MLB Roundup: Bryce Harper and Phillies slide past Mets in London opener

LONDON — Bryce Harper celebrated with a soccer slide after his tying home run, Ranger Suárez became the season’s first 10-game winner and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets 7-2 on Saturday in the opener of Major League Baseball’s third London Series.

After Harper sparked the four-run sixth, Whit Merrifield hit a three-run homer for the major league-best Phillies, who have won four in a row and seven of eight. Harper was a triple shy of the cycle.

Nick Castellanos added an eighth-inning homer and watched from the batter’s box until he know it was inside the left-field foul pole at London Stadium, home of the Premier League club West Ham.

Suarez (10-1) allowed two runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings for the Phillies, who played their first game outside North America. Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson got his 200th regular-season win (200-137).

After Starling Marte’s RBI double in the first, Harper pulled a sweeper from Sean Manaea (3-3) over the Mets bullpen in right. The two-time NL MVP then did a soccer slide in front of the Phillies dugout and moments later yelled “I love soccer!” while high-fiving teammates.

Harper has a team-high 15 homers and the Phillies are 22-0 when Harper has an RBI.

NATIONALS 7, BRAVES 3

WASHINGTON — Nick Senzel homered for the first time in nearly six weeks and drove in three runs, Eddie Rosario had three RBIs against his former team and Washington defeated Atlanta Braves.

Washington won consecutive games for the first time since May 29-30, when it also beat the Braves on back-to-back days. The Nationals are 5-2 against Atlanta this season.

Sean Murphy homered for the Braves, who have dropped three of four to fall a season-high nine games behind Philadelphia in the NL East standings.

Senzel, who had three hits, helped produce runs in each of his first three plate appearances. He led off the second with a double off Charlie Morton (3-3) and scored on CJ Abrams’ two-out single, then drove in Luis García Jr. in the fourth to make it 4-0.

The third baseman followed Keibert Ruiz’s single to open the sixth with a shot into the visitor’s bullpen to open a 7-2 lead. It was Senzel’s first home run since April 28 at Miami.

BLUE JAYS 7, ATHLETICS 0

OAKLAND, Calif. — Kevin Gausman pitched the first shutout of his 12-year career, a five-hitter, and Toronto beat Oakland.

A two-time All-Star who had never thrown a nine-inning complete game in the majors, the 33-year-old Gausman matched his season high of 10 strikeouts and walked one. The right-hander threw 109 pitches, his fourth time this season topping the century mark.

Gausman (5-4) allowed one run or fewer for the eighth time in 13 starts this season. His only previous complete game — on July 13, 2014 for Baltimore against the New York Yankees — was shortened to five innings.

Kevin Kiermaier homered and Danny Jansen drove in two runs for Toronto.

GIANTS 3, RANGERS 1

ARLINGTON, Texas — Heliot Ramos drove in all the runs for San Francisco and put them ahead to stay with his two-run homer in a victory over Texas.

The Giants, who won three World Series titles with Bruce Bochy from 2010-14, have taken the first two games for a series victory against their former manager, who came out of a three-year retirement and led Texas to its first championship last season.

After Austin Slater drew a leadoff walk to start the game, Ramos drove him in with a double. The game was tied at 1 in the third before Slater hit a one-out single and Ramos followed with his sixth homer — and 17th hit in a span of 40 at-bats.

Erik Miller (1-2) worked a scoreless inning with two strikeouts after relieving Giants starter and former Texas right-hander Spencer Howard with two outs in the fifth. Camilo Doval worked around two runners in the ninth for his 11th save in 13 chances.

Texas left-hander Andrew Heaney (2-7) struck out five while allowing three runs over 5 2/3 innings.

PIRATES 4, TWINS 0

PITTSBURGH — Rowdy Tellez homered and drove in three runs and six Pittsburgh relievers kept the Twins in check as they beat Minnesota.

Tellez, who has been frequently booed at home of late while in the throes of a season-long funk, turned on a changeup from Simeon Woods Richardson (2-1) and dropped it just over the centre-field wall with one out in the seventh for his first homer since March 31.

The crowd that jeered Tellez when he was introduced before the game-turning at bat then asked for a curtain call. Tellez, who signed a one-year deal with the Pirates in the offseason, obliged after boosting on a day his batting average rose to .208.

The first baseman added a two-run single in the ninth to provide some breathing room as the Pirates won for the fourth time in five games.

Hunter Stratton (2-1) picked up the win thanks to a spectacular catch by second baseman Nick Gonzales to end the seventh. Minnesota had two on with two out when pinch-hitter Manuel Margot hit a flare into shallow centre field that Gonzales tracked down to make a sliding over-the-shoulder grab.

