MLB roundup: Stephen Strasburg immaculate as surging Nationals beat Marlins 3-1

Stephen Strasburg struck out 14 in 7 1/3 shutout innings, Brian Dozier and Matt Adams homered, and the Washington Nationals continued their midseason surge with a 3-1 win over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night in Washington.

Washington has won seven of its last eight and is 25-10 since May 24. The Nationals improved to 44-41, the first time they’ve been three games over .500 this season.

Strasburg (10-4) was, as usual, brilliant against the Marlins. He allowed two hits and two walks while extending his personal winning streak against Miami to 11. The right-hander is 20-7 with a 2.86 ERA in 34 career starts against the Marlins, who didn’t get a man past first until the eighth.

Strasburg’s gem included the first immaculate inning of his career. Strasburg needed just nine pitches to strike out Garrett Cooper, Neil Walker and Starlin Castro in the fourth.

Miami’s Sandy Alcantara (4-8), making his first start since earning an All-Star nod Sunday, allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings.

Angels 6, Rangers 2

ARLINGTON, Texas – Mike Trout homered twice and Jaime Barria, filling the roster spot of the late Tyler Skaggs, struck out a career-high eight batters in five innings as Los Angeles beat Texas.

Trout hit a three-run homer in the third inning and a solo shot leading off the sixth. He has hit 24 home runs this season, tied for the American League lead with the New York Yankees’ Edwin Encarnacion, with eight against Texas.

Barria (3-2) was recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake for his sixth stint with Los Angeles this season. He allowed both runs on four hits and two walks. He has pitched five innings in all three of his Angels starts this season.

The Rangers were shut out over the final four innings by four relievers, limited to four hits overall and have lost four straight games. Ariel Jurado (5-4) gave up all six runs on seven hits and one walk after pitching seven shutout innings against the Detroit Tigers last Thursday.

Yankees 5, Mets 1

NEW YORK – Domingo German pitched six sharp innings in his return from injury, Didi Gregorius and Gio Urshela hit consecutive homers, and the Yankees beat the Mets.

German (10-2) allowed a run over six innings, giving up five hits and no walks. The 26-year-old right-hander struck out six and threw 80 pitches in a tidy return from a strained left hip flexor, which had sidelined him since June 8.

The AL East-leading Yankees have won 14 of 16 overall and forced a four-game split in this year’s Subway Series. The Mets haven’t won the season series since 2013.

Mets starter Jason Vargas (3-4) settled after a rocky first inning, pitching three-run ball into the sixth.

Reds 3, Brewers 0

CINCINNATI – Yasiel Puig homered for the second consecutive game and Cincinnati overcame the loss of second baseman Scooter Gennett to a groin injury, holding on for a victory over Milwaukee.

Gennett left after two at-bats because of tightness in the left side of his groin. Gennett was an All-Star last year and the Reds’ most productive hitter over the last two seasons, but he suffered a severe injury to the other side of his groin during spring training and had been sidelined until last week. He has two singles in 19 at-bats over five games.

Sonny Gray (5-5) beat the Brewers for the second time in three starts this season, matching his career high with 12 strikeouts in eight innings. Raisel Iglesias pitched the ninth for his 15th save in 17 chances.

Puig connected in the second inning off Jhoulys Chacin (3-9), who hasn’t won since April. The right-hander is 0-6 in his last nine games with a 5.93 ERA. He struck out a season-high eight and allowed seven hits.

Braves 9, Phillies 2

ATLANTA – Josh Donaldson and Austin Riley hit three-run homers off Nick Pivetta and Atlanta solidified its NL East lead by beating Philadelphia.

Donaldson’s homer gave Atlanta a 3-0 lead in the fourth. Following Riley’s blast, Matt Joyce added a pinch-hit, two-run homer off Juan Nicasio in Atlanta’s six-run sixth.

Atlanta leads second-place Philadelphia by 5 1/2 games after splitting the first two games of the series.

Bryce Harper hit a line-drive homer to left field in the sixth. It was his 200th career homer and 1,000th career hit. According to the Phillies, it marked the first time in major league history a player reached milestones in hits and homers on the same swing.

Blue Jays 6, Red Sox 3

TORONTO – Danny Jansen and Brandon Drury each hit two-run homers, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. added a solo shot and Toronto beat Boston.

All three homers came off Red Sox left-hander Chris Sale (3-8), who lost for the first time in six starts. It’s the second time this season Sale has allowed three homers – he also did it in his opening day outing against Seattle on March 28.

Drury went 3 for 4 and came within a triple of the cycle. He singled in the third and doubled in the eighth.

