Mookie Betts went 2 for 4 with a homer and three RBIs in a dazzling return from the injured list that sparked the Los Angeles Dodgers to a key 5-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday.

In his first game since fracturing his left hand on June 16, Betts hit a two-run homer that broke a scoreless tie in the third inning and later added a run-scoring single to lead Los Angeles in the opener of this four-game series between National League division leaders.

Shohei Ohtani also had a two-run homer, his NL-leading 36th of the season, to help Clayton Kershaw earn his first win since September in the three-time Cy Young Award winner's best start of the season.

Kershaw (1-2) held the Brewers to one run and three hits through 5 2/3 innings in his fourth start since returning from offseason shoulder surgery.

The Dodgers have now won four straight and moved a half-game ahead of the East-leading Philadelphia Phillies in the race for the NL's best record. Milwaukee dropped to 2 1/2 games behind Los Angeles and has lost two in a row following a five-game winning streak.

Betts stepped to the plate with Teoscar Hernandez aboard in the third inning and drove a 2-1 pitch from Milwaukee starter Freddy Peralta over the left field wall to stake Kershaw to a 2-0 lead. 

Ohtani made it 4-0 two innings later by following a Kevin Kiermaier single with an opposite-field homer off Peralta (7-7), who was tagged for four runs on five hits in six innings.

Kershaw departed with two out and a runner on in the sixth in favour of Joe Kelly, who was greeted by a home run by William Contreras that brought the Brewers within 4-2.

Betts struck again in the seventh, however, with a two-out single that plated Ohtani, who drew a walk and advanced to second with his 33rd stolen base of the season.

Three Dodger relievers then combined to keep the Brewers scoreless over the final three innings, with Daniel Hudson working a perfect ninth to notch his ninth save. 

Valdez stars again as Astros win sixth straight

Framber Valdez and the Houston Astros both extended their unbeaten runs as the American League West leaders opened a three-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays with a 6-1 victory.

Valdez (12-5), who lost a no-hit bid with two outs in the ninth inning in his previous outing, struck out nine while yielding just one run and three hits over 5 2/3 innings to improve to 7-0 with a 2.68 ERA over his last nine starts. The Astros have won all of those appearances.

Yainer Diaz supplied the big blow in Houston's sixth consecutive win with a three-run homer in the third inning. Alex Bregman added a solo shot to help the Astros move a half-game ahead of the Seattle Mariners for sole possession of the AL West lead.

Bregman's blast off Taj Bradley in the first inning put Houston ahead quickly, and the Astros broke the game open with four runs in the third.

After Bradley walked Chas McCormick and gave up a single to Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez drove in McCormick with a two-out hit to increase the margin. Diaz then belted the first pitch he saw into the left field seats for a 5-0 advantage.

The Rays got on the board in the bottom of the third when Taylor Walls tripled and scored on Jose Caballero's sacrifice fly, but managed just two hits off Valdez and two Houston relievers the rest of the way en route to their fifth loss in seven games.

Houston tacked on one more run in the fifth as Alvarez doubled, advanced to third on Jeremy Pena's infield single and scored on a fielder's choice groundout off the bat of Jake Meyers.

Bradley (6-7) lost his third straight start after allowing six runs and eight hits over 4 1/3 innings.

Braves score in 10th to win duel of aces with Giants

Travis d'Arnaud drove in the game's lone run with a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning as the Atlanta Braves earned a needed 1-0 win over the San Francisco Giants in the opener of a four-game series.

The game featured a matchup of standout pitchers that lived up to its advanced billing, as both Atlanta's Chris Sale and the Giants' Blake Snell turned in dominant performances despite neither factoring in the final outcome.

Sale racked up a season-high 12 strikeouts while permitting just three hits over seven scoreless innings, while the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Snell fanned 11 Braves and surrendered two hits in 6 1/3 shutout innings.

The Braves finally broke the deadlock with Orlando Arcia placed as the designated runner to start the 10th. Sean Murphy then singled off Taylor Rogers to move the go-ahead run to third before d'Arnaud's fly ball to right was deep enough to enable Arcia to score.

Raisel Iglesias was able to strand the Giants' designated runner in the bottom of the inning by recording two strikeouts before getting Patrick Bailey to fly out and end the game. The Atlanta closer also pitched a scoreless ninth to keep the contest at 0-0.

The lack of run support prevented Sale from becoming the majors' first 14-game winner this season, though his outstanding effort helped the Braves increase their lead over the rival New York Mets to one game for the NL's final wild card spot.

Atlanta entered the series having gone 7-14 over its previous 21 games to fall out of the top spot in the wild-card race.

The Giants have now dropped two straight following a 12-3 stretch that got them back into the play-off picture. San Francisco is now 2 1/2 games behind Atlanta in the standings.