REDS 4, CUBS 3

CINCINNATI — TJ Friedl homered and drove in three runs, Andrew Abbott pitched five effective innings and Cincinnati won their seventh straight game, with a victory over Chicago.

The Cubs put runners on first and third with one out in the ninth, but Justin Wilson induced a foul pop by Ian Happ and a grounder by Mike Tauchman for his first save.

The Reds have won the first three in this series from the Cubs after taking two of three from their NL Central rivals at Wrigley Field last weekend.

Jeimer Candelario hit a two-out homer in the first inning for the Reds. Friedl’s third homer of the season was a two-run shot in the third, and he drove in another run with a groundout in the fifth.

Abbott (5-5) had plenty of traffic on the bases, giving up five hits and walking four, but the only run he allowed was on Dansby Swanson’s first-inning RBI double. The left-hander fanned Patrick Wisdom three times and Christopher Morel twice.

ROYALS 8, MARINERS 4

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Vinnie Pasquantino hit a tiebreaking two-run double during Kansas City’s three-run fifth inning, and they beat Seattle.

Kyle Isbel had three RBIs for Kansas City, and Adam Frazier had two hits and scored two runs. The Royals earned their third consecutive win.

Kansas City trailed 3-2 before Frazier doubled and scored on Nick Loftin’s single in the fifth. With two outs and runners on the corners, Pasquantino slapped a grounder inside the first base bag.

J.P. Crawford and Mitch Garver homered for Seattle, which lost for the third time in four games. Crawford finished with two hits and two RBIs.

Mariners right-hander Luis Castillo (5-7) permitted a season-high five runs in five innings. He allowed six hits, struck out four and walked one.

ROCKIES 6, CARDINALS 5

ST. LOUIS — Ezequiel Tovar homered twice and added two singles while driving in four runs to spark Colorado to a victory over St. Louis.

It was Tovar’s second multihomer game of the season for Colorado. Charlie Blackmon added three hits and a run scored.

Victor Vodnik (1-0) pitched 1 2/3 innings of relief for his second career win. Tyler Kinley earned his fourth save and second in this series by pitching a scoreless ninth.

Matt Carpenter homered and scored twice for the Cardinals.

Rockies starter Ryan Feltner allowed no runs in 5 1/3 innings, but failed to earn his first win since April 12. He gave up two hits with a walk and seven strikeouts.

The Rockies added three runs in the seventh off reliever Andrew Kittredge (0-3). Brenton Doyle drove in Blackmon with a single and then scored on Tovar’s second homer.

ORIOLES 5, RAYS 0

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Kyle Bradish went six innings and combined with two relievers on a two-hitter, Gunnar Henderson drove in three runs with his 20th homer of the season, and Baltimore beat Tampa Bay.

After allowing Yandy Díaz’s infield single down the third base line leading off the first, Bradish retired 18 in a row. The Rays did not hit a ball out of the infield against Bradish (2-0), who struck out nine.

Danny Coulombe struck out three in two perfect innings before Cionel Pérez gave up Díaz’s two-out single in the ninth.

Ryan O’Hearn also homered for the Orioles, who have a major league best 100 home runs. The team record for long balls through 63 games is 101 set in 2016. Henderson’s 20 homers are second in the majors behind the Yankees’ Aaron Judge, with 21.

Baltimore won for the 12th time in 16 games, and improved to 20-10 on the road. Tampa Bay has lost 11 of 15 at home, and dropped to two-games under .500 at 31-33.

BREWERS 5, TIGERS 4

DETROIT — Jackson Chourio hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the sixth inning and Milwaukee beat Detroit.

Christian Yelich had two hits and drove in two runs, while Brice Turang reached base three times and scored twice.

Milwaukee starter Freddy Peralta laboured through his shortest outing this season. Peralta allowed four runs, three earned, and walked five while throwing 94 pitches in 3 1/3 innings.

Jared Koenig (6-1) tossed 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Trevor Megill got the last three outs for his ninth save.

NL Central-leading Milwaukee has won the first two games of the three-game series and seven of 10 overall.

Detroit starter Casey Mize (1-4) was charged with five runs, three earned, in 5 1/3 innings. Riley Greene scored twice and Carson Kelly had two hits and an RBI in the Tigers’ third consecutive loss.

WHITE SOX 6, RED SOX 1

CHICAGO — Gavin Sheets hit his first career grand slam, and Chicago won their second straight after a franchise-record 14-game losing streak, beating Boston.

Sheets capped a five-run fifth with his seventh homer of the season, a 399-foot drive to right off Brayan Bello that gave Chicago a 5-1 lead.

Paul DeJong added a solo drive in the seventh against Chase Anderson, and the White Sox earned consecutive wins for the first time since beating Washington on May 14 and 15. Chicago is a major league-worst 17-48.

