Braves Blank Cubs
(Chicago, IL) — Preston Tucker launched a three-run home run to lift the Braves to a 4-0 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. All four Atlanta runs came in the fifth inning. Ozzie Albies had two hits and scored on a Yu Darvish wild pitch. Darvish didn’t make it out of the deciding frame, giving up all four runs on nine hits in four-and-two-third innings. He walked four and struck out four. Atlanta starter Anibal Sanchez tossed six shutout innings and fanned six to earn the victory. It was the opener of a three-game series. The Braves are 8-and-5. Chicago is 6-and-7.
Hicks, Yankees Down Tigers In Motown
(Detroit, MI) — Aaron Hicks homered twice, including an inside-the-park-home-run in the second inning as the Yankees downed the Tigers 8-6 in Detroit. After missing the past 11 games with a muscle strain, Hicks returned from the disabled list and notched New York’s first inside-the-park homer since 2011. He also nailed a solo shot in the sixth inning. Jordan Montgomery pitched into the seventh inning to earn his first win. Mike Fiers gave up eight hits and five earned runs over five-and-two-thirds innings to take the loss for Detroit. James McCann drove in three runs as the Tigers fell to 4-and-9.
Rockies Nip Nats
(Washington, DC) — Carlos Gonzalez was the Rockies’ offense in their 2-1 win over the Nationals in DC. Gonzalez hit a solo homer in the fourth and drove in D.J. LeMahieu with a sac-fly in the sixth. Reliever Scott Oberg picked up his first victory and Wade Davis worked a perfect ninth for his sixth save. Colorado has won the first two of the four-game series to improve to 8-and-7. Tanner Roark was tagged with the tough-luck loss, giving up one earned run over six innings. Roark is 1-and-1. Bryce Harper had the only RBI for the Nats, have lost three in-a-row. Washington is 6-and-8.
Mets Hold Off Brewers
(Flushing, NY) — Todd Frazier hit two solo blasts to help the Mets sink the Brewers 6-5 at Citi Field in the opener of a three-game series. Steven Matz earned the win, pitching into the sixth inning and holding Milwaukee to three earned runs. Jeurys Familia came away with his seventh save. New York has won nine straight to jump to 11-and-1. Zach Davies dropped to 0-and-2, giving up five runs on seven hits in four-and-one-third innings. Hernan Perez and Ryan Braun each hit two-run shots for the Brewers, who are 7-and-7.
Phillies Edges Rays
(St. Petersburg, FL) — Jorge Alfaro hit the go-ahead RBI single in the ninth inning and the Phillies held on to top the Rays 2-1 in St. Petersburg. Carlos Santana had a run-scoring base hit as Philly rallied to tie the game at one in the sixth. Vince Velasquez tossed six-and-two-thirds frames of one-run ball but did not factor in the decision. Edubray Ramos got credit for the win and Hector Neris notched the save as the Phils improved to 7-and-5. Mallex Smith drove in the lone Tampa Bay run in the second innings. Alex Colome was charged with the loss as the Rays fell to 3-and-10.
Marlins Dump Pirates
(Miami, FL) — Justin Bour hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning as the Marlins cruised past the Pirates 7-2 at Marlins Park. Miami took a 4-2 lead at the bottom of the fifth inning when Starlin Castro hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded and the other two runners scored on a throwing error. Dillon Peters allowed two runs and four hits in six innings to pick up the win for the Marlins. Miami snapped a three-game slide and improved to 4-and-9. Chad Kuhl was charged with his first loss of the season after he gave up 11 hits and five runs in five frames of action. Pittsburgh has lost two-of-three to drop to 9-and-4 overall.
Cards Clip Reds
(Cincinnati, OH) — Yadier Molina and Dexter Fowler each hit solo shots to help the Cardinals beat the Reds 5-3 at Great American Ball Park. Molina drove in three, while Luke Weaver came away with the win. Weaver improved to 2-and-0, striking out seven over six innings of two-run ball. Bud Norris nailed down his second save. Devin Mesoraco hit a two-run shot off Weaver for Cincinnati, which has lost the first two of the four-game series and six straight overall. The Reds are 2-and-11. The difference in the game ended up being St. Louis’ four-run sixth inning. The Cards got back to .500 at 7-and-7.
Red Sox Cruise Past Orioles
(Boston, MA) — The Red Sox scored four runs in the first inning and cruised past the Orioles 7-3 at Fenway Park. Eduardo Nunez highlighted the first inning outburst with a three-run homer for Boston. Eduardo Rodriguez tossed six frames of one-run ball to pick up the win. Boston improved to 11-and-2, its best start in 100 years. Chris Tillman surrendered six runs over two innings to take the loss and drop his record to 0-and-3 in as many starts. Manny Machado had a two-run double and Adam Jones added a sac-fly as the O’s fell to 5-and-9.
