Mikolas 1 strike short of no-hitter; Cards sweep Pirates
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Miles Mikolas was one strike from a no-hitter when he gave up a double to Cal Mitchell with two outs in the ninth inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals routed the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-1 to sweep a doubleheader Tuesday night.
Mitchell drove a 2-2 curveball over the head of Gold Glove center fielder Harrison Bader and just beyond his outstretched glove as he tried to make a running catch with his back to home plate.
The ball bounced on the warning track 383 feet from the plate and over the wall in straightaway center for a ground-rule double.
The hit came on the 129th pitch from Mikolas (5-4), a career high. He was lifted right after that for Packy Naughton, who got the final out to hand the Pirates their ninth straight loss.
Paul Goldschmidt homered twice and drove in five runs for the Cardinals, who have won five of six. Tommy Edman also went deep and Brendan Donovan had his first career four-hit game.
Bryse Wilson (0-4) gave up seven runs in five innings for the Pirates.
CARDINALS 3, PIRATES 1, GAME 1
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs, leading St. Louis over Pittsburgh 3-1 in a doubleheader opener.
Goldschmidt hit a go-ahead, two-run drive in the third inning off JT Brubaker (0-7), and boosted the lead to 3-0 with an RBI grounder in the fourth.
Yadier Molina had 11 putouts on 10 strikeouts and a foul popup, and with 14,870 passed Iván RodrÃguez (14,864) for most among catchers in major league history.
Matthew Liberatore (2-1) allowed three hits in five scoreless innings, striking out five and walking two in his fourth big league start. Giovanny Gallegos pitched a one-hit ninth for his ninth save in 12 chances, finishing a seven-hitter.
BRAVES 10, NATIONALS 4
WASHINGTON (AP) - Michael Harris II and Travis d'Arnaud each had three hits and homered for the second straight game, and Atlanta connected five times to beat Washington for its 13th straight win.
Atlanta hit back-to-back homers for the third straight game, this time doing it twice. D'Arnaud and Marcell Ozuna went deep in the third inning, and Orlando Arcia and Harris followed in the sixth.
Dansby Swanson also homered for the Braves, who have clubbed 32 home runs during the winning streak, the longest in the majors this season.
Max Fried (7-2) went 5 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on six hits while striking out six and walking one. Jackson Stephens pitched the final three innings for his second save.
Jackson Tetreault (0-1) allowed seven runs on nine hits over four innings in his major league debut.
DODGERS 2, ANGELS 0
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Tony Gonsolin tossed 6 1/3 strong innings, Mookie Betts hit his 17th home run and the Los Angeles Dodgers held off the Angels in their Freeway Series opener.
Gonsolin (8-0), who leads the National League in wins, lowered his ERA to 1.42. He struck out six and walked two. The right-hander has allowed two runs or fewer in all 12 starts this season.
The Angels loaded the bases with one out in the ninth before Craig Kimbrel struck out Jared Walsh and Max Stassi for his 12th save. The Angels have gone 17 innings without scoring and dropped 17 of 19 overall.
The Dodgers earned their fifth shutout of the season and avoided their second four-game skid. The Angels' slide continued with their 10th straight road defeat.
Angels starter Noah Syndergaard (4-5) retired his first 10 batters before coming undone in a 40-pitch fourth.
It was the first game featuring six active MVPs since 1982.
METS 4, BREWERS 0
NEW YORK (AP) - Chris Bassitt pitched eight sharp innings of three-hit ball, Pete Alonso drove in two runs and New York beat struggling Milwaukee.
Bassitt (5-4) allowed just three singles and one walk with seven strikeouts. He got the Brewers to hit into double plays right after each of their hits. Drew Smith worked a perfect ninth to complete the Mets' 10th shutout of the season.
Milwaukee has dropped nine of 10, getting shut out four times during that span. Adrian Houser (3-7) allowed four runs on eight hits and one walk with three strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.
YANKEES 2, RAYS 0
NEW YORK (AP) - Gerrit Cole put a career-worst pummeling behind him with six sharp innings, and New York capitalized on shaky defense by Tampa Bay.
The AL East-leading Yankees won their fifth straight. New York had just five hits but improved to 45-16, the best 61-game start across baseball since Seattle in 2001.
Cole (6-1) struck out seven, walked one and allowed five hits, all singles.
Ex-Yankee Corey Kluber (3-3) countered Cole with six innings, allowing two unearned runs, four hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
Clay Holmes pitched the ninth for his 10th save, completing the Yankees' six-hitter and their 10th shutout.
MARLINS 11, PHILLIES 9
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Jesús Aguilar homered, drove in four runs and hit a go-ahead double in the ninth inning to lead Miami to a wild win over Philadelphia.
Jazz Chisholm Jr., AvisaÃl Garcia and Jacob Stallings also went deep for Miami, which has won six of eight.
Rhys Hoskins hit two homers, had four hits and drove in six runs for the Phillies, who lost for the second time in their last 12 games.
After Hoskins broke an 8-all tie with his second homer of the game, a solo shot in the eighth off Steven Okert (3-0), the Marlins capitalized against closer Corey Knebel (2-5) and Philadelphia's shaky defense in the ninth.
Tanner Scott pitched a scoreless ninth for his fifth save in as many opportunities.
ASTROS 4, RANGERS 3
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Kyle Tucker extended his career-best hitting streak to 13 games with a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning, and AL West-leading Houston rallied past Texas.
Rangers reliever John King (1-3) retired only one of the five batters he faced. That was an RBI groundout by Yordan Ãlvarez on the pitch before Tucker hit his 12th homer of the season, a two-run shot that capped the four-run outburst.
