MLB roundup: Tigers’ Tarik Skubal notches 13 Ks, shuts out Guardians

Tarik Skubal tied his career high with 13 strikeouts in the first shutout of his career, lifting the Detroit Tigers to a 5-0 victory over the visiting Cleveland Guardians on Sunday.

Skubal (5-2), the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, retired the first 15 batters he faced and gave up only two hits without issuing a walk.

Skubal blew a 103-mph fastball past Gabriel Arias to complete the shutout. Skubal had never thrown a complete game in his previous 113 starts.

Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez extended his hitting streak to 18 games with a single in the seventh inning.

Mets 3, Dodgers 1

Pete Alonso snapped the longest home run drought of his career when his two-run shot in the first inning sparked New York past Los Angeles in the rubber match of a three-game series.

Shohei Ohtani, who threw his first live batting practice Sunday afternoon since he underwent a second Tommy John surgery in September 2023, hit a 411-foot homer on the second pitch he saw from Kodai Senga (5-3) before the Mets answered with a two-out, two-pitch rally in the bottom half against right-hander Landon Knack (2-2).

Juan Soto reached on an error by third baseman Max Muncy, after which Alonso homered into the left field seats. The round-tripper was the first for Alonso after May 5, a span of 16 games and 71 plate appearances in which he batted just .175 (11 of 63).

Astros 5, Mariners 3

Christian Walker drilled his second career walk-off home run and Houston secured a four-game series victory over visiting Seattle.

Walker followed a ninth-inning leadoff single from Jose Altuve with a line drive to left field for his sixth homer of the season. Walker finished with three hits and three RBIs for the Astros.

Mitch Garver hit a two-run double in the first and Donovan Solano drove in a run in the third to give the Mariners a 3-0 lead. The Astros reached Seattle starter Luis Castillo for three runs on nine hits over six innings.

Athletics 5, Phillies 4

Making his major league debut, catcher Willie MacIver drove in the winning run in the eighth with his first big-league hit as the Athletics ended their 11-game losing streak and the Phillies’ nine-game winning streak with the comeback victory in Sacramento, Calif.

In addition to the 28-year-old MacIver’s game-winning single, 27-year-old first baseman Logan Davidson produced his first two big-league hits and first two RBI while scoring the tying run in the eighth. Starter Gunnar Hoglund allowed three runs on four hits in five innings. Reliever Tyler Ferguson (1-2) faced one batter to retire the Phillies in the eighth and Mason Miller tossed a scoreless ninth for his 12th save.

Phillies starter Jesus Luzardo allowed three runs on seven hits, but fanned 10 with just one walk over seven innings. Matt Strahm (1-3) allowed the tying and go-ahead runs in the eighth. Trea Turner went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a homer

Orioles 5, Red Sox 1

Ryan O’Hearn went 3-for-3 with a double and a home run while Dean Kremer pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings as Baltimore earned its second straight win over host Boston.

The Orioles scored a single run in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to take the lead for good, with O’Hearn following up Dylan Carlson’s fifth-inning solo shot for Baltimore’s second homer in as many innings in the sixth. Kremer (4-5) struck out four and scattered seven hits with one walk in his start.

Jarren Duran was 4-for-5 from the top of the lineup for Boston, which left nine runners on base. Carlos Narvaez, rookie Marcelo Mayer and Abraham Toro each had two hits.

Giants 3, Nationals 2

Robbie Ray allowed one run and three hits over six innings as San Francisco held on to win the deciding game of the three-game series at Washington.

Ray (7-0) fanned seven and walked none to improve to 4-0 with a 1.13 ERA in May. Sam Huff homered while Mike Yastrzemski tripled and scored to pace the Giants’ offense.

Mike Soroka (1-3) gave up three runs and five hits in his six-inning stint. CJ Abrams and James Wood doubled in the ninth to put the tying run in scoring position with one out, but Ryan Walker stranded Wood to earn his 10th save.

Cubs 11, Reds 8

Seiya Suzuki snapped an 8-8 tie with a three-run homer in the eighth as Chicago scored eight unanswered runs to rally past host Cincinnati in the rubber match of their three-game series.

Catcher Reese McGuire, added to the roster earlier in the day, became the first player since Jim Marshall in 1958 to hit two homers in his Cubs debut. Pete Crow-Armstrong added two hits and two RBIs and Nico Hoerner scored twice and drove in two. Drew Pomeranz (2-0) threw a hitless seventh in relief of Ben Brown, who allowed eight runs and seven hits over 4 1/3 innings.

Austin Hays went 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBIs for the Reds while TJ Friedl, Elly De La Cruz, Jose Trevino and Matt McLain added two hits apiece. Starter Nick Lodolo gave up three runs and six hits over five innings. Taylor Rogers (1-2) did not retire any of the three batters he faced during the Cubs’ decisive four-run eighth.

Brewers 6, Pirates 5

Caleb Durbin and Brice Turang hit key run-scoring doubles to rally Milwaukee’s win over host Pittsburgh, snap a two-game skid and split the four-game series against the Pirates, who had won four of their previous five.

