Strider's 13 strikeouts lead Braves to 4-1 win over Rockies

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17 hours ago

Atlanta Braves' Matt Olson hits a single in the first inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies, Saturday, June 14, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
ATLANTA (AP) — Spencer Strider recorded 13 strikeouts in his first win of the season, Ronald Acuña Jr. stayed hot with two hits, including a two-run homer, and the Atlanta Braves beat Colorado 4-1 on Saturday.
The loss left the Rockies with the worst record through 70 games in the modern era. Colorado (13-57) surpassed the 1932 Boston Red Sox, who were 14-56, for the worst 70-game mark since 1901. The Rockies set another team record for a nine-inning game with 19 strikeouts, also a nine-inning record for Atlanta pitchers.
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The resurgent Braves have won consecutive series after falling 10 games under .500 while losing six straight series. They have outscored the Rockies 16-5 in the first two games of the series after setting a scoring high in Friday night's 12-4 win.
Strider (1-5) was dominant in his sixth start since being activated from the injured list on May 19. He allowed three hits with one walk in six innings.
REDS 11, TIGERS 1
DETROIT (AP) — Tyler Stephenson hit a grand slam in a six-run fifth inning and Cincinnati beat Detroit.
Elly De La Cruz, Spencer Steer and Matt McLain also homered for the Reds, who had been outscored 22-7 in the last two games.
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The American League-leading Tigers are 4-2 in their last six games but have given up double-digit runs in each loss.
Brady Singer (7-4) got the win, giving up one run on four hits in six innings. He walked three while striking out four.
Jack Flaherty (5-7) allowed seven runs on five hits — including three homers — and five walks in 4 2/3 innings.
MARLINS 4, NATIONALS 3
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jesús Sánchez homered in the seventh inning, and Miami held off Washington.
Miami clinched its sixth series victory of the season and first since taking two of three from the Los Angeles Angels on May 23-25. The Marlins have won consecutive games for the first time since May 24-25.
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Washington dropped its seventh in a row, matching a May 6-13 skid for its longest of the season.
The Nationals scored two runs in the ninth off Anthony Bender — one on a wild pitch, another on a misplayed grounder — and had the bases loaded with none out. But Bender got Amed Rosario to fly out to shallow left, and Calvin Faucher earned his seventh save when he induced James Wood to pop up to shortstop.
The Marlins used three pitchers to cover the first 2 1/3 innings before giving way to Janson Junk (1-0). The right-hander allowed only two baserunners in 5 2/3 shutout innings, the longest outing of his career.
CUBS 2, PIRATES 1
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CHICAGO (AP) — Dansby Swanson homered, Matthew Boyd pitched six sharp innings and Chicago beat Pittsburgh.
Swanson connected against Ryan Borucki (1-3) with two out in the sixth inning, giving Chicago a 2-1 lead with a solo drive into the bleachers in left-center. It was his 13th homer of the season.
Swanson struck out swinging against Mike Burrows in his first two at-bats of the afternoon. But Burrows departed after retiring Seiya Suzuki on a popup to first for the first out of the sixth.
Andrew McCutchen went deep for last-place Pittsburgh, which had won six of eight. It was McCutchen's 18th homer at Wrigley Field, tops for a visitor to the iconic ballpark among active players.
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Boyd (6-3) retired 14 in a row after McCutchen connected with one out in the first. The left-hander, who signed a $29 million, two-year deal with Chicago in free agency, improved to 6-0 with a 2.25 ERA in six home starts this year.
ATHLETICS 4, ROYALS 0
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jacob Lopez became the latest pitcher to shut down Kansas City with six innings of three-hit ball, Max Muncy and Lawrence Butler hit homers, and the Athletics won.
Lopez (1-4) walked one and struck out nine while winning for the second time in his big league career. His other victory came on Oct. 1, 2023, when Lopez allowed five runs while pitching for the Rays in a game against Toronto.
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He was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas last month and had been 0-3 with a 6.88 ERA in three games since.
Michael Kelly pitched two perfect innings in relief and Hogan Harris finished off the four-hitter for the A's.
Muncy followed a leadoff walk by Tyler Soderstrom in the second inning with his fifth homer of the year, a line-drive into the A's bullpen off Kansas City starter Michael Lorenzen. Lawrence homered off reliever Daniel Lynch IV in the seventh.