Bryan Abreu (4-0), the first of three Astros relievers, threw a scoreless seventh. Ryan Pressly worked the ninth for his 12th save in 14th chances.
PADRES 12, CUBS 5
CHICAGO (AP) - Luke Voit hit a two-run homer and a three-run double as San Diego rallied from a five-run deficit to hand Chicago its eighth straight loss.
The Padres trailed 5-0 when Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks was pulled after allowing a double to Jake Cronenworth to start the sixth inning. Voit homered off reliever Chris Martin to spark a four-run sixth, and his double off Mychal Givens gave the Padres the lead for good at 7-5 and highlighted a six-run seventh.
Willson Contreras homered twice, drove in three runs and scored three times on a 3-for-4 night for the Cubs.
Reliever Kyle Tyler (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings for San Diego. Trent Grisham executed a bunt single off Scott Effross (1-2) that started the six-run seventh.
ORIOLES 6, BLUE JAYS 5
TORONTO (AP) - Ryan Mountcastle hit a two-run home run, Austin Hays had a solo shot and Baltimore held on to beat Toronto.
Mountcastle went 3 for 5 with a pair of doubles and scored twice.
Jordan Lyles (4-5) allowed five hits and four runs in 5 1/3 innings to win for the first time in four starts as the Orioles snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Blue Jays. Jorge López recorded the final five outs for his ninth save in 11 chances.
Matt Chapman homered and rookie catcher Gabriel Moreno had three hits and drove in the first runs of his career, but Toronto couldn't overcome another rough start by left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (2-3), whose winless streak reached five starts.
RED SOX 6, ATHLETICS 1
BOSTON (AP) - Rafael Devers hit a three-run homer, Nick Pivetta pitched eight strong innings and Boston beat slumping Oakland.
Oakland had just two hits off Pivetta (6-5) until Stephen Vogt's solo homer in the eighth broke up the shutout bid. Pivetta allowed one run on three hits, walked two and struck out three. Phillips Valdez completed the four-hitter.
Jared Koenig (0-2) allowed six runs on nine hits and two walks in four innings.
WHITE SOX 5, TIGERS 1
DETROIT (AP) - Chicago's Dylan Cease allowed one run in five innings to remain unbeaten in 10 decisions against Detroit.
Cease (5-3) allowed one unearned run on seven hits and a walk. He struck out eight while improving to 10-0 with a 1.91 ERA in 11 career starts against the Tigers.
Andrew Vaughn had four hits and Luis Robert drove in a pair of runs for the White Sox.
Drew Hutchison (0-4) gave up two runs on five hits and two walks in four innings.
GUARDIANS 4, ROCKIES 3, 10 INNINGS
DENVER (AP) - José RamÃrez doubled home the go-ahead run in the 10th inning to lift Cleveland over Colorado.
RamÃrez also had a two-run single and Josh Naylor doubled twice and had an RBI hit for Cleveland. Charlie Blackmon hit his 10th home run of the season, a tying two-run drive in the bottom of the seventh inning, and C.J. Cron had a run-scoring triple for the Rockies.
RamÃrez ground sharply into right field off the first pitch he saw from Robert Stephenson (0-1), scoring automatic runner Amed Rosario from second base.
Bryan Shaw (2-0) pitched a scoreless ninth and Emmanuel Clase got three outs for his 12th save.
MARINERS 5, TWINS 0
SEATTLE (AP) - Eugenio Suárez and Ty France each clubbed a two-run homer, Logan Gilbert and three relievers combined on a four-hitter and Seattle blanked Minnesota.
Suárez hit his team-leading 12th long ball in the fourth and France launched his 10th homer an inning later to chase Minnesota starter Joe Ryan. Sam Haggerty added an RBI double in the seventh.
Gilbert (7-2) lowered his ERA to 2.22, striking out six and walking one over six smooth innings.
Ryan (5-3) made his first start since being placed on the COVID-19 injured list May 25. He gave up five hits in 4 2/3 innings.
GIANTS 4, ROYALS 2
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Logan Webb pitched five-hit ball over seven scoreless innings to win for the first time in a month, and San Francisco beat Kansas City for its fifth straight victory.
Webb (6-2) struck out a season-high nine and walked three. He had been 0-1 in five starts since a May 13 win at St. Louis.
Tommy La Stella had two sacrifice flies and Camilo Doval earned his ninth save in 11 chances.
Kansas City has lost 12 of 16. At 20-41, the Royals have the worst record in the majors.
Kris Bubic (0-4) lowered his ERA from 9.13 to 8.36. He gave up three runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings.
REDS 5, DIAMONDBACKS 3, 12 INNINGS
PHOENIX (AP) - Albert Almora Jr. tripled home the go-ahead run in the 12th after Tyler Mahle pitched nine brilliant innings, and Cincinnati outlasted Arizona.
Mahle tossed three-hit ball and became the first pitcher since 1900 to not win while throwing nine or more scoreless innings on the road with at least 12 strikeouts and no walks, according to STATS. He threw a career-high 119 pitches.
Zach Davies allowed six hits in seven scoreless innings, walked none and struck out seven.
Cincinnati has won three in a row for the first time since taking four straight from May 25-28.
Arizona has lost eight of 11.
In a game that was scoreless through nine innings, the Reds took a 4-3 lead on Almora's triple in the 12th off Sean Poppen (1-1). Jonathan India brought home Almora with a single.
Joel Kuhnel needed just five pitches in a perfect 12th for his first big league save.
Kyle Farmer's two-run single in the 11th gave the Reds a 3-1 lead. But the Diamondbacks rallied in the bottom half when Luis Cessa (3-1) threw two run-scoring wild pitches with two outs.
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