Travis d’Arnaud hit a grand slam for his third home run of the game and drove in six runs to lead the Atlanta Braves to their fifth straight win, 8-3 over the Texas Rangers on Friday.

D’Arnaud, who entered with no homers this season, hit solo shots off Andrew Heaney in the second and fifth innings before connecting for his slam off reliever Jacob Latz in the sixth to put the Braves ahead 7-3.

It was his third career grand slam and second three-homer game.

D’Arnaud grounded out in the eighth with a chance for his fourth home run.

Marcell Ozuna had a run-scoring single in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 17 games, the longest active run in the majors.

Chris Sale allowed three runs on five hits over seven innings with one walk and seven strikeouts.

Astros’ Verlander wins season debut

Justin Verlander pitched six strong innings to win his season debut and the Houston Astros stole five bases in a 5-3 win over the Washington Nationals.

The 41-year-old Verlander, who began the season on the injured list due to right shoulder inflammation, struck out four and walked none, throwing 50 of 78 pitches for strikes in his 258th win.

He retired the side in order four times and improved to 5-0 with a 2.08 ERA in five regular-season starts against the Nationals.

Jeremy Pena and Mauricio Dubon had three hits apiece for the Astros and Kyle Tucker doubled, singled, walked twice and stole two bases as the Astros snapped a three-game skid.

Phillies’ Turnbull flirts with history

Spencer Turnbull took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and Alec Bohm belted a pair of three-run homers to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 7-0 win over the lowly Chicago White Sox.

Turnbull kept the White Sox hitless until Gavin Sheets singled with one out in the seventh. He struck out six and walked two, pitching seven innings for the first time since his no-hitter for Detroit against Seattle on May 18, 2021.

Matt Strahm and Orion Kerkering each pitched an inning to finish up a two-hitter and the Phillies’ fourth straight win.

Bohm matched a career high with six RBIs and had his fourth career two-homer game.

The White Sox fell to a major league-worst 3-16.

Travis d'Arnaud focused on the Atlanta Braves' "marathon" pursuit of the New York Mets after their postseason place was confirmed for a fifth straight year on Tuesday.

The defending World Series champions defeated the Washington Nationals 3-2 at Truist Park, with their playoff spot clinched shortly afterwards as the Mets rallied to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-5.

It was not necessarily the outcome the Braves wanted, however, as a victory for the Brewers would have seen Atlanta level with the Mets atop the NL East.

As it is, the Braves are one game back, but d'Arnaud warned their rivals they have plenty still left in the tank.

"It's a marathon, it's not over," d'Arnaud said. "So we'll just keep going after it until the end."

All-Star catcher d'Arnaud had extended his career-high home run total to 18, while William Contreras, his backup, has 19.

They are just the fourth catching duo in NL or AL history to each hit at least 18 homers in a season with at least two-thirds of their games played at catcher.

And Arnaud was effusive in his praise of Contreras, adding: "It's been so much fun.

"The energy he brings every day honestly inspires me and makes me feel young. So I don't know if I'd be having as good of a year if he wasn't here."

The Braves face the Nationals again on Wednesday, looking for a clean sweep as the Mets do likewise against the Brewers.

Rookie pitcher Ian Anderson tossed down five no-hit frames as the Atlanta Braves strangled the Houston Astros 2-0 to win Game 3 and claim a 2-1 lead in the World Series on Friday.

The Astros failed to register one hit until the eighth inning, finishing the game with only two as Austin Riley's third-inning RBI double and Travis d'Arnaud's eighth-inning solo home run earned Atlanta the win.

The Braves' defensive performance was the key, keeping the Astros scoreless led by Anderson across five innings which included four strikeouts, with A.J. Minter, Luke Jackson, Tyler Matzek and Will Smith all playing their roles across an inning each on the hill.

Anderson becomes just the second rookie to toss at least five no-hit innings in a World Series game. Atlanta becomes the first team to not allow a hit through seven innings of a World Series game since the Boston Red Sox in Game 2 in 1967.

Eddie Rosario, who brought up his 21st hit of the postseason, scored from Riley's third-inning RBI double to give Atlanta the advantage.

The strong defensive game continued, with Astros rookie starter Luis Garcia having six strikeouts across three and two-third frames, while Kyle Tucker produced a spectacular outfield diving catch in the sixth inning.

The Braves took a combined no-no to the eighth inning before Aledmys Diaz knocked a single to left field to end the bid, but the Astros could not capitalise.

Braves catcher d'Arnaud added insurance as he registered home runs in back-to-back World Series games with his eighth-inning solo blast.

The winner of Game 3 in the World Series has gone on to win it all in 39 of last 60 series after being tied at 1-1, including 13 of last 17 instances.

Astros at Braves

Houston will look to level the World Series when they meet again at Truist Park on Saturday.

The Houston Astros have levelled the World Series after a four-run second inning and another Jose Altuve postseason home run to win 7-2 over the Atlanta Braves in Game 2 on Wednesday.

The Braves had won Game 1 at Houston's Minute Maid Park 6-2 on Tuesday, but the Astros showed intent opening up a 5-1 lead after two innings.

Altuve's seventh-inning solo blast extended the lead to 7-2, taking him to 22 postseason homers, equalling Bernie Williams for second in majors history.

The Astros second baseman, who has four home runs this postseason, trails only Manny Ramirez for postseason homers with 29.

Astros starting pitcher Jose Urquidy played a strong role with seven strikeouts with two runs across five innings, outpitching Braves starter Max Fried who allowed seven hits and five earned runs.

Urquidy becomes the fourth Astros pitcher to have seven or more strikeouts and no walks in a World Series. Eddie Rosario, who came into the game with 20 hits this postseason, had an off-night with no hits.

Altuve scored the opening run from Alex Bregman's first-inning sacrifice fly, before Travis d'Arnaud's second-inning home run tied the game up.

Houston blew the game open at the bottom of the second inning, with Jose Siri's RBI single followed by Martin Maldonado's single allowing Yuli Gurriel and Siri to get home, the latter after an Eddie Rosario fielding error. Michael Brantley's base hit drove in Maldonado too.

The Astros had five hits in the second inning, which matched their most ever in an inning in a World Series game, having had five hits in the second inning in Game 3 in 2017.

Freddie Freeman's single got d'Arnaud in for his second run in the fifth inning, before Ozzie Albies mistake on second base allowed Yordan Alvarez to score in the sixth inning, before Altuve's homered to left field in the seventh inning.

Astros at Braves

Both sides will travel on Thursday as the series moves to Atlanta for Game 3 on Friday.