Lorenzen (4-7) allowed three runs on four hits and four walks over six innings. He struck out four.
ASTROS 3, TWINS 2
HOUSTON (AP) — Rookie Cam Smith hit a tiebreaking RBI single off closer Jhoan Duran with two outs in the ninth inning to give Houston a victory over Minnesota.
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Duran (4-2) walked Christian Walker with one out in the ninth and he moved to third on a two-out single by Jake Meyers. Smith then singled on a grounder to center to score Meyers for his first career walkoff hit and Houston's fourth straight victory.
Closer Josh Hader (3-0) struck out two in a scoreless ninth for the win.
Both teams got strong performances from their starters. Houston's Hunter Brown allowed three hits and two runs with a career-high 12 strikeouts in seven innings. Minnesota's Joe Ryan yielded two hits and two runs while fanning seven in seven innings.
Yainer Diaz hit a two-run homer for Houston in the third and Brooks Lee tied it with his shot in the fifth that extended his career-long hitting streak to 14 games.
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Bryan Abreu struck out three in a scoreless eighth for the Astros.
PHILLIES 3, BLUE JAYS 2
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Max Kepler hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning to lift Philadelphia to a victory over Toronto.
Cristopher Sánchez pitched seven strong innings for Philadelphia, which managed just four hits while winning its fourth in the last five. The Phillies will try for the three-game series sweep behind ace Zack Wheeler on Sunday.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had an RBI double for the Blue Jays. Toronto had won 12 of 14 before dropping the first two in Philadelphia.
The Phillies once again played without two-time NL MVP Bryce Harper, who is sidelined indefinitely with a wrist injury.
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Orion Kerkering (5-2) pitched a scoreless eighth, and Matt Strahm tossed a 1-2-3 ninth for his third save.
ORIOLES 6, ANGELS 5
BALTIMORE (AP) — Cedric Mullins and Gary Sánchez hit back-to-back home runs to give Baltimore the lead and Félix Bautista finished off the victory over Los Angeles with his second straight save.
Mullins hit his 11th home run, a two-run shot off Angels starter Tyler Anderson in the sixth, and Sánchez followed with his first homer with the Orioles for a 6-4 lead.
Bautista topped 100 mph for the first time since 2023 on a fastball to Mike Trout before Trout flied to right field for the second out in the ninth. Bautista walked Taylor Ward before striking out Logan O'Hoppe on the ninth pitch of the at-bat and his 22nd pitch in the inning. Bautista has 14 saves in 15 opportunities.
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Trout homered high off the foul pole in left field after Zach Neto drew a leadoff walk from Orioles starter Tomoyuki Sugano to give the Angels a 2-0 lead in the first. It was his 11th home run this season and the 389th of his career.
LA's Luis Rengifo hit solo homers from both sides of the plate for the third time in his career after entering with just one on the season. He homered off lefty Keegan Akin to give the Angels a 4-3 lead in the sixth and again off right-hander Andrew Kittredge in the eighth to cut it to 6-5.
Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg had RBI singles in the third to give the Orioles a 3-2 lead.
Anderson (2-4) allowed six runs on nine hits in five innings. He is 0-4 in 10 starts since beating the Giants on April 18.
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CARDINALS 8, BREWERS 5
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Nolan Gorman hit a three-run homer, Willson Contreras added a solo shot in the ninth inning and St. Louis beat Milwaukee to snap a six-game losing streak.
William Contreras hit a leadoff homer for Milwaukee that capped the scoring as the brothers both homered in the ninth inning.
Victor Scott had two RBIs for the Cardinals. Gorman's homer, which chased starter José Quintana (4-2), made it 7-1 in the fifth.
Masyn Winn singled to lead off the game, Iván Herrera followed with a walk and Alec Burleson added a single that drove in Winn to give the Cardinals the lead for good.
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Jackson Chourio hit a leadoff triple in the fourth and scored on a passed ball by Pedro Pagés. Sal Frelick hit a two-run double and Chourio followed with an RBI single in the fifth that trimmed Milwaukee's deficit to 7-4.
