Photo: The Canadian Press
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Andrew McCutchen hit his 300th home run, Jack Suwinski had a grand slam and the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 9-2 on Sunday to gain a split of the four-game series.
Phillies star Bryce Harper was 0 for 4 and is in a 2-for-30 slide that has dropped his average to .190.
The 37-year-old McCutchen, who played for the Phillies from 2019-21, drove a Ricardo Pinto slider into the left-field seats in the ninth inning for his first home run this season. He became the 13th player with 2,000 hits, 400 doubles, 45 triples, 300 homers and 200 stolen bases.
McCutchen stole home as part of a double steal in the fourth inning when catcher J.T. Realmuto’s throw sailed into center field as Realmuto tried to nab Jared Triolio at second base.
Suwinski hit his second career slam for a 5-2 lead in the sixth inning against Zack Wheeler (0-3), who allowed five runs — four earned — five hits and three walks in five-plus innings. Wheeler struck out 10, his 23rd double-digit strikeout game.
GUARDIANS 8, YANKEES 7, 10 innings
CLEVELAND (AP) — Andrés Giménez’s sacrifice fly capped Cleveland’s wild, three-run rally in the 10th inning as the Guardians salvaged the finale of a three-game series with a stunning win over New York.
Down 7-5, the Guardians scored three in the 10th off Caleb Ferguson (0-2) on a forceout, fielder’s choice and sacrifice fly.
The Yankees had taken a 7-6 lead in the 10th on Anthony Rizzo’s two-run double off Tyler Beede (1-0).
But the Guardians, who were one out away from winning when the Yankees rallied in the ninth, came up with big at-bats to pull off a stunning win to close a first homestand that began with total solar eclipse.
ORIOLES 6, BREWERS 4
BALTIMORE (AP) — Jackson Holliday delivered his first big league hit in the seventh inning, then scored the tiebreaking run to help Baltimore avoid a sweep with a victory over Milwaukee.
Holliday, baseball’s top-ranked prospect, struck out in his first two at-bats and was 0 for 13 with nine Ks since his call-up before he came up with the Orioles down 4-3 in the seventh. With a man on first and no outs, Holliday pulled a 99 mph offering from Abner Uribe (1-1) into right field for a single. Then the rookie infielder flashed his speed, barely making it from first to third on Gunnar Henderson’s RBI single.
That was an important extra base, because it enabled Holliday to score and put the Orioles up 5-4 when Adley Rutschman bounced into a double play. Colton Cowser went deep the following inning for Baltimore’s third solo homer of the day. Holliday stranded two runners that inning with a groundout.
Yennier Cano (2-1) got four outs for the win, although he allowed a solo homer in the seventh by Blake Perkins that put the Brewers up 4-3. Danny Coulombe finished the eighth, and Craig Kimbrel allowed two singles in the ninth but struck out three for his third save.
BLUE JAYS 5, ROCKIES 0
TORONTO (AP) — José Berríos and two relievers combined on a two-hitter, Justin Turner had three hits and three RBIs and Toronto beat Colorado for their second shutout victory of the season.
Turner opened the scoring with a two-out single in the first, doubled home a run in the third and added another two-out RBI single in the fifth, all against Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland.
Turner is 8 for 10 with six RBIs against left-handed pitching this season.
The Blue Jays won their second straight series after losing the previous two.
Berríos (3-0) allowed two hits, both singles, walked two and struck out seven. He lowered his ERA from 1.45 to 1.05.
TIGERS 4, TWINS 3
DETROIT (AP) — Mark Canha’s two-run double highlighted a four-run eighth inning for Detroit as they rallied to beat Minnesota.
The Tigers trailed 3-0 after seven innings, but took the lead against Caleb Thielbar and Griffin Jax.
Javier Báez hit a solo homer off Thielbar to make it 3-1 in the eighth. Thielbar, making his season debut, allowed two groundball singles to put runners at the corners with one out.
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli brought in Jax (1-1), but Canha’s chopper down the third-base line eluded Kyle Farmer for a two-run double. Canha went to third on the throw to the plate, and Spencer Torkelson looped a Texas Leaguer into right-center for an RBI single that put the Tigers ahead.
Will Vest (1-0) got the win with 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Jason Foley pitched the ninth for his fourth save.
