Yu Darvish tossed seven scoreless innings and was backed by three San Diego homers as the Padres earned a series win over the Los Angeles Dodgers with Sunday's 4-0 victory.

Fernando Tatis Jr., Jake Cronenworth and Xander Bogaerts all had solo homers to support a third straight winning start for Darvish (3-1). The veteran right-hander yielded just two hits and a walk while striking out seven to extend his streak of consecutive scoreless innings to 18.

The Padres also got three hits from Jackson Merrill as they took two of three games from the National League West-leading Dodgers and improved to 8-3 over their last 11 contests.

Darvish retired the first 14 Los Angeles hitters and was staked to a quick 2-0 lead on back-to-back homers from Tatis and Cronenworth off Walker Buehler in the first inning.

Buehler (0-1), making his second start since returning from Tommy John surgery performed in August 2022, ran into more trouble in the fourth as the Padres loaded the bases with one out on a Merrill single, a walk and a hit batter. Ryan Yarbrough then relieved the right-hander and got Luis Arraez to ground into a fielder's choice that brought home Merrill.

Bogaerts' homer off Gus Varland in the fifth extended San Diego's lead to 4-0.

Buehler was removed after 3 1/3 innings and was charged with three runs allowed on five hits and two walks.

Yankees belt five homers to take series from Rays

The New York Yankees hit a season-high five home runs, including two from Jose Trevino, before holding on for a 10-6 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in the rubber match of a three-game series between the American League East rivals.

Gleyber Torres added a three-run homer, while Aaron Judge and Jahmai Jones also went deep as New York bounced back from Saturday's 7-2 loss and won for the seventh time in nine games.

The Yankees also received six scoreless innings from Luis Gil (4-1), who allowed just three hits and two walks to win his third consecutive start.

Tampa Bay lost for the third time in four games despite Jose Siri's grand slam and a solo homer from Yandy Diaz.

New York built a 6-0 lead through six innings, with Anthony Volpe starting the scoring by leading off the game with a triple and crossing the plate on Juan Soto's sacrifice fly.

Jones' homer off Tampa Bay starter Tyler Alexander in the third inning extended the margin to 2-0, and Trevino took Alexander's pitch over the left field wall with Anthony Rizzo aboard in the fourth to increase the lead further.

Soto singled in front of Judge's 10th homer of the season to put New York up 6-0 in the fifth, but the Rays got back in it with five runs against the Yankees' bullpen in the seventh.

Tampa Bay loaded the bases against Caleb Ferguson on Richie Palacios' single, a double from Jonny DeLuca and a walk before Siri connected on his first career grand slam.

Nick Burdi then replaced Ferguson and walked the first two hitters he faced before hitting Randy Arozarena to load the bases again. Luke Weaver was then summoned from the bullpen and promptly hit Isaac Paredes with a pitch to force in a run and cut the lead to 6-5.

The Yankees answered, however, by scoring four times in the eighth. 

A Giancarlo Stanton single and Rizzo's double put two on for Torres, who blasted a pitch from Shawn Armstrong into the left field seats for a 9-5 lead. Two batters later, Trevino took Erasmo Ramirez deep for his second career two-homer game.

Ian Hamilton served up Diaz's homer in the ninth before closing out the contest.

Rockies complete stunning sweep of defending champ Rangers

Ty Blach's five solid innings and a two-run homer from Ezequiel Tovar helped the Colorado Rockies finish a three-game sweep of the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers with Sunday's 3-1 win.

Blach (1-1) scattered seven hits while allowing one run in his second start of the season before turning things over to the Colorado bullpen, where relievers Victor Vodnik, Tyler Kinely and Jalen Beeks combined for four scoreless innings to close out the Rockies' season-high fourth straight win.

Colorado had compiled an MLB-worst 8-28 record prior to its current streak.

Texas, which has dropped three straight for the second time this season, did take an early lead when Corey Seager singled in the top of the first inning and later scored on Adolis Garcia's base hit.

The Rockies answered in the bottom of the inning, however, when Charlie Blackmon reached on a lead-off single and Tovar followed with his fourth homer of the season. 

Those were the only runs allowed by Texas starter Jose Urena (1-3), who threw a season-high 6 2/3 innings and permitted six hits and one walk.

The Rangers couldn't generate any further offence, though, and Colorado tacked on an insurance run in the eighth when Ryan McMahon doubled and later crossed the plate on a bases-loaded walk issued to Brenton Doyle.

Beeks worked around a pair of hits in the ninth to record his third save of the season. 

The San Diego Padres tied up the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers with a nail-biting 5-3 victory in a game that included five solo home runs on Wednesday.

Manny Machado played a key role going two-for-five, including a first-inning solo homer along with a third-inning RBI, while Jurickson Profar got his fifth RBI this postseason to put the Padres up 4-3 in the sixth inning.

