MLB Roundup: Reds extend win streak to 10, Orioles beat Rays in opener

CINCINNATI (AP) — TJ Friedl hit a three-run homer on a four-hit night, rookie Elly De La Cruz added a solo shot and the Cincinnati Reds extended their winning streak to 10 games with an 8-6 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night.

Will Benson had a solo homer in the sixth, helping the NL Central-leading Reds to their longest winning streak since 2012, when they also won 10 straight. De La Cruz had three hits as fans chanted “Elly! Elly!”

Jorge Alfaro’s three-run homer in the eighth, which bounced off the top of the fence in center, couldn’t keep the Rockies from their seventh straight loss.

The Reds scored two runs in the fifth with the help of three throwing errors by Colorado right-hander Peter Lambert, two on attempted pickoffs at second.

Nolan Jones hit a solo homer off of Cincinnati right-hander Ben Lively in the first, setting up the Reds for their National League-best 25th come-from-behind win.

Lively allowed a season-high four walks and gave up three hits and two runs with four strikeouts in four innings.

Orioles 8, Rays 6

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Aaron Hicks homered and had four RBIs as the Baltimore Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Rays 8-6 after nearly blowing a seven-run lead Tuesday night in a matchup of the top two teams in the AL East.

Anthony Santander and Ryan O’Hearn also went deep, and Kyle Bradish (3-3) gave up two runs and four hits over five innings for the Orioles, who moved within four games of the first-place Rays. Félix Bautista, the fifth Baltimore reliever, got four outs to earn his 20th save on his 28th birthday.

Francisco Mejía had an RBI double off Bradish during a two-run fifth before Manuel Margot drove in two with a pinch-hit single in a four-run sixth against three Baltimore relievers as the Rays got within 7-6.

Tampa Bay dropped to 31-8 at home, and has lost three straight overall. The Rays entered as the only team in the majors without a three-game skid this year.

Baltimore’s Austin Hays, who started the day leading the AL in batting, went 3 for 4 and raised his average from .320 to .327. He has a career-high streak of five multiple-hit games.

Gunnar Henderson, who missed Sunday’s game at the Chicago Cubs with the flu, doubled on Tyler Glasnow’s first pitch and scored on Santander’s single. Hicks made it 4-0 with his three-run drive.

Cubs 4, Pirates 0

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Marcus Stroman held Pittsburgh to five hits over seven masterful innings to help the Chicago Cubs beat the reeling Pirates 4-0 on Tuesday night.

Stroman (9-4) struck out five against one walk and never let the Pirates get to third base while winning his seventh straight start. He needed just 97 pitches to get 21 outs, dropping his ERA to 2.28, tops in the National League.

Tucker Barnhart hit his first home run of the season for the Cubs. Mike Tauchman homered for the second time in three games and Ian Happ added two hits against his hometown team as Chicago won for the seventh time in eight games.

Ke’Bryan Hayes and Connor Joe had two hits each for the Pirates, but Pittsburgh’s losing streak reached eight thanks to an offense that offered little support behind starter Johan Oviedo (3-7).

Rookie Henry Davis, the top pick in the 2021 draft who doubled in his major-league debut Monday night, went 0 for 4 as the designated hitter.

The Pirates called up Davis in hopes his arrival could help an offense that has fallen flat. Pittsburgh has yet to score a run with Davis in the lineup and has managed 17 runs in all during a skid that’s dropped the Pirates from first to fourth in the NL Central and seen them shut out three times.

Stroman used six efficient innings to beat Pittsburgh last week at Wrigley Field. He was even better at PNC Park. While the Pirates pecked away occasionally — putting at least one runner on base in five of Stroman’s seven innings of work — they never really came close to breaking through.

Yankees 3, Mariners 1

NEW YORK (AP) — Gerrit Cole stared down José Caballero and wagged a finger at the Seattle Mariners’ dugout 15 times after striking out the side in the seventh inning, a pointed response to the rookie’s repeated step-outs during the New York Yankees’ 3-1 win on Tuesday night that stopped a four-game losing streak.

After Caballero stepped out with an 0-2 count in the seventh, Cole threw a 97 mph fastball to the screen. The Yankees’ ace got Caballero swinging on a full-count fastball, stared at him as he walked off the mound, then turned to the Mariners’ dugout and wagged his right index finger over and over.

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Plate umpire Dan Bellino then walked toward the New York dugout and had an intense discussion with manager Aaron Boone.

Cole (8-1) allowed one run and four hits in 7 1/3 innings with eight strikeouts and a walk. He received a standing ovation when he was replaced by Clay Holmes, then raised his right index finger and thumb to tip his cap to the crowd of 43,130 as he walked to the dugout.

