NEW YORK (AP) — Francisco Lindor led off with the first of New York’s four solo homers and the Mets rolled to a 7-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Friday night in the opener of a three-game series.
Brett Baty and Jeff McNeil went deep in the second while Juan Soto homered in the fourth to help the Mets improve to 14-3 at Citi Field. Soto added an RBI single in the eighth.
Every starter had at least one hit for the Mets, who scored twice in the third when Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Alvarez came home after Dansby Swanson overthrew first base trying to double up the speedy Luisangel Acuña.
Clay Holmes (5-1), pitching the same night the first 15,000 fans received Holmes hockey jerseys, allowed three hits in six solid innings as he lowered his ERA to 2.74 over eight starts.
Kyle Tucker’s homer leading off the fourth was the first round-tripper surrendered this season by Holmes. The last Mets newcomer to go longer without allowing a homer was Orel Hershiser, who didn’t give up a homer in his first eight starts in 1999.
Michael Busch homered in the ninth.
Jameson Taillon (2-1) gave up six runs (five earned) on nine hits while throwing a season-high 100 pitches in a season-low four innings.
TIGERS 2, RANGERS 1
DETROIT (AP) — Tarik Skubal struck out a season-high 12 and carried a perfect game into the sixth inning as Detroit extended its winning streak to five games with a victory over Texas.
Skubal (4-2), whose strikeout total was one shy of his career high, limited Texas to one run on two hits in seven innings.
Tommy Kahnle pitched the eighth and Will Vest got the last three outs for his fourth save.
Dillon Dingler drove in Detroit’s first run with a double in the second inning.
Colt Keith had two hits, scored a run and drove in a fourth-inning run for the Tigers, who have won eight of their last nine games.
Rangers starter Patrick Corbin (2-2) gave up two runs and three hits while walking four and striking out three in seven innings. Sam Haggerty, who had his contract selected from Triple-A Round Rock earlier in the day, drove Texas’ run with a single in the sixth inning. The Rangers have lost 12 of their last 16 games.
PIRATES 3, BRAVES 2
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Bailey Falter allowed just two hits over six innings and Pittsburgh made manager Don Kelly a winner in his debut, holding off Atlanta.
Kelly, a Pittsburgh-area native promoted from bench coach to manager on Thursday after the club , received a warm ovation when introduced before the game, then sat back and watched the Pirates put together a crisp nine innings of work that’s been elusive during their miserable start.
Alexander Canario, a late replacement for the struggling Tommy Pham, homered for the Pirates. Jared Triolo added his first of the season off Bryce Elder (2-2) as Pittsburgh ended a seven-game losing streak. Andrew McCutchen chipped in an RBI double for the Pirates.
Falter (2-3) wobbled in the first inning by letting two of the first three batters he faced to reach, but settled down quickly. The left-hander retired 15 of the last 16 batters he faced.
Dennis Santana endured a shaky ninth inning, giving up a sacrifice fly to Michael Harris II and a pinch-hit RBI single by Drake Baldwin, but held on to collect his fourth save.
Austin Riley had two of Atlanta’s seven hits as the Braves failed to reach .500 for the first time this season.
CARDINALS 10, NATIONALS 0
WASHINGTON (AP) — Erick Fedde threw his first career shutout, Willson Contreras drove in three runs and St. Louis routed Washington for its sixth straight victory.
The Cardinals have surrendered only 13 runs in their last six games, recording back-to-back shutouts, and they moved above .500 for the first time since April 4. The winning streak is their longest since July 2023.
Fedde (3-3), who played for the Nationals from 2017-22 and won a World Series title with Washington in 2019, made his second start against his former team. The 32-year-old right-hander allowed six hits, struck out eight and walked none while throwing 109 pitches in his first career complete game.
Fedde threw seven scoreless innings in his previous start against the Nationals, last May 14 for the Chicago White Sox.
He joins Texas’ Nathan Eovaldi and San Diego’s Michael King as the only pitchers to throw shutouts in 2025.
Washington lost its third straight and was shut out for the third time, while St. Louis has five shutout wins.
Contreras had a two-run double in the first inning against Mitchell Parker (3-3). Nolan Arenado, who missed Wednesday’s game with back spasms, had three hits.
GUARDIANS 6, PHILLIES 0
CLEVELAND (AP) — José RamÃrez, Kyle Manzardo and Angel MartÃnez homered as Cleveland blanked Philadelphia.
Four Cleveland pitchers combined on the shutout as the Guardians started a six-game homestand. Starter Gavin Williams (3-2) went five innings and struck out eight with four walks.