After Sean Murphy tied the game with a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning, the Atlanta Braves scored once in the 11th to rally for a 5-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday in a clash of 2023 National League play-off teams.

Marcell Ozuna drove in the eventual winning run with a sacrifice fly in the 11th that plated designated runner Austin Riley, who had advanced from second to third on an infield single by Matt Olson.

Riley homered earlier in the game and Murphy went 2 for 4 as the Braves took the opener of this four-game series and won their third consecutive contest.

Atlanta's bats were largely quiet for much of the night thanks to an impressive MLB debut by Arizona starter Yilber Diaz, but came alive against struggling closer Paul Sewald with the Braves trailing 3-1 in the ninth.

Sewald retired the first two hitters in the inning before Eddie Rosario extended Atlanta's chances with a single. Murphy then drove a 1-1 pitch over the wall in right center field to hand Sewald a third blown save in his last three appearances.

Diaz was in line for the victory after allowing just one run on four hits through six innings.

Both teams scored once in the 10th, with the Braves getting a sacrifice fly from Ozzie Albies and the Diamondbacks the same from Luis Perdomo.

Ozuna's fly ball in the 11th put Atlanta back ahead, and Joe Jimenez stranded the tying run in the bottom of the inning to record his second save of the season. 

Atlanta closer Raisel Iglesias earned the win after working two innings and permitting one unearned run.

Riley's 12th homer of the season gave the Braves an early edge in the first inning, and the Diamondbacks were held scoreless by Bryce Elder through the first five innings before breaking through in the sixth.

Perdomo led off the bottom of the sixth with a bloop single and took second when Braves shortstop Orlando Arcia mishandled the ball on the play, then scored on Corbin Carroll's single to tie the game at 1-1.

Elder then walked the next two batters to load the bases before being relieved by Grant Holmes, who walked Christian Walker on four pitches to give Arizona the lead. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. followed with a sacrifice fly to provide the Diamondbacks a two-run cushion.

Elder was charged with three runs allowed on four hits over five-plus innings.

Late error allows Tigers to edge Guardians

Jake Rogers scored the game's lone run on a Cleveland error in the eighth inning as the suddenly surging Detroit Tigers came through with a 1-0 victory over the American League Central-leading Guardians to open a four-game series.

Rogers greeted reliever Scott Barlow with a double to open the eighth and took third on Wenceel Perez's second hit of the night. Two batter later, Mark Canha hit a grounder that eluded the glove of Guardians' shortstop Brayan Roccio to allow the Detroit catcher to cross the plate and break the scoreless tie.

The Guardians couldn't mount a baserunner after the seventh inning, as Tyler Holton retired all five batters he faced to record the win and Shelby Miller threw a perfect ninth to close out the Tigers' fourth consecutive victory.

Detroit went 8-18 from June 5-July 4 before sweeping a three-game series on the road from the Cincinnati Reds this past weekend.

The game featured a strong duel between starting pitchers that didn't factor in the decision. Detroit's Keider Montero allowed just three hits over 6 1/3 scoreless innings in his third career major league start, while Cleveland's Gavin Williams struck out five over 5 1/3 scoreless innings in his second start back from an elbow injury that had sidelined him since spring training.

Cardinals stay hot with shutout of Nationals

Alec Burleson homered and drove in three runs to back a sharp start from Miles Mikolas as the St. Louis Cardinals recorded a series-clinching 6-0 win over the Washington Nationals.

Paul Goldschmidt added a solo homer among his two hits to help the Cardinals take three of four meetings of the wraparound series. St. Louis improved to 33-18 since May 12, the best record in the National League over that stretch.

MIkolas (7-7) scattered six hits without a walk over 6 1/3 innings before relievers Andrew Kittredge and JoJo Romero finished the shutout by working 1 1/3 innings each.

Washington starter Mitchell Parker (5-5) was hung with the loss despite yielding two runs - one earned - and striking out six over seven innings.

The Cardinals' first run off Parker came courtesy of an error by Washington shortstop CJ Abrams, who threw wildly to first base on a double-play attempt to allow Nolan Gorman to score from second in the third inning. Gorman and Michael Siani had opened the frame with back-to-back infield singles.

Goldschmidt's homer off Parker in the fourth extended the lead to 2-0, and Burleson increased it further with a solo shot off Jacob Barnes in the eighth. Goldschmidt reached on an error later in the inning and came home on Brendan Donovan's two-out double for a 4-0 St. Louis advantage.

Donovan finished 2 for 4 and extended his streak of reaching base safely to 21 straight games.

The Cardinals tacked on two more runs in the ninth when Gorman and Siani each singled before both later scored on Burleson's base hit.