CLEVELAND (AP) — Cleveland’s Shane Bieber tied the major league record for strikeouts in a pitcher’s first two starts of the season, punching out 13 Minnesota Twins over eight innings in the Indians’ 2-0 victory on Thursday night.
Bieber (2-0) fanned 14 over six scoreless innings on Friday against Kansas City. His 27 strikeouts in the two games matched the record set by Karl Spooner of the Brooklyn Dodgers in September 1954 during the first two starts of his short career.
Facing a Twins team that came in with the second-best run differential in baseball, Bieber allowed three singles in his eight innings.
Francisco Lindor supplied all the offense Cleveland needed with a two-run homer in the third inning off Jose Berríos (0-1). After Jose Ramirez singled with two outs, Berrios left an 0-2 pitch up over the plate, and Lindor drove it over the fence in right for his second homer of the season.
YANKEES 8, ORIOLES 6
BALTIMORE (AP) — Aaron Judge hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning after New York blew an early five-run lead, and the Yankees swept an impromptu two-game series.
Luke Voit hit his first career grand slam for the Yankees, who stretched their winning streak against Baltimore to 18 games and notched their 17th consecutive victory at Camden Yards. New York has swept six straight series from the Orioles dating to early last year.
Judge’s second homer in two games — a no-doubt shot to left off Cole Sulser (0-1) — came after Pedro Severino put Baltimore in front with a two-run drive in the eighth against Jonathan Loaisiga (1-0).
Zack Britton worked the ninth for his second save.
After Voit connected in a five-run first inning against John Means, Hanser Alberto hit a two-run drive in the bottom half off J.A. Happ. Rio Ruiz homered for the third time in five games with a man on in the second to cut the deficit to 5-4.
RED SOX 4, METS 2
NEW YORK (AP) — Christian Vázquez hit two more homers and Martín Pérez gave Boston’s patchwork rotation a much-needed lift.
Pérez (1-1) overcame four walks and some shaky defense behind him, allowing only two hits while striking out five in 5 2/3 innings for his first win with the Red Sox.
Vázquez connected twice off Steven Matz (0-1), including a two-run shot on an 0-2 pitch in the fourth that put Boston ahead 3-2.
Boston loaded the bases with nobody out in the ninth and added an insurance run when Edwin Díaz hit José Peraza with a pitch.
Brandon Workman, on the mound for the third straight day after throwing 30 pitches Wednesday, got the last three outs for his second save — both in the last two nights.
ROYALS 5, TIGERS 3
DETROIT (AP) — Trevor Rosenthal pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save since 2017 and Kansas City overcame Miguel Cabrera’s first multihomer game since 2016.
Once a standout closer for St. Louis, Rosenthal has struggled with his health and his effectiveness in recent years, finishing 2019 with a 13.50 ERA in 22 appearances with the Nationals and Tigers. When he retired JaCoby Jones on a grounder to end the game, he gave his glove a little celebratory tap.
The Royals' offense came through late. Whit Merrifield scored on Salvador Perez’s grounder to break a 2-all tie in the seventh. Bubba Starling added a double the following inning that gave Kansas City two insurance runs it ended up needing.
Cabrera hit solo homers in the first and eighth, and Jonathan Schoop added one for Detroit in the fourth. It was Cabrera’s first multihomer game since Sept. 30, 2016 at Atlanta, and he’s gone deep three times in the first seven games this year after hitting only 12 home runs in 2019.
Greg Holland (1-0) won in relief for the Royals, and Jose Cisnero (1-1) took the loss.
BRAVES 2, RAYS 1
ATLANTA (AP) — Max Fried retired Tampa Bay’s first 14 batters and combined with three relievers on a four-hitter to lead Atlanta.
Dansby Swanson had a run-scoring single in Atlanta’s two-run second inning.
Fried (1-0) struck out seven and walked one while allowing one run in 6 2/3 innings. The left-hander improved to 4-0 in four interleague starts.
Luke Jackson, and Shane Greene combined for four outs before Mark Melancon pitched the ninth for his second save.
Ryan Yarbrough (0-1) allowed two runs on only two hits with three walks in 6 1/3 innings.
NATIONALS 6, BLUE JAYS 4
WASHINGTON (AP) — Michael A. Taylor’s second homer of the season helped the “visiting” Nationals knock around struggling Hyun-Jin Ryu and beat home-away-from-home Toronto before both teams head into a coronavirus-caused mini break.
Kurt Suzuki delivered a two-run double and Asdrúbal Cabrera added an RBI double off Ryu (0-1), who gave up Taylor’s two-run shot to straightaway center that he celebrated with a socially distanced dugout dance in the fourth.
Erick Fedde, making his second start in place of a sidelined Stephen Strasburg, gave up two runs in 3 1/3 innings. Ryne Harper (1-0) followed and got five outs for the win. Daniel Hudson pitched the ninth to earn his first save of the year.
Nationals rookie third baseman Carter Kieboom reached base four times — two singles, two walks — and scored twice.
Teoscar Hernández homered twice, giving him four during this four-game series at Washington, and Cavan Biggio hit a solo shot for Toronto.
Neither team will play again until Tuesday, a four-day gap that is normally unheard of in baseball, where clubs can go weeks at a time without any respite.
MARINERS 8, ANGELS 5
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — José Marmolejos and Shed Long Jr. homered, Marco Gonzales pitched into the seventh inning and Seattle beat Los Angeles.
Marmolejos hit his first big league homer, a three-run shot in the first inning. J.P. Crawford led off the game with a single, Kyle Seager drew a two-out walk and Marmolejos, a rookie first baseman, sent a fastball from Dylan Bundy (1-1) into the elevated stands in right field.
Long opened a five-run ninth by hitting Hansel Robles’ fastball over the wall in right. Crawford and Kyle Lewis each had two-run singles in the frame.
Shohei Ohtani hit a three-run homer off Dan Altavilla in the Angels' ninth. Ohtani’s 42nd home run in the majors tied him with Kosuke Fukudome for fifth-most by a Japanese-born player.
Gonzales (1-1) allowed only two unearned runs in 6 1/3 innings on six hits with six strikeouts and a walk.
DODGERS 6, DIAMONDBACKS 3
PHOENIX (AP) — A.J. Pollock hit a two-run homer, Corey Seager and Max Muncy added solo shots and Los Angeles rolled to its third straight win.
The Dodgers took a 3-0 lead in the first inning, largely thanks to a two-run homer by Pollock.
Los Angeles stretched its lead to 4-0 after Seager’s homer to right field. Ketel Marte pulled the D-backs to 4-1 in the third with his first homer of the season but the Dodgers responded with runs in the fifth and sixth inning to build a comfortable lead.
Ross Stripling (2-0) won his second game in two starts, pitching 5 1/3 innings while giving up three runs. Pedro Báez earned his first save of the season with a scoreless ninth.
PADRES 12, GIANTS 7, 10 INNINGS
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tommy Pham hit a go-ahead single in the 10th inning after Trent Grisham began at second base under baseball’s new extra-innings rule for San Diego.
Pinch-hitter Greg Garcia added a key two-run single against Tyler Rogers (1-2) in the big six-run 10th.
Mike Yastrzemski hit an RBI triple and Donovan Solano delivered a tying sacrifice fly two batters later as the Padres’ bullpen couldn’t hold a late lead for the second straight game. Yastrzemski’s walkoff splash homer into McCovey Cove sent San Francisco to a 7-6 victory Wednesday night.
Pierce Johnson (1-0) recorded four outs for the win.
Jurickson Profar hit a two-run homer and RBI single for San Diego, which wasted a solid day from starter Dinelson Lame. The Padres have won seven of their last 11 series in San Francisco.