Blue Jays right-hander Jacob Waguespack (1-0) allowed three runs and five hits in five-plus innings for his first career win.

Pirates 6, Cubs 5

PITTSBURGH – Jung Ho Kang scored on Corey Dickerson’s sacrifice fly in the ninth inning to cap a frantic rally and lift Pittsburgh over Chicago.

Josh Bell hit his 26th home of the season and fourth of the series and added a double to give him 59 extra-base hits, the most ever by a National League player before the All-Star break.

The Cubs turned to recently signed closer Craig Kimbrel (0-1) to protect a one-run lead in the ninth and the Pirates pounced.

The Pirates have won three straight and 12 of 17 to pull within one game of .500 (42-43). Richard Rodriguez (3-3) earned the win after pitching a scoreless ninth.

Indians 4, Royals 0

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Mike Clevinger pitched six innings of four-hit ball, Carlos Santana and Roberto Perez went deep, and Cleveland over Kansas City.

Clevinger (2-2) struck out nine without a walk in his second start since a balky back forced him into a lengthy stay on the injured list. He struggled in his first game back but dominated the Royals on a picture-perfect night, improving to 7-0 with a 2.03 ERA in his career against them.

Danny Duffy (3-5) kept his command issues at bay long enough to last 6 2-3 innings for Kansas City. The left-hander allowed two runs on five hits, five walks and a hit batter.

Astros 4, Rockies 2

DENVER – Wade Miley tossed six strong innings and Yuli Gurriel and Alex Bregman homered to lead Houston over Colorado.

Miley (7-4) struck out six and retired 11 of the last 12 batters he faced. He walked the first two Rockies he faced but settled down to get out of the inning after Ian Desmond’s RBI single. Roberto Osuna pitched the ninth for his 19th save.

Charlie Blackmon had two hits, including an RBI single in the seventh, for Colorado. Rookie right-hander Peter Lambert (2-1) went five innings in his first major league loss.

Orioles 9, Rays 6

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Renato Nunez hit a three-run homer to complete a six-run ninth inning, and Baltimore held on to beat Tampa Bay.

Nunez’s 19th home run came off Jose Alvarado (0-5) after an RBI triple by Jonathan Villar. The blast put the Orioles up 9-3 before Tampa Bay tried to rally in the bottom of the ninth. Shawn Armstrong came in to get the final out with two runners on base and earn his second save.

The Rays had their four-game winning streak snapped.

Relief pitcher Mychal Givens (1-4) got his first win since Sept. 24, 2017, after lunging to tag out a sliding Kevin Kiermaier near the plate, preventing the Rays from taking a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the eighth. Givens had lost 11 straight decisions.

White Sox 7-9, Tigers 5-6

CHICAGO – Jose Abreu hit a three-run homer in the 12th inning, Yoan Moncada and Ryan Cordell each went deep twice and Chicago beat Detroit to complete a day-night doubleheader sweep.

Abreu’s shot to the left-field bullpen capped a wild win for the White Sox, after Dylan Cease went five innings in his debut to lead them to a 7-5 victory in the opener.

Chicago had runners on first and second in the 12th after Nick Ramirez (3-3) walked Zack Collins with one out and Leury Garcia singled. Moncada struck out before Abreu connected on a 3-2 pitch for his second career game-ending homer, giving the White Sox their fifth win in six games.

There was a charged atmosphere for the first game with Cease (1-0) making his debut. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up three runs and four hits. He struck out six and walked four – three during a two-run first in which he also hit a batter.

Giants 7, Padres 5

SAN DIEGO – Evan Longoria and Alex Dickerson hit consecutive home runs in the third inning and San Francisco scored four runs during an unusual rally in the sixth to beat San Diego for its first three-game sweep of the season.

The Giants were held to single-digits in runs for the first time in four games. They had amassed 33 runs on 44 hits in their previous three games.

San Francisco, last in the NL West, has swept two-game series against Toronto and San Diego this season but this was the first three-game sweep.

Hunter Renfroe hit his 25th home run and rookie Fernando Tatis Jr. his 12th for the Padres, who have lost four straight.

Cardinals 5, Mariners 2

SEATTLE – Tommy Edman capped St. Louis’ big ninth inning with a two-out, three-run homer as the Cardinals rallied for five runs to beat Seattle.

St. Louis entered the ninth trailing 2-0 after a masterful performance from Seattle starter Mike Leake, who threw 7 2/3 shutout innings against his former team for the first time. But Austin Adams (1-1) and Seattle’s bullpen imploded and the Cardinals took full advantage of the meltdown.

John Brebbia (2-3) pitched 2 1/3 innings of relief and struck out six.