Gray's complete game, 11 strikeouts power Cardinals past Guardians 5-0

Winnipeg Free Press

5 hours ago

CLEVELAND (AP) — Sonny Gray allowed only one hit and struck out a season-high 11 for his first complete game since 2017 as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Cleveland Guardians 5-0 on Friday night.
Alec Burleson and Pedro Pagés homered, and Nolan Arenado had a pair of RBIs for the Cardinals, who bounced back after being shut out in their previous two games.
It is the seventh complete game of Gray's 13-year career and the 18th in the majors this season. It is also his fourth career shutout and first since 2015 when he was with the Athletics.
Gray — who threw 89 pitches, including 66 strikes — had double-digit strikeouts for the third time this season and 20th in his career.
Pagés and Burleson lined home runs off Cleveland starter Luis Ortiz (4-9) in the third inning. Pagés drove an elevated sinker over the left-field wall to lead off the frame and snap a 24-inning string where the Cardinals had not scored a run. Burleson connected for a two-run shot with two outs.
The Guardians were blanked for the second straight game. Toronto's Kevin Gausman threw eight innings of two-hit ball in the Blue Jays 6-0 win on Thursday.
YANKEES 3, ATHLETICS 0
NEW YORK (AP) — Jazz Chisholm Jr. homered on the first pitch he saw in his 500th game and New York beat the Athletics to reach the halfway point of the season.
Chisholm hit his fifth homer in 21 games since returning from an oblique injury on June 3 and gave the Yankees the lead in the second by driving a cutter from A's starter Mitch Spence (2-3) to the second deck in right field. As he rounded third, the third baseman shrugged his shoulders and did a little shuffle before crossing the plate.
Chisholm has 89 homers and 109 stolen bases since debuting with the Miami Marlins on September 1, 2020. The only other players with as many homers and stolen bases through 500 career games are Eric Davis (107, homers, 190 stolen bases) and former Yankee Alfonso Soriano (97 homers, 121 RBIs
Cody Bellinger and DJ LeMahieu hit RBI singles as the Yankees reached the halfway point at 47-34, putting them on a 94-win pace. The Yankees were 52-29 at the halfway point last season when they finished with 94 wins and reached the World Series for the first time since 2009.
New York rookie starter Will Warren (5-4) survived issuing three walks in the first inning and allowed two hits in five innings.
Four relievers followed Warren and Devin Williams got the last three outs for his 11th save to complete New York's ninth shutout.
PIRATES 9, METS 1
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mitch Keller pitched 5 1/3 innings to end his 15-start winless streak and Bryan Reynolds hit a three-run home run as Pittsburgh beat New York.
Keller (2-10) allowed one run and five hits to win for the first time since his first start of the season on March 28 at Miami. It was the longest single-season winless streak in franchise history.
Reynolds' homer off Blake Tidwell, who was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse, came in the sixth inning and traveled 402 feet into the right-field stands, extending the Pirates' lead to 8-1.
Juan Soto accounted for the Mets' run with his 20th home run in the fourth inning.
Mets left-hander David Peterson (5-4) had his second straight rough start, allowing five runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings. Last Sunday, Peterson gave up five runs in four innings at Philadelphia.
REDS 8, PADRES 1
CINCINNATI (AP) — Nick Martinez took a no-hit bid into the ninth inning before allowing pinch-hitter Elias Díaz's double and Spencer Steer hit three home runs, leading Cincinnati over San Diego.
Martinez (5-8) walked his third batter, Jackson Merrill, on a low full-count sinker, then retired 22 consecutive hitters before walking rookie Trenton Brooks starting the ninth. Díaz then drove an 0-1 changeup off the base of the wall in left-center on Martinez's 112th and final pitch, which tied his career high.
A 34-year-old right-hander, Martinez struck out six as the Reds won for the fourth time in five games. He also threw 112 pitches for Texas against Boston on May 28, 2015.
Taylor Rogers walked a pair of batters, forcing in a run, before striking out Gavin Sheets to finish the one-hitter.
TWINS 4, TIGERS 1
DETROIT (AP) — Byron Buxton homered and scored twice to help Minnesota beat Detroit for its third straight victory.
David Festa (2-2) pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits. He struck out six and didn't walk a batter. Jhoan Durán pitched the ninth for his 12th save.
Brooks Lee drove in a pair of runs for the Twins.
Sawyer Gipson-Long (0-1) took the loss, allowing three runs in 5 1/3 innings.
The Twins took a 1-0 lead in the fourth on back-to-back doubles by Matt Wallner and Lee, then made it 2-0 an inning later on Buxton's long homer to left.
The Twins made it 3-0 in the sixth. Reliever Brant Hurter replaced Gipson-Long with one out and a runner on first. After a wild pitch, Hurter walked Ty France before Lee hit an RBI single. Hurter then hit former Tiger Kody Clemens to load the bases, but Carlos Hernández replaced Hurter and got out of the inning when Harrison Bader struck out and Christian Vazquez grounded out.
BLUE JAYS 9, RED SOX 0
BOSTON (AP) — José Berríos pitched seven scoreless innings, George Springer had three hits and two RBI singles, and Toronto earned a win over Boston.
