WASHINGTON — Michael Harris II and Travis d’Arnaud each had three hits and homered for the second straight game, and the Atlanta Braves connected five times in their 13th straight win, 10-4 over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night.
Atlanta hit back-to-back homers for the third straight game, this time doing it twice. D’Arnaud and Marcell Ozuna went deep in the third inning, and Orlando Arcia and Harris II followed in the sixth.
Dansby Swanson also homered for the Braves, who have clubbed 32 home runs during the winning streak, the longest in the majors this season. It’s Atlanta’s best stretch since it won 14 consecutive games from July 26 to Aug. 9, 2013.
Braves starter Max Fried (7-2) struck out the first five Washington batters. He went 5 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on six hits, striking out six and walking one. Jackson Stephens pitched the final three innings for his second save.
CARDINALS SWEEP PIRATES: Miles Mikolas was one strike from a no-hitter when he gave up a double to Cal Mitchell with two outs in the ninth inning, and host St. Louis routed Pittsburgh Pirates 9-1 to sweep a doubleheader.
Mitchell drove a 2-2 curveball over the head of Gold Glove center fielder Harrison Bader and just beyond his outstretched mitt as he tried to make a running catch with his back to home plate.
The ball bounced on the warning track 383 feet from the plate and over the wall in straightaway center for a ground-rule double.
The hit came on the 129th pitch from Mikolas (5-4), a career high. He was lifted right after that for Packy Naughton, who got the final out to hand the Pirates their ninth straight loss.
The 33-year-old Mikolas bent over at the waist for a moment when Mitchell’s drive dropped. He struck out six, walked one and left to a standing ovation.
The most recent no-hitter for the Cardinals was thrown by rookie Bud Smith in a 4-0 win over San Diego on Sept. 3, 2001. The last one at home came from Bob Forsch in 1983.
Pittsburgh got an unearned run in the fourth to make it 7-1 when Bryan Reynolds scored on Daniel Vogelbach’s groundout.
Paul Goldschmidt homered twice and drove in five runs for the Cardinals, who won the opener 3-1.
METS 4, BREWERS 0: Chris Bassitt pitched eight sharp innings of three-hit ball, Pete Alonso drove in two runs and host New York beat struggling Milwaukee.
Bassitt (5-4), who entered with a 7.62 ERA in his last five starts, allowed just three singles and one walk with seven strikeouts. He got the Brewers to hit into double plays right after each of their hits, including in the sixth – when Milwaukee had runners at the corners before Willy Adames grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Drew Smith worked a perfect ninth to complete the Mets’ 10th shutout of the season.
Milwaukee has dropped 9 of 10, getting shut out four times during that span.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
YANKEES 2, RAYS 0: Gerrit Cole put a career-worst pummeling behind him with six sharp innings, and host New York capitalized on shaky defense by Tampa Bay.
The AL East-leading Yankees won their fifth straight as they played the first of six games in nine days against third-place Tampa Bay.
New York had just five hits but improved to 45-16, the best 61-game start across baseball since Seattle in 2001.
Cole (6-1) allowed a career-most five homers against Minnesota in his previous outing but bounced back with a mostly stress-free start. The right-hander struck out seven, walked one and allowed five hits, all singles.
Ex-Yankee Corey Kluber (3-3) countered Cole with six innings, allowing two unearned runs, four hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
Clay Holmes pitched a scoreless ninth for his 10th save, completing the Yankees’ six-hitter and their 10th shutout.
The Rays made two errors in the fourth that allowed New York to take a 2-0 lead.
After Giancarlo Stanton’s one-out walk, right fielder Manuel Margot dropped Gleyber Torres’ routine popup near the foul line. Isiah Kiner-Falefa followed with a two-out single, and left fielder Randy Arozarena had a chance to throw out Stanton at the plate. Arozarena’s high throw sailed so far over the catcher that Stanton scored easily and Torres was able to follow him home.
Tampa Bay has allowed 40 unearned runs this season, second-most in the majors behind the Chicago White Sox.
ORIOLES 6, BLUE JAYS 5: Ryan Mountcastle hit a two-run home run, Austin Hays had a solo shot and Baltimore won at Toronto.
Mountcastle went 3 for 5 with a pair of doubles and scored twice.
WHITE SOX 5, TIGERS 1: Dylan Cease allowed one run in five innings to remain unbeaten in 10 decisions against host Detroit.
Cease (5-3) allowed one unearned run on seven hits and a walk. He struck out eight to improve to 10-0 with a 1.91 ERA in 11 career starts against the Tigers.
He’s the first pitcher to win his first 10 decisions against an opponent since Jamie Moyer started 10-0 against the Marlins in 2006-08.
Andrew Vaughn had four hits and Luis Robert drove in a pair of runs for the White Sox.
ASTROS 4, RANGERS 3: Kyle Tucker extended his career-best hitting streak to 13 games with a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning, and AL West-leading Houston rallied to beat host Texas.
Rangers reliever John King (1-3) retired only one of the five batters he faced. That was an RBI groundout by Yordan Alvarez on the pitch before Tucker hit his 12th homer of the season, a two-run shot that capped the four-run outburst.
Jose Altuve and Michael Brantley opened the eighth with consecutive singles. Alex Bregman then hit a grounder to shortstop Corey Seager, who threw to the plate. The Rangers had Altuve caught between third and home, but he scored the first run of the inning when rookie third baseman Ezequiel Duran dropped catcher Sam Huff’s throw.
NOTES
CARDINALS: Right-hander Jack Flaherty will make his first start of the season in the series finale against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday.
Cardinals Manager Oliver Marmol made the surprise announcement before the first game of a day-night doubleheader against the Pirates on Tuesday. Flaherty had been scheduled to make his third rehab start at Triple-A Memphis on Wednesday. Marmol said he will be held to around 60 pitches.
Flaherty had a platelet-rich-plasma injection in his shoulder in early March to combat inflammation. He has been impressive in two rehab starts at Memphis, allowing just one run in seven total innings.
Flaherty, 26, is considered the ace of the Cardinals staff and has a career record of 32-24 with a 3.34 ERA. He went 9-2 last season with a 3.22 ERA before the shoulder injury cut his season short.
BLUE JAYS: Left-hander Hyun Jin Ryu will miss the rest of the season because of ligament damage in his elbow, the team announced.
The extent of the damage and the precise nature of the surgery required to repair it is still unknown, but General Manager Ross Atkins said Ryu will not pitch again in 2022. Atkins said the best-case scenario would see Ryu returning in the second half of 2023.
Ryu, from South Korea, is 2-0 with a 5.67 ERA in six starts this season. He left his June 1 outing against the White Sox after four innings and was placed on the 15-day injured list the following day.
Ryu also missed time with a sore forearm from April 17 to May 13. He made four more starts after returning May 14 at Tampa Bay.
PADRES: Fernando Tatis Jr.’s surgically repaired left wrist hasn’t progressed to the point where the electrifying All-Star shortstop can start swinging a bat, GM A.J. Preller said.
Tatis had a three-month follow-up exam in Arizona on Monday with Dr. Donald Sheridan, who operated on his broken wrist in mid-March.
The MRI exam “continues to show healing,” but not enough for the doctor to “give a full green light,” Preller said.
The shortstop, who signed a $340 million, 14-year contract before the 2021 season, has been doing a number of activities, including taking ground balls, throwing and running. Swinging a bat will begin the last major step his comeback.
“The full go, start swinging the bat, playing in rehab games, that’s going to be more of a week-to-week decision here going forward,” Preller said.
Otherwise, the doctor felt positive about Tatis’ strength and range of motion, Preller said.
Tatis, 23, reportedly was injured in an offseason motorcycle accident in his native Dominican Republic. Although there were social media posts at the time that showed Tatis’ wrist wrapped up, the extent of the injury wasn’t known until he reported to spring training.
NATIONALS: Right-hander Stephen Strasburg was placed on the 15-day injured list with a stress reaction of the ribs, the team announced.
Strasburg has made one start this season, his first since he had surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome last summer. He felt discomfort following a bullpen session and had an MRI on Monday.
METS: Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom are moving closer to a return for the National League East-leading Mets.
Scherzer, who injured his left oblique while pitching against St. Louis on May 18, returned to New York after rehabbing in Florida and threw in the outfield at Citi Field prior to Tuesday night’s series opener against Milwaukee.
The 37-year-old right-hander, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, is expected to throw a simulated game Thursday. Scherzer said he’s not ready to put a timetable on when he might return to the active roster.
DeGrom, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, missed the second half of last season with a right elbow injury and hasn’t pitched this year due to a stress reaction in his right scapula. The 33-year-old right-hander threw 30 pitches Tuesday in his fourth bullpen session.
SUSPENSIONS: Houston Astros right-hander Hector Neris began serving a reduced suspension Tuesday night, a week after his ejection from a game in which he plunked one Seattle batter and nearly hit another in the head.
Neris was initially suspended four games by Major League Baseball for his actions June 6 game against the Mariners. The reliever appealed, and a settlement between MLB reduced the discipline to three games without the case going to a hearing.
The Astros are not permitted to replace Neris on the active roster during his suspension that began with their game against the Texas Rangers. The pitcher, who has made an American League-high 29 appearances, will be reinstated before Saturday’s home game against the Chicago White Sox.
Astros Manager Dusty Baker, who was also ejected from that game against the Mariners, served a one-game suspension last week. Baker and Neris were also fined undisclosed amounts.
MLB also fined Astros coaches Joe Espada, Omar Lopez and Troy Snitker, as well as Mariners Manager Scott Servais.
DODGERS: Pitcher Walker Buehler had bone spurs removed from his right elbow in a procedure unrelated to the flexor strain that has sidelined him.
Buehler said he had the arthroscopic surgery done a day earlier. He did it now because it doesn’t affect the rest and rehab timeline for the strain. The right-hander is expected to be out 10 to 12 weeks, which means it could be September before he returns.
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