WASHINGTON — Max Scherzer stole the first base of his pro career and allowed only two singles in his fifth big league shutout Monday night, and the Washington Nationals ended a five-game losing skid while getting back to .500 with a 2-0 victory against the Atlanta Braves.
Scherzer (2-1), the winner of the past two NL Cy Young Awards, didn’t let the Braves push a runner beyond first base. Kurt Suzuki got a hit in the second and Nick Markakis in the fifth, but neither advanced.
Scherzer managed to get farther than that: He swiped second after singling off reliever Peter Moylan in the seventh.
Howie Kendrick delivered all the offense Washington needed by hitting a two-run double.
METS 4, MARLINS 2: Noah Syndergaard allowed one earned run in six innings and New York won its sixth consecutive game by winning at Miami to match the best start in team history.
The winning streak is the Mets’ longest since September 2016, and they improved to 8-1.
PHILLIES 6, REDS 5: Pinch-hitter Nick Williams hit a tie-breaking solo homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift Philadelphia at home.
Scott Kingery homered for the first time in his career and Rhys Hoskins also went deep for the Phillies.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
RAYS 5, WHITE SOX 4: Mallex Smith matched a career high with four hits, Joey Wendle hit his first homer and Tampa Bay held on at Chicago to stop an eight-game losing streak.
A bullpen that blew late leads in two of the three games at Boston last weekend got the job done after a shaky start by Chris Archer (1-0). Alex Colome escaped a second-and-third jam in the ninth by getting three straight groundouts, retiring Leury Garcia on a game-ending bouncer to first.
INDIANS 2, TIGERS 0: Corey Kluber struck out 13, pitching two-hit ball for eight innings and leading Cleveland at home.
The temperature at first pitch was 33 degrees, one above Progressive Field’s record low set Sunday. There were flurries before the game and again in the seventh inning, resulting in a crowd of 9,843.
BLUE JAYS 7, ORIOLES 1: Steve Pearce homered in a third successive game, Josh Donaldson tacked on a ninth-inning grand slam and Toronto won before 7,915 fans, the lowest paid crowd in Camden Yards history in Baltimore.
Game-time temperature was 44 degrees, and a slight mist made the conditions even more miserable. That contributed to a dubious attendance record at the 27-year-old ballpark that had held since April 12, 2010, when 9,129 showed up for a game between the Orioles and Tampa Bay.
NOTES
ANGELS: Right-hander J.C. Ramirez will miss the rest of this season because of a torn ulnar collateral ligament, and Tommy John surgery has been recommended.
Ramirez (0-2, 9.45 ERA), 29, was put on the 10-day disabled list Sunday, a day after feeling tightness in his forearm in his second start this season.
ORIOLES: The team recalled its 2013 first-round pick, right-hander Hunter Harvey, from Double-A Bowie to bolster its bullpen.
Harvey, the son of former big league pitcher Bryan Harvey, never has pitched above Class A. He missed the 2015 season with an arm injury and had Tommy John surgery in July 2016.
MARINERS: Seattle placed first baseman Ryon Healy on the disabled list with an ankle injury.
RAYS: Tampa Bay placed second baseman Brad Miller on the 10-day disabled list because of a strained left groin.
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