Mets shut out Marlins 4-0 behind complete game from Luis Severino

NEW YORK — Luis Severino pitched a four-hitter for his second career shutout, and the New York Mets got home runs from Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso in a 4-0 victory Saturday over the Miami Marlins.

After losing his previous three starts, Severino (8-6) was in complete control against the last-place Marlins on a rainy afternoon at Citi Field. He struck out eight and walked one in the first shutout by a Mets starter since Jacob deGrom blanked Washington in April 2021.

Severino’s only other complete game in the majors was a five-hit shutout for the New York Yankees at Houston in May 2018.

The right-hander plunked Jake Burger with his first pitch of the ninth inning, bringing a visit from manager Carlos Mendoza. But after a discussion on the mound, Mendoza left Severino in the game to loud cheers from the crowd of 34,744.

He retired the next three batters and finished with a flourish, screaming and pumping his fist after striking out Derek Hill to end it with his 113th pitch — most by a member of the Mets this season.

New York won consecutive games for just the second time this month. The Mets began the day a game behind Atlanta for the final National League wild card.

PIRATES 7, MARINERS 2

PITTSBURGH — Isiah Kiner-Falefa had three hits, including a first-inning homer, and Pittsburgh beat skidding Seattle.

Rowdy Tellez and Jared Triolo also connected for the Pirates, who have won the first two games of the three-game series following a 10-game losing streak. Joey Bart added a pair of doubles.

Pittsburgh left-hander Bailey Falter (6-7) matched a career high with eight strikeouts while allowing two runs in 5 2/3 innings. He permitted eight hits and walked none.

It was the fifth consecutive loss for Seattle, which began the day in second place in the AL West.

The Pirates had to hang on in the ninth inning after the Mariners loaded the bases on a walk and two hit batters by Domingo German. David Bednar relieved and retired three straight batters for his 22nd save.

TIGERS 4, YANKEES 0

DETROIT — Spencer Torkelson doubled and tripled in his return to the majors, and Detroit beat New York.

Torkelson, who turns 25 on Aug. 26, was batting .201 with four homers when he was demoted to Triple-A on June 2. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 amateur draft was called up this weekend, along with Jace Jung and Trey Sweeney — two of Detroit’s top infield prospects.

Tigers right-hander Keider Montero (4-5) struck out five in five-plus innings in his 10th career start. He allowed two hits in his third consecutive win.

Tyler Holton followed Montero with three innings. Jason Foley finished the four-hitter, working around Aaron Judge’s leadoff double in the ninth.

Yankees starter Carlos Rodón (13-8) surrendered four runs and seven hits in 3 1/3 innings.

The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the first on Colt Keith’s RBI single, and then added three more runs in the second.

CUBS 3, BLUE JAYS 2

CHICAGO — Ian Happ homered in the first inning and Michael Busch added a two-run triple as Chicago beat Toronto.

Dansby Swanson added two hits for the Cubs, who won their second straight after losing three consecutive games to the American League Central-leading Cleveland Guardians.

Nate Pearson (2-1), one of seven pitchers for the Cubs, allowed a hit in two scoreless innings and earned the victory. Jorge López allowed a homer in the ninth before striking out George Springer, Daulton Varsho and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for his third save in three opportunities.

Addison Barger hit his third home run of the season and Varsho added a pair of hits and an RBI for the Blue Jays, who had won five of their last eight games.

Chris Bassitt (9-12) gave up five hits and three runs in five innings, with five strikeouts and two walks for Toronto.

RAYS 6, DIAMONDBACKS 1

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Jeffrey Springs got his first win in 16 months, Brandon Lowe hit a two-run homer, and Tampa Bay beat Arizona.

Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash became the sixth active manager with 800 wins as the Rays returned to .500 at 61-61.

Springs (1-1) allowed one run and four hits while striking out seven over five innings in his fourth start since Tommy John surgery on April 24, 2023.

The Diamondbacks have lost two in a row for just the second time since the All-Star break. They have overcome injuries to go 20-7 over that stretch and hold a National League wild card spot at 69-55.

Arizona star Ketel Marte was the designated hitter after missing three games with a sprained left ankle and went 1 for 3 with a walk.

Lowe hit a sixth-inning two-run homer that made it 6-1. He had a ground-run double in the second when his high fly got stuck on an overhanging catwalk that is in play.

PHILLIES 5, NATIONALS 1

PHILADELPHIA — Cristopher Sánchez pitched his second complete game of the season, and Philadelphia defeated Washington.

Sánchez faced two batters over the minimum, allowing two hits. The only blemish in his outing was a solo homer by Alex Call to lead off the fourth inning. Call hit a 1-1 slider into the front row seats in right-center field.

