MLB roundup: Paul Skenes, Pirates overpower D-backs in shutout

Paul Skenes pitched six shutout innings for the second consecutive start to lead the host Pittsburgh Pirates to a 6-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday afternoon.
Skenes (6-8) gave up three hits, walked one and struck out nine on 99 pitches to lead the Pirates to the series victory and second consecutive shutout win over the Diamondbacks. Skenes has not allowed a run in 13 consecutive innings, and he lowered his ERA to 1.83 — the lowest in the majors. After Sunday’s start, Skenes lowered his career ERA to 1.89 over his first 266 innings.
Pittsburgh’s Oneil Cruz finished with two hits, including a double, and two RBIs; Tommy Pham had two hits and an RBI and Bryan Reynolds had an RBI double.
Arizona starter Zac Gallen (7-12) allowed all four Pirates runs on five hits and one walk while striking out five over six innings. Jake McCarthy had a triple and a double to lead the Diamondbacks, who lost for the fifth time in six games.
Athletics 7, Astros 1
J.T. Ginn twirled six shutout innings, Shea Langeliers homered for a third consecutive game, and the Athletics completed a stunning four-game sweep of host Houston.
Ginn (2-2) matched his career high for innings pitched while posting his first scoreless start in his sixth start of the season. He allowed three hits, did not walk a batter and posted four strikeouts. He threw 77 pitches.
Ginn took the mound in the bottom of the first with a 2-0 lead after Miguel Andujar and Langeliers homered off Astros rookie left-hander Colton Gordon (4-3) in the top half of the inning. A Gio Urshela sacrifice fly and Colby Thomas RBI double made it 4-0 in the fourth and put Houston in an insurmountable hole.
Orioles 5, Rockies 1
Tyler O’Neill homered for the third consecutive game and Baltimore beat visiting Colorado to clinch the three-game series.
O’Neill’s two-run homer in the third inning came after teammate Dylan Carlson’s two-run single in the second. Warming Bernabel, in his second game in the major leagues, homered for the Rockies. No player in the game had more than one hit.
Orioles starter Tomoyuki Sugano (8-5) worked six innings for the victory, giving up one run on four hits. He struck out eight and issued two walks. Austin Gomber (0-5) gave up four runs in 4 1/3 innings, with Colorado losing a game for the seventh consecutive time that he started.
Pirates 6, Diamondbacks 0
Paul Skenes pitched six shutout innings for the second consecutive start to lead host Pittsburgh over Arizona.
Skenes (6-8) gave up three hits, walked one and struck out nine on 99 pitches to lead the Pirates to the series victory and a second consecutive shutout win over the Diamondbacks. Oneil Cruz finished with two hits, including a double, and two RBIs; Tommy Pham had two hits and an RBI and Bryan Reynolds had an RBI double to lead Pittsburgh at the plate.
Jake McCarthy had a triple and a double to lead Arizona, which lost for the fifth time in its past six games.
Red Sox 4, Dodgers 3
Alex Bregman hammered a go-ahead two-run homer to help host Boston edge Los Angeles and take the rubber game of the three-game series.
Bregman’s 13th home run of the year came against Dodgers starting pitcher Dustin May to conclude a three-run fifth inning. Red Sox starter Walker Buehler pitched against his former team for the first time in his career, and he was pulled with two outs in the fifth. Buehler gave up three runs on four hits, struck out four and walked five. Brennan Bernardino (4-2) earned the win for recording the final out of the fifth.
Michael Conforto had three hits — a solo home run and two doubles — for Los Angeles, which also received two hits from Shohei Ohtani. May (6-7) pitched the first five innings and surrendered four runs on five hits and struck out five without a walk.
Yankees 4, Phillies 3
Ryan McMahon sparked a four-run second inning off Zack Wheeler by hitting a two-run double and New York ended a four-game home losing streak with a victory over Philadelphia.
Acquired from the Colorado Rockies on Friday, McMahon finished with two hits and reached base three times. Yankees left-hander Carlos Rodon (11-7) survived allowing three homers for the second time this season and held the Phillies to four hits in 5 1/3 innings. He walked one and notched two of his eight strikeouts against Kyle Schwarber.
Philadelphia ace Zack Wheeler allowed four runs on five hits in 5 2/3 innings. The right-hander struck out eight, walked two and tied a career high by hitting three batters for the second time. Otto Kemp homered twice and Nick Castellanos added another.
Cubs 5, White Sox 4
Pete Crow-Armstrong went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Ben Brown pitched five strong innings to lift the visiting Cubs over the White Sox.
Brown (5-7) spaced one run and three hits in five innings with zero walks and four strikeouts for the Cubs. Ian Happ scored the deciding run when White Sox third baseman Colson Montgomery was called for obstruction in a rundown between home and third. It was one of three White Sox errors in the game.
Andrew Benintendi hit home runs in the first and eighth for the White Sox, accounting for all four of their runs.
Reds 2, Rays 1
Brady Singer bounced back from one of his worst outings of the season by allowing just one run in 7 1/3 innings as host Cincinnati completed a three-game series sweep of Tampa Bay.
