ATLANTA (AP) — AJ Smith-Shawver took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and the Atlanta Braves beat the Cincinnati Reds 4-0 on Monday night.
Santiago Espinal led off the eighth with a clean single to center field for Cincinnati’s lone hit. He was later erased on an inning-ending double play.
Smith-Shawver (2-2) was trying for the first no-hitter in the majors this season. The rookie right-hander struck out five and walked four in eight splendid innings, throwing 60 of his 99 pitches for strikes.
It was his 11th major league start and fifth this year.
Kent Mercker pitched Atlanta’s most recent no-hitter at Dodger Stadium on April 8, 1994.
DODGERS 7, MARLINS 4
MIAMI (AP) — Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman homered and Los Angeles roughed up Sandy Alcántara again for a win over Miami.
Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernández each had two hits for the Dodgers, who have won eight of nine and began a 10-game road trip. Hernández left in the fourth because of tightness in his left hamstring.
In his first major league start, Los Angeles’ Hyeseong Kim had two hits and drove in a run.
Alcántara (2-4) gave up five runs and six hits in five innings six days after the 2022 NL Cy Young Award winner was tagged for seven runs and seven hits in 2 2/3 innings against the defending World Series champions.
BREWERS 5, ASTROS 1
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Christian Yelich hit a two-run homer, Tobias Myers pitched 5 1/3 strong innings and Milwaukee defeated Houston.
Myers (1-0) received an early hook in his last start, working just two innings before departing with the score tied at 2 in a game the Brewers eventually won 6-4 over the Chicago White Sox.
He was much sharper Monday.
Myers carried a shutout into the sixth inning and ended up allowing six hits and one run. He struck out two and walked none.
Milwaukee broke a scoreless tie by getting three runs in the third inning.
Joey Ortiz hit a leadoff double and came home on William Contreras’ two-out single. Yelich followed by connecting on a 2-2 pitch and delivering a 413-foot shot over the wall in right-center.
Yelich’s homer came in his 1,500th career game and occurred one day after he broke out of an 0-for-19 slump.
Houston’s Ronel Blanco (2-3) allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings. He struck out six and walked two.
CUBS 9, GIANTS 2
CHICAGO (AP) — Ian Happ homered and drove in three runs, helping Matthew Boyd and Chicago beat San Francisco.
Carson Kelly also went deep, sparking Chicago’s five-run sixth inning with a leadoff drive for his eighth homer. Happ added a sacrifice fly and Seiya Suzuki singled in two more runs in the decisive outburst.
Boyd (3-2) pitched six innings of two-run ball as the NL Central leaders won for the fourth time in five games. The left-hander struck out seven and walked none.
San Francisco shortstop Willy Adames and five-time Gold Glove third baseman Matt Chapman each committed two errors, contributing to six unearned runs for Chicago in the opener of a three-game set.
Luis Matos hit a tying two-run homer for the Giants in the fourth, but the Cubs responded with two runs in the bottom half.
Landen Roupp (2-3) struck out the first two batters before Pete Crow-Armstrong reached on an error on Chapman. Nico Hoerner then singled and swiped second ahead of Dansby Swanson’s two-run single to left.
Swanson had three hits and scored twice. He is batting .462 (12 for 26) during a seven-game hitting streak.
ROYALS 3, WHITE SOX 0
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Bobby Witt Jr. scored the first run and drove in the second to back five overpowering innings and 11 strikeouts from Cole Ragans as Kansas City stayed hot with a victory over Chicago.
The Royals (20-16) took the opener of a four-game series to begin a seven-game homestand. They have won three straight and 11 of 13.
Witt, who walked and stole a base before being stranded in the first, led off the fourth with a single. He stole his 11th base, advanced to third on a wild pitch by rookie Shane Smith and scored on a one-out single by Maikel Garcia.
Kyle Isbel and Jonathan India reached on one-out singles and Witt doubled to right to make it 2-0 in the fifth.
Ragans (2-1), who missed a start with a mild groin strain, came in averaging an MLB-best 13.5 strikeouts per nine innings. The left-hander allowed three hits and walked two in his fourth outing with 10 or more strikeouts this season and his ninth in 60 career starts.
Four relievers finished a six-hitter. Carlos Estévez pitched a one-hit ninth for his 10th save.
Smith (1-2) allowed two runs and five hits in five innings.
CARDINALS 6, PIRATES 3
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Willson Contreras hit a go-ahead home run in a four-run sixth inning and St. Louis beat Pittsburgh for their third straight victory.
Contreras’ fifth home run came off Pirates reliever Chase Shugart, who walked Nolan Arenado after coming in with the bases empty, one out and a 3-2 lead. Jose Barrero, who hit his first homer as a Cardinal earlier, added a bases-loaded ground-rule double off Shugart for a 6-3 lead.
Oneil Cruz beat out a high hopper to Cardinals starter Miles Mikola leading off the first and Bryan Reynolds followed with his fifth home run for a 2-0 lead.
Barrero led off the third with a solo shot off Pirates starter Carmen Mlodzinski, and Alec Burleson followed with his second homer in as many games to tie it 2-all. Burleson’s homer went 435 feet — the longest by a Cardinal this season.
Joey Bart drew a leadoff walk in the fourth and scored on a hit by Adam Frazier to put the Pirates ahead.
Mikolas allowed three runs on four hits in five innings. Gordon Graceffo (2-0) pitched the sixth for the win. Ryan Helsley notched his sixth save.
PADRES 4, YANKEES 3
NEW YORK (AP) — Manny Machado hit a two-run double and Xander Bogaerts followed with a two-run single in an eighth-inning comeback against Devin Williams and Luke Weaver, and San Diego rallied past New York for their sixth straight win.
Carlos Rodón allowed three hits in 6 2/3 scoreless innings, leaving with a 3-0 lead.
San Diego loaded the bases with two walks and a hit off Williams, who had three hitless outings after being dropped as closer but faltered in his fourth. Weaver (0-1) gave up two-out hits to Machado and Bogaerts as the Yankees lost their third game in a row.
Padres manager Mike Shildt and Fernando Tatis Jr. were ejected during the rally by plate umpire Adrian Johnson. Tatis said something when he struck out swinging, a pitch after a called second strike at the bottom of the zone. Tossed for the 15th time in his managerial career, Shildt threw his lineup card and glasses while arguing.
Ryan Bergert (1-0) earned his first major league win with a hitless seventh and Robert Suarez struck out two in a perfect ninth for his major league-high 14th save.
METS 5, DIAMONDBACKS 4
PHOENIX (AP) — Francisco Lindor hit a three-run homer, Pete Alonso launched a two-run shot and New York held on late to beat Arizona.
Lindor turned on a slider from Ryan Thompson in the seventh inning, driving it over the right-center fence for what looked like a comfortable 5-1 lead.
But the D-backs closed the gap in the eighth, loading the bases with no outs when reliever Dedniel Núñez walked three straight in his first major league outing this season after coming off the injured list. Reed Garrett entered and struck out Pavin Smith, but Josh Naylor’s single made it 5-2 and Eugenio Suarez followed with a two-run single off the center-field wall that cut the margin to 5-4.
With the potential tying run on second and the go-ahead run on first, Garrett struck out Gabriel Moreno and retired Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on a foul popup to end the threat.
Arizona threatened again in the ninth against closer Edwin Díaz when leadoff hitter Alek Thomas reached on Alonso’s throwing error at first base. The Mets responded when catcher Francisco Alvarez caught Thomas trying to steal second with the help of a sensational tag by Lindor. Díaz then retired Geraldo Perdomo and Corbin Carroll for his eighth save.
ATHLETICS 7, MARINERS 6, 11 INNINGS
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Jacob Wilson singled home the winning run in the 11th inning to give the Athletics a victory over Seattle in the opener of a three-game series between the top two teams in the AL West.
Wilson finished with three hits and three RBIs, including a tying single against Mariners closer Andrés Muñoz leading off the 10th that scored automatic runner JJ Bleday. The Athletics then loaded the bases with nobody out, but Muñoz struck out the next three batters and still has not allowed an earned run this season.
One inning later, a sacrifice bunt by Gio Urshela and two intentional walks loaded the bases for Wilson. He smacked a one-out single off Casey Legumina (2-1) through the middle of a drawn-in infield as the Athletics pulled within a game of the first-place Mariners.
It was Wilson’s third walk-off hit in 62 major league games and second this season.
Hogan Harris (1-0) got the win with a scoreless 11th.
The Associated Press
