HOUSTON — Kyle Tucker homered and drove in two runs against his former team to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to an 8-3 win over the Houston Astros on Monday.
Tucker’s home run came in a four-run third inning that broke open a close game, pushing the lead to 7-2. He’s in his first season with the Dodgers after spending last year with the Cubs following seven seasons in Houston.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched six strong innings and Alex Freeland homered and tied a career high with three hits to help the Dodgers to their second straight win following a four-game skid. Yamamoto (3-2) allowed five hits and three runs with eight strikeouts for his first win since April 7.
Zach Cole hit a solo home run for the Astros in his season debut after being recalled from triple-A Sugar Land before the game. Houston played without catcher Yainer Diaz, who was a late scratch because of a left abdominal injury.
DENVER — Carson Benge homered leading off the sixth inning for New York’s first hit against Tomoyuki Sugano, and the Mets beat the skidding Colorado Rockies 4-2 on Monday in a game moved up three hours to avoid potential wet weather.
Mark Vientos added a two-run single for the Mets, who are 3-1 on a nine-game trip after losing 17 of 20 overall. Benge also saved a run with a diving catch in center field.
New York got four hits in a four-run sixth after Sugano (3-2) was untouchable through five innings. He threw just 48 pitches and had faced the minimum entering the sixth before things unraveled for him.
Benge homered to right-center and Francisco Alvarez and Luis Torrens followed with consecutive doubles to make it 2-0. Sugano walked Juan Soto and was removed following Bo Bichette’s groundout that put runners on second and third.
Vientos drove in two more with a two-out single off Jaden Hill. Vientos hit a pair of two-run homers Sunday in a 5-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.
Denver native David Peterson (1-4), the third New York pitcher, went four innings for the win. He gave up two runs and three hits with six strikeouts and no walks.
Craig Kimbrel worked a scoreless eighth and Devin Williams pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save.
Mickey Moniak had two hits for Colorado to extend his hitting streak to 17 games.
DETROIT — Payton Tolle pitched seven innings of two-run ball, Jarren Duran hit a three-run home run and Boston used a five-run seventh inning to beat Detroit.
Tolle (1-1) struck out eight, giving up two runs, one hit and a walk to help the Red Sox take the opener of the series and earn his first win of the season.
Aroldis Chapman pitched a hitless ninth for his seventh save of the season and 373rd of his career.
Duran went 3 for 5 and drove in three runs, and Wilyer Abreu and Marcelo Mayer both finished with RBIs in a 12-hit night for Boston.
Ricky Vanasco (0-1) took the loss after giving up four runs in two-thirds of an inning.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Ryan Vilade hit a three-run homer in the first inning, Taylor Walls added a two-run single in the sixth and Tampa Bay beat Toronto.
Tampa Bay has won four straight games and 10 of its last 11.
Jonathan Aranda went 3 for 5 with a run scored — a day after delivering a game-ending single in the 10th to cap a 4-for-5 afternoon and complete a three-game sweep of the Giants.
Vilade hit the first pitch he saw 413 feet to give Tampa Bay a 3-0 lead. It was the Rays’ first three-run shot this year and 30th homer overall.
Vilade’s only other major league homer came in 2024 with Detroit.
Walls singled to left field with two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth to make it 5-1.
Nick Martinez (3-1), who entered third in the AL and fifth in the majors with a 1.70 ERA through six starts, struck out four in five innings while allowing just one run. Bryan Baker came on for three pitches in the ninth to get his ninth save.
MIAMI — Bryce Harper had a homer, double and single, Aaron Nola worked six strong innings and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Miami Marlins 1-0 on Monday night.
Adolis García had two hits for the Phillies, who took three of four games in Miami and improved to 6-1 under interim manager Don Mattingly.
Nola (2-3) bounced back from two consecutive difficult outings, scattering five hits and striking out five. The right-hander gave up 11 runs and 13 hits over a combined nine innings in his last two appearances.
Tanner Banks relieved Nola and got the three outs in the seventh. José Alvarado followed with a perfect eighth. Closer Brad Keller pitched the ninth around two singles and earned his second save.
NEW YORK — Aaron Judge put New York ahead in the first inning with his major league-leading 14th home run as part of a four-RBI night, and the Yankees routed Baltimore for a four-game sweep and their 14th win in 16 games.
Judge drove a hanging, full-count knuckle-curve from Shane Baz (1-3) into the Yankees bullpen in right-center for a 2-0 lead and added a two-run single in a six-run eighth off Lou Trivino, who made his Orioles debut.
Judge leads the majors with six first-inning homers this year and has 91 in his career, trailing only Babe Ruth’s 126 and Mickey Mantle’s 103 among Yankees. The home run was Judge’s 53rd in 124 games against the Orioles.
Cody Bellinger had three RBIs, including a two-run triple off Trivino.
AL-best New York (24-11) moved a season-high 13 games over .500, outscoring the Orioles 39-10 in the series.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Michael Wacha needed only 79 pitches to get through seven strong innings and Bobby Witt Jr. homered to spark a four-run fourth as Kansas City beat Cleveland.
Jac Caglianone also went deep for the surging Royals, who have won four in a row and eight of 10. Nick Loftin delivered a two-run single with two outs in the fourth to give Kansas City a 4-2 lead.
Five different Royals had an RBI, including Witt’s fourth homer and Caglianone’s solo shot in the sixth on his bobblehead night.
Wacha (3-2) allowed four hits and two runs while striking out three. He has given up just three runs over 14 innings in two starts against the Guardians this season.
ST. LOUIS — Kyle Leahy pitched 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball, Iván Herrera drove in three runs and St. Louis beat Milwaukee.
Leahy (4-3) struck out five and walked two while giving up six hits. Riley O’Brien recorded the final two outs and earned his 10th save of the season.
JJ Wetherholt went 2 of 4 with two RBIs, and Masyn Winn added an RBI and a run scored.
Wetherholt opened the scoring with a single to center field that scored Winn in the second inning, giving the Cardinals an early lead they never surrendered. Herrera extended the lead to 4-0 with a bases-loaded double in the fourth inning.
The Brewers scored in the top of the sixth when Luis Rengifo drove in Jake Bauers on a single to left field. Brice Turang hit his fifth homer of the season in the ninth to pull Milwaukee within the final margin of 6-3. The Brewers went 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position.