Hunter Brown extended his consecutive scoreless innings streak to 24 and the Houston Astros parlayed a four-run fifth inning into a 7-0 victory over the visiting Toronto Blue Jays on Monday.
Brown (3-1) surrendered two hits and issued one walk while recording a season-high nine strikeouts over seven dominant innings in working his third consecutive scoreless start. Brown’s streak of 24 shutout innings is the longest in the majors this season and the longest by an Astros starter since Cristian Javier strung together 25 1/3 scoreless innings in 2022.
The Blue Jays managed to push one baserunner into scoring position with Brown on the bump but George Springer was left stranded at third in the second inning. Brown retired the side in order in the seventh to end his night.
Toronto right-hander Kevin Gausman (2-2) matched zeros with Brown before the bottom suddenly fell out in the fifth inning, when Houston scored five runs with six straight batters reaching base.
Mets 5, Phillies 4
Francisco Lindor homered twice and Tylor Megill dominated visiting Philadelphia for 5 1/3 innings as New York opened with a win in an early-season showdown of National League East rivals.
Megill (3-2) allowed only one hit and four walks while striking out 10 in a 92-pitch effort that gave New York its fifth straight win. Max Kranick and Edwin Diaz combined to give up four ninth-inning runs, but Diaz garnered his sixth save.
Phillies starter Aaron Nola (0-5) continued his rough start to the season, getting tagged for seven hits and four runs over 6 1/3 innings. The outing actually decreased Nola’s earned run average to 6.43.
Red Sox 4, White Sox 2
Walker Buehler allowed one run on four hits and struck out nine in seven innings to help Boston defeat visiting Chicago in a late-morning start on Patriots’ Day.
Rob Refsnyder hit a home run for Boston, his first. Trevor Story had three hits for the Red Sox, while Kristian Campbell added two hits, including a two-run single.
The White Sox received a solo home run from Andrew Benintendi, who collected two of the team’s five hits. Boston won three of the four games in the series, while the loss dropped Chicago’s road record to 1-9.
Guardians 6, Yankees 4
Jose Ramirez clubbed a three-run homer and added an RBI single and Kyle Manzardo also went deep as Cleveland beat visiting New York for its fourth straight win.
Gavin Williams (2-1) allowed just Jasson Dominguez’s two-run homer and struck out eight in 6 1/3 innings for the Guardians, who are 10-3 since losing six of their first nine. Cade Smith struck out Yankees slugger Aaron Judge representing the tying run to end the game.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. clubbed a two-run homer for the Yankees while starter Clarke Schmidt (0-1) yielded seven hits (including both Cleveland homers) while striking out seven in four innings.
Marlins 6, Reds 3
Max Meyer pitched six scoreless innings and struck out a career-high 14 as host Miami cooled off Cincinnati.
The Reds were coming off a 24-2 win over Baltimore on Sunday, but they managed just five hits and no walks against Meyer in the opener of a three-game series. Miami got a three-run, pinch-hit homer from Kyle Stowers and a solo blast from Eric Wagaman.
Miami’s Jesus Tinoco pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save of the season. Reds starter Nick Lodolo (2-2), who came off paternity leave Monday, went 5 2/3 innings, allowing seven hits, two walks and three runs. Gavin Lux led Cincinnati’s offense with a two-run homer.
Tigers 6, Padres 4
Gleyber Torres had three hits and drove in two runs as host Detroit downed San Diego in the opener of a three-game series.
Zach McKinstry supplied three hits, scored a run and drove in another. Keider Montero gave up four runs (three earned) in 4 1/3 innings. Brenan Hanifee (1-0) tossed two innings of scoreless relief.
San Diego’s Gavin Sheets homered and Oscar Gonzalez added two hits, including an RBI single. Starter Randy Vasquez (1-2) gave up six runs in two-plus innings.
Braves 7, Cardinals 6
Michael Harris II drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly and Sean Murphy followed with a three-run homer in the eighth inning as Atlanta came from behind to beat visiting St. Louis and extend its winning streak to four games.
The winning pitcher was Daysbel Hernandez (2-0). Closer Raisel Iglesias allowed three runs in the ninth inning, including a two-run homer to Willson Contreras. Iglesias got Nolan Arenado to ground out to end the game, though Iglesias did not get a save.
St. Louis’ Erick Fedde threw six innings and allowed two runs on five hits. Atlanta’s Spencer Schwellenbach pitched seven innings and allowed three runs (two earned) on eight hits.
