Apr 16, 2021; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals left fielder Kyle Schwarber (12) hits a walk-off home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the ninth inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Kyle Schwarber homered in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the host Washington Nationals a 1-0, walk-off win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday.
Facing Alex Young (0-3) with one out, Schwarber got under a 2-1 sinker for a 463-foot blast to right center. It was Schwarber’s first homer as a National, and it broke an 0-for-12 skid.
Brad Hand (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth inning for the win. Three Washington pitchers limited the Diamondbacks to three hits and two walks while striking out 13.
Nationals starter Max Scherzer fired seven dominant innings. He allowed two singles while striking out 10 and walking two over 106 pitches. Scherzer (2,808 career strikeouts) passed Cy Young (2,803) for 22nd place on the all-time whiff list. Arizona starter Taylor Widener threw six scoreless innings.
Reds 10, Indians 3
Joey Votto’s two-run homer highlighted a seven-run third inning, and Cincinnati won its sixth straight at home, defeating Cleveland.
Nick Castellanos also homered for one of his two hits and had two RBIs, along with Eugenio Suarez and Tyler Stephenson for the Reds, who have averaged 9.6 runs and scored 10 or more four times while starting 6-1 at home. Cincinnati just returned from a 2-4 road trip.
Jordan Luplow homered in the ninth and Josh Naylor recorded three hits for the Indians, who lost for just the third time in the last nine games versus Cincinnati.
Angels 10, Twins 3
Justin Upton’s seventh-inning grand slam broke open a close game and propelled Los Angeles to a victory over Minnesota in Anaheim, Calif.
The Angels had plenty of offense to go around, also getting a homer and two-run single from Jared Walsh, a two-run single by Mike Trout and two hits apiece from David Fletcher and Jose Iglesias.
Aaron Slegers (1-0) got the win despite blowing a sixth-inning lead.
Mariners 6, Astros 5
Ty France’s single scored the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning as host Seattle rallied to defeat short-handed Houston in the opener of a three-game series.
Seattle’s Evan White hit a solo homer in the eighth to tie the score at 5-5. Mariners left-hander Anthony Misiewicz (2-0) pitched a scoreless inning of relief for the victory. Houston right-hander Ryne Stanek (0-1) took the loss.
The Astros were without Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Yordan Alvarez, Martin Maldonado and Robel Garcia, who landed on the injured list Wednesday due to COVID-19 protocols.
Braves 5, Cubs 2
Marcell Ozuna had three hits and an RBI, Ronald Acuna Jr. delivered a two-run single and five relievers combined on 4 1/3 shutout innings to boost visiting Atlanta to a victory over Chicago.
Chicago went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and struck out 12 times while losing for the fifth time in six games. Joc Pederson batted with the bases loaded as the potential winning run in the ninth but whiffed against Will Smith to end the game.
Willson Contreras had two hits for the Cubs, including a solo home run in the fifth.
Pirates 6, Brewers 1
Colin Moran and Gregory Polanco homered to back a strong start by JT Brubaker as visiting Pittsburgh topped Milwaukee.
Adam Frazier added a two-run triple while Bryan Reynolds had an RBI double for the Pirates, who have won five of their past seven games. Brubaker (2-0) gave up one run and four hits with no walks and eight strikeouts in six innings.
Tyrone Taylor hit an RBI double for the Brewers, who have lost two of their past three. Milwaukee starter Adrian Houser (1-2) pitched 4 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on five hits.
Rays 8, Yankees 2
Michael Wacha pitched six sharp innings of one-hit ball as visiting Tampa Bay capitalized on shoddy defense by New York for a victory.
Thanks to Wacha’s gem and his opportunistic teammates, the Rays improved to 13-3 in their past 16 regular-season meetings with the Yankees. Brandon Lowe hit a two-run double in the first and the Rays never looked back. They added four in the fifth by taking advantage of two errors.
Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run homer in the seventh but the Yankees lost their third straight and fell to 2-6 in their past eight games while getting booed at various points by fans.
Phillies 9, Cardinals 2
Zach Eflin tossed seven-plus solid innings, J.T. Realmuto homered and drove in two runs and host Philadelphia scored six times in the second inning on its way to a blowout win over St. Louis.
Jean Segura had three hits while Andrew McCutchen added two hits and three RBIs for the Phillies, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Bryce Harper also drove in two runs. The Phillies have won six of seven at home. Eflin (1-0) allowed six hits and two runs, struck out six and walked none.
Justin Williams hit his first career home run and Tommy Edman had two hits for the Cardinals. St. Louis starter Carlos Martinez (0-3) allowed five hits and six runs in five innings. He struck out five and walked two.
Marlins 4, Giants 1
Starling Marte’s third home run of the season, a three-run shot in the eighth inning, pushed host Miami past San Francisco.
Giants reliever Wandy Peralta gave up the homer, with Matt Wisler (0-2) taking the loss after pitching 1 1/3 innings. Anthony Bass (1-2), the third Marlins pitcher, got the win, and Yimi Garcia tossed a scoreless ninth for his third save of the season.
Miami also got a solo homer from Jazz Chisholm Jr. on a line drive to right center field that tied the score in the fifth inning. Mike Yastrzemski led the Giants by going 2-for-4 with a triple and a double, collecting half of the team’s hits.
Orioles 5, Rangers 2
Freddy Galvis and Cedric Mullins each had two hits and Jorge Lopez delivered a bounce-back performance on the mound to lead Baltimore to a win in Arlington, Texas.
The Orioles entered the series struggling offensively and having lost eight of their past 10. However, Baltimore snapped the Rangers’ three-game winning streak by belting two homers and six extra-base hits overall off Mike Foltynewicz (0-3).
Lopez (1-2) gave up just two runs and two hits, solo homers by David Dahl and Nick Solak, in five innigs. He struck out eight and walked one.
Athletics 3, Tigers 0
Matt Chapman hit his team-leading third home run of the season and four Oakland pitchers combined to strike out 11 in a four-hitter as the A’s made it two straight over visiting Detroit.
Frankie Montas (2-1) worked the first six innings of Oakland’s first shutout of the season, extending Oakland’s winning streak to six games just a week after the defending American League West champs lost six straight.
Jose Urena (0-3) was the hard-luck loser for the Tigers, who entered the four-game set riding a three-game winning streak. Urena went seven innings and was charged with two runs on seven hits. He walked two and struck out eight.