Jake Cronenworth added another with a solo blast over right-field in the eighth inning before Josh Hader closed it out.

Yu Darvish pitched five innings with seven strikeouts but allowed seven hits and three runs.

The Dodgers had their chances, with nine batters left on base, while they did not have a hit with a runner in scoring position all night.

Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy and Trea Turner all scored solo home runs for the Dodgers. Freeman, who went two-for-four, got on base with a ninth-inning double but Will Smith was caught short of the wall in right-field by Juan Soto to end it.

Clayton Kershaw had six K's across five innings for the Dodgers, restoring his position as the MLB's all-time leading postseason strikeout leader with 213.

Pitcher Brusdar Graterol made a key play down 4-3 in the sixth inning, throwing out Wil Myers at home from a Trent Grisham bunt, but the Dodgers could not capitalise with the Padres' bullpen again exceptional, led by Robert Suarez.

The next two games of the NLDS are at Petco Park where the Padres will be playing in front of their fans in a postseason game for the first time since 2006.

Wright leads Braves to level up with Phillies

Kyle Wright threw six stellar innings as the Atlanta Braves squared the NLDS as they blanked the Philadelphia Phillies 3-0.

After a lengthy rain delay, Wright allowed only two hits with one walk, whilst striking out six Phillies, before reliever A.J. Minter pitched a perfect seventh inning.

The Braves piled on all three runs in the sixth inning with three consecutive two-out singles, as Ronald Acuna Jr overcame a 96mph fastball from Zack Wheeler to his elbow to break the tie, driven in by Matt Olson whose line hit got by first baseman Rhys Hoskins on an in-between hop.

Austin Riley's gentle dribble got Dansby Swanson to home plate, before Travis d'Arnaud grounded to center-field to drive in Olson.

Aaron Judge remains rooted on 60 home runs for the season after he was kept homerless for the fourth straight game in the New York Yankees' 7-5 win over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday.

Judge had one walk but ended up none-for-three with two strikeouts and a fly out to medium center as the wait draws on to pull level with Roger Maris' franchise and American League (AL) record of 61 home runs in a single season.

The Yankees outfielder was left frustrated when he tried to hold his swing on a wide 2-2 fastball but umpire Chris Conroy signaled a third strike.

"Even for a guy that hit 60 home runs, he still doesn't hit them every day," Yankees coach Aaron Boone said. "A lot of things got to line up to go deep, even for the best of the best. So as long as he continues to take good at-bats and make good swing decisions, it'll happen sooner rather than later."

Judge's showing meant his batting average dropped to .314, with Boston's Xander Bogaerts going two-for-four to move ahead of him at .315, denting the Yankee's triple crown hopes.

Anthony Rizzo's seventh-inning two-run blast earned the Yankees the win in front of a sell-out crowd after scores were locked at 5-5.

Manoah helps Blue Jays claim key win

Alex Manoah led the way as the Toronto Blue Jays regained the top AL Wild Card spot with a 3-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Manoah sent down seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts – including his 300th career K - allowing only four hits with two walks.

Whit Merrifield hit a seventh-inning three-run blast to open up a three-run lead, capping a strong week after two homers against the Rays on Thursday.

The win means the Blue Jays (85-67) lead the Rays (84-68) by one game for the first AL Wild Card spot. The Seattle Mariners (83-68) are next.

Padres make ground in NL Wild Card hunt

Yu Darvish claimed his 16th win of the season as the San Diego Padres defeated the Colorado Rockies 9-3 to climb into second spot in the National League (NL) Wild Card race.

Darvish finished with eight strikeouts across six innings, allowing only five hits and two runs, but the Padres pulled clear with a six-run seventh inning.

Jake Cronenworth and Ha-Seong Kim both had two-run singles amid the seventh inning where they turned a tight game into a rout. The Padres move to 84-68, ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies (83-68) in the NL Wild Card race.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have lost three games in a row for the first time since mid-June after going down 7-1 at home against the San Diego Padres on Friday.

Yu Darvish was spectacular starting on the mound for the visitors, pitching seven scoreless innings while only allowing two hits and two walks to go with nine strikeouts.

While Darvish was taking the Dodgers' offense out of the contest, the Padres' big bats came through with some timely hits, with star Manny Machado's two-run home run breaking the deadlock in the third inning.

Just three batters after Machado in the same inning, it was teammate Brandon Drury's turn to do the damage, connecting on his own two-run shot to double the Padres' lead to 4-0.

With Drury and Todd Grisham on base in the sixth frame, Padres lead-off hitter Jurickson Profar put the game beyond doubt with a three-run home run, before the Dodgers salvaged one consolation run in the ninth frame through a Joey Gallo base hit.

Overall, the Dodgers only registered four hits as a team, with their MVP candidates Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman combining to go zero-for-six.