“We’re a strong clubhouse, it’s been like this since spring training,” Sheets said. “There’s two ways we could have gone with this. We could have broken during that streak or pulled together. Everybody in here is going through it together. We all support each other. Just a really close group.”

Boston’s Bobby Dalbec homered leading off the fifth. But manager Alex Cora got ejected by plate umpire Alan Porter after pinch-hitter Jamie Westbrook struck out looking at a pitch in the lower part of the zone for the third out of the inning.

GUARDIANS 8, MARLINS 0

MIAMI — Ben Lively won his fifth straight start, José Ramirez and Steven Kwan homered, and Cleveland beat Miami.

Lively (6-2) allowed three hits, walked none and struck out one, lowering his ERA to 2.59. Sam Hentges pitched the sixth and Pedro Avila finished the four-hitter for his first big league save and Cleveland’s seventh shutout this season.

Josh Naylor had two hits and drove in two runs for the AL Central-leading Guardians.

Miami, an NL worst 22-42, has lost five of six. The Marlins were held to four hits or fewer for the ninth time and advanced only two runners to scoring position.

Roddery Muñoz (1-2), recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville, gave up four runs, five hits and five walks in four-plus innings.

Ramirez hit his 18th home run in the first inning and leads the major leagues with 61 RBIs. Naylor had an RBI single in the third, and Cleveland broke open the game with a six-run fifth.

DODGERS 11, YANKEES 3

NEW YORK — Teoscar Hernández homered twice and drove in six runs, including a grand slam that helped power Los Angeles past New York for their second consecutive victory in this marquee matchup.

Kiké Hernández also went deep and Shohei Ohtani had an RBI single to back rookie Gavin Stone (7-2), who has won three straight starts and five of his last six.

After handing New York just its third series loss this season, the Dodgers will try to cap their first visit to the Bronx since 2016 with a three-game sweep Sunday night.

Aaron Judge hit two homers for the Yankees, giving him a major league-high 23, but they’ve managed only three runs in 23 innings at the plate since slugger Juan Soto exited Thursday night’s win over Minnesota with a forearm injury.

The frustration showed when Giancarlo Stanton slammed his bat after popping up to end the seventh.

In a highly anticipated meeting between first-place teams billed as a potential World Series preview, Teoscar Hernández has stolen the spotlight from the five MVPs on both sides of the field. His two-run double in the 11th inning Friday night broke a scoreless tie in Los Angeles’ 2-1 victory, and his solo homer in the second off Nestor Cortes (3-5) got the Dodgers going Saturday.

PADRES 13, DIAMONDBACKS 1

SAN DIEGO — Knuckleballer Matt Waldron combined with two relievers on a five-hitter, and Ha-Seong-Kim and Jake Cronenworth each hit a three-run homer for San Diego in a win against Arizona.

Kyle Higashioka hit a solo homer. David Peralta, who spent his first 8 1/2 seasons with the Diamondbacks, reached base five straight times and had three hits, two RBIs and scored twice. Cronenworth also had an RBI single to tie his season high.

The Diamondbacks turned to outfielder Pavin Smith to pitch the eighth. He hit Peralta with a pitch, walked Jackson Merrill, retired Kim and then watched first baseman Christian Walker commit an error that loaded the bases. He got out of the jam but inducing Luis Arraez to hit into a double play. 

Tatis walked in the second to extend his streak of reaching base to 18 games, one shy of his career best. He doubled in the fourth to match his career-best hitting streak of 14 games and was aboard for Cronenworth’s homer.

Waldron (4-5) was perfect into the fourth before allowing the first four batters to reach in the fifth. He loaded the bases on a double by Walker, a single by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and a walk to Blaze Alexander, before Eugenio Suárez singled to left.

ASTROS 6, ANGELS 1

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Yordan Alvarez continued his hot streak with three more hits, including a two-run homer, Hunter Brown tossed six shutout innings and Houston defeated Los Angeles.

Nolan Schanuel supplied the Angels’ lone run with a solo shot to right-centre in the seventh, the second time in three games the first baseman has homered.

Alvarez, who also had two doubles, has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games. The left fielder has gone 19 for 43 with four home runs and 11 RBIs as well as raising his batting average 31 points to .296 in that span.

After Alex Bregman got aboard on an infield single in the fifth, Alvarez drove a sinker from Tyler Anderson (5-6) into the elevated stands in right field to give the Astros a 4-0 lead.

Brown (2-5) had his fourth straight quality start. He allowed two hits, walked four and struck out six.

The only serious traffic the right hander faced came in the first inning when the Angels had the bases loaded with two outs in the first. But Brown struck out Matt Thaiss to end the inning.