ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Charlie Morton’s luck finally ran out.

He suffered his first loss in 22 starts on Saturday when the Angels hit three homers in a 5-3 victory over Tampa Bay. It was his first loss since Aug. 11, when he pitched for the Houston Astros.

“I’ve pitched poorly enough to lose this year. I just didn’t because our guys put up a bunch of runs and got me off the hook,” said Morton (8-1). “You can lose giving up a run or two. I’ve just been really fortunate to be on a really good team, really good defense, really good offense.”

He struck out nine in six innings, giving up four runs on five hits, including a couple of home runs.

“I didn’t think my best stuff, my best pitches, came until the last few innings,” he said. “That was the kind of game where you make a couple mistakes and you for pay for it.”

David Fletcher, Justin Bour and Kevan Smith homered for the Angels. Fletcher’s three-run home run in the second spotted left-hander Jose Suarez an early lead in his third major league start, and the Angel bullpen preserved it with 3 1/3 shutout innings.

Hansel Robles pitched the ninth for his 10th save in 12 opportunities.

The Angels’ victory, coming quickly after a bullpen meltdown in a 9-4 loss on Friday night, was good for manager Brad Ausmus’ appetite.

ASTROS 7, BLUE JAYS 2: Yordan Alvarez homered again and Jack Mayfield hit three doubles as Houston’s rookies delivered in a big way in a win at home.
Alvarez became the fourth player in major league history to hit four home runs in his first five games. The 21-year-old from Cuba sent a solo drive into the upper deck in right field and finished with three hits, making him 8 for 17 in his brief career – he has driven in eight runs, scored eight times and also has drawn six walks.

The 28-year-old Mayfield was 2 for 34 as a big leaguer before breaking loose.

NATIONAL LEAGUE


DIAMONDBACKS 10, NATIONALS 3: Ketel Marte hit two of Arizona’s four solo homers off Stephen Strasburg and the Diamondbacks won at Washington.

Marte homered on the first pitch of the game and added his 19th homer of the season leading off the fourth inning as Arizona took the first and third games of the four-game set.
Strasburg (7-4) allowed four homers in a game for the second time in his career, the first since August 8, 2014, at Atlanta.

Strasburg, who had won four straight decisions, gave up a season-high nine hits and tied a season high by allowing six earned runs.
Adam Jones also homered in the first inning, his 13th, to push Arizona’s lead to 2-0.

The Nationals countered by scoring three times in the bottom half of the inning for a 3-2 lead. Trea Turner scored on Adam Eaton’s sacrifice fly before Juan Soto and Matt Adams hit solo homers.
Christian Walker hit his 12th homer of the season in the second, tying the game at 3-all, and Carson Kelly hit an RBI single as the Diamondbacks moved ahead to stay at 4-3.

GIANTS 8, BREWERS 7: Catcher Steven Vogt hit two triples and left fielder Mike Yastrzemski made a nifty catch for the final out to help San Francisco to a win at home.
The Giants rallied from a 5-1 deficit for their fourth straight win.

Christian Yelich hit his major league-leading 26th homer for the Brewers, who have lost three of four after a four-game winning streak.

Yelich connected for a solo drive with two outs in the ninth and Ryan Braun followed with a single for his third hit. Yasmani Grandal then hit a drive to left-center field, but Yastrzemski rushed over and in for a diving grab to end it.
Will Smith wound up with his 18th save in 18 tries. Smith pitched for the fourth time in five days.

NOTES


CUBS: Chicago placed starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks on the 10-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation.
The move came a day after one of the right-hander’s worst outings of the season. He allowed five runs in 41/3 innings of a 5-3 loss to the Dodgers.

ANGELS: The team designated Cody Allen for assignment, a day after the veteran reliever gave up four runs in a 9-4 loss to the Rays.
The 30-year-old Allen was signed to a one-year, $8.5 million contract in January after seven seasons with Cleveland. The Angels recalled right-hander Taylor Cole from Triple-A Salt Lake City.

METS: Desperate for help in a failing bullpen, New York acquired reliever Brooks Pounders from Cleveland for cash. Pounders, who had been pitching at Triple-A Columbus, was available for Saturday night’s game against St. Louis.

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