Despite their three-game losing streak, the Dodgers are still five-and-a-half games clear for the best record in the majors at 90-41, and they lead the Padres by 17 games in the NL West.

Castillo, Raleigh lead Mariners to convincing win

Luis Castillo held the Cleveland Guardians scoreless through the first six innings as the Seattle Mariners prevailed 6-1 away from home.

Castillo finished with four strikeouts, allowing five hits and one walk, while with the bat it was Cal Raleigh doing the damage.

Raleigh hit a 366-foot solo home run in the third inning, and he topped that in the sixth frame when he blasted a 424-foot, three-run shot over the right-field wall.

AL Rookie of the Year favourite and the recent recipient of a contract worth up to $470million if all its incentives are hit, Julio Rodriguez came around to score two runs, going one-for-five at the plate.

D'Arnaud and the Braves get to Alcantara

It was a rough outing for NL Cy Young Award shoo-in Sandy Alcantara, giving up six runs in five innings as the Atlanta Braves made him look average in an 8-1 win.

Alcantara leads the majors comfortably in innings pitched (190 – 20 more than second-place) and wins-above-replacement, or WAR (6.9 – 1.9 more than second-place), but he had no answer for a switched-on Braves offense.

Travis d'Arnaud had a day to remember, blasting a pair of 400-foot home runs, while rookies Michael Harris II and Vaughan Grissom also went deep.

Adding to the launch party was Austin Riley, who hit his 34th long-ball of the season – the third-most in the majors – and he has the second-most total bases, trailing only New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge.

National League Rookie of the Year favourite Seiya Suzuki registered a hit in the eighth consecutive start of his career after a home run in the Chicago Cubs' 6-4 away win against the Colorado Rockies.

The 27-year-old, who arrived from the Hiroshima Carp this off-season on a five-year, $85million deal made more history with his home run, becoming the second Japanese player to ever start his career with an eight-game hitting streak, and the third Cubs player in the past 100 years to start a season that way,

With a hit in his next game, Suzuki will tie Akinori Iwamura for the record for longest hitting streak to start a MLB career for a player coming from Japan, which happened in 2007 for the Tampa Bay Rays.

Suzuki's home run was his fourth of the season – trailing only C.J. Kron and Vladimir Guerrero Jr (five each) for most home runs in the entire MLB.

It came at an important time on Sunday, after the Rockies had cut the Cubs' 5-0 lead back to 5-3 going into the seventh inning, before Suzuki tacked on the extra insurance run.

Nick Madrigal was also terrific for the Cubs, going three-for-five at the plate, including a double, while the biggest hit of the game was Ryan McMahon's 447-foot two-run blast for the Rockies in the sixth inning.

Freeman and Heaney fit right in as Dodgers sweep Reds

Freddie Freeman had four hits and three RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers completed a four-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds, claiming a 9-1 win on Sunday.

Andrew Heaney struck out 11 over six innings in a scoreless home debut, while Max Muncy, Will Smith and Chris Taylor.

Heaney was dominant, posting his 15th career start with at least 10 strikeouts, while walking three and only allowing a double from Kyle Farmer in the third inning.

Darvish bounces back against Braves

Yu Darvish pitched into the seventh inning as the San Diego Padres beat the Atlanta Braves 2-1 with only three hits.

Following the shortest outing of his career, not even covering two innings against the San Francisco Giants on the prior Tuesday, the 35-year-old allowed his only run against the reigning World Series champions via Marcell Ozuna's home run in the seventh.

Taylor Rogers closed out the four-hitter for San Diego, to save what was an otherwise off day at the plate for the Padres, with Jake Cronenworth particularly going zero-for-three.

The Arizona Diamondbacks ended a 17-game losing streak after upstaging the Milwaukee Brewers 5-1 in MLB on Monday.

After almost a month, the Diamondbacks returned to winning ways behind Merrill Kelly's solid pitching display at home to the Brewers.

Kelly only gave up one run, five hits and a walk with five strikeouts as the Diamondbacks celebrated a victory for the first time since June 1.

"It's definitely more fun winning than losing," Kelly said afterwards in Phoenix, with the Diamondbacks bottom of the National League (NL) West standings with the MLB's worst record (21-53).

Padres' Darvish makes history

Yu Darvish became the fastest pitcher to 1,500 strikeouts in fewer than 200 games. Darvish reached the milestone in the sixth inning of his 197th MLB game, surpassing Randy Johnson – who needed 206 appearances. Darvish allowed one run and two hits as the San Diego Padres trumped NL rivals and World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2.

Jacob deGrom produced a trademark performance as the New York Mets topped the Atlanta Braves 4-2 in their opening game. DeGrom retired the first eight batters he faced – the Mets ace finishing with five shut-out innings. The two-time Cy Young award winner extended his scoreless streak to 30 innings, while lowering his MLB-leading ERA to 0.50.

