Left-hander Jeffrey Springs stayed nearly unhittable, and the Tampa Bay Rays stayed perfect as they routed the Oakland Athletics 11-0 on Saturday in St. Petersburg, Fla.
At 8-0, the Rays are off to the hottest start in baseball’s wild-card era since the 2003 Kansas City Royals, who started 9-0. Tampa Bay has won all eight games by at least four runs. Springs scattered three hits, struck out seven and walked three while logging seven innings.
The Rays were 25th in homers in 2022, but they entered this contest with a major-league-leading 18. Tampa Bay hit three more Saturday, but it built a 5-0 lead by accepting six walks and three hit batsmen from Oakland’s wild pitching staff. The Rays cobbled together five runs on just three singles until Manuel Margot led off the sixth with a homer into the left field bleachers for a 6-0 lead.
Brandon Lowe blew the game open three batters later when he drove a fastball over the middle from Domingo Acevedo 431 feet into the center field seats for a 9-0 cushion. Oakland’s starter, 6-foot-6 right-handed flamethrower Shintaro Fujinami, got through three scoreless innings, but Tampa Bay chased him in the fifth on a two-run single by Randy Arozarena.
Cardinals 6, Brewers 0
Nolan Arenado hit his 300th career home run and Jordan Montgomery allowed three hits over seven scoreless innings to propel visiting St. Louis to a victory at Milwaukee, snapping the Brewers’ six-game winning streak.
Arenado’s two-run shot, his first of the season, triggered a four-run third inning that put the Cardinals up 6-0. Montgomery (2-0) struck out nine and walked two for the Cardinals’ first quality start of the season. Rookie Jordan Walker, who has hit safely in all eight games, hit his second homer of the season in the third, a two-run shot to left.
Brewers starter Eric Lauer (1-1) was tagged for six runs on seven hits in four innings, striking out four and walking three in a 93-pitch outing.
Phillies 3, Reds 2
Bryson Stott singled home Brandon Marsh with one out to cap a stunning three-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning as Philadelphia rallied past visiting Cincinnati.
Andrew Vasquez (1-0) allowed one run on one hit in the ninth inning for the Phillies, who won their sixth straight at home against Cincinnati. The Reds wasted a stellar outing from starter Nick Lodolo, who struck out a career-high 12 over seven scoreless innings. He limited the Phillies to three hits.
Spencer Steer homered while Jake Fraley added a sacrifice fly for the Reds, who lost their third straight. Reliever Alexis Diaz (0-1) was dominant in the eighth, striking out the side while facing the top of the Philadelphia order. However, Diaz lost command in the ninth, walking Nick Castellanos before Alec Bohm singled.
Royals 6, Giants 5
Pinch runner Nate Eaton dove home with the go-ahead run on a wild pitch in the top of the ninth inning, enabling visiting Kansas City to edge San Francisco.
Eaton was called upon after Vinnie Pasquantino, who homered in Friday’s series-opening win, opened the ninth with a double off Giants closer Camilo Doval (0-1). Doval got the next two men out, but Eaton was able to take third on an infield out by Hunter Dozier, positioning himself to scamper home when Doval’s two-strike pitch to Kyle Isbel was inside and uncatchable for Blake Sabol.
Giants starter Sean Manaea was pulled after six innings after having limited the Royals to one run and three hits. He struck out eight and walked one.
Twins 9, Astros 6
Kyle Farmer went 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs and Byron Buxton belted a three-run blast, lifting Minnesota to a win over Houston in Minneapolis.
Minnesota jumped to an early 4-0 lead off starter Luis Garcia before Houston pulled even in the third inning on Yordan Alvarez’s third career grand slam. After scoring the go-ahead run in the sixth, the Twins added four runs in the eighth. Twins starter Joe Ryan (2-0) allowed four runs on three hits with one walk and 10 strikeouts in six innings.
The Astros rallied in the ninth on Jeremy Pena’s two-run homer against Jovani Moran. Houston put runners at the corners before Jhoan Duran replaced Moran and struck out pinch hitter Yainer Diaz on three pitches for his second save.
Cubs 10, Rangers 3
Justin Steele allowed one run through six innings and Trey Mancini had three hits with an RBI as Chicago rolled to a victory against visiting Texas.
Patrick Wisdom and Yan Gomes homered, Ian Happ had three RBIs and Dansby Swanson had two hits and drove in a run for the Cubs, who belted out 14 hits to pick up their third straight win following a three-game skid. Steele (1-0) yielded four of Texas’ seven hits and overcame four walks. He struck out three.
Nathaniel Lowe had two hits with two RBIs for the Rangers. Corey Seager also had two hits, but committed two of Texas’ five errors. Martin Perez (1-1) allowed three runs (two earned) in five innings. He also fanned five without a walk but got limited run support.
Red Sox 14, Tigers 5
Rafael Devers hit a second-inning grand slam and added a solo shot, and visiting Boston rolled past Detroit.
Adam Duvall blasted a two-run homer and a pair of doubles while scoring three times. Raimel Tapia added a two-run, pinch-hit homer. Alex Verdugo had two hits, two runs and an RBI. Winning pitcher Tanner Houck (2-0) allowed two runs and three hits and struck out four in five innings.
Riley Greene had a two-run single and Nick Maton added an RBI double for the Tigers, who lost their third straight.
Mets 5, Marlins 2
Kodai Senga recorded a second straight solid start for New York, which continued its early-season mastery of visiting Miami.
Pete Alonso and Eduardo Escobar each hit two-run homers for the Mets, who have won five of six games against the Marlins. Senga (2-0) was starting against left-hander Trevor Rogers, just as he did in his major league debut last Sunday. In this game, Senga allowed one run on three hits with three walks and six strikeouts over six innings.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. belted a solo homer while Luis Arraez had an RBI single for the Marlins, who have been outscored 31-13 by the Mets.
Mariners 3, Guardians 2
Eugenio Suarez and Jarred Kelenic each collected three hits and combined to drive in three runs to propel Seattle to a win over host Cleveland.
Boosted by an early three-run lead, Mariners left-hander Marco Gonzales (1-0) worked 5 2/3 innings, giving up one run on six hits while striking out five and walking three.
Guardians right-hander Cal Quantrill (0-1) was tagged for three runs in five innings.
White Sox 11, Pirates 5
Luis Robert Jr., Yasmani Grandal, Oscar Colas and Elvis Andrus each drove in two runs and Chicago scored five in the seventh inning en route to a win over host Pittsburgh.
Andrew Benintendi and Tim Anderson each added an RBI for the White Sox, who had lost five of seven.
Carlos Santana hit two RBI singles among his three hits and Andrew McCutchen homered and doubled for the Pirates, who had won four straight.
Yankees 4, Orioles 1
Giancarlo Stanton homered and four New York pitchers combined on a four-hitter in a road victory over Baltimore.
Yankees starting pitcher Jhony Brito (2-0) lasted five innings to secure the victory. He gave up one run, three hits and two walks and struck out two. Michael King worked two innings, followed by an inning apiece from Wandy Peralta and Clay Holmes, who was credited with his second save.
The Orioles scored their only run in the first inning on Anthony Santander’s sacrifice fly following singles by Cedric Mullins and Adley Rutschman.
Padres 4, Braves 1
Right-hander Michael Wacha surrendered just two hits over six shutout innings while matching his career high of 10 strikeouts to lead San Diego past host Atlanta.
Wacha also issued a walk in running his record to 2-0. Josh Hader rallied from a two-on, no-out jam with three straight strikeouts to pick up his second save in as many nights and his third of the season.
Juan Soto gave the Padres a 1-0 lead in the third with a solo homer to right off Braves starter Charlie Morton (1-1), who gave up three runs (two earned) on six hits with three walks and six strikeouts over five innings.
Diamondbacks 12, Dodgers 8
Alek Thomas matched his career high of four hits and Geraldo Perdomo and Ketel Marte each homered to help host Arizona defeat Los Angeles in Phoenix.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had three hits and three RBIs, Marte had three hits and two RBIs and Josh Rojas had three hits and one RBI as the Diamondbacks beat the Dodgers for the second straight night. Perdomo had three RBIs and two hits as Arizona racked up season highs for runs and hits (17).
James Outman and Jason Heyward homered and Freddie Freeman had four hits for Los Angeles, which has dropped two of three to open the four-game series.
Nationals 7, Rockies 6
Stone Garrett set career highs of four hits and five RBIs, Alex Call had two hits and two runs and Washington held on to beat Colorado in Denver.
Garrett had a home run, two doubles and a single to power Washington’s offense. Trevor Williams (1-1) allowed two runs on five hits and struck out four in 5 1/3 innings, and Carl Edwards Jr. picked up his first save for Washington.
Mike Moustakas homered, Yonathan Daza had three hits and Charlie Blackmon singled for his 1,600th career hit for the Rockies, who scored four runs in the ninth inning before being set down.
Angels 9, Blue Jays 5
Mike Trout’s three-run home run in the fifth inning capped a rally from an early four-run deficit and helped Los Angeles top Toronto in Anaheim, Calif.
Trout’s homer was one of six in the game, three by each team. Bo Bichette and Matt Chapman hit two-run shots in the third inning to give the Blue Jays a 4-0 lead, and George Springer’s solo homer in the fifth made it 5-3.
The Angels got a home run from Luis Rengifo leading off the bottom of the fifth, setting the stage for Trout later in the inning. Trout is off to a hot start, having hit safely in seven straight games. He is hitting .346 with three homers, eight RBIs and a 1.297 OPS.
–Field Level Media