RAYS 9, GIANTS 4
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Amed Rosario and René Pinto homered off Blake Snell in his return to Tropicana Field, and Tampa Bay Rays beat San Francisco.
Rosario hit a two-run homer during a three-run first and Pinto had a fourth-inning three-run drive. The light-hitting Pinto, who had two hits and nine strikeouts in his previous 13 at-bats, added a solo homer in the sixth against Kai-Wei Teng.
Snell (0-2) gave up seven hits, walked two and struck out four over four innings in his second start with San Francisco after signing a $62 million, two-year contract that allows him to opt out after this season. The two-time Cy Young Award winner threw 48 of 78 pitches for strikes.
BRAVES 9, MARLINS 7
MIAMI (AP) — Marcell Ozuna hit a three-run homer off Tanner Scott with two outs in the ninth inning, and Atlanta beat Miami to take two of three from the Marlins.
Atlanta wasted a 5-1 lead and fell behind 7-5 in the sixth when Jesús Sánchez hit a tying RBI single with two outs against Charlie Morton and scored on Nick Gordon’s two-run homer off Dylan Lee.
Ozuna hit an RBI double in the seventh against Anthony Bender. Then in the ninth, Ronald Acuña Jr. singled off Scott (0-3) leading off, Matt Olson walked on four pitches with two outs and Ozuna drove a slider with an 0-2 count to center for his seventh home run this season.
Adam Duvall also homered for the Braves. A.J. Minter (2-1) pitched a perfect eighth and Raisel Iglesias got three straight outs for his third save.
RED SOX 5, ANGELS 4
BOSTON (AP) — Masataka Yoshida hit his first homer of the season, one of three home runs by Boston, and the Red Sox beat Los Angeles.
The designated hitter Yoshida hit his off reliever José Suarez in the sixth inning and scored a runner. Tyler O’Neill and Triston Casas hit back-to-back two-out homers in the first off left-hander Tyler Anderson (2-1).
After going seven scoreless innings in each of his first two starts, Anderson went 4 1/3, giving up three runs on four hits and three walks (one intentional) with four strikeouts.
Brandon Drury cut the deficit with a solo shot in the second, his first home run of the season, off Boston starter Brayan Bello (2-1), who went 5 1/3 innings, giving up two runs on six hits and two walks with eight strikeouts.
Kenley Jansen got his fourth save of the season, giving him 424 for his career. That’s tied with John Franco for fifth most in major league history.
ASTROS 8, RANGERS 5
HOUSTON (AP) — Jose Altuve homered off Nathan Eovaldi in his first two at-bats and Cristian Javier pitched seven strong innings to lead Houston to a win over Texas.
After dropping the series opener 12-8, the Astros have won back-to-back games following a 4-11 start that left them seven games under .500 for the first time since 2016. They improved to 4-3 against AL West rival Texas this season.
Javier (2-0) allowed five hits and two runs with five strikeouts to give Houston a second straight solid pitching performance after dismal outings by its starters in the previous three games.
Marcus Semien hit a three-run homer off Seth Martinez with two outs in the ninth to cut the lead to 8-5. Josh Hader struck out Corey Seager to end it.
REDS 11, WHITE SOX 4
CHICAGO, (AP) — Christian Encarnacion-Strand tied a career high with four RBIs, and Cincinnati routed Chicago for a three-game sweep.
Chicago dropped to 2-13, the worst 15-game start in the franchise’s 124-year history, The White Sox had 14 hits in the series and has scored a major league-low 34 runs.
Encarnacion-Strand and Nick Martini hit two-homers for the Reds, at 9-6 off to their best 15-game start in three years. Encarnacion-Strand also had four RBIs against Pittsburgh last Sept. 23.
Martini drove in three runs for Cincinnati, which outscored Chicago 27-5 in the three-game series.
METS 2, ROYALS 1
NEW YORK (AP) — Harrison Bader broke a scoreless tie with an infield single in the eighth inning and Edwin Díaz earned his first save at Citi Field since October 2022 as New York edged Kansas City.
Mets rookie Jose Buttó and Royals starter Cole Ragans matched zeros for six innings in a crisp pitchers’ duel. New York stranded nine runners over the first seven innings — seven between the fifth and seventh — before Chris Stratton (1-1) walked the bases loaded in the eighth.