Cole is 4-0 with a 1.87 ERA following a Yankees loss this season, and New York is 7-0 in those starts.

Blue Jays 2, Marlins 0

MIAMI (AP) — Ernie Clement and George Springer hit consecutive RBI singles in the eighth inning and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Miami Marlins 2-0 on Tuesday night.

Yusei Kikuchi allowed two hits and struck out six in six innings to help Toronto even the series after falling 11-0 in the opener Monday night. The Blue Jays ended a 19-inning scoreless streak in the eighth against Tanner Scott (4-2).

Miami’s Luis Arraez went 1-for-4, dropping his major league-leading batting average to .398. The Marlins had won five in a row.

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Santiago Espinal had a pinch one-out double and Clement followed with a pinch RBI single. Clement advanced on centre-fielder Garrett Hampson’s throw to the plate and raced home from second after Springer’s broken bat single to left.

Yimi García (2-3) was the winner, pitching the seventh. Erik Swanson gave up Nick Fortes’ one-out double and Joey Wendle’s infield single in the eighth, and Tim Mayza relieved and retired pinch-hitter Jesús Sánchez on a 5-4-3 double play.

Jordan Romano closed with a scoreless ninth for his 21st save.

Royals 1, Tigers 0

DETROIT (AP) — Daniel Lynch allowed one hit over seven innings for his first major league win in almost 11 months, and the struggling Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers 1-0 on Tuesday night.

Kansas City had lost 12 of 13. Matt Beaty, making his first start for the Royals, drove in the only run with a sixth-inning double.

Aroldis Chapman walked the bases loaded in the eighth, but Spencer Torkelson grounded into an inning-ending force at second.

Javier Báez doubled with one out in the ninth for Detroit, but Scott Barlow retired the next two hitters for his eighth save, completing the two-hitter.

The Tigers were shut out for the 10th time this season and the sixth time in their last 20 games.

Lynch (1-3) had gone 0-9 in 15 starts since beating the Chicago White Sox on Aug. 1 last year. He struck out two and walked two. The only hit off him was Andy Ibañez’s one-out single in the fourth.

Tigers starter Michael Lorenzen (2-5) permitted one run on six hits and three walks in six innings. He struck out seven and stranded eight runners.

Braves 4, Phillies 2

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Spencer Strider struck out nine over six innings in his first start in Philadelphia since his postseason implosion, Austin Riley and Matt Olson homered and the Atlanta Braves beat the Phillies 4-2 on Tuesday night.

The Braves made their first trip to Philly since the NL Division Series that launched Red October into a full-blown frenzy. Phillies slugger Rhys Hoskins provided the series’ indelible moment when he raised his arms in triumph, and then spiked his bat in celebration with a Game 3 homer against Strider.

Hoskins is out for the regular season for the NL champions with a torn ACL — he was in the dugout for this one — but the moment lived on Tuesday when it was replayed on the videoboard. Strider (8-2) didn’t get rocked in this start, he just nimbly pitched out of jams until the fifth and helped the Braves win their seventh straight game.

The Phillies, coming off a 6-1 trip, wasted leadoff hits in the first, third and two straight in the fourth before Nick Castellanos continued his All-Star push with an RBI single for a 1-0 lead.

Strider lasted just 2 1/3 innings in Game 3. But in the regular season, Strider continues to flummox the Phillies and improved to 6-0 over seven career games and six starts. He didn’t allow a walk.

Raisel Iglesias gave up a run in the ninth but struck out Kyle Schwarber with the tying run on base to pick up his 10th save.

Cardinals 9, Nationals 3

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dylan Carlson homered twice, Willson Contreras went 3-for-4 with two doubles to break out of a slump, and the St. Louis Cardinals won their fourth straight, 9-3 over the skidding Washington Nationals on Tuesday night.

Carlson’s first homer was a two-run shot that opened the scoring in the second inning and traveled 445 feet, landing halfway up the batter’s eye berm behind the center field wall. He went deep again leading off the seventh. It was Carlson’s third career multi-homer game and first of the season.

Paul DeJong added a two-run shot in the ninth, his 11th homer this year, as the Cardinals finished with 14 hits.

Jordan Montgomery (4-7) retired his first seven batters and matched a season high by pitching seven innings, allowing one run on four hits with six strikeouts. After losing seven straight decisions, Montgomery has won two in a row.

MacKenzie Gore (3-6) gave up five runs on nine hits in six innings for the Nationals, who have lost five straight and 13 of 15. Washington has lost nine of Gore’s last 10 starts.