Sánchez (9-8) struck out four and did not issue a walk as he picked up his ninth win of the season after losing four of his previous five decisions.

Sánchez was incredibly efficient, throwing just 99 pitches to complete the game. His previous complete game was a shutout against Miami on June 28.

The Phillies won their fourth straight and regained their spot atop the majors with the best record in baseball (73-50). They will go for a four-game sweep of the Nationals on Sunday.

ROYALS 13, REDS 1

CINCINNATI — Dairon Blanco homered twice — including his first career grand slam — and drove in seven runs as Kansas City routed Cincinnati.

The offensive fireworks by the Royals overshadowed a fine start by Michael Wacha (10-6), who allowed just four hits and struck out nine through six shutout innings as Kansas City beat the Reds for the second straight night.

Blanco, who wielded a bat painted to look like a yellow crayon, hit a two-run homer deep to center field on the first pitch he saw from Reds starter Nick Lodolo in the second inning.

Then the 31-year-old Cuban cleared the loaded bases with a shot deep into the left-field seats in the third, and drove in another run with a single in the fourth. He came into the game with just one homer and five RBIs this season.

It was a rough outing for Lodolo (9-5), who loaded the bases in the disastrous third and walked in a run before allowing an RBI single to Paul DeJong. Buck Farmer relieved, and promptly gave up the grand slam to Blanco.

The Royals scored seven in the third and led 10-0 before Cincinnati got through its batting order once.

CARDINALS 5, DODGERS 2

ST. LOUIS — Masyn Winn, Alec Burleson and Nolan Arenado homered and St. Louis beat Los Angeles to snap a five-game losing streak.

Andre Pallante (5-6) allowed two runs on four hits in seven innings. JoJo Romero pitched a scoreless eighth inning, and Ryan Helsley had a perfect ninth inning for his major league leading 38th save.

Shohei Ohtani went 2 for 3 with a homer and a two stolen bases for Los Angeles. He broke a out of a 10-game slump where he went 5 for 44 (.144) without a multi-hit game.

Bobby Miller (1-3) allowed four runs on eight hits and four wild pitches in 4 2/3 innings after being recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City prior to the game.

Winn homered to center leading off the fifth to restore St. Louis’ two-run lead after Ohtani lined his National League-leading 38th home run in the top of the inning to cut it to 3-2.

TWINS 5, RANGERS 2

ARLINGTON, Texas — Willi Castro drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single and another Minnesota run scored on the play due to a throwing error as the Twins rallied to beat the slumping Texas Rangers 5-2 on Saturday night.

Trailing 2-1 heading into the eighth, the Twins got singles from Edouard Julien and Christian Vázquez off Nathan Eovaldi (8-7). Austin Martin loaded the bases by beating out a sacrifice bunt that was initially ruled an out before being overturned following a Twins challenge. Castro’s single to center off David Robertson scored Julien and Vázquez. A throw by Texas center fielder Leody Taveras’ throw to third base bounced past Josh Jung, allowing Martin to score, giving the Twins a 4-2 lead.

Trevor Larnach hit his 12th homer of the season and the Twins added a run in the ninth on Kyle Farmer’s sacrifice fly that scored Carlos Santana, who drew the game’s only walk.

Ronny Henriquez (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings in relief of David Festa and earned his first big-league victory. Cole Sands, Minnesota’s fourth pitcher in the game, worked a perfect ninth inning for his fourth save in seven chances.

The playoff-contending Twins have won three games of the four-game series that concludes Sunday and moved a season-best 17 games over .500 at 70-53. Minnesota is two games behind AL Central-leading Cleveland.

ASTROS 6, WHITE SOX 1

HOUSTON — Jose Altuve drove in a pair of runs, Yainer Diaz registered his team-leading 68th RBI, Hunter Brown struck out six and Houston defeated Chicago.

Brown registered his ninth-straight quality start as he allowed one run over seven innings. This marks his 11th win of the year, tying a career high, and Brown is 10-2 in his 14 starts since June 1.

Trailing 1-0, the Astros (66-56) broke through with a three-run inning against White Sox starter Chris Flexen in the third. Flexen had set down the first seven batters he faced before rookie Shay Whitcomb doubled to right center for his first major league hit.

Whitcomb and Mauricio Dubón came in to score on an Altuve two-run single to center field. Houston tacked on another run as Yordan Alvarez drove in Altuve for his 66th RBI with a single to left field.

Houston extended its lead in the fourth on Dubón’s sacrifice fly, making it 4-1.

