MLB roundup: Surging Cardinals down Dodgers for fourth straight series win

Mercado, batting ninth in the order, went 3-for-5 and tied his single-game career high with five RBIs. DeJong hit an RBI single and a three-run homer. The Cardinals won their fourth straight series. After starting the season 10-24, they have gone 11-3.

Cardinals starter Jack Flaherty allowed three runs on four hits and four walks with five strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. Drew VerHagen (3-0) pitched 2 1/3 scoreless relief innings to earn the win.

Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw (6-4) struggled through his shortest outing of 2023. He allowed four runs on five hits with six strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings.

See a summary of the game at Flashscore

Yankees 4, Reds 1

Harrison Bader belted a two-run homer and Luis Severino pitched effectively into the fifth inning in his season debut, lifting New York past host Cincinnati.

The Yankees won for the 14th time in 19 games since falling to 15-15 on May 1. They completed a 6-1 road trip while getting their second series sweep this season.

Severino returned after missing over two months with a strained right lat, the same injury he sustained July 13 at home against Cincinnati that cost him two months. The right-hander allowed one run on four hits in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out five and walked one in a 75-pitch showing while averaging 96.7 mph on his 44 four-seam fastballs.

Mets 5, Guardians 4 (Game 1)

New York mounted another late-inning comeback as Starling Marte hit a two-run, eighth-inning homer to lift the host team to a thrilling win over Cleveland in the first game of a doubleheader.

The Mets, who squandered a 3-0 lead in the top of the eighth, have won four straight, including three in their last at-bat. Max Scherzer scattered three hits and a walk over six scoreless innings. He struck out five.

The Guardians have lost four of five. Jose Ramirez delivered a go-ahead, two-run blast in the top of the eighth for Cleveland's short-lived lead.

Mets 2, Guardians 1 (Game 2)

Jeff McNeil hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the eighth inning as New York beat visiting Cleveland to sweep a split doubleheader.

The Mets have won five straight, including four in their last at-bat. The Guardians have lost five of six. Solo homers by the Guardians' Jose Ramirez (first inning) and the Mets' Francisco Lindor (sixth inning) provided the lone runs between Cleveland ace Shane Bieber and New York ace Justin Verlander before the hosts mounted the winning rally against Bieber.

Verlander (2-2), making his fourth start of the season after missing the first five weeks with a right shoulder injury, allowed one run on three hits and walked none while striking out five. Bieber (3-3) threw an eight-inning complete game. He gave up the two runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out four.

Brewers 6, Rays 4

Milwaukee relied on the long ball to get back on the winning track as Willy Adames, Rowdy Tellez and William Contreras each belted home runs to power a win over Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Contreras' two-run homer in a three-run fifth inning put the Brewers on top to stay. Freddy Peralta (5-3) gave the Brewers six quality innings, allowing a three-run homer among five hits and walking three with four strikeouts. Devin Williams collected his seventh save, working 1 1/3 innings.

The Brewers salvaged the series finale after dropping the first two games in the series. Josh Lowe had three hits, including his 11th homer, and drove in all four Tampa Bay runs. The Rays suffered a rare home loss (21-4), and are 5-7 since a blistering 29-7 start.

Twins 4, Angels 2

Mickey Moniak's two-run double in the seventh inning snapped a 1-1 tie and propelled Los Angeles to a victory over Minnesota in Anaheim, Calif.

Moniak's clutch hit off Twins reliever Jorge Lopez gave the Angels a 3-1 lead before Alex Kirilloff's solo homer in the eighth cut the Angels' edge to 3-2. But Los Angeles got an insurance run in the bottom of the inning on Matt Thaiss' two-out RBI double.

Shohei Ohtani started for the Angels and gave up one run on two hits and three walks in six innings, striking out nine. He went 1-for-3 with a walk at the plate. Willi Castro had three hits for the Twins.

Phillies 2, Cubs 1

Bryson Stott broke a scoreless tie with his pinch-hit, two-run homer in the seventh inning, and Philadelphia got a solid outing from starter Taijuan Walker on short rest to beat visiting Chicago in the decisive three-game series finale.

Philadelphia managed just four hits through six innings against Chicago starter Justin Steele but broke through with the left-hander out of the game. Stott delivered against Cubs reliever Adbert Alzolay (1-3) to extend his hitting streak to eight games with his fourth homer. Philadelphia's Matt Strahm (4-3) whiffed two in relief to earn the win.

The 2-0 cushion proved enough to send the Phillies to a second straight win after losing five straight. Walker delivered a strong bounce-back effort on three days' rest, tossing 5 1/3 shutout innings. Christopher Morel hit his fourth homer in four games -- and eighth in 11 this season -- with two outs in the ninth for Chicago, which ended a 2-7 trip.

Nationals 6, Tigers 4

Riley Adams belted a solo homer to highlight his four-hit performance, lifting Washington to victory over visiting Detroit.

Adams also had two doubles and a single for the Nationals, who took two of three from the Tigers. Ildemaro Vargas also homered and Jeimer Candelario had four singles for Washington. Starter Josiah Gray (4-5) navigated five innings, allowing one run on three hits and overcoming six walks to pick up the win.

