Rays’ Eovaldi flirts with perfection in win over Mets
The weather was nearly perfect and so was Nathan Eovaldi.
The right-hander retired his first 18 batters, C.J. Cron hit an early three-run homer and the Tampa Bay Rays routed the New York Mets 9-0 Sunday.
“The fastball location was really there, and the cutter,” Eovaldi said. “Those two pitches I really felt like I located probably the best I could have.”
Eovaldi took a perfect game into the seventh before Brandon Nimmo lined a leadoff single to right field. Nimmo was quickly erased on a double play, and Eovaldi faced the minimum while needing only 79 pitches to get through seven innings.
“I was trying to back-door that cutter and I missed down and in, and that’s right in his swing path,” he said.
Milwaukee 10, Atlanta 3:Jesus Aguilar homered twice, Hernan Perez added a three-run shot and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3.
Aguilar hit a solo drive in the seventh and a three-run shot in the eighth. The burly slugger moved into a tie with Colorado’s Nolan Arenado for the NL lead with 22 homers.
Milwaukee also got another solid start from Junior Guerra (6-5) in its sixth win in seven games. The right-hander allowed one run and seven hits in six innings, helped by three double plays.
Miami 10, Washington 2: J.T. Realmuto had a career-high five hits and drove in three runs, Martin Prado got four hits and the Miami Marlins defeated Washington 10-2 to snap a 14-game losing streak to the Nationals.
Chicago Cubs 6, Cincinnati 5: David Bote drove in the game-winning run with a bases-loaded walk in the 10th inning, lifting the Chicago Cubs to a 6-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
Javier Baez had two hits and two RBI for Chicago, which has won its last nine games in comeback fashion. Albert Almora Jr. and Ian Happ also had two hits apiece, and Addison Russell drove in three runs.
San Francisco 13, St. Louis 8: Pablo Sandoval homered and had five RBI to back an uneven start by Madison Bumgarner as the San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals 13-8.
Andrew McCutchen and Alen Hanson each added three hits. Brandon Belt and Gorkys Hernandez had two apiece to help the Giants split the four-game series.
Seattle 6, Colorado 4: Ryon Healy homered and tied a career high with five RBIs, leading the Seattle Mariners to a 6-4 win over the Colorado Rockies.
Healy, who had a two-run double in the first inning, put Seattle ahead for good with his three-run homer – his 18th of the season – in the sixth inning. He entered the game in an 0-for-13 slump.
Boston 7, Kansas City 4: Rick Porcello pitched seven effective innings, Andrew Benintendi had four hits and scored twice, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 7-4.
The Red Sox hit .385, 45 for 111, and had 68 base runners in sweeping the three-game series. Boston has won six straight and 13 of 16.
Houston 2, Chicago White Sox 1: Dallas Keuchel pitched seven strong innings, Jose Altuve hit a homer and the Houston Astros manufactured the go-ahead run in the seventh to complete a four-game sweep of the Chicago White Sox with a 2-1 win.
Minnesota 10, Baltimore 1: Jake Odorizzi pitched six scoreless innings and Mitch Garver, Eduardo Escobar and Brian Dozier homered as the Minnesota Twins completed a four-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles with a 10-1 victory.
Odorizzi (4-6) turned in his third consecutive strong outing, allowing just five hits and a walk while striking out five. In his last three starts, he’s allowed just two earned runs over 17 innings.
Texas 3, Detroit 0: Austin Bibens-Dirkx pitched impressively into the sixth inning, and the Texas Rangers blanked the Detroit Tigers 3-0.
Jurickson Profar homered in the first, and the Rangers salvaged a split of the four-game series. Bibens-Dirkx (2-2) allowed three hits and a walk in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out five.
Oakland 6, Cleveland 0:Brett Anderson came off the disabled list and pitched effectively into the sixth inning before turning things over to Oakland’s outstanding bullpen as the Athletics downed the Cleveland Indians 6-0.
Anderson (1-2) had been sidelined with a shoulder strain, one of several injuries to the A’s starting staff. But the left-hander looked sharp in his first start since May 18, limiting the Indians to three hits and leaving with a 4-0 lead.
Stephen Piscotty hit a two-run homer off rookie Shane Bieber (4-1), and Jed Lowrie had a solo shot as Oakland won for the 10th time in 12 games to take two of three from the Indians.