Tampa Bay Rays’ d’Arnaud hits three home runs to beat Yanks
NEW YORK — Tampa Bay leadoff man Travis d’Arnaud hit three homers, including a go-ahead three-run shot with two outs in the ninth inning off Aroldis Chapman, and the Rays stunned the host New York Yankees 5-4 Monday night in the opener of a four-game series.
After hitting solo homers in the first and third off James Paxton, d’Arnaud was down to his last strike against Chapman (2-2). On the eighth pitch of his final at-bat, with a full count, d’Arnaud lifted a slider into the second row of the right field seats.
The Rays won their third straight head-to-head meeting with the Yankees — all by one run.
Edwin Encarnacion homered twice for his 36th career multi-homer game, and he gave New York a 4-2 lead with a two-out homer off eventual winning pitcher Andrew Kittredge (1-0) in the eighth.
CARDINALS 7, PIRATES 0
Miles Mikolas scattered eight hits in St. Louis’ first complete-game shutout of the season, a defeat of visiting Pittsburgh in the opener of a three-game series.
The Cardinals, who have won three straight, have thrown four shutouts this year, three of them started by Mikolas. The Pirates have lost four in a row.
Mikolas (6-9) walked none and struck out three. He needed just 100 pitches to go the distance, including 22 pitches to retire the final six batters in order.
DODGERS 16, PHILLIES 2
Cody Bellinger hit two home runs, Max Muncy and Alex Verdugo each homered, and Los Angeles routed host Philadelphia.
Bellinger finished with four hits, including his 32nd and 33rd home runs of the season. Verdugo had three hits for the Dodgers, who ripped 19 hits and won their third game in a row.
Dodgers lefty Clayton Kershaw (8-2) threw 61 pitches through the first three innings and then settled down to toss six solid innings. Kershaw gave up four hits and one run while striking out seven on 101 pitches, 68 for strikes.
BRAVES 4, BREWERS 2
Freddie Freeman delivered a three-run homer for the second straight game, and Atlanta hung on to win at Milwaukee.
Freeman drove his 25th homer over the center field fence in the fourth inning to break up a scoreless game and send the Braves on their way to their fifth straight win. Atlanta won for the eighth time in its past nine games. Freeman is 2-for-15 since the All-Star Game, both hits three-run home runs.
The Braves improved to 3-1 against the Brewers and to a National League-best 30-18 on the road. Atlanta starter Max Fried (10-4) pitched five shutout innings before leaving the game with a blister on his left index finger.
REDS 6, CUBS 3
Eugenio Suarez, Yasiel Puig and Curt Casali homered, and Cincinnati pulled away to defeat host Chicago.
Luis Castillo (9-3) struck out 10 batters over six innings in his first start since appearing in the All-Star Game. Cincinnati won for only the second time in the past six games. Kyle Schwarber went 2-for-5 with a solo home run to lead Chicago at the plate. Jason Heyward finished 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Cubs, whose three-game winning streak ended.
RED SOX 10, BLUE JAYS 8
Michael Chavis crushed a first-inning grand slam, and Andrew Benintendi had two hits and three RBIs as host Boston held off Toronto.
Xander Bogaerts had three hits, and Mookie Betts, Rafael Devers and Brock Holt added two apiece as the Red Sox snapped a two-game skid in the opener of a four-game series. Rick Porcello (7-7) earned the win, allowing four runs on eight hits and no walks while striking out two over six innings.
Billy McKinney hit a two-run home run for the Blue Jays, who lost for the sixth time in their past eight games.
GIANTS 19, ROCKIES 2 (GAME 1)
Brandon Crawford hit two home runs and drove in a career-high eight runs as San Francisco continued its hot hitting in a romp over Colorado in the opener of a doubleheader at Denver.
The Giants jumped on Rockies starter German Marquez (8-5) for 11 runs and 11 hits in 2 2/3 innings en route to the fifth double-digit run explosion in their past 11 games. San Francisco totaled 94 runs in those 11 games. — Reuters