Bo Bichette, Alejandro Kirk, Ernie Clement and Andrés Giménez also drove in runs for Toronto, which has won six of eight meetings with its AL East rivals this season. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. added two hits.
Berríos (4-3) allowed just four hits and struck out eight and surrendered only one walk in handing Boston its sixth loss in a row.
Boston's Brayan Bello (3-3) gave up three runs off eight hits over six innings with a strikeout. But he didn't get support from a Red Sox lineup that has managed just four runs over their last three games. Boston was held to one run or none for the 15th time this season.
Boston opponents have scored at least eight runs four times over the last nine games — all Red Sox losses.
ORIOLES 22, RAYS 8
BALTIMORE (AP) — Gary Sanchez homered and drove in four runs, Ramón Laureano scored four times and Baltimore stormed back from an early six-run deficit to rout Tampa Bay.
The Orioles were on the wrong end of a similar comeback against Tampa Bay just nine days earlier, when the Rays rallied from down 8-0 to beat Baltimore 12-8.
Tampa Bay opened the scoring with six runs in the second. Jonathan Aranda, Josh Lowe and Brandon Lowe homered in that inning, but Rays starter Ryan Pepiot couldn't make it through the bottom half. The Orioles scored four runs in the second and one in the third.
With Tampa Bay up 7-6 in the sixth, Sanchez hit a two-run shot. Colton Cowser's third double of the game brought home another run in the sixth. Sanchez then followed with his third hit — a two-run single that made it 11-7.
GIANTS 3, WHITE SOX 1
CHICAGO (AP) — Patrick Bailey hit a go-ahead two-run triple in the sixth inning and San Francisco ended a three-game skid with a win over Chicago.
Landon Roupp (6-5) won his second straight start and third out of his last four after giving up an unearned run and seven hits with four strikeouts and a pair of walks in 5 1/3 innings.
Bailey laced the decisive hit down the right-field line off reliever Tyler Alexander (4-8) to break a 1-all tie. Camilo Doval worked the ninth for his 13th save.
ASTROS 7, CUBS 4
HOUSTON (AP) — Cam Smith hit a three-run homer in his first game against the Cubs since being traded to Houston and Brandon Walter threw six solid innings in his first MLB victory as the Astros beat Chicago.
Yainer Diaz added a three-run homer as AL West-leading Houston extended its winning streak to five games.
The Astros scored four runs in the third off Cubs starter Cade Horton (3-2), with Jose Altuve scoring on a sacrifice fly by Victor Caratini before Diaz capped the inning with his 377-foot shot to left-center.
Smith, a first-round draft selection by Chicago last year was acquired by the Astros in the offseason as part of the deal for Kyle Tucker, extended Houston's lead to 7-0 in the fourth with his home run off the left field façade, his sixth of the season. Smith had two hits and scored two runs.
Walter (1-1), a 28-year-old left-hander, allowed one run on four hits with five strikeouts. Josh Hader got the final out for his 22nd save.
BREWERS 10, ROCKIES 6
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jackson Chourio hit a three-run home run, Brice Turang added two RBIs and Milwaukee beat Colorado.
José Quintana (6-2) gave up four runs on seven hits with five strikeouts across 5 2/3 innings as the 46-36 Brewers improved to a season-high 10 games over .500.
Braxton Fulford had three hits and three RBIs for the Rockies, who have lost four in a row and seven of their last eight games.
Kyle Freeland (1-9) gave up six runs on eight hits and three walks in four innings pitched.
Chourio hit a run-scoring groundout and Christian Yelich followed with a two-run double in the eighth to cap the scoring. Yelich has a 10-game hitting streak and in his last 28 games is batting .386 (44 for 114) with eight home runs and 33 RBIs.
William Contreras led off the fifth with a single, advanced to second on an error, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Isaac Collins and then scored on a balk by Jimmy Herget, who replaced Freeland to open the inning, to make it 7-4 in the fifth.
DODGERS 5, ROYALS 4
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani led off the game with his 29th home run and also hit an RBI triple, and Freddie Freeman stretched as he fell over to complete a game-ending double play as Los Angeles beat Kansas City for its fifth straight win.
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Ohtani hit his major league-leading eighth leadoff homer this season, a drive off off Noah Cameron (2-4), and Max Muncy hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer for a 3-1 lead in the second.
Bobby Witt Jr.'s two-run homer against Dustin May put Kansas City ahead 4-3 in the bottom half and gave the Royals their first lead since Sunday.
Ohtani tied the score in the fifth against Cameron (2-4) with his seventh triple of the season and scored on Mookie Betts' single off Steven Cruz.
Kansas City loaded the bases with one out in the ninth against Tanner Scott on singles by Mikael Garcia and Salvador Perez around Vinnie Pacquantino's walk.
Rookie Jac Caglianone grounded to second Tommy Edman, who made a backhand flip to Betts at second, and Betts bounced his throw to Freeman. The All-Star first baseman snagged the ball as he fell to the field, giving Scott his 18th save in 23 chances.