Trailing 5-3 in the top of the eighth inning, the Brewers put runners on second and third after Rhys Hoskins drew a walk from Pirates reliever Ryan Borucki (1-2) and Isaac Collins doubled with one out. Durbin roped a ball off the left field wall to score Hoskins and Collins to tie the game. Turang then followed with a line drive down the left field line that scored Durbin, putting Milwaukee ahead by its winning margin.

Pittsburgh was led by Adam Frazier’s three hits and three RBIs. Oneil Cruz hit his 11th home run of the season in the bottom of the third — a 432-foot blast that was clocked at 122.9 mph, making it the hardest hit ball ever tracked by Statcast, which began tracking exit velocities in 2015.

Cardinals 4, Diamondbacks 3

Ivan Herrera drove in two runs and Brendan Donovan cracked three hits as St. Louis rallied to beat visiting Arizona and sweep their three-game series.

Masyn Winn added a home run and scored twice for the Cardinals, who took a 4-3 lead on Victor Scott II’s RBI single in the seventh. Starter Sonny Gray allowed three runs and nine hits over six innings. John King (1-0), JoJo Romero and Phil Maton (second save) each tossed a scoreless inning.

Eugenio Suarez went 3-for-4 with one run and two RBIs for the Diamondbacks, who lost their fifth in a row. Starter Brandon Pfaadt gave up three runs and five hits during his 5 2/3 innings. Kevin Ginkel (0-2) allowed Jordan Walker’s leadoff single in the seventh and he came around to score the winning run.

Rays 13, Blue Jays 0

Ryan Pepiot threw seven shutout innings, Brandon Lowe went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and Tampa Bay rolled over visiting Toronto.

All nine Rays starters got at least one hit as they used a 15-hit attack to finish a three-game sweep over their American League East rivals. Chandler Simpson, Josh Lowe and Junior Caminero each delivered two hits in the Rays’ fifth consecutive victory. Ben Rortvedt had a season-high three RBIs for Tampa Bay and Curtis Mead added a two-run homer.

Infielder Michael Stefanic pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the Blue Jays and got a hit in his first at-bat in the ninth.

Rangers 5, White Sox 4

Adolis Garcia laced a go-ahead, two-run double in the ninth inning to propel visiting Texas to a comeback win over Chicago, ending a six-game losing streak.

Texas trailed 3-2 in the ninth against Chicago reliever Jordan Leasure before Josh Jung led off by getting hit by a pitch and Jake Burger followed with a double. Two batters later, Kyle Higashioka reached on an error by first baseman Lenyn Sosa, bringing home the tying run.

Garcia followed with a two-run double off Leasure (0-4) to give the Rangers a 5-3 lead. Chicago added a run in the bottom of the ninth on an RBI double by Michael A. Taylor but could get no closer.

Royals 2, Twins 1 (10 innings)

Maikel Garcia drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th inning, and Kansas City held on to edge Minnesota in Minneapolis.

Freddy Fermin also drove in a run for the Royals, who salvaged a win in the finale of a three-game series. Winner Carlos Estevez (2-0) pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, walking none and striking out two. Right-hander Taylor Clarke pitched a scoreless 10th to pick up his first save.

Ty France drove in the lone run for the Twins, who lost for only the third time in the past 19 games. They managed only three hits. Minnesota reliever Jhoan Duran (3-1) allowed one unearned run on one hit in one inning. He walked none and struck out one.

Yankees 5, Rockies 4

Rookie J.C. Escarra had the first three-hit game of his career and drove in two runs, including the eventual game-winner, as New York beat Colorado on a stormy day in Denver.

Mark Leiter Jr. (3-3) pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless, hitless relief and Luke Weaver survived a shaky ninth to pick up his eighth save for the Yankees. Aaron Judge and Paul Goldschmidt each added two hits.

The game was delayed by rain and lightning for one hour and 46 minutes, in the top of the fifth inning. Mickey Moniak homered and Jordan Beck had two hits for the Rockies, who fell to 9-44 and failed to earn their first series win of the season.

Marlins 3, Angels 0

Edward Cabrera combined with three relievers on a three-hitter as Miami beat Los Angeles to win the three-game series in Anaheim, Calif.

Cabrera (1-1) allowed three hits with two walks and struck out a season-high 10 batters over 5 2/3 innings. Anthony Bender and Calvin Faucher each pitched a scoreless inning before Ronny Henriquez retired the Angels in order in the ninth for his first major league save. Javier Sanoja had two hits and drove in a run for the Marlins, who won their fifth series of the season.

Los Angeles fanned 15 times and was shut out for the first time since April 27. The Angels had their eight-game winning streak snapped in a 6-2 loss on Saturday.

Padres 5, Braves 3

Jake Cronenworth had a pair of hits, including the go-ahead home run, and visiting San Diego beat Atlanta to win the rubber game of their series.

Cronenworth, who also doubled, hit a solo homer in the seventh inning to put the Padres in front for good and help them win the three-game set and finish the season series 6-1 against the Braves.

San Diego starter Dylan Cease pitched five innings and allowed three runs on six hits, one walk and struck out eight. The Padres’ bullpen finished the game, with Jeremiah Estrada (2-3), Adrian Morejon, Jason Adam and Robert Suarez each working a scoreless inning. Suarez picked up his 17th save, tied for the most in the major leagues.

–Field Level Media