Akin struggles against Astros

The Baltimore Orioles were routed 10-2 by the high-flying Houston Astros, who got on top of Keegan Akin. The Orioles pitcher was tagged with the loss after giving up six hits, five runs – all earned, four walks and a homer in just four innings.

Braves star Acuna at it again for

Ronald Acuna became the second player in MLB history to homer for the only run in a 1-0 victory on back-to-back days, according to Stats Perform. His lead-off shot in the fifth inning secured a 1-0 win over the Mets in the second game of a doubleheader.

Monday's results

New York Mets 4-2 Atlanta Braves
Atlanta Braves 1-0 New York Mets
Houston Astros 10-2 Baltimore Orioles
Cleveland Indians 4-0 Chicago Cubs
Texas Rangers 8-3 Oakland Athletics
Arizona Diamondbacks 5-1 Milwaukee Brewers
San Diego Padres 6-2 Los Angeles Dodgers
Minnesota Twins 7-5 Cincinnati Reds

Red Sox at Rays

It will be a clash of the best two teams in the American League (AL) East when the Boston Red Sox (43-29) open their series at the Tampa Bay Rays (43-30). Boston lead the AL East by a half-game. Andrew Kittredge starts for the Rays, while the Red Sox send Eduardo Rodriguez to the mound.

Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama said he admirers countrymen and MLB stars Yu Darvish, Kenta Maeda and Shohei Ohtani after becoming the first Japanese man to win a major.

Matsuyama made history with his one-stroke victory ahead of Will Zalatoris in a tense finale at Augusta on Sunday.

A five-time PGA Tour winner before this success, Matsuyama withstood a wobble and the threat posed by Xander Schauffele (72) and Zalatoris (70) to complete a history-making performance in Georgia, where he carded a final-round 73 to claim the green jacket.

Matsuyama was asked about his golfing heroes after the memorable achievement, but the 29-year-old instead listed his baseball idols – Los Angeles Angels two-way sensation Ohtani, four-time All-Star and San Diego Padres ace Darvish and Minnesota Twins pitcher Maeda.

"You know, the people that I admired were a lot -- were mainly baseball players: Darvish, Ohtani, Maeda," Matsuyama told reporters.

"As far as golf, not so much. Hopefully now others will, like you said, be inspired for what happened here today and follow in my footsteps."

"It's been a struggle recently," added Matsuyama, who had last won on the PGA Tour in 2017. "This year, no Top 10s, haven't even contended. So I came to Augusta with little or no expectations. But as the week progressed, as I practiced, especially on Wednesday, I felt something again. I found something in my swing.

"And when that happens, the confidence returns. And so I started the tournament with a lot of confidence."

Matsuyama (2011) – who finished 10 under – became the third Masters champion in the last five years to have previously earned low amateur honours, following in the footsteps of Woods (2019, low amateur in 1995) and Sergio Garcia (2017, low amateur in 1999).

With his final-round 73, Matsuyama became the eighth player (nine instances) to claim The Masters despite an over-par final round – Trevor Immelman was the last to do so in 2008.

It came after Matsuyama – four strokes clear at the start of the day – had extended his lead to five at the turn, before his title bid threatened to turn sour as Schauffele closed in and Zalatoris loomed.

After finding water at the par-five 15th hole, Matsuyama took the penalty and cleaned up for bogey as Schauffele continued to heap pressure on the Japanese hopeful, cutting the lead to two shots with his fourth consecutive birdie.

But Schauffele's pursuit of a maiden major collapsed when the American – seven back at the 12th tee before rallying – also found water before sending his next shot into the crowd.

Matsuyama had a routine par to move three shots clear with two to play, but he dropped another shot, his lead down to two ahead of Zalatoris as an ill-timed triple-bogey sent 2019 runner-up Schauffele down to equal third alongside Jordan Spieth – four shots behind.

That was the breathing space Matsuyama needed as Japan's new poster boy held his nerve, doing what he needed to do during the final two holes in front of an appreciative crowd on the 18th, where not even a bogey could wipe away the champion's smile.

"Xander had just made three birdies in a row at 12, 13 and 14. I hit the fairway at 15, hitting first, with Xander having the momentum," Matsuyama said as he discussed his approach on the 15th and 16th holes. "I felt I needed to birdie 15 because I knew Xander would definitely be birdieing or maybe even eagling.

"But it didn't happen. And so I stood on the 16th tee with a two-stroke lead, and unfortunately for Xander, he found the water with his tee shot and I played safe to the right of the green at 16."

"I can't say I'm the greatest. However, I'm the first to win a major, and if that's the bar, then I've set it," Matsuyama said when asked if he is the greatest male golfer out of Japan following his success.