Nick Maton had a homer and a single and Matt Vierling also had two hits for the Tigers. Detroit starter Joey Wentz (1-4) faced 16 batters before being pulled in the third inning after allowing six runs on 10 hits in two-plus frames.

Astros 2, Athletics 0

Framber Valdez rebounded from his worst start of the season in stellar fashion as Houston completed a three-game sweep of visiting Oakland.

Valdez (4-4) allowed four hits and did not issue a walk while twirling his fifth career complete game and second shutout. He struck out seven on the heels of allowing four runs over four innings against the Chicago Cubs last week, his shortest outing and one that snapped his string of seven consecutive quality starts.

The Astros swept their six-game homestand and extended their winning streak to seven games. Oakland has dropped 12 of 14 games. Athletics right-hander James Kaprielian (0-4), recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas on Saturday, allowed one run on three hits and four walks while recording five strikeouts.

Diamondbacks 8, Pirates 3

Corbin Carroll homered and Christian Walker drove in three runs to help visiting Arizona down Pittsburgh to take two of three in the weekend series.

Pavin Smith and Ketel Marte each added an RBI single for the Diamondbacks, who have won seven of nine. Arizona starter Merrill Kelly (5-3) allowed three runs (two earned) and three hits in five innings, with two walks and four strikeouts.

Tucupita Marcano hit a two-run double for the Pirates. Pittsburgh starter Roansy Contreras gave up three runs and three hits in five innings, with three walks and three strikeouts.

Braves 3, Mariners 2

Rookie Jared Shuster, ranked as Atlanta's No. 1 pitching prospect, earned his first major league victory as the Braves beat visiting Seattle in the rubber game of their three-game series.

Shuster (1-2), hastily moved into the rotation when the Braves lost top-line starters Max Fried and Kyle Wright to prolonged injuries, produced the best start of his young career. In his fourth appearance, the left-hander went six innings and allowed one run on one hit, one walk and a career-high seven strikeouts.

Mariners starter George Kirby (5-3) pitched seven innings and allowed three runs on six hits, one walk and six strikeouts.

Orioles 8, Blue Jays 3 (11 innings)

Cedric Mullins capped his five-hit performance with a two-run double in a five-run 11th inning, lifting Baltimore over host Toronto.

Each team scored once in the 10th inning before Baltimore erupted in the 11th.

The Blue Jays' Yimi Garcia (1-2) allowed Adam Frazier's one-out single that moved automatic runner Ryan McKenna to third before Austin Hays hit an RBI single. Gunnar Henderson singled to load the bases and pinch hitter Terrin Vavra hit a two-run single before Mullins added a two-run double.

White Sox 5, Royals 2

Romy Gonzalez hit a two-run triple among his three hits and Lance Lynn pitched six strong innings to lift host Chicago over Kansas City.

The White Sox secured their first series sweep of the season to close a nine-game homestand with a 6-3 record.

Michael Massey reached Lynn for a two-run home run in the second inning, but the Royals couldn't score after that en route to their seventh loss in nine games. Lynn scattered two runs and four hits in six innings with two walks and six strikeouts for his third win in four May starts.

Rangers 13, Rockies 3

Corey Seager and Josh Jung both went deep in a five-run second inning, Andrew Heaney threw six innings of one-run ball and host Texas routed Colorado to complete a three-game sweep.

The Rangers outscored the Rockies 31-10 over the series. Texas has won 11 of its last 15 games and is 12 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2016 season.

Colorado's road woes continued as it dropped to 9-16 away from home.

Giants 7, Marlins 5

Patrick Bailey belted his first big-league home run, J.D. Davis added a two-run shot and San Francisco finished off a series win over visiting Miami.

Casey Schmitt capped a memorable first full homestand with two hits and an RBI for the Giants, who went 5-1 against the Phillies and Marlins. Davis, who scored twice, collected two hits for the Giants, as did Schmitt and Mitch Haniger. San Francisco's bullpen threw 4 2/3 innings of relief, allowing just one unearned run.

Jorge Soler went 4-for-5 with three RBIs for the Marlins. His third hit was a single scoring Xavier Edwards to draw Miami even at 4-4 in the fifth. Davis' homer came off Marlins starter Jesus Luzardo (3-3), who was charged with six runs on six hits in five-plus innings. He walked one and struck out eight.

Padres 7, Red Sox 0

Michael Wacha fired six shutout innings against his former team and Rougned Odor (four RBIs) and Matt Carpenter (three) combined to drive in every run as San Diego defeated visiting Boston to salvage a win in the finale of a three-game series.

Wacha extended his scoreless innings streak to 15 as the win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Padres, who won for only the third time in 14 games.

Wacha, who took a no-hitter into the eighth inning in his previous start, held Boston to five hits and a walk with four strikeouts to improve to 5-1. Wacha has allowed only one run over his last 25 innings and is 3-0 with a 0.36 ERA in May. He pitched for the Red Sox in 2022.