Jacob deGrom took a shutout into the ninth inning, Pete Alonso homered to highlight the first four-hit game of his young career, and the New York Mets routed the first-place Atlanta Braves 10-2 on Tuesday night.
Bouncing back from an ugly 12-3 loss in the series opener, the Mets pounded Braves starter Julio Teheran for six runs over four innings and cruised to a victory that eased some of the tension from a disappointing season.
DeGrom (4-6) dominated, allowing just five hits, struck out 10 and helped himself at the plate, leading off the sixth with a double and coming around to score.
Freddie Freeman and Josh Donaldson hit back-to-back homers off deGrom in the ninth, ending a bid for the second shutout and fourth complete game of his career. Robert Gsellman came on for the beleaguered Mets bullpen to strike out the final two Atlanta hitters.
Michael Conforto added a long homer in the eighth, and Jeff McNeil went deep in the ninth to finish off the 15-hit barrage.
Conforto and Todd Frazier both had two RBIs. McNeil added three hits, and every Mets starter had at least one.
Teheran (5-5) lost for the first time since April 30.
REDS 4, ASTROS 3
CINCINNATI (AP) — Jesse Winker and Derek Dietrich homered off Justin Verlander in the first inning and Cincinnati beat Houston to clinch its first series win in nearly a month.
The Reds won a series for the first time since May 24-26, when they took two of three from the Cubs. The Astros hadn’t dropped a series since April 29-May 2.
Winker connected on the fourth pitch from Verlander (9-3). Joey Votto doubled and Dietrich’s first homer since May 28 made it 3-0. Kyle Farmer added a homer in the seventh off.
Verlander went seven innings and struck out eight.
Anthony DeSclafani (4-3) pitched into the sixth inning and gave up six hits. Michael Lorenzen retired the side in order in the ninth for his second straight save and fourth overall.
TIGERS 5, PIRATES 4
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Nicholas Castellanos trotted home when a potential double play in the eighth turned into an RBI fielder’s choice due to some indecisiveness by Pittsburgh second baseman Adam Frazier.
The Tigers loaded the bases off Kyle Crick (2-3) with one out when Brandon Dixon hit a grounder that rolled under Crick’s glove right to Frazier. Instead of flipping to shortstop Kevin Newman in hopes of turning an inning-ending double play, Frazier tried to tag Detroit’s Christin Stewart between first and second. Stewart backed off to avoid the tag, breaking up the play and forcing for Frazier to settle for one out instead of two.
Buck Farmer (4-4) earned the win. Shane Greene earned his American League-leading 21st save. Miguel Cabrera had two hits as Detroit beat the Pirates for just the second time in their last 10 meetings.
Bell hit his 20th home run for Pittsburgh. Jung Ho Kang hit an RBI triple — his first three-base hit since 2015 — and Colin Moran added to Pittsburgh’s major-league leading pinch-hit total on an RBI single in the seventh.
ANGELS 3, BLUE JAYS 1
TORONTO (AP) — Tyler Skaggs pitched into the eighth inning, Kole Calhoun and Brian Goodwin hit solo homers and Los Angeles remained unbeaten in five games against Toronto this season.
Skaggs (6-6) went a season-best 7 1/3 innings. He allowed a run and three hits, walked none and struck out six. Ty Buttrey got two outs in the eighth, and Hansel Robles finished for his 11th save in 13 opportunities.
Luis Rengifo had two hits for the Angels, who have won 17 of 23 games in Toronto.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. homered for the Blue Jays, who have lost a season-worst six straight at home.
Both homers came off right-hander Marcus Stroman (4-9), who allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings. Stroman has lost three of his past four decisions.
WHITE SOX 3, CUBS 1
CHICAGO (AP) — Eloy Jiménez hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the ninth inning in his first game against his first major league organization, helping the White Sox beat the Cubs.
James McCann hit a leadoff single before Jiménez drove a 1-0 pitch from Pedro Strop (1-3) over the wall in left for his 12th homer.
Evan Marshall (3-0) got two outs for the win and Alex Colomé worked the ninth for his 15th save in 15 chances. Four White Sox relievers combined for four scoreless innings after Iván Nova turned in one of his best starts of the season.
The slumping Cubs kicked off a 10-game homestand with their fourth loss in their last five games. Kyle Schwarber connected for his 16th homer and Cole Hamels pitched seven sparkling innings, becoming the 10th left-hander with 2,500 career strikeouts.
MARLINS 6, CARDINALS 0
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Rookie Jordan Yamamoto matched his first career start by pitching seven scoreless innings against St. Louis, and Miami earned the shutout.
Yamamoto (2-0) allowed two hits, struck out seven and walked two. He became the first pitcher since Pittsburgh’s Nick Maddox in 1907 to beat the Cardinals twice in a seven-day span when the first game was his debut. Relievers Tayron Guerrero and Sergio Romo completed the two-hitter.
Brian Anderson and Starlin Castro homered for the Marlins.
Jack Flaherty (4-4) pitched seven innings, allowing three runs on four hits while striking out eight, and had St. Louis’ first hit off Yamamoto.
INDIANS 10, RANGERS 3
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) —Rookie Zach Plesac allowed only two hits pitching into the eighth inning and Cleveland had four home runs, including three in a row for the first time in nearly 15 years, to overwhelm Texas.
After Jake Bauers led off the Indians’ seventh with a 389-foot shot to right-center, Roberto Perez and Tyler Naquin followed with homers that measured more than 400 feet. Those long balls came in a span of five pitches off reliever Drew Smyly. The last time Cleveland had hit back-to-back-to-back homers was at Seattle on July 16, 2004.
Plesac (2-2) struck out six and walked five.
Texas got two of its five overall hits in the ninth, including Willie Calhoun’s two-run homer. Rangers starter Adrian Sampson (5-4) allowed five runs (three earned) in three innings.
Jose Ramirez hit a three-run homer for Cleveland.
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