MLB Roundup: Mets beat Cubs in 11 to split series

BALTIMORE (AP) — Ryan Mountcastle and Jorge Mateo each homered and drove in two runs to lift the Baltimore Orioles to a series-deciding 7-2 victory over the New York Yankees on Thursday.

Ryan McKenna also connected and Jordan Westburg’s two-run triple helped the Orioles complete a four-run fifth to chase Yankees starter Carlos Rodon (2-2) and secure a third win of the four-game set, the first this season between likely AL East contenders.

Righty Kyle Bradish allowed one run in 4 2/3 innings in his first start after beginning the season on the 15-day injured list with a UCL strain. Keegan Akin (1-0) retired four batters while allowing a run in middle relief.

Gleyber Torres hit his first home run but also made the Yankees’ third error of the series to help extend the game’s decisive inning.

Rondon yielded all seven Baltimore runs — six earned — on eight hits in his shortest outing of 2024.

He escaped his bases-loaded, no-out jam in the second before Mountcastle’s solo shot in the third, and Mateo’s and McKenna’s in the fourth.

GIANTS 3, RED SOX 1

BOSTON (AP) — Mike Yastrzemski had a visit from his grandfather Carl and then homered into the Fenway Park bullpen like the Hall of Fame outfielder so often did in his heyday, and San Francisco beat Boston.

Ryan Walker (3-2) pitched a perfect sixth inning to help the Giants avoid the sweep and snap Boston’s four-game winning streak. Camilo Doval pitched the ninth for his sixth save.

Tyler O’Neill walked twice and hit a wall-scraping popup to drive in Boston’s only run.

Carl Yastrzemski visited his grandson in the visitor’s clubhouse before the game, but reportedly did not stay to see Mike come up in the third inning of a scoreless, hitless game and line a 1-1 pitch from Josh Winckowski over the short wall in right field. Although there were plenty of Giants fans in the crowd for the team’s first trip to Boston in five years, even the Red Sox fans stood and cheered for the opponent with the familiar last name.

The Red Sox tied it in the bottom half when O’Neill doubled off the Green Monster and Rafael Devers came around from first base to score. But San Francisco went ahead in the seventh on three straight singles that chased Zack Kelly (0-1), and then made it 3-1 on Nick Ahmed’s sacrifice fly.

The elder Yastrzemski hit 237 of his 452 career homers at Fenway Park during a 23-year career as the Red Sox left fielder. Mike now has two of his 90 career homers in six interleague games at the ballpark.

MARLINS 5, ROCKIES 4, 10 INNINGS

MIAMI (AP) — Jesús Sánchez hit a game-winning single in the bottom of the 10th inning and Miami beat Colorado and swept their three-game series.

The Marlins got two of their three victories in the series in 10 innings. They earned a 7-6 win in the opener on Monday.

Sánchez’s two-out opposite-field line drive to left off reliever Jalen Beeks scored automatic runner Luis Arraez from second.

Justin Lawrence (1-2) struck out Bryan De La Cruz before Beeks retired Jazz Chisholm Jr. on fly out to center and walked Josh Bell.

Arraez had two hits and Bell homered, while Miami starter Edward Cabrera and five relievers struck out 16. Burch Smith (1-0) pitched the 10th.

The Rockies lost their fifth straight and are the first team since 1900 to have trailed at one point in each of their first 31 games.

Cabrera was lifted with no outs in the fifth after his fourth walk loaded the bases. Cabrera gave up four runs and three hits.

METS 7, CUBS 6, 11 INNINGS

NEW YORK (AP) — Francisco Lindor delivered a pair of two-run doubles off the bench, rallying New York past Chicago in 11 innings for a split of their four-game series.

Right fielder Starling Marte made two rocket throws in extra innings, cutting down Cubs runners at the plate to end the 10th and 11th. Brandon Nimmo had two RBIs for the Mets, who overcame a 4-0 deficit to salvage a 3-4 homestand.

Daniel Palencia (0-1) drilled Harrison Bader with a pitch to begin the bottom of the 11th. Lindor, who didn’t start after leaving Wednesday night’s game early with flu-like symptoms, lashed a sharp grounder inside third base and down the left-field line to score automatic runner Brett Baty and Bader.

Nick Madrigal gave Chicago a 6-5 lead in the top of the 11th with a run-scoring double on the first pitch from Danny Young (1-0) in his Mets debut.

Mets closer Edwin Díaz pitched two hitless innings, retiring all five batters he faced in his first outing of more than one inning since missing last season following knee surgery.

Christopher Morel hit a three-run homer for the Cubs, who stole six bases. Pete Crow-Armstrong, traded by the Mets in July 2021 a year after they drafted him in the first round, had two RBIs.

RANGERS 6, NATIONALS 0

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Nathan Eovaldi pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings before leaving with groin tightness and Ezequiel Duran’s two-out double was the first of three consecutive RBI hits in the second inning and Texas beat Washington.

Eovaldi (2-2) limited the Nationals to two hits and two walks while throwing 92 pitches — 13 short of his season high. He struck out eight for the fourth time this year, his season high. He won for the first time since April 3 and for the first time in four home starts this year.

Jacob Latz, David Robertson and Jonathan Hernández finished off the four-hit shutout, Texas’ second this season.

The Rangers won a second straight series, which the defending World Series champions had not done since winning the first two series of the season.

The Nationals failed to move above .500 for the first time since July 1, 2021. Arriving in Texas after scoring 33 runs in a four-game sweep at Miami, the Nats scored two runs in three games.

Duran’s double was his second RBI of the season, first since opening day. He’d sat out the previous three games after going 6 for 38, dropping his batting average from a season-high .429 to .200.

Evan Carter and Marcus Semien followed with RBI singles off rookie Mitchell Parker (2-1), making his fourth major league start.

ASTROS 8, GUARDIANS 2

HOUSTON (AP) — Jon Singleton homered and had three RBIs and Jose Altuve added three hits to lead Houston to a win over Cleveland.

The victory gives the Astros, who are last in the AL West at 11-20, consecutive series wins for the first time this season.

Houston trailed 2-1 with one out in the sixth inning when Jeremy Peña tripled on a ball that deflected off the glove of center fielder Gabriel Arias. There were two outs when Singleton knocked a ball from Logan Allen (3-2) into the front row in right field to put the Astros up 3-2.

Singleton has started the last three games at first base because slumping veteran José Abreu has been optioned to Houston’s spring training facility to help the 2020 AL MVP get back on track.

Singleton has homered twice this week. The lefty hit his only two homers of 2023 in the same game on Aug. 11. He also shined in the bottom of the sixth when Peña grabbed a grounder hit by Arias and he scooped up the throw to first by extending into the splits.

Jake Meyers tripled to start the seventh and Houston stretched the lead to 4-2 when he scored on Altuve’s single.

The Astros added a run when Tyler Beede plunked Peña with the bases loaded. Yainer Diaz hit a two-run single with one out in the inning and Singleton made it 8-2 when he drove one in with a sacrifice fly.