ATHLETICS 2, GIANTS 0

OAKLAND, Calif. — Oakland right-hander Osvaldo Bido retired the first 14 batters in order and carried a no-hit bid into the sixth inning, shutting down San Francisco in the second-to-last game of the Bay Bridge Series.

Bido’s bid ended when he gave up Grant McCray’s one-out infield single in the sixth on which the ball traveled about two feet at 67.3 mph off the bat. Bido wound up with just that one hit allowed over six innings. He struck out six and walked two.

As the Bay Bridge rivalry entered its final weekend before the A’s relocate, the game drew a season-high crowd of 37,551 at the Coliseum.

The 28-year-old Bido (4-3) did not allow a baserunner until Mike Yastrezemski drew a two-out walk in the fifth inning. Moments earlier, Bido retired Matt Chapman on a defensive gem by third baseman Darell Hernáiz when he stopped the sharp grounder and his throw to first just beat the sprinting Chapman.

And to end the inning, Bido got Patrick Bailey to fly out on the eighth pitch of their battle on a deep ball caught by right fielder Lawrence Butler.

BREWERS 2, GUARDIANS 1

MILWAUKEE — Freddy Peralta pitched six effective innings and William Contreras hit a tiebreaking homer that sent Milwaukee past Cleveland for their fourth straight victory.

Gary Sánchez had an early RBI double and Milwaukee maintained its 10-game lead in the NL Central, the largest of any division leader.

Cleveland’s advantage in the AL Central was sliced to two games over surging Minnesota, which beat Texas 5-2.

Josh Naylor launched his 27th homer for the Guardians, held to four runs in two losses at Milwaukee to begin their three-game interleague series this weekend.

Peralta (8-7) allowed four hits and two walks while striking out three. The right-hander had just one win in his previous seven starts and had permitted four or more runs in three of his past four outings.

RED SOX 5, ORIOLES 1

BALTIMORE — Brayan Bello took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and Jarren Duran delivered a tiebreaking two-run single in the seventh to carry Boston past Baltimore.

Rafael Devers hit his team-high 27th homer for the Red Sox, who moved within seven games of the first-place New York Yankees in the AL East. Baltimore is one game out despite losing four of six.

Bello limited the Orioles to three walks before facing Gunnar Henderson with two outs in the sixth. Henderson hit the first pitch over the right-field wall for his 32nd home run, erasing Boston’s 1-0 lead.

After Ryan O’Hearn followed with a single, Bello (11-5) ended his superb outing with his sixth strikeout.

Bello outpitched Baltimore rookie Cade Povich (1-6), who returned from the minor leagues to baffle the hard-hitting Red Sox for six innings. Povich was lifted after giving up a one-out infield hit in the seventh.

PADRES 8, ROCKIES 3

DENVER — Manny Machado had four hits to help spark San Diego’s offense, Dylan Cease took a one-hitter into the sixth inning and they rebounded from a loss to beat Colorado.

Luis Campusano homered and singled to drive in a pair of runs and Bryce Johnson added two hits and two RBIs for the Padres. Jake Cronenworth also drove in a pair of runs for San Diego, which could win its franchise-record ninth consecutive series since the All-Star break with a victory Sunday.

Michael Toglia homered for the Rockies, driving in two of the team’s three runs in the sixth inning with his 20th of the season.

In the sixth, Cease (12-9) walked Ezequiel Tovar and Ryan McMahon around a single by Brenton Doyle to load the bases. Tovar scored on Brendan Rodgers double play grounder and Toglia followed by driving Cease’s 3-1 offering into the right-field seats and finishing Cease’s night.

In 5 2/3 innings, Cease allowed three runs on three hits. He struck out five but also walked five, matching a season high.

BRAVES 11, ANGELS 3

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Chris Sale struck out 10 in his 14th win and Marcell Ozuna went 3 for 3 with an early three-run homer as Atlanta blew out Los Angeles.

Whit Merrifield and Ramón Laureano also went deep for the Braves, who improved to 5-3 since a six-game losing streak. They remained a game ahead of the New York Mets for the final National League playoff berth.

Sale (14-3) allowed two runs on six hits and two walks over six innings, tying Detroit ace Tarik Skubal for the major league lead in wins. The eight-time All-Star moved to 8-0 in 11 appearances (nine starts) against the Angels with a 1.24 ERA — his lowest versus any team he’s faced at least 10 times.

Nolan Schanuel had three hits for the Angels and Kevin Pillar drove in two runs against his former club as Los Angeles dropped to 1-4 on a six-game homestand. Griffin Canning (4-11) gave up a season-high seven runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings.