Valdez’s strong start helps Astros defeat Orioles
HOUSTON — Framber Valdez pitched seven solid innings and Jeremy Peña and Yainer Diaz had three RBIS apiece to give the Houston Astros a 8-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday and complete a three-game sweep.
It’s just the second time the Orioles have been swept this season after losing three in a row to the Cardinals from May 20-22.
Valdez (6-5) allowed six hits and a run with seven strikeouts in seven innings to bounce back after consecutive losses.
Jose Altuve hit a leadoff homer as the Astros jumped on Albert Suárez (3-2) for four runs in the first. Alex Bregman had a season-high four hits for Houston, which extended its winning streak to five games.
Jordan Westburg homered for a second straight game to extend Baltimore’s franchise-record streak of games with a home run to 22. But the Orioles couldn’t do much else offensively as they managed just one run for a second straight game.
Suárez permitted a career-high 10 hits and tied a career-most with five runs in five innings.
Bryan King struck out one in a scoreless eighth for Houston in his major league debut and Luis Contreras allowed one hit in his debut in the ninth.
Altuve sent Suárez’s first pitch out of the park for his 38th career leadoff homer to make it 1-0. Bregman doubled and scored on a oneout single by Diaz.
Peña doubled to left field to drive in Diaz and extend the lead to 3-0. Mauricio Dubón made it 4-0 with his RBI single on a line drive to center field.
César Salazar hit a single to open Houston’s fourth before a one-out double by Bregman. The Orioles intentionally walked Yordan Alvarez to load the bases and a sacrifice fly by Diaz left Houston up 5-0.
TIGERS 11, WHITE SOX 2
DETROIT — Colt Keith and Akil Baddoo homered in a five-run first inning and Riley Greene cleared the fences in a four-run second, lifting the Detroit Tigers to an 11-2 win over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.
The Tigers scored more runs in two at-bats on Matt Vierling’s leadoff triple and Keith’s two-run homer than in any of the previous six games, and they were just getting warmed up in the series-winning rout.
Baddoo’s two-run homer capped the five-run first inning and Greene followed with a three-run shot in the second to put Detroit ahead 9-0.
GUARDIANS 6, BLUE JAYS 5
CLEVELAND — Steven Kwan and Josh Naylor hit solo homers as Cleveland scored five straight runs in the third and fourth innings, helping the AL Central-leading Guardians beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 on Sunday.
Cleveland won its fifth straight and is a season-high 23 games over .500. The Guardians and rookie manager Stephen Vogt have the best home record in the majors at 26-9 and extended their divisional lead to eight games over Minnesota.
Tim Herrin (3-0) was awarded the win with a scoreless fourth. Emmanuel Clase picked up his Al-best 24th save, retiring George Springer for the final out after putting the potential go-ahead run on base.
Rookie Spencer Horwitz belted two solo homers and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a two-run blast for Toronto, which has lost six in a row for the first time since May 19-24, 2021. The Blue Jays were swept in back-to-back series for the first time since 2019.
TWINS 3, A’S 0
OAKLAND, Calif. — Pablo López took a perfect game into the sixth inning and matched a career high with 14 strikeouts in eight scoreless innings as the Minnesota Twins beat the Oakland Athletics 3-0 on Sunday in the rubber match of a three-game series.
López (7-6) limited Oakland to two singles and a walk, retiring the first 17 batters he faced before Lawrence Butler singled on a line drive to right with two outs in the sixth.
Byron Buxton homered off Hogan Harris in the second and added an RBI double in the seventh to help the Twins improve to 16-4 against the AL West. Kyle Farmer drove in a run on a fielder’s choice.
Griffin Jax pitched the ninth inning for his seventh save in nine chances for the Twins,.
BREWERS 6, PADRES 2
SAN DIEGO — Rookie Tobias Myers continued his terrific June by winning his fourth straight start and Blake Perkins highlighted a five-run second inning with a two-run single as the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers beat the San Diego Padres 6-2 on Sunday to avoid a fourgame sweep.
