Jose Martinez drives in 6 runs as Cards pound Reds
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Shohei Ohtani hit a bases-loaded triple in Los Angeles' five-run seventh inning, helping the Angels beat the Kansas City Royals 7-1 on Thursday night for their fifth straight victory.
Ian Kinsler homered on his first swing in his return to the Angels' lineup, and Nick Tropeano (1-0) pitched shutout ball into the seventh for his first major league win since 2016.
Los Angeles has won eight of nine.
Ohtani drove a 1-2 pitch from Brandon Maurer to right-center, scoring Kole Calhoun, Andrelton Simmons and Luis Valbuena. The Royals walked Ohtani intentionally in the sixth with first base open and Simmons on second.
Ohtani is tied with Mike Trout for the Angels' lead with 11 RBIs in 26 at-bats. Trout went 3 for 4 with his fifth home run.
Kinsler led off the game with a home run for the 47th time in his career, driving a 1-0 pitch from Ian Kennedy (1-1) out to left. Kinsler missed the previous 11 games with an adductor strain.
BOSTON (AP) - Rick Porcello pitched seven scoreless innings and Mookie Betts drove in two runs, leading Boston to the victory.
Porcello (3-0) stayed in after a 45-minute rain delay and was working on a no-hitter before Aaron Judge's leadoff double in the seventh. The 2016 AL Cy Young Award winner struck out six and walked none in his third straight win to begin the year.
Andrew Benintendi and Mitch Moreland each had two hits and drove in a run. Craig Kimbrel got three outs for his fourth save.
Yankees starter Sonny Gray (1-1) was pulled after a leadoff single by Moreland in the fourth. It was the seventh hit allowed by Gray, who also threw three wild pitches and hit a batter. He was charged with six runs and seven hits.
CINCINNATI (AP) - Jose Martinez drove in six runs and Yadier Molina homered in his return from a one-game suspension, powering St. Louis to a victory that left Cincinnati mired in its worst start since 1955.
The Cardinals homered a season-high four times while piling up a season high in runs. The Reds helped by walking 11 batters, three of them with the bases loaded.
The Reds fell to 2-10, the worst record in the majors and their worst start since an identical mark in 1955.
Infielder Cliff Pennington pitched the ninth for Cincinnati and gave up a pair of walks and Martinez's second RBI single of the game.
Paul DeJong's solo shot deep into the upper deck in center off Austin Brice (0-2) snapped a 4-4 tie in the sixth. Martinez and Molina hit back-to-back drives in the seventh, when St. Louis put it away with seven runs.
Michael Wacha (2-1) went five innings and extended his streak of beating Cincinnati.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Joe Mauer reached 2,000 career hits, Jose Berrios struck out 11 in seven innings and Minnesota earned its third straight win.
Mauer had two hits and three RBIs.
Berrios (2-1) tied a career high with 11 strikeouts and allowed just three hits for the second time in three starts this season. The right-hander is 4-1 with a 1.67 ERA in five starts against Chicago.
Lucas Giolito (0-2) pitched 6 1/3 innings for the White Sox, giving up four runs, three earned, and five hits with five walks. He struck out three.
CHICAGO (AP) - Gregory Polanco homered twice to help back a third straight solid start by Trevor Williams, and Pittsburgh pulled away from Chicago.
Francisco Cervelli lined a three-run shot in the seventh off Justin Wilson as Pittsburgh scored four times in the inning to break open a tight game. Adam Frazier also went deep for Pittsburgh, which improved to 9-3.
Kyle Schwarber homered, doubled and singled for three of the Cubs' seven hits. Chicago's Ian Happ had his first two-hit game this season.
Williams (3-0) was a bit better than Kyle Hendricks (0-1) in what began as a pitchers' duel following Chicago's 13-5 rout of Pittsburgh on Wednesday night.
Williams yielded one run and four hits through six innings. Hendricks allowed two runs and five hits in six innings.
WASHINGTON (AP) - DJ LeMahieu hit two home runs and drove in a career-high four runs, powering Colorado to the victory.
Chad Bettis (2-0) allowed one run and three hits over seven innings as Colorado took the opener of a four-game series.
LeMahieu's four-hit game matched a career high. He provided most of the offense, starting with the game's first at-bat.
The second baseman sent Washington starter Gio Gonzalez's third pitch into the Colorado bullpen in left.
LeMahieu added an RBI double in the second off Gonzalez (1-1). In the sixth, he smacked a two-run homer to center off Matt Grace to make it 5-1.
CLEVELAND (AP) - Francisco Lindor hit a leadoff homer and drove in three runs, helping Cleveland to its 11th consecutive victory against the Tigers.
The Indians completed a four-game series sweep and improved to 31-10 against their AL Central rival since 2016. Jose Ramirez hit a two-run homer, and Trevor Bauer (1-1) struck out seven while pitching seven innings of two-run ball.
Lindor, who entered the night batting .184 with one RBI, hit his fourth career leadoff homer off Michael Fulmer (1-2). He added a two-run double in the second and also scored three of Cleveland's season-high nine runs.
Jason Kipnis and Bradley Zimmer each had three hits for the Indians. Kipnis added two RBIs and Zimmer robbed Dixon Machado of an extra-base hit with a diving catch in the seventh.
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Chris Stratton and Derek Law combined on a one-hitter, and Hunter Pence's broken-bat, two-run bloop single highlighted a three-run first inning for San Francisco.
Stratton (1-1) kept the Padres mostly off the bases through seven innings. He allowed their only hit, a one-out single in the third by pitcher Clayton Richard, who was hitting for starter Bryan Mitchell (0-2). Richard was doubled off after Franchy Cordero lined out to shortstop.
Stratton struck out four, walked three and retired his final eight batters. The only time a runner got into scoring position against him was when he walked Freddy Galvis and Carlos Asuaje with one out in the fifth.
Law, recalled from Triple-A Sacramento before the game, threw two perfect innings.
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