RAYS 8, METS 4
NEW YORK (AP) — Taylor Walls and Yandy Díaz had two hits and two RBIs apiece and Tampa Bay remained hot with a win over New York.
Junior Caminero homered to lead off a five-run fourth inning for Tampa Bay, which has won eight of its last 11 games and leads the majors with a 17-6 record and 134 runs scored since May 20.
Josh Lowe and Brandon Lowe each finished with two hits and an RBI.
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Drew Rasmussen (6-4) won his fifth straight decision despite allowing seven hits and four runs in five innings. He struck out three. He had allowed two runs over 29 innings in his previous five starts.
Brandon Nimmo had three hits and two RBIs while Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio each homered for the Mets, who lost consecutive games for the first time since a three-game skid from May 18-20.
RANGERS 5, WHITE SOX 4, 11 INNINGS
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Adolis García delivered his his sixth career walk-off hit with an RBI single with two out in the 11th inning to give Texas a victory over Chicago.
García hit a line drive to the wall in center field on the first pitch from reliever Tyler Alexander (3-7), scoring automatic runner Evan Carter. It was the only hit allowed by Alexander in three innings.
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Rangers starter Jacob deGrom allowed two runs in six innings and struck out six. He left after throwing 82 pitches, trailing 2-1. Jacob Latz (1-0) pitched two hitless innings and struck out three for the win.
Chicago's Kyle Teel ended deGrom's stretch of 15 scoreless innings with a sacrifice fly in the fourth, and Luis Robert Jr. followed with an RBI single for a 2-0 lead.
Josh Smith doubled leading off the fifth against reliever Brandon Eisert and scored on a one-out double by Corey Seager, cutting the deficit to 2-1. Smith went 2 for 5 — his sixth straight multi-hit game — and scored two runs.
Wyatt Langford greeted reliever Grant Taylor with a single in the seventh. Seager walked for a career-high ninth straight game and Marcus Semien doubled to tie it. Seager scored on a wild pitch for a 3-2 lead.
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Mike Tauchman tied it with an RBI single in the eighth for Chicago, and Michael A. Taylor's pinch-hit RBI double in the ninth pulled the White Sox even at 4-all.
RED SOX 4, YANKEES 3
BOSTON (AP) — Hunter Dobbins pitched six shutout innings to beat New York for the second time in a week, and Boston won its fourth straight game.
A week after saying he'd rather retire than pitch for the Yankees because his father was drafted by New York twice before being traded — and then having to defend his dad's story midweek — Dobbins (4-1) struck out five and gave up two singles.
Dobbins earned the victory against the Yankees last Sunday, too, when he worked five innings and allowed three runs, two on a first-inning, two-run homer by Aaron Judge.
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Judge went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts on Saturday, dropping his major league leading average from .390 to .384.
Greg Weissert got the final three outs for his second save despite giving up a run. Austin Wells flew out to the track in center with two runners on.
Carlos Rodón (8-5), who entered 7-1 with a 1.90 ERA in his previous 10 starts, gave up four runs (three earned) on seven hits in five-plus innings.
DIAMONDBACKS 8, PADRES 7
PHOENIX (AP) — Geraldo Perdomo's bases-loaded triple tied the game and Josh Naylor's infield hit scored Perdomo with the winning run as Arizona scored five times in the ninth to shock San Diego.
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It was 7-3 going to the ninth. Pavin Smith, Gabriel Moreno and Alek Thomas singled against Padres closer Robert Suárez (1-2), working in a non-save situation.
Ketel Marte beat out an infield hit to score a run and set the stage for Perdomo, who lined one into the right-field corner to score all three runs. Adrian Morejon relieved and Naylor, on the first pitch, hit a grounder to first but Perdomo beat the throw home.
The Padres scored four runs in the seventh to take a 5-3 lead on Fernando Tatis Jr.'s bases-loaded single and Manny Machado's two-run double off Ryan Thompson, who had relieved starter Zac Gallen.
Eugenio Suárez's three-run homer in the fifth off Ryan Bergert put the Diamondbacks ahead 3-1. Suarez's homer, his 20th, tied Corbin Carroll for the team lead.
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Gallen was charged with four runs in 6 1/3 innings. He walked four and struck out five.
Bergert, making his third career start, lasted five innings. He gave up three hits and three runs, striking out eight.