Singer (8-8) yielded three hits and one walk with eight strikeouts over 7 1/3 innings, six days after the right-hander allowed seven runs over 2 1/3 innings last Monday in a 10-8 loss at Washington. Throwing for a third consecutive day, Emilio Pagan pitched a scoreless ninth for his 22nd save.
It was a tough-luck start for Rays right-hander Shane Baz (8-7), who threw four shutout innings after the two-run first. Baz allowed just those two runs and five hits over five innings, striking out five and walking two.
Tigers 10, Blue Jays 4
Gleyber Torres drove in four runs, including a three-run homer, and Jack Flaherty pitched six strong innings as host Detroit snapped a six-game losing streak with a win over Toronto.
Dillon Dingler had two hits, scored a run and drove in two more, while Parker Meadows added two hits and scored twice for the Tigers. Flaherty (6-10) gave up five hits and struck out seven.
Former Tigers star Max Scherzer gave up three runs and struck out 11 in seven innings for the Blue Jays. Bo Bichette had five hits, including a two-run single in a four-run ninth, but Toronto’s four-game winning streak ended.
Royals 4, Guardians 1
Noah Cameron struck out six over five scoreless innings, while Maikel Garcia homered with two RBIs, as host Kansas City beat Cleveland to take two of three in the series.
Rookie left-hander Cameron (5-4), making his 14th career start, allowed three hits with a walk while throwing 83 pitches on a steamy day to lower his ERA to 2.44. All-Star closer Carlos Estevez allowed Gabriel Arias’ lead-off double in the ninth, then retired the next three batters for his 27th save.
Arias also clubbed a late solo homer for the Guardians, who stranded eight runners in falling short of winning their fifth consecutive series. Starter Joey Cantillo (2-1) yielded three runs, three hits and four walks with four strikeouts over four innings.
Brewers 3, Marlins 2
Blake Perkins hit a walk-off RBI single in the ninth inning and Milwaukee avoided a three-game series sweep with a win over visiting Miami.
Brewers starter Brandon Woodruff gave up two runs on four hits with three walks and six strikeouts over six innings. Trevor Megill (3-2) pitched a scoreless ninth inning for Milwaukee, which snapped the Marlins’ four-game winning streak.
Eury Perez allowed one run on two hits over five innings for Miami. He walked two and struck out six.
Nationals 7, Twins 2
CJ Abrams went 2-for-3 with a homer, and Washington pulled away for a victory over Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Alex Call drove in two runs for the Nationals, who completed back-to-back wins to secure a series victory. Right-hander Jake Irvin (8-5), who grew up in the nearby suburb of Bloomington, Minn., limited the Twins to two runs on five hits in seven innings. He walked none and struck out two, and he threw 63 of 86 pitches for strikes.
Matt Wallner hit a solo home run for Minnesota, which dropped to 3-6 since returning from the All-Star break. Right-handed reliever Travis Adams (1-1) surrendered five runs on five hits in 3 1/3 innings. He was one of six pitchers who took the mound as part of a bullpen game for the Twins, who used right-hander Cole Sands as the opener for the first two innings.
Padres 9, Cardinals 2
Manny Machado went 4-for-5 and drove in three runs as visiting San Diego rolled over St. Louis to earn a split in the four-game series.
Jackson Merrill drove in two runs for the Padres, while Luis Arraez went 3-for-5 with two runs and an RBI and Xander Bogaerts hit a home run. Starter Stephen Kolek (4-5) earned his first victory since May 27 while allowing two runs on four hits and three walks in six innings. He struck out two.
Alec Burleson hit a two-run homer for the Cardinals, who lost for the seventh time in 10 games. Starter Michael McGreevy (2-2) allowed seven runs on nine hits in 4 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out two.
Rangers 8, Braves 1
Wyatt Langford drove in three runs with a first-inning double and Josh Smith and Josh Jung added two RBIs each to back a solid start by rookie Jack Leiter as Texas waylaid Atlanta in the finale of a three-game interleague series in Arlington, Texas.
The Rangers won their sixth straight game, earned their second consecutive series sweep and captured their fourth series in a row. Leiter was outstanding, allowing a run on two hits and three walks over six innings. He tied a season high with seven strikeouts and won his career-high third straight start.
The Braves dropped their fifth straight and seventh of nine contests after the All-Star break. Atlanta managed just four hits on Sunday against three Texas pitchers and is a season-worst 16 games under .500. Bryce Elder (4-7) was ineffective from the start, allowing eight runs on six hits, four walks and a hit batter over 2 2/3 innings while pitching about 50 miles from his hometown of Decatur, Texas.
Angels 4, Mariners 1
Mike Trout hit a two-run homer to reach the 1,000-RBI milestone in his career and Los Angeles earned a split of its four-game series against visiting Seattle.
Kyle Hendricks (6-7) picked up the win for the Angels, allowing one run on two hits in six-plus innings. He walked one and struck out three while improving to 4-1 in his last five decisions. Kenley Jansen pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to pick up his 18th save of the season and the 465th of his career.
Cal Raleigh hit his major league-leading 41st home run and Josh Naylor singled and had two stolen bases for the Mariners, who finished with just two hits. Starter Logan Gilbert (3-4), who retired the first 11 batters he faced, allowed four runs on three hits and three walks in five innings while striking out seven.