Guerrero’s 3 homers, 7 RBIs lead Blue Jays over Nats 9-5
DUNEDIN, Fla. (AP) — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit three home runs, including a grand slam and solo shot off Washington ace Max Scherzer, and had seven RBIs as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Nationals 9-5 on Tuesday night.
Guerrero’s slam in the third put the Blue Jays ahead 4-3 and ended Scherzer’s scoreless streak at 19 innings.
Guerrero made it 7-3 with his drive in the fifth and added a two-run, seventh-inning shot off Kyle Finnegan to complete his first three-homer game.
Scherzer (1-2) joined Ivan Nova as the only pitchers to have allowed a homer to both Guerrero Jr. and his father, Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero. Scherzer allowed seven runs — five earned — and eight hits over five innings.
Tommy Milone (1-0) was the winner.
Rays 4, Athletics 3
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Brett Phillips hit a two-run homer in the sixth, helping send Oakland to its second loss in 16 games.
Joey Wendle’s two-out single in the seventh tacked on another run for the Rays and ended Tampa Bay’s 0-for-26 stretch with runners in scoring position.
Phillips’ first homer of the season came off Frankie Montas (2-2). Jeffrey Springs (1-0) got the win in relief. Diego Castillo gave up a home run to Sean Murphy in the ninth before earning his fifth save.
Yankees 5, Orioles 1
BALTIMORE (AP) — Corey Kluber (1-2) won for the first time since April 20, 2019, to gain his first victory for Yankees, and Kyle Higashioka had two hits and homered again as he gains playing time from Gary Sánchez.
Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton also homered — the Yankees are 9-0 when they go deep in the same game, including the playoffs. New York stopped a four-game skid at Camden Yards and at 10-13 moved into a tie with the Orioles for last in the AL East.
Kluber allowed one run and six hits with five strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings.
Rookie Bruce Zimmermann (1-3) gave up nine hits in 3 2/3 innings.
Red Sox 2, Mets 1
NEW YORK (AP) — Garrett Richards finally found the strike zone and punched out 10, and Bobby Dalbec hit his first homer this season.
Richards (1-2) allowed a run and seven hits over seven innings, issuing no free passes one start after walking six.
Boston improved to an AL East-leading 15-9, including a major league-most 12 comeback victories. Matt Barnes fanned Pete Alonso and J.D. Davis during a 1-2-3 ninth for his fifth save. David Peterson (1-3) was the loser.
Pirates 2, Royals 1
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pinch-hitter Wilmer Difo delivered the go-ahead single off Scott Barlow in the seventh, and Pittsburgh stopped Kansa City’s five-game winning streak.
Pittsburgh (12-11) has won three straight games and 11 of 16 since a 1-6 start, moving back above .500 for the first time since it was 1-0 in the opening week.
Jacob Stallings singled off Jakob Junis (1-1) leading off the seventh.
Duane Underwood (1-0) won in his second big league decision.
Braves 5, Cubs 0
ATLANTA (AP) — Ian Anderson (2-0) allowed one hit in seven innings, lowering his ERA to 2.48, and Ronald Acuña Jr. hit a long home run off Trevor Williams (2-2) as Chicago lost its fourth straight.
A.J. Minter pitched a perfect eighth. Nico Hoerner’s one-out single off Jacob Webb in the ninth was Chicago’s second hit, but Webb struck out Willson Contreras and David Bote to end the game.
Cardinals 5,
Phillies 2
Carlos Martínez (1-4) allowed two runs — one earned — and two hits in 7 1/3 innings for his first win as a starter since 2018.
Paul Goldschmidt and Tommy Edman hit two-run doubles and Nolan Arenado doubled twice as St. Louis won for the fourth time in five games. Alex Reyes picked up his sixth save.
Zach Eflin (1-1) gave up five runs on nine hits over 6 2/3 innings. The Cardinals played without catcher Yadier Molina, who was placed on the 10-day injured list before the game with a sore tendon in his right foot.