With two outs, Bader hit a slow roller toward third and Maikel Garcia was unable to make a barehand pickup. Stratton then walked Brandon Nimmo on four pitches, giving the Mets a 2-0 lead.
Díaz gave up a two-out homer to Vinnie Pasquantino in the ninth before getting Freddy Fermin on a popup for his third save this season. The first two came in Cincinnati.
CUBS 3, MARINERS 2
SEATTLE (AP) — Michael Busch homered for the fourth straight game, Javier Assad struck out six and Chicago beat Seattle.
Reliever Adbert Alzolay picked off pinch-runner Julio Rodríguez to end the game after double plays ended two rallies.
Busch’s two-run homer put the Cubs up 3-0 and helped them to their second straight win to take the series from the Mariners. The franchise record for consecutive games with a home run is five, held by four players, including current Cubs slugger Christopher Morel, who did it last season.
The Cubs scored their only other run on a first-inning throwing error by Seattle starter Luis Castillo (0-4), who lost his fourth straight appearance to start the season.
Jorge Polanco hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning to cut Chicago’s lead to 3-2, chasing Assad (2-0). Assad struck out six and walked one in 5 2/3 innings.
The Mariners put two on with no outs to lead off the seventh, but Mark Leiter Jr. induced a grounder from Luke Raley for a 6-4-3 double play to end the threat.
DIAMONDBACKS 5, CARDINALS 0
PHOENIX (AP) — Zac Gallen pitched six sharp innings and Corbin Carroll hit a two-run single in a five-run fifth to lead Arizona over St. Louis.
Gallen (3-0) threw 90 pitches, giving up four hits and walking two. He struck out seven, two of them coming with a runner on third and one out.
The right-hander caught Brandon Crawford looking on a full count with the bases loaded in the second and then got a grounder to escape the jam. Gallen also whiffed Ivan Herrera on a 3-2 curve in the fourth before retiring Crawford on a popup.
St. Louis starter Miles Mikolas (1-2) faced the minimum through four innings but didn’t finish the fifth.
Christian Walker, who had three hits, led off with a single. He went to third on Joc Pederson’s double down the right-field line and scored on Jace Peterson’s sacrifice fly to left, just beating Brendan Donovan’s throw to the plate. Jake McCarthy followed with a double to score Pederson.
ATHLETICS 7, NATIONALS 6
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Abraham Toro hit a go-ahead, two-run single in a six-run sixth inning, and Oakland rallied from five runs down to beat Washington to win three straight series for the first time since 2021.
Oakland took two of three for the third straight series after going 4-2 on a trip to Detroit and Texas. The A’s are 6-3 following a 1-6 start. They had not won three consecutive series since winning five in a row from May 31 to June 16, 2021.
A crowd of 8,637 attended the game, raising the total to 17,744 for the three game series. The A’s have announced plans to play in Sacramento from 2025-27 until a new ballpark is built in Las Vegas.
Washington led 6-1 in the sixth, when Toro walked against Trevor Williams leading off and JJ Bleday hit a one-out double.
Tyler Nevin and Lawrence Buter had two-out, run-scoring singles off Derek Law (0-1), whose run-scoring wild pitch cut Oakland’s deficit to 6-4.
PADRES 6, DODGERS 3
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jurickson Profar broke a seventh-inning tie with a three-run double, Jackson Merrill had three hits and San Diego defeated Los Angeles to take two of three in their weekend series.
Profar’s bases-loaded drive off the center-field fence against J.P. Feyereisen (0-1) gave the Padres two straight series wins at Dodger Stadium for the first time since 2013.
The Padres took advantage of 14 walks issued by five Dodgers pitchers, the most San Diego has drawn in a nine-inning game. Ha-Seong Kim walked in each of his first four plate appearances and Xander Bogaerts drew three.
It was the most walks by Dodgers pitchers since they issued 16 against the Mets in a 1962 game. James Paxton walked eight in five-plus innings, the most by a Los Angeles starter since Matt Magill handed out nine free passes in a 2013 game against Colorado.
Max Muncy hit a two-run homer in the fourth for the Dodgers, who have dropped three of four.
Yuki Matsui (2-0) got the win with 1 1/3 innings of hitless relief and Robert Suarez picked up his fifth save.