Astros Outlast Rangers
(Houston, TX) — Gerrit Cole struck out a career-high 14 batters as the Astros clipped the Rangers 3-2 in Houston. Cole tossed seven innings of two run ball, but Joe Smith got credit for the win while Chris Devenski notched the save. George Springer homered twice and Derek Fisher scored the game-winning run on an eighth inning error by Drew Robinson. The Astros snapped a two-game slide and improved to 10-and-4. Joey Gallo and Robinson Chirinos homered for Texas, while Kevin Jepsen dropped to 0-and-2 after he allowed the winning run. The Rangers have lost five in-a-row as they dropped to 4-and-11 overall.
Angels Edge Royals
(Kansas City, MO) — Shohei Ohtani scored the winning run on a sac-fly from Ian Kinsler as the Angels edged the Royals 5-4 in Kansas City. The Halos trailed 4-3 in the eighth inning before Danny Valbuena tied the game on a one-run single and Kinsler put them up for good. Albert Pujols drilled a two-run homer, and Blake Wood earned the win. The Royals’ two-run lead didn’t hold up as they fell to 3-and-9. Justin Grimm was charged with the loss. Kansas City is 1-and-6 at home.
Mariners Rally Past A’s
(Seattle, WA) — The Mariners rallied for five runs in the seventh inning to edge the Athletics 7-4 in Seattle. Mitch Haniger hit a three-run homer to give the M’s the lead and Daniel Vogelbach capped the frame with a two-run bomb for insurance, his first in the Majors. Haniger added an RBI single and Kyle Seager hit a run-scoring double in the winning effort. Dan Altavilla got credit for the win and Edwin Diaz notched his fifth save. Seattle has won three-straight. Khris Davis left the yard twice and Matt Chapman added a solo-shot for the A’s as they fell to 5-and-9. Oakland releiver Daniel Coulombe was tagged with the loss.
Padres Rock Giants
(San Diego, CA) — Tyson Ross tossed six innings of one-run ball to help the Padres edge the Giants 5-1 in San Diego. Ross added an RBI single and struck out five as he upped his mark to 2-and-1. Christian Villanueva added an RBI double and Franchy Cordero launched a sloo homer in the winning effort. San Diego improved to 5-and-10. Ty Blach surrendered four runs over five frames to take the loss for San Francisco. Joe Panik broke up the shutout with an RBI single in the seventh as the Giants fell to 6-and-7.
Diamondbacks Slip Past Dodgers
(Los Angeles, CA) — Zack Greinke earned the win against his former team as the Diamondbacks slipped past the Dodgers 8-7 in Los Angeles. Greinke gave up four runs and struck out seven over six-and-a-third innings of work to earn his first win of 2018. Daniel Descalso homered and finished with four RBI for Arizona. Nick Ahmed’s eighth-inning solo shot was the difference as the Snakes improved to 10-and-3. Kenta Maeda got chased in the third inning for L.A., falling to 1-and-1. Cody Bellinger homered in defeat as the Dodgers dropped to 4-and-8.
Flyers Rebound, Even Series With Penguins
(Pittsburgh, PA) — Brian Elliot bounced back from a dismal performance to help the Flyers top the Penguins 5-1 in Game Two of their first round playoff series in Pittsburgh. Elliot stopped 34-of-35 shots after giving up five goals on 19 shots in the Game One loss. Sean Couturier had a goal and two assists for Philly. Nolan Patrick and Travis Konecny tallied their first career postseason goals as the Flyers evened the series at one. Patric Hornqvist lit the lamp for the Pens who went 0-for-4 power plays in defeat. Pittsburgh goalie Matt Murray gave up four goals on 19 shots. Game Three is on Sunday in Philadelphia.
Jets Crush Wild, Take 2-0 Series Lead
(Winnipeg, Manitoba) — The Jets reeled off three goals in the third period as they crushed the Wild 4-1 in Winnipeg. The Jets led by one entering the third before pulling away. Pual Stastny, Andrew Copp and Patrik Laine [[ LIGH-NAY ]] lit the lamp in the third, and Tyler Myers put them on the board in the second. The Jets now own a 2-0 series lead. Zach Parise notched a garbage time goal to prevent the shutout for Minnesota. Devan Dubnyk recorded 40 saves in defeat. Game Three is Sunday in Minnesota.
Haula Lifts Golden Knights Over Kings In Double Overtime
(Las Vegas, NV) — Erik Haula scored the winning goal in double-overtime as Golden Knights came away with a 2-1 win against the Kings in Game Two of their playoff series at T-Mobile Arena. Haula scored the winning goal with less than five minutes remaining in the second overtime to lift the Golden Knights to a 2-0 lead in the series. Alex Tuch also found the back of the net for Vegas. Paul LaDue nailed the lone goal of the night for Los Angeles and Jonathan Quick stopped 54-of-56 shots he faced. The Kings will host the Golden Knights in Game Three of their series on Sunday.