MINNEAPOLIS — Clayton Kershaw took a perfect game through seven innings for the Los Angeles Dodgers in his season debut before being pulled, dominating the Minnesota Twins with 13 strikeouts in 21 batters during a 7-0 victory on Wednesday.

Manager Dave Roberts pulled Kershaw after 80 pitches on a cold afternoon at Target Field. Alex Vesia relieved for the eighth and gave up Minnesota’s first and only hit, a single by Gary Sanchez.

Cody Bellinger, Gavin Lux and Austin Barnes hit back-to-back-to-back home runs in the eighth against reliever Dereck Rodriguez, who made his Twins debut.

Justin Turner hit a two-run single in the first, Trea Turner had a sacrifice fly in the second and Max Muncy went deep in the ninth for the Dodgers.

GUARDIANS 7, REDS 3: Jose Ramirez homered, doubled and drove in three runs, Owen Miller hit two home runs and visiting Cleveland won its fourth straight.

Rookie Steven Kwan went 0 for 4, but drew a bases-loaded walk in the second inning that put Cleveland ahead to stay as it completed a two-game sweep.

Kwan is 10 for 19 and has reached base in 19 of 29 plate appearances since making his major league debut on Opening Day.

DIAMONDBACKS 3, ASTROS 2: Ketel Marte had the game-ending sacrifice fly in the 10th inning after Seth Beer tied it with a single, and Arizona rallied to win at home.

BREWERS 4, ORIOLES 2: Kolten Wong tripled in the tie-breaking run in the ninth inning, and visiting Milwaukee squeezed past Baltimore after blowing a two-run lead in the eighth.

The Brewers received a sparkling performance from Corbin Burnes, who flashed the form that earned him last year’s NL Cy Young Award. But he failed to get the win despite throwing seven shutout innings.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

PIRATES 6, CUBS 2: Ben Gamel hit a three-run homer in the first inning, Ke’Bryan Hayes went 4 for 4 a day after getting a big contract and Pittsburgh beat visiting Chicago for a two-game series split.

Kevin Newman hit a two-run triple in the third for the Pirates, who went 3 for 7 with runners in scoring position, a day after going 0 for 10.

Seiya Suzuki was 1 for 3 with an RBI single in the fourth for the Cubs. In his first season in the major leaguers, the two-time Japan Central League batting champion is 6 for 20 (.400) with three homers and nine RBI in six games.

METS 9, PHILLIES 6: Max Scherzer settled in after working out of an early jam, Pete Alonso drove in five runs with a homer and two doubles and New York won at Philadelphia.

Scherzer (2-0) gestured and yelled toward home plate umpire Adrian Johnson in the midst of loading the bases with three walks. He struck out the next batter, induced a groundout and allowed one run and five hits with seven strikeouts in five innings.

NATIONALS 3, BRAVES 1: Josiah Gray allowed one hit in five scoreless innings, and visiting Washington beat Max Fried and Atlanta.

The Nationals won 2 of 3 in the series, dropping the World Series champions to 3-4 on their opening homestand.

Gray (1-1) struck out five, walked three and also hit a batter. His only trouble came in the fifth, when he hit Adam Duvall and walked Alex Dickerson with two outs before striking out Manny Pina.

Austin Riley homered off Kyle Finnegan in the sixth.

GIANTS 2, PADRES 1: Logan Webb pitched four-hit ball over eight innings and Luke Williams doubled home the only runs he needed as San Francisco beat visiting San Diego.

Webb (1-0), who emerged as the Giants’ ace last season, allowed one run. He retired 22 of the final 24 hitters, striking out seven and walking none.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

ATHLETICS 4, RAYS 2: Frankie Montas pitched neatly into the seventh inning, Sean Murphy hit a three-run homer, and visiting Oakland beat Tampa Bay.

Montas (1-1) allowed two runs and five hits over 6 1/3 innings, striking out six, as the A’s defeated Tampa Bay for the second time in three days.

Tampa Bay got a fourth-inning solo homer from Ji-Man Choi.

BLUE JAYS 6, YANKEES 4: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. shook off a bloody gash on his right ring finger to hit three home runs as Toronto won at New York.

George Springer hit a tie-breaking single in the seventh, and Toronto held off the Yankees despite homers from Anthony Rizzo, Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres — and a fly in the eighth by pinch-hitter Giancarlo Stanton that was caught on the warning track.

NOTES

ROYALS-CARDINALS: The Kansas City Royals at St. Louis Cardinals game was postponed because of inclement weather.

The teams will make up Wednesday’s postponed game on Monday, May 2.

TWINS: The Minnesota Twins placed left fielder Alex Kirilloff on the 10-day injured list with inflammation in his surgically repaired right wrist.

Kirilloff was scratched from the lineup against the Los Angeles Dodgers, replaced by Nick Gordon. Outfielder Trevor Larnach was recalled from Triple-A St. Paul to replace the 24-year-old Kirilloff on the roster.

DODGERS: Pitcher Trevor Bauer’s administrative leave was extended yet again, this time by six additional days through April 22, by Major League Baseball and the players’ association.

Bauer was placed on seven days’ paid leave last July 2 under the joint domestic violence and sexual assault policy of MLB and the union after a Southern California woman said he choked her into unconsciousness, punched her repeatedly and had anal sex with her without her consent during two sexual encounters earlier last year.

MLB and the union have since agreed to several extensions.

Bauer’s agents, Jon Fetterolf and Rachel Luba, have repeatedly pointed out that administrative leave is not a disciplinary action.

Bauer did not pitch after June 29.

Los Angeles prosecutors decided in February not to charge Bauer for allegedly beating and sexually abusing the San Diego woman he met through social media.
Prosecutors were unable to prove the woman’s accusations beyond a reasonable doubt, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said in a document concluding their investigation.

TV: Peacock’s Sunday morning Major League Baseball package will be called “MLB Sunday Leadoff,” NBC Sports said.

Peacock will stream games produced by NBC Sports for 18 straight weeks beginning on May 8. The first six games will begin at 11:30 a.m. with the remaining ones beginning at noon.

The first game between the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox on May 8 will also air on NBC.

WHITE SOX: Right-hander Lance Lynn thinks he is ahead of schedule in his recovery from right knee surgery.

Lynn was pulled from his final start of spring training with right knee discomfort – one of a series of injuries for the reigning AL Central champions already this season.

Third baseman Yoan Moncada is out with a strained right oblique and ace right-hander Lucas Giolito is on the 10-day injured list due to a lower abdominal strain. Relievers Joe Kelly (right biceps nerve injury), Garrett Crochet (left elbow surgery) and Ryan Burr (strained right shoulder strain) also are on the IL, along with outfielder Yermin Mercedes (fractured left wrist).

Lynn went 11-6 with a 2.69 ERA in 28 starts last season in his first year in Chicago. He had surgery this month and is expected to be sidelined for 4 to 6 weeks.

GUARDIANS: Closer Emmanuel Clase gets a $2 million signing bonus and $1.5 million salaries this season and next as part of his $20 million, five-year contract with Cleveland, a deal that could be worth $38 million over seven seasons.

Clase gets $2.5 million in 2024, $4.5 million in 2025 and $6 million in 2026 as part of the deal announced last Thursday.

MARINERS: The Seattle Mariners placed reliever Sergio Romo on the 10-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation.

Right-hander Matt Koch was promoted from Triple-A Tacoma, and right-hander Casey Sadler was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Sadler is out for the season because of shoulder surgery.

Copy the Story Link