MartÃnez connected off Phillies starter Aaron Nola (1-6) for a two-run shot in the fifth inning to extend the Guardians lead to 3-0. Manzardo and José RamÃrez had solo shots in the fourth and seventh innings.
Daniel Schneemann and Carlos Santana also drove in runs for the Guardians, who have won three straight and five of their last six games.
The Phillies, who had their three-game winning streak snapped, were 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position.
RAYS 4, BREWERS 3
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Taylor Walls drew a bases-loaded walk in the eighth inning Friday night to help Tampa Bay beat Milwaukee and snap a seven-game home skid.
Brandon Lowe, who went into the game hitting .077 against lefties this season, off left-hander Jose Quintana for the Rays. Tampa Bay had lost 11 of 12 at Steinbrenner Field, its temporary home.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy was ejected in the sixth after third baseman Caleb Durbin was called for obstruction, and Christopher Morel — who had been caught in a rundown between third base and the plate — was awarded home to give the Rays a 3-2 lead.
Rhys Hoskins hit an RBI single against Cole Sulser (1-1) in the eighth to make it 3-3 before Jared Koenig (2-1) allowed two hits and two walks in the bottom half.
Eric Orze pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save.
TWINS 3, GIANTS 1
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Chris Paddack took a three-hitter into the eighth inning, and Minnesota beat San Francisco for its sixth straight victory.
Matt Chapman homered with two outs in the seventh to spoil the shutout bid for Paddack (1-3), who had six strikeouts without a walk in his first win since last June 10.
The lanky, long-haired right-hander was pulled with one runner on and one out in the eighth, his second-longest start in four injury-limited seasons with the Twins. Paddack had a perfect game going until a sharp two-out single in the sixth inning by rookie Christian Koss.
Byron Buxton, who reached base three times, hit the first pitch from Giants starter Jordan Hicks (1-4) off the wall in right-center field for a triple and scored on a single by Trevor Larnach.
Hicks went six innings for his longest appearance since his first start of the season on March 31. The right-hander allowed a two-out RBI single to Carlos Correa in the fourth and another run in the fifth when he hit one batter and uncorked a wild pitch.
WHITE SOX 6, MARLINS 2
CHICAGO (AP) — Andrew Vaughn homered and Chicago beat Miami to stop a four-game slide.
The White Sox went ahead to stay with three runs in the seventh. Brooks Baldwin hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly against Max Meyer. Jacob Amaya added an RBI single, and Matt Thaiss drew a bases-loaded walk against Ronny Henriquez.
Liam Hicks hit a solo homer for Miami in its 10th loss in 12 games. Meyer (2-4) was charged with five runs and five hits in 6 1/3 innings.
Cam Booser (1-3), the third of five Chicago relievers, got his first win with the club. Bryse Wilson pitched five innings of one-run ball.
The White Sox were coming off an embarrassing four-game sweep at Kansas City, when they scored a total of four runs.
ASTROS 3, REDS 0
HOUSTON (AP) — Hunter Brown pitched two-hit ball into the sixth inning, and Houston beat slumping Cincinnati.
Brown (6-1) struck out nine, matching his season high for the fourth straight start. The right-hander also issued a season-high four walks in his fifth consecutive win.
Brown departed after Gavin Lux walked with two out in the sixth. Kaleb Ort got Spencer Steer to bounce into a forceout at second.
Josh Hader handled the ninth for his ninth save.
Cincinnati finished with four hits in its sixth loss in seven games.
Reds right-hander Nick Martinez (1-4) surrendered 10 hits and three runs in six innings. He struck out five and walked none.
Zach Dezenzo hit a two-out RBI single in the second, and the Astros added two more runs in the fifth.
ROYALS 2, RED SOX 1
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Freddy Fermin hit a line drive RBI single into left center in the bottom of the 12th inning to give Kansas City a win over Boston.
Steven Cruz (1-0) pitched the 12th for his first major league win as the Royals won their seventh consecutve game and for the 16th time in their last 18 games.
Sean Newcombe (0-4), the eighth Red Sox pitcher of the game, took the loss.
Each team scored a run in the 11th after 10 scoreless innings.
Both starting pitchers cruised.
Kansas City’s Michael Lorenzen gave up just three hits through seven innings, striking out seven and walking none. He was helped by his defense, including a diving stab of a line drive by first baseman Salvador Perez in the fourth.
Hunter Dobbins didn’t allow a run in six innings for Boston, though he did have to work around trouble a couple of times. He gave up two hits in the fourth inning and a one-out triple in the fifth.
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