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Smith-Shawver stars as Braves blank Reds

Smith-Shawver stars as Braves blank Reds

Kuwait Times07-05-2025

Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman homer as Dodgers top Marlins
ATLANTA: A.J. Smith-Shawver carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning and the Atlanta Braves defeated the visiting Cincinnati Reds 4-0 on Monday in the opener of their three-game series. Smith-Shawver (2-2) pitched a career-high eight innings and allowed no runs on one hit—a leadoff single by Santiago Espinal in the eighth—with four walks and five strikeouts. He threw 99 pitches, 60 for strikes. Matt Olson collected an inside-the-park home run on an unusual play in which Reds rookie left fielder Tyler Callihan stretched out for the catch, temporarily had the ball in his glove, but slammed into the side wall. Callihan broke his left forearm on the play as Olson came around to score. Cincinnati's Brady Singer (4-2) pitched six innings and allowed four runs on seven hits.
Dodgers 7, Marlins 4
Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman each drilled two-run homers as Los Angeles defeated host Miami in the opener of a three-game series. Ohtani, who hit a National League-high 54 homers last year, has nine this season. Dodgers right fielder Teoscar Hernandez went 2-for-2 with his MLB-high 34th RBI of the season. Miami, which has lost eight of its last nine, was led by rookie Agustin Ramirez, who blasted the longest drive of the night—a pinch-hit, three-run homer in the eighth that went 424 feet. Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara took the loss, allowing five runs on six hits in five innings.
Royals 3, White Sox 0
Cole Ragans struck out 11 over five solid innings and Bobby Witt Jr. had two hits with an RBI, as Kansas City continued its recent dominance over visiting Chicago. Maikel Garcia and Drew Waters each had a run-scoring hit, while Garcia and Witt stole two bases apiece for the Royals, who won their third straight and 12th in the last 14 games. Kansas City has won seven in a row and 15 of the last 16 versus Chicago, which managed six hits and fanned 14 times while losing their eighth consecutive road contest against the Royals. Ragans (2-1) scattered three hits, while White Sox rookie Shane Smith (1-2) also was solid but allowed two runs, five hits and three walks while striking out five.
Cubs 9, Giants 2
Dansby Swanson went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs, while Ian Happ and Carson Kelly each homered, propelling Chicago over visiting San Francisco. Happ drove in three runs and Seiya Suzuki drove in two as the Cubs won their fourth game in five tries. Matthew Boyd (3-2) threw six innings of five-hit, two-run ball, while striking out seven for Chicago. Landen Roupp (2-3) surrendered five hits and four runs (two earned) across five innings and struck out four. Luis Matos' two-run homer accounted for all of the Giants' offense, and San Francisco's defense committed four errors. The Giants saw their three-game winning streak snapped.
Padres 4, Yankees 3
Xander Bogaerts hit a two-run single with two outs in the eighth inning as visiting San Diego rallied past New York. The Padres won their sixth straight game by erasing a three-run deficit against Devin Williams and Luke Weaver (0-1). Williams loaded the bases in the eighth on a four-pitch walk to Luis Arraez. Weaver entered and Manny Machado lined a 1-1 fastball to left field for a two-run double to get San Diego within 3-2. On the next pitch, Bogaerts hit a cutter for a bloop single. Trent Grisham hit a two-run homer for the Yankees in the third. Carlos Rodon limited the Padres to three singles in 6 2/3 innings.
Brewers 5, Astros 1
Christian Yelich had a two-run home run and Tobias Myers led a stellar pitching effort in Milwaukee's victory over visiting Houston in the opener of a three-game series. Myers (1-0) allowed one run on six hits in 5 1/3 innings, bouncing back from his previous start when he lasted just two innings. The Brewers' bullpen preserved the lead as Nick Mears, Jared Koenig, Grant Anderson and Joel Payamps kept the Astros off the scoreboard. Houston starter Ronel Blanco (2-3) allowed three runs, all in the third inning. He yielded seven hits and two walks with six strikeouts in six innings.
Cardinals 6, Pirates 3
Willson Contreras had two hits, including a go-ahead two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth, to help host St. Louis come back to beat Pittsburgh. Contreras' fifth home run of the season came off Pirates reliever Chase Shugart (1-2), who allowed all four of the Cardinals' runs in the sixth without recording an out. Jose Barrero finished with two hits and three RBIs and drove in the last two runs of that inning on a ground-rule double down the left field line with the bases loaded. Pedro Pages also had two hits. The Cardinals picked up their third consecutive victory while the Pirates lost their fifth in a row—their longest losing skid of this season. Bryan Reynolds pocketed his fifth home run, a two-run blast off Miles Mikolas to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead after only two at-bats to open the game.
Mets 5, Diamondbacks 4
Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso homered, Griffin Canning won his fifth game, and New York held off Arizona in Phoenix. Alonso's two-run homer off Arizona starter Ryne Nelson (1-1) gave the Mets a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning, and Lindor's three-run shot off Ryan Thompson in the seventh stretched it to 5-1. Josh Naylor had an RBI single and Eugenio Suarez singled in two runs to close the deficit to 5-4 after Dedniel Nunez walked the first three batters in the eighth, but Reed Garrett stranded runners on second and third with one out on a strikeout and a foul out to preserve the lead.
Athletics 7, Mariners 6 (11 innings)
Jacob Wilson delivered an RBI single to center with the bases loaded and one out in the 11th inning to give the Athletics a victory over Seattle at West Sacramento, Calif. Wilson also had a tying run-scoring single in the 10th inning for the Athletics, who won for the 10th time in their past 13 games. Wilson had three hits and three RBIs, Luis Urias also had three hits and Shea Langeliers homered and had two RBIs for the Athletics. Ben Williamson had two hits and two RBIs for Seattle, which lost its second straight contest following a six-game winning streak. Miles Mastrobuoni also drove in two runs while J.P. Crawford and Rowdy Tellez each had two hits for the Mariners. – Reuters

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Young stars sparkle as Thunder and Pacers seek first NBA titles
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Ryan Yarbrough, Yankees shut down Dodgers to avoid sweep
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Shohei Ohtani's 2 HRs lift Dodgers over Yanks in Series rematch
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Shohei Ohtani's 2 HRs lift Dodgers over Yanks in Series rematch

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Yankees starter Max Fried (7-1) permitted a season-high six earned runs on eight hits in five-plus innings while losing for the first time in 12 starts this year. He fanned three without issuing a walk. Dodgers starter Tony Gonsolin (3-1) prevailed despite allowing five runs on six hits in six innings. He struck out four and walked three. Alex Vesia earned his second save with a scoreless ninth inning. Ohtani hit his 21st and 22nd home run to increase his major-league-leading total, while Judge now has 19. The first-inning blasts were the first time in major league history a pair of reigning MVPs hit homers in the opening inning of the same game. The Yankees broke the 1-1 tie in a three-run second inning when Wells hit his ninth homer of the season and Grisham added his 13th, a two-run shot. The Dodgers pulled within 4-2 in the bottom of the second on an RBI groundout from Enrique Hernandez. New York made it 5-2 in the third inning on Goldschmidt's sixth homer of the season. Ohtani's second home run of the game came in the sixth, a towering shot that just cleared the right-field wall. Freeman, Pages and Conforto all added RBIs in an inning that looked similar to Los Angeles' five-run rally in the fifth inning of the clinching Game 5 of the World Series. The Dodgers made it 8-5 in the seventh on a two-run single from Pages. Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts was a late scratch due to a toe injury. Twins beat Mariners In Seattle, Carlos Correa homered leading off the 10th inning as the Minnesota Twins pulled off an improbable comeback to defeat the host Seattle Mariners 12-6 on Friday. Willi Castro hit two homers and Trevor Larnach also went deep for the Twins, who rallied from a four-run deficit. Seattle's Cal Raleigh hit two homers to become the first catcher in major league history to hit 20 by the end of May. He ended the night with 21 on the year. Teammate Randy Arozarena also homered. Correa hit the first pitch of the 10th from reliever Casey Legumina (4-3) over the wall in left-center field to also score automatic runner DaShawn Keirsey Jr. The Twins then loaded the bases with two outs and got a two-run single from Byron Buxton and a two-run double from Larnach to pull away. Twins closer Jhoan Duran (4-1) pitched one scoreless inning for the victory. Minnesota scored three runs with two outs in the ninth off Mariners closer Andres Munoz to tie it at 6-6. They were the first earned runs this season allowed by Munoz, who leads the AL with 17 saves. Former Mariner Ty France led off the ninth with a single to right. After Munoz struck out the next two batters, Castro hit a two-run shot to right to pull the Twins within 6-5. Buxton, who was making his return from the injured list (concussion), grounded a single to left, stole second and scored on Larnach's single to center to tie it. Raleigh broke a tie with the New York Yankees' Aaron Judge for the AL lead in homers with a three-run shot, his 20th of the season, off Twins right-hander Zebby Matthews in the first. Matthews graduated from the same school as Raleigh - Smoky Mountain High in Sylva, NC. Raleigh added a two-run shot in the eighth, his 21st, off Twins reliever Cole Sands, who was his teammate at Florida State. Seattle scored four times in the first inning. J.P. Crawford led off with an infield hit and Jorge Polanco lined a single to right. With one out, Raleigh hit a ball just inside the right field foul pole. Arozarena followed with a blast into the Twins' bullpen in left-center field. Larnach led off the fourth with a homer to right. Ryan Jeffers followed with a double to left, took third on a flyout and scored on Brooks Lee's grounder to second as the Twins halved their deficit. Castro went deep to right-center with two outs in the seventh to make it 4-3. Raleigh curled another homer around the right field foul pole in the eighth after Julio Rodriguez singled with two outs. Matthews settled down after the first and went seven innings. He gave up four runs on six hits with one walk and seven strikeouts. Mariners starter Bryan Woo went 6 2/3 innings and allowed three runs on six hits with one walk and three strikeouts. — Reuters

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