CINCINNATI (AP) — Bo Bichette continued his hot streak with three hits, rookie Nolan McLean struck out nine in seven innings and the New York Mets averted being swept with a 9-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday.
Francisco Alvarez and Juan Soto also had three hits apiece. New York had 15 hits, which is tied for its second-highest output of the season.
Bichette has multiple hits in six straight games and went 8 for 14 in the three-game series. The third baseman is also batting .539 (14 for 26) over his last six games with two homers and eight RBIs.
McLean (4-4) allowed one unearned run and three hits as he went seven innings for the third time in 15 starts.
It was Carlos Mendoza’s 205th victory as Mets’ manager. The third-year skipper passed Jerry Manuel and moved into ninth place on the franchise’s wins list.
ROYALS 6, NATIONALS 2
WASHINGTON (AP) — Luinder Avila took a shutout into the sixth, and Kansas City hit four solo homers in the first three innings of a victory over Washington.
Carter Jensen led off the game with a home run, and John Rave, Lane Thomas and Michael Massey also went deep as the Royals avoided a three-game sweep in Washington. Avila (2-3) allowed a run and three hits with a walk and five strikeouts.
Jensen’s drive to right off Zack Littell (6-6) — his first of four hits — opened the scoring. Rave added a home run in the second. Then Thomas and Massey hit back-to-back homers in the third.
Rave tripled to lead off the sixth and scored on Isaac Collins’ squeeze bunt. Bobby Witt Jr. added an RBI single later that inning.
The Royals won for just the second time in eight games.
MARLINS 12, PHILLIES 4
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kyle Stowers homered twice and drove in five runs and Miami avoided a series sweep with a win over Philadelphia.
Stowers hit a two-run homer in the first inning off Phillies starter Andrew Painter, then a solo homer in the sixth for his seventh of the season. He added an RBI double in the second and a run-scoring single in the eighth.
Owen Cassie led off the second inning with his seventh homer of the season after the Phillies had tied the game at 2. It keyed a four-run second inning that included RBI singles from Liam Hicks and Xavier Edwards.
Joe Mack’s two-run homer was his third of the season, leading to a four-run sixth inning for Miami. Jakob Marsee hit his fourth home run of the season in the ninth.
Sandy Alcantara (7-4) pitched six innings, allowing four runs (two earned). He scattered eight hits, walked one and struck out six, settling in after allowing two runs in each of the first two innings.
Michael Petersen, Tyler Zuber and John King each threw a scoreless inning of relief.
GIANTS 7, BRAVES 2, 1ST GAME
GIANTS , BRAVES , 2ND GAME
ATLANTA (AP) —
ASTROS 4, TIGERS 2
HOUSTONS (AP) — Jeremy Peña homered and had an RBI single, Peter Lambert allowed just one run on two hits and Houston beat Detroit.
Yordan Alvarez extended his on-base streak to 24 games and scored Christian Vazquez on a double for his 55th RBI of the season.
Lambert (6-4) retired nine of his first 10 batters. He gave up a leadoff single to Dillon Dingler in the fourth, and went on to retire 11 straight before Kerry Carpenter’s solo homer in the seventh. He finished seven innings with five strikeouts and walked none.
Peña homered in the third inning off Casey Mize (2-4). Alvarez hit his double in the fifth to make it 2-0.
Mize gave up three runs on six hits with three strikeouts and one walk in 4 2/3 innings.
Rookie Kevin McGonigle hit his sixth homer of the year in the ninth, lifting a first-pitch fastball from Josh Hader into the left-field seats.
Hader went on to strike out the side and secure his fourth save of the season.
PADRES 6, CARDINALS 1
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill each drove in two runs and finished with three hits as San Diego avoided a series sweep with a win over St. Louis.
Tatis, who also stole a base, is 17 for 48 (.354) with four doubles and a home run in his last 11 games. Merrill highlighted his three-hit effort with a two-run homer in the ninth inning, his eighth of the season.
San Diego pounded out 14 hits, but went 4 for 14 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base. In consecutive losses to St. Louis, the Padres had scored just two runs and managed five total hits.
Griffin Canning (1-5) worked 4 1/3 innings, allowing four hits and a run in relief. It was his sixth career relief appearance. He has made eight starts this season. Bradgley Rodriguez started the second bullpen game of the series for the Padres. He pitched the first inning.
Kyle Leahy (5-4) pitched six innings in taking the loss as the Cardinals had their six-game home winning streak halted.
DODGERS 5, RAYS 4
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Freddie Freeman hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the sixth inning after Tampa Bay scored four runs off a banged-up Shohei Ohtani in Los Angeles’ win.
Freeman’s 407-foot shot to center off reliever Kevin Kelly (4-3) rescued Ohtani, who trailed 4-2 after giving up five hits and four runs in the fifth.
The Dodgers swept the three-game series, just their second-ever sweep of the Rays and first since August 2013.
Ohtani (7-2) left the mound after six innings and was inserted in the bottom of the inning as a pinch hitter for designated hitter Miguel Rojas. Ohtani grounded out on one pitch to end the inning. It was the only at-bat Ohtani got and the Dodgers lost the DH for the rest of the game.
DIAMONDBACKS 8, ANGELS 1
PHOENIX (AP) — Corbin Carroll hit a grand slam, Eduardo Rodriguez earned his 100th career win on the mound and Arizona beat Los Angeles.
The D-backs won two of three games in the series.
Carroll’s fifth career grand slam landed just over the right field wall, giving the D-backs a 5-1 lead in the second inning. It was the two-time All-Star’s 13th homer of the season.
Rodriguez (6-2) scattered six hits and three walks, giving up just one run over his seven innings. The veteran left-hander struck out five, lowered his ERA to 2.45 for the season and became just the ninth Venezuelan-born pitcher to reach 100 wins in the big leagues.
BLUE JAYS 3, RED SOX 0
BOSTON (AP) — Andrés Giménez had two hits, an RBI and three steals, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. drove in two runs and Toronto beat Boston after the Blue Jays placed scheduled starter Max Scherzer on the injured list.
Braydon Fisher got the first four outs after back spasms landed the 41-year-old right-hander on the 10-day IL for the second time this season.
Simeon Woods Richardson (1-7), acquired in a cash deal June 3 after a 0-7 start with the Twins, followed with three shutout innings for the victory. Louis Varland struck out the side in the ninth for his 14th save.
Toronto used seven pitchers to strand 13 baserunners as the Red Sox went 0 for 12 with runners in scoring position. Boston left 13 on base in a 6-1 loss in the opener and went 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position, although the hit didn’t score a run.
The Associated Press
