WASHINGTON — Bryce Harper hit his NL leading 15th home run of the season and Michael Taylor’s one-out double in the ninth scored the game-winning run as the Washington Nationals defeated the San Diego Padres 2-1 on Tuesday night.
Juan Soto, the youngest player in the majors, reached base in all four at-bats in his second career start. The 19-year-old led off the ninth with his third walk, took second on Wilmer Difo’s groundout and scored on Taylor’s hit off the center-field wall against Matt Strahm (0-2).
Taylor also threw out a runner at the plate for the final out in the sixth inning with the score 1-1.
Sean Doolittle (2-2) struck out the side in the ninth.
Harper’s blast, his second in two games, went an estimated 433 feet to straightaway center. It was the only run allowed by Padres starter Eric Lauer over six innings.
Washington has won two straight after getting swept in a three-game series at home by the Dodgers.
MARLINS 5, METS 1: Caleb Smith pitched neatly into the seventh inning against a Mets lineup that included newcomer Jose Bautista as won at New York.
Derek Dietrich homered and J.T. Realmuto got three hits as Miami, the lowest-scoring team in the majors, ended a three-game skid. The Mets had won four in a row.
Bautista signed with the Mets two days after being cut by Atlanta. The former home run champ arrived at Citi Field about a half-hour before gametime and the Mets reworked their lineup, starting him in left field batting fifth.
A six-time All-Star, the 37-year-old Bautista lived up to his nickname of Joey Bats when he doubled his first time up. He then scored the Mets’ only run on Tomas Nido’s sacrifice fly.
BRAVES 3, PHILLIES 1: Ozzie Albies hit his 14th homer, Brandon McCarthy tossed 52/3 sharp innings and Atlanta won at Philadelphia.
McCarthy (5-2) allowed one run and four hits with five strikeouts. He is 4-0 with a 2.08 ERA against Philadelphia this season and 1-2 with a 6.60 ERA against the rest of the league.
INTERLEAGUE
INDIANS 10, CUBS 1: Jose Ramirez hit his 14th homer and Cleveland routed the Cubs 10-1 in its first meeting at Wrigley Field since the 2016 World Series.
The AL Central leaders moved back to .500 with an easy victory against the team that beat them two years ago to end a 108-year championship drought.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
BLUE JAYS 5, ANGELS 3: Kendrys Morales hit a two-run home run, J.A. Happ won his second straight start and the Toronto used a five-run first-inning to beat Los Angeles and stop a four-game losing streak.
NOTES
DIAMONDBACKS: Arizona outfielder Steven Souza Jr., who originally strained his right pectoral muscle during spring training and didn’t start his big league season until May 3, is back on the 10-day disabled list.
He reinjured the muscle on a throw from right field Friday night at New York, took two days off and struck out as a pinch-hitter in Monday night’s 4-2 loss to Milwaukee.
MARINERS: Dee Gordon. who hurt his right big toe on May 9 in Toronto and reinjured it Sunday, was placed on the DL stint retroactive to Monday with a “fractured right great toe.”
Astros: Houston released former top prospect Jon Singleton, who was serving a 100-game suspension under baseball’s minor league drug program after a third positive test for a drug of abuse. The 26-year-old first baseman played 114 games for Houston in 2014-15, hitting .171 with 14 home runs.
INDIANS: Struggling right-hander Josh Tomlin is out the rotation and says he “definitely wasn’t surprised” by the move to the bullpen. He was 0-4 with a 7.84 ERA through six starts and seven appearances prior to Tuesday’s game.
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