Philadelphia’s Ranger Suarez pitches during the second inning the Texas Rangers Tuesday night in Philadelphia. Matt Slocum/Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — Ranger Suárez stuck out 10 over seven innings and improved to 9-0 to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to their MLB-best 35th win, a 5-2 victory over the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers on Tuesday night.
Bryce Harper hit his 11th homer of the season to help the Phillies win for the ninth time in 11 games and continue one of the best starts in franchise history.
This season, no pitcher in baseball has been better than Suárez.
The 28-year-old lefty walked off to a standing ovation in the seventh after he caught Leody Taveras looking on a 91.6 mph sinker to end the inning. Suárez took a no-decision in his first start of the season before he reeled off wins in nine straight starts.
José Alvarado worked a scoreless ninth for his ninth save.
Suárez walked two, gave up a run and lowered his ERA to 1.36 before he yielded to Jeff Hoffman in the eighth inning.
GUARDIANS 7, METS 6: José Ramírez connected on a two-run homer and an RBI double as Cleveland beat viiting New York, matching its longest win streak of the season at five games.
David Fry added his first career pinch-hit home run, a two-run shot in the sixth inning, for the AL Central-leading Guardians. Cleveland has the fourth-best record in the majors at 32-17 and has won six straight at Progressive Field.
Jeff McNeil and Starling Marte each hit two-run homers and Mark Vientos had a solo shot for the Mets.
TWINS 10, NATIONALS 0: Byron Buxton hit two homers and drove in three runs, Joe Ryan pitched seven scoreless innings and visiting Minnesota halted a seven-game losing streak.
Jose Miranda added a two-run homer as the Twins scored eight runs off Nationals left-hander Patrick Corbin (1-5). Willi Castro added a two-run shot off reliever Jacob Barnes as Minnesota responded following a players-only meeting after Monday night’s 12-3 loss in the series opener.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
REDS 2, PADRES 0: Andrew Abbott threw seven shutout innings, Elly De La Cruz doubled home a run and Cincinnati beat visiting San Diego.
Abbott (3-4) allowed four hits, striking out two and walking one. He allowed just one runner past first base. Fernando Cruz pitched a scoreless eighth and Alexis Díaz pitched the ninth for his eighth save.
BREWERS 7, MARLINS 5: Christian Yelich hit a go-ahead two-run triple in the eighth inning and Milwaukee won at Miami.
William Contreras had two hits and three RBI, and Willy Adames doubled twice for the NL Central-leading Brewers.
PIRATES 7, GIANTS 6: Nick Gonzales’ run-scoring single in the bottom of the 10th inning lifted Pittsburgh over visiting San Francisco.
Gonzales’ leadoff hit up the middle off Erik Miller (0-2) scored automatic runner Connor Joe from second base and ended the Giants’ season-high four-game winning streak. The Pirates have won four of their last five games.
The Pirates scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game at 6.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
WHITE SOX 5, BLUE JAYS 0: Garrett Crochet and three relievers combined on a two-hitter, Corey Julks and Danny Mendick each had two RBI and visiting Chicago snapped a four-game losing streak.
Chicago’s Eloy Jiménez exited after straining his left hamstring while scoring from second base on Julks’ two-out single in the top of the fifth.
MARINERS 6, YANKEES 3: Bryan Woo pitched shutout ball at Yankee Stadium for the second straight season, Dylan Moore homered twice with four RBI and Seattle held on to beat New York.
Ty France and Luke Raley also homered for the Mariners, who dealt the Yankees their first consecutive losses since April 29 and 30 at Baltimore. Seattle rallied from a three-run, ninth-inning deficit for a 5-4 victory in the series opener that stopped New York’s seven-game winning streak.
In a matchup of division leaders, New York trailed 4-0 before Gleyber Torres hit a three-run homer in the seventh off Trent Thornton, just Torres’ third home run this season.
Raley led off the eighth with a home run on the first Yankees pitch by Clayton Andrews, brought up from the minor leagues on Monday when Ian Hamilton was placed on the COVID-19 injured list.
Woo (2-0) allowed two hits over six innings, Austin Wells’ single in the second and Alex Verdugo’s double in the fourth. The 24-year-old right-hander, making his third start of the season after recovering from right elbow inflammation, walked none and struck out seven, including Juan Soto twice. .
Woo threw 5 1/3 hitless innings at Yankee Stadium last June 22 for his first major league win, leaving after a pair of hits in the sixth.
ROYALS 1o, TIGERS 3: Bobby Witt Jr. homered twice as Kansas City beat visiting Detroit for its fifth straight win.
NOTES
YANKEES: Gerrit Cole walked onto the Yankee Stadium mound in full pinstriped uniform as New York teammates filled the dugout to watch their ace throw 20 pitches of batting practice.
“I feel pretty good, and the stuff looked pretty good,” he said. “I had some fun. It’s all positives.”
Cole faced batters for the first time since spring training, throwing to Oswaldo Cabrera and Jamai Jones 3 1/2 hours before Tuesday night’s game against Seattle. Asked why he pitched in full uniform, the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner said simply: “Because I miss it.”
Manager Aaron Boone took notice of Cole’s attire.
“It places a seriousness on it. What it means to put on this uni,” Boone said.
Cole threw 11 fastballs, three change-ups and two each of curveballs, sliders and change-ups.
“It looked like it was coming out real easy. I thought he was sharp,” Boone said. “That’s a big step.”
Cole made one spring training start, on March 1, and the Yankees announced 10 days later the 33-year-old right-hander’s elbow was ailing. He was diagnosed with nerve inflammation and edema, and told to rest.
He didn’t throw off a mound again until May 5, the first of five bullpen sessions leading up to his initial BP.
“Less pain. It just feels better,” he said of the difference from two months earlier. “It’s mainly just been the fact that it’s been able to feel refreshed by the next time I get back off the mound.”
Cole said he anticipates one or two more BP sessions before starting a minor league rehabilitation assignment. He likely would have four or five minor league starts before rejoining the Yankees, a timeline that makes a late June return possible.
• Second baseman DJ LeMahieu, sidelined since breaking his right foot with a foul ball during a spring training game on March 16, was to resume his injury rehab stint with Class A Hudson Valley at Brooklyn on Tuesday night. The 35-year-old, a two-time batting champion, had six plate appearances with Double-A Somerset last weekend.
Boone said LeMahieu could be activated during a West Coast trip that starts Friday and ends June 2, most likely during a series at the Los Angeles Angels from May 28-30. LeMahieu was to get Wednesday off, play two days in a row, get Saturday off and then play Sunday.
• Reliever Tommy Kahnle is to be activated Wednesday. The 34-year-old right-hander has been sidelined since spring training with shoulder inflammation and made five minor league rehab appearances, each a scoreless inning. He struck out eight and walked none.
CUBS: The Chicago Cubs activated shortstop Dansby Swanson from the 10-day injured list and recalled infielder Luis Vázquez from Triple-A Iowa, the team announced.
Swanson, 30, was placed on the injured list May 8 with a right knee sprain. He’s batting .209 with three doubles, one triple and four home runs in 37 games.
Vázquez, 24, earned his first major league call-up after batting .262 with 10 doubles and three homers in 39 games with Iowa.
The Cubs, who opened a series against Atlanta at home Tuesday, optioned Pete Crow-Armstrong and infielder Miles Mastrobuoni to Iowa.
GUARDIANS: Pitcher Carlos Carrasco, who was scheduled to start Tuesday night against the New York Mets, has been placed on the 15-day injured list with an acute neck spasm.
Carrasco, 37, spent the last three seasons with the Mets before returning to the Guardians as a free agent. The right-hander is 2-4 with a 5.16 ERA in nine starts for Cleveland, which dealt him to New York with shortstop Francisco Lindor in 2021.
BREWERS: Right-hander Joe Ross was placed on the 15-day injured list because of a low back strain.
Ross has been a fixture in the Brewers’ rotation the first seven weeks of the season, going 2-4 with a 4.50 ERA.
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