in nine games.

The Marlins have gone 20 innings without scoring a run and dropped to 6-19.

Duvall’s second home run of the season capped a three-run sixth and extended the lead to 5-0.

Cubs keep Astros reeling

Mike Tauchman hit his first two home runs of the season and the Chicago Cubs scored five first-inning runs in a 7-2 win over the Houston Astros, who dropped 10 games under .500 for the first time since 2016.

Cody Bellinger had a two-run blast in the first inning off J.P. France and Tauchman capped the fast start with a three-run shot. He added a solo home run in the eighth.

Houston has lost three straight and six of seven and, at 7-17, is 10 games under .500 for the first time since an 18-28 start in 2016.

Jordan Wicks limited the Astros to two runs and five hits over a season-best six innings with no walks and four strikeouts.

The New York Yankees received eight stellar innings from Nestor Cortes and three-run homers from Juan Soto and Anthony Volpe to continue their hot start with Monday's 7-0 win over the floundering Miami Marlins.

Cortes retired 24 of the 26 batters he faced, yielding just a pair of singles, to record his first victory since May 30 and help New York match the best 11-game start to a season in franchise history at 9-2. The left-hander struck out six while throwing 70 of 102 pitches for strikes.

The Yankees have opened a season 9-2 seven times previously, most recently in 2020.

Volpe and Soto's homers both came in the fourth inning off Jesus Luzardo, with Soto's blast his first at Yankee Stadium since New York acquired the star outfielder from the San Diego Padres in the offseason.

Soto finished 2 for 3 and Alex Verdugo went 3 for 3 with an RBI as the Yankees extended Miami's early-season woes. The Marlins have now lost 10 of their first 11 games for the second time in team history, having previously done so in 1998.

Luzardo permitted all seven runs while being tagged for eight hits and five walks in 4 2/3 innings.

The Miami left-hander had kept the Yankees scoreless until Volpe followed fourth-inning singles by Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo with a drive into the left field seats.

Verdugo then doubled and Luzardo walked Jose Trevino before retiring the next two batters to bring up Soto, who launched the first pitch he saw over the wall in right for a 6-0 lead.

Stanton doubled to open the bottom of the fifth before scoring the Yankees' final run on Verdugo's two-out single.

Nationals rout Giants to spoil Snell's San Francisco debut

Lane Thomas went 3 for 5 with a home run and three RBIs as the Washington Nationals spoiled Blake Snell's San Francisco Giants debut with an 8-1 rout in the opener of a three-game series.

Trey Lipscomb also had three hits, including an RBI single, and delivered a steal of home to help pin a loss on Snell in the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner's first start as a Giant.

Snell, who went 14-9 with an MLB-leading 2.25 ERA and 234 strikeouts with the San Diego Padres last season, joined San Francisco on a two-year, $62 million contract in March.

The ace left-hander struck out five in three innings, but surrendered three runs on three hits while walking two.

Washington received a more effective outing from starter Trevor Williams, who held San Francisco to one run on three hits over five innings to move to 2-0 on the season.

Snell's trouble came in the second inning, as he issued consecutive one-out walks before Lipscomb singled to left to drive in a run and tie the score at 1-1. 

Luis Garcia followed with an infield RBI single that put Washington ahead before stealing second base, with Lipscomb running home from third on the play and beating the throw to the plate.

The Giants had taken a 1-0 lead when Jung Hoo Lee singled and LaMonte Wade doubled two batters later, with Lee crossing the plate on an errant throw from Nationals left fielder Jesse Winker.

Thomas' two-run homer off Landen Roupp in the fifth pushed Washington's lead to 5-1, and the Nationals tacked on another run in the inning on Ildemaro Vargas' RBI double.

Washington scored twice more in the ninth via an RBI single from Thomas and a bases-loaded walk to Vargas that forced in Winker.

Ohtani's homer, three hits power Dodgers past Twins

Shohei Ohtani tied a career high with three extra-base hits, including a solo homer, as the Los Angeles Dodgers got back on track with a 4-2 win over the Minnesota Twins.

Ohtani added two doubles along with his third homer in five games to help Los Angeles take the opener of this three-game series. The Dodgers entered Minnesota off two losses in three games to the Chicago Cubs over the weekend.

James Paxton did his part for Los Angeles by holding the Twins to two runs on three hits over six solid innings to win his second straight start to begin the season.

Paxton's lone blemish came when he served up a two-run homer to Manuel Margot in the third inning that gave Minnesota a 2-1 lead.

The Twins maintained a one-run edge until the sixth, when Ohtani greeted reliever Steven Okert with a double and later scored on Will Smith's single.

Okert came on for Bailey Ober, who allowed just one run and three hits over five innings before departing in line for the win.

James Outman put Los Angeles ahead with a solo homer off Jay Jackson in the seventh. Two batters later, Ohtani connected for an opposite-field blast off Jackson that increased the lead to 4-2.

Ober's lone run allowed came after issuing a lead-off walk to Mookie Betts in the first inning. Ohtani followed with a double before Betts crossed the plate on Freddie Freeman's sacrifice fly. 

Pete Alonso belted a tying homer in the ninth inning and Tyrone Taylor delivered a game-winning single to lift the New York Mets to their first win of the season, 2-1 over the Detroit Tigers on Thursday for a doubleheader split.

After blowing a 3-0 lead in a 6-3, 11-inning loss in the opening game, the Mets were held hitless in the second game until Harrison Bader led off the eighth with a single against reliever Tyler Holton.

Alonso’s tying home run – and his 500th career RBI - came off Alex Faedo and Brett Baty walked before Starling Marte sacrificed. Taylor then lined a single to left for his first career walk-off hit.

The win was the first for Mets manager Carlos Mendoza as New York avoided opening 0-6 for the first time since its second season in 1963.

Detroit improved to 5-0 with the Game 1 win, as Colt Keith stroked a tiebreaking double in the 11th before Gio Urshela’s bloop scored a pair.

Matt Manning pitched 5 2/3 hitless innings in the opener with four walks and three strikeouts.

Cardinals rally past winless Marlins

Nolan Gorman highlighted a five-run seventh inning with a two-run double and the St. Louis Cardinals rallied for an 8-5 victory in their home opener to keep the Miami Marlins winless.

The Marlins took a 5-3 lead into the seventh, but the Cardinals scored five times on Ivan Herrera’s RBI single, Gorman’s big hit, Alec Burleson’s two-out, run-scoring single and Masyn Winn’s RBI triple.

Herrera also hit his first major league home run leading off the second inning.

Jake Burger hit a pair of home runs for the Marlins, who dropped to 0-8 for the worst start in the 33-year history of the franchise. Their start is the worst in the majors since Atlanta and Minnesota each opened 0-9 in 2016.

Bibee, bullpen power Guardians

Tanner Bibbee allowed one run over 5 1/3 innings and Steven Kwan had three hits as the Cleveland Guardians spoiled the Minnesota Twins’ home opener with a 4-2 win.

Bibee struck out nine and four relievers followed, with Emmanuel Clase pitching a perfect ninth for his third save. Cleveland's pitchers totalled 15 strikeouts.

Cleveland reached Pablo Lopez for three runs in the sixth. Jose Ramirez singled home Kwan and Tyler Freeman had an RBI single before Will Brennan lofted a sacrifice fly.

Carlos Correa had three hits and Edouard Julien homered for the Twins, who stranded nine runners and were 0 for 12 with runners in scoring position.

Brandon Hyde of the Baltimore Orioles was named American League Manager of the Year on Tuesday and Skip Schumaker of the Miami Marlins took home the award in the National League.

Hyde guided the Orioles to the AL East title and a league-best 101 victories just two years after a 110-loss season.

Hyde earned 27 of a possible 30 first-place votes, with Bruce Bochy of the Texas Rangers receiving the other three. Two-time winner Kevin Cash of the Tampa Bay Rays finished third.

 

Schumaker led the Marlins to an 84-78 record – including 33-14 in one-run games – and a 15-game improvement in his first season as a major league manager with Miami earning a surprise wild-card spot.

He received eight first-place votes, three more than runner-up Craig Counsell of the Milwaukee Brewers, and Atlanta’s Brian Snitker was third.

Hyde became the fourth Baltimore manager to win the award, following Buck Showalter in 2014, Davey Johnson in 1997 and Frank Robinson in 1989.

Schumaker is the fourth Marlins manager to win the award, joining Jack McKeon in 2003, Joe Girardi in 2006 and Don Mattingly in 2020.

For just the fourth time in franchise history the Miami Marlins will play in the postseason.

The Marlins punched their ticket to the playoffs with a 7-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday.

Jazz Chisholm hit his 19th homer and Josh Bell drove in three runs as the Marlins secured their first trip to the playoffs since the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

It's the club's first time making the playoffs after a full season since the 2003 team won the franchise's second World Series. The postseason berth completes an improbable turnaround after Miami went 69-93 last season.

The Marlins have won 18 of their last 27 games to vault past the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants and into the playoffs. They have also taken a half-game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks for the National League's second wild card. 

In their postseason clinching-win, Chisholm, Jorge Soler and Jon Berti each scored twice, while Tanner Scott struck out the side in the ninth to notch his 12th save as the final of eight pitchers used by Miami.

 

 

Rangers beat Mariners to return to playoffs for first time since 2016

The Texas Rangers are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2016 with a 6-1 win over the Seattle Mariners.

The Rangers plated four runs in the third inning en route to their 90th victory of the season - a 22-win improvement from 2022.

One more win over the Mariners in Sunday's regular-season finale and Texas will claim the AL West title and the No. 2 seed in the AL playoffs. The Rangers, who are scheduled to start 12-game winner Dane Dunning in the finale, can also wrap up the division should the Houston Astros lose to the Diamondbacks.

Jonah Heim had a two-run single and finished with three RBIs to lead the Texas offence, while Andrew Heaney threw 4 1/3 shutout innings in a spot start.

The Mariners were eliminated from the postseason with the wins by the Rangers and Astros. Their loss also allowed the Toronto Blue Jays to secure a wild-card berth

Luis Castillo struggled mightily, yielding four runs and throwing 86 pitches before being pulled after just 2 2/3 innings - tied for the second-shortest start of his career.

 

 

Verlander helps Astros beat Diamondbacks, yet both teams clinch postseason spots

The Houston Astros defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 1-0, but both teams got the desired result.

The Astros clinched a playoff berth with the victory and the Diamondbacks secured a wild-card spot with the Cincinnati Reds' 15-6 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

While Arizona is battling with Miami for the NL's second wild card, Houston can win the AL West with a victory over the Diamondbacks in Sunday's finale, coupled with a Rangers loss to the Mariners.

Justin Verlander struck out five and allowed two hits over five innings and Jose Abreu put the Astros ahead with a run-scoring double in the fourth inning.

Merrill Kelly threw seven innings of one-run ball for Arizona, which is just two years removed from a 110-loss season and is in the playoffs for the first time since 2017.

 

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