Myers (5-2) held the Padres to one run and five hits in five innings, with three strikeouts and no walks. He allowed one or no earned runs for the fourth time in his June starts — all Brewers wins — and won his fifth straight decision dating to May 21.
The Brewers gave him all the support he needed by scoring five runs on six hits off Michael King (55) in the second.
Besides Perkins’ two-run single, Brice Turang hit an RBI triple and Sal Frelick and Tyler Black had run-scoring singles.
The Padres had their four-game winning streak snapped. It had matched their season-best streak.
San Diego finally got to Myers in the fifth when Luis Arraez singled in Ha-seong Kim.
NATIONALS 2, ROCKIES 1
DENVER — Lane Thomas doubled in the tying run and Joey Meneses singled to drive in the go-ahead run as the Washington Nationals rallied in the ninth inning to beat the Colorado Rockies 2-1 on Sunday, taking the three-game series 2-1.
Down 1-0 heading into the top of the ninth and held to one hit by starter Kyle Freeland and reliever Nick Mears, the Nationals finally broke through against reliever Jalen Beeks (4-4).
Michael Toglia homered in the second for the Rockies’ only run.
Jacob Young started the second inning by beating out an infield single. CJ Abrams reached on a fielder’s choice and went to second when Beeks uncorked a wild pitch. Thomas then lined a double to right, driving Abrams home with the tying run. Thomas stole third base ahead of Meneses’ decisive single.
CARDINALS 5, GIANTS 3
ST. LOUIS — Sonny Gray allowed one hit over seven innings and Alec Burleson drove in two runs and the St. Louis Cardinals completed a three-game sweep with a 5-3 win over the San Francisco Giants on Sunday.
Brendan Donovan and Matt Carpenter also drove in runs for the Cardinals, who have won five of seven.
St. Louis swept the three-game series, which began in Birmingham, Alabama, on Thursday night with the tribute to the Negro Leagues.
Patrick Bailey homered for San Francisco, which has dropped five in a row.
Gray (9-4) retired the first 20 hitters he faced. He struck out eight and did not walk a batter. He threw 80 pitches, 57 for strikes and lowered his ERA to 2.81.
Bailey hit a no-doubt drive over the wall in right to break up the nohit bid with two outs in the seventh. Gray bounced back to strike out Jorge Soler to end the inning.
PHILLIES 4, D’BACKS 1
PHILADELPHIA — Cristopher Sánchez tossed seven scoreless innings a day after the Phillies gave him a new contract, Bryce Harper doubled and singled, and Nl-best Philadelphia beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-1 on Sunday.
David Dahl hit a two-run single, and Bryson Stott and Nick Castellanos also had RBIS for the Phillies. Philadelphia took two of three in the series that was a rematch of last season’s NL Championship Series, won by Arizona.
Ketel Marte hit an RBI single in the ninth for the Diamondbacks, who managed just six hits.
Philadelphia entered Sunday with a seven-game lead over Atlanta in the NL East. The Diamondbacks began play nine games back of the Dodgers in the NL West but in the thick of the wild-card race.
RED SOX 7, REDS 4
CINCINNATI — Connor Wong and Rob Refsnyder each hit two-run homers as the Boston Red Sox took the series from the Cincinnati Reds with a 7-4 victory on Sunday.
Boston improved to 24-16 on the road, fourth-best in the majors. The Red Sox have won seven of eight and are now a season-best six games over .500.
Jarren Duran led off for Boston and went 3 for 5 with a double and two RBIS.
It was a bullpen day for the Red Sox who used eight pitchers. Zack Kelly who threw six pitches while earning the victory on Saturday, started and tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings with three strikeouts. Greg Weissert (3-1) was credited with the victory.
Wong extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a two-run home run in the fourth inning off Reds starter Nick Lodolo to put the Red Sox ahead 2-0. Lodolo (8-